Am now 2 1/2 months post surgery. Was a size G or H and nipples were level with my elbows. Now a size C to D and incision closed. Still some breast tenderness and redness of part of incision. I am 60, so healed slower than if I were younger. I did have a couple of complications. I have asthma and I had a partial collapse of both lungs during the procedure. I had to stay a couple of extra days in the hospital, go home with oxygen, breathing treatments and prednisone. This resolved in a couple of weeks, but the prednisone caused problems with wound healing and a rather large part of the incision opened up. I had to do dressing changes several times a day to prevent an infection. Despite the complications, I felt an immediate relief from chronic shoulder and neck pain. Everything I do all day is easier and less painful! Shirts fit better, my breasts are in, not under the shelf bra in my bathing suit! I was having to fold my arms under my breasts so I could walk without uncomfortable swinging back and forth. I had quite a bit of breast tissue under each arm, removing this has made my underarm pain go away and the pins and needles feeling along the inside of both arms disappear. This is sad, but my husband was not at all supportive of me choosing to have this surgery done. He was angry and resentful of the extra work and did not understand why it was so important to me. I'm not sure, but I think he may have felt that if only I tried harder to lose weight the surgery would not have been necessary. Luckily, my cousin who had breast CA, a mastectomy and reduction on the other breast was there to help, encourage and just be sympathetic through the whole process. Updated on 13 Apr 2017: There were a couple of things that I thought about last night which I didn't mention, but might help other people considering this surgery. I didn't really think about getting this surgery earlier for several reasons. I thought I might get breast cancer because of my family history and just thought that if I got cancer I would just have a mastectomy and a reduction on the other side or just get a double mastectomy. My mother had breast cancer in the 1980s and had a mastectomy and wore a (miserable) large prosthesis on that side. After having several relatives with different types of cancer, I had extensive genetic testing done and found that I don't have either of the mutations that cause breast cancer. Also, my husband said that insurance doesn't cover breast reductions and I was reluctant to spend that kind of money on myself. When I had the surgery consult I found that, in my case there was no question that the insurance would cover all of the costs minus the deductible, substantially decreasing the out of pocket costs. I did want to breastfeed if I had children and it turned out that I didn't have children and finish nursing until I was 37 years old. I'm happy I waited because there are many benefits to baby and mom from nursing and know that there is not a guarantee that breastfeeding will be successful after reduction surgery. I did have a huge increase in breast size and also in breasts sagging after nursing which did not improve very much with weight loss.. I guess some people return to a more normal size, but I did not. From this experience I learned that doing research, talking to the physician at the breast care center, getting a referral from him for a plastic surgeon, and doing the preoperative surgery consult gave me the information I needed to make an informed decision about whether to have the surgery or not. I do wish that I would have looked into this many years earlier, but very grateful for the benefits to my health and wellbeing that I am enjoying now. I took the recuperation quite slowly, but am now back to all of my presurgery activities, swimming, hiking, volunteering, babysitting, etc. Several friends who had different types of surgery recommended Arnica Cream (not ointment) to massage into the bruised areas, not the incision itself. I think this has helped with soreness and bruising, but I would check with Dr and also make sure you aren't allergic before using it on a large area. I don't have any other cream to compare it to, so maybe it was just the massage and not the exact cream that made the difference, but the bruising for me went away quickly. Updated on 6 May 2017: Today is exactly 3 months since the surgery. I have completely healed from the two major complications I had as a result of the surgery, breathing problems and the wound opening up. The scar where the wound opened up is completely closed over, but is more red, thick and edges not smooth. Luckily it is hard to see as it is right under my breast, so not really visible. I still get some irritation where the bottom band of my bra rubs on the incision. I really don't have any complaints at all because I have such relief from the pain of carrying around those huge, heavy, pendulous breasts around every minute of every day for decades. I feel astonishingly better in so many ways. Dr. Morehouse removed breast tissue from under my arms. I didn't even realize how much better I would feel from just that. No more sore armpits, no more pins and needles along the inside of both arms! I have been going to physical therapy for back issues for several months. When I was able to go back a couple of weeks ago, he was so surprised how much better my posture, core strength and balance is now compared to before the surgery. He thought I might have lost some ground after being sick for a couple of months. He was very surprised at all the improvements.. Here are some of the other miscellaneous things I've noticed; don't have to lean on anything to put my pants on, easier to reach things on the floor, don't have to use my arms to cradle my breasts when I walk to prevent swinging, clothes meant for women actually fit, I can wear shirts that have a waist, my bathing suit has a built in bra that my breasts actually fit in, instead of hanging under the bra, I don't feel like I'm suffocating when I lie down at night, can tie my shoes without juggling huge breasts around, wearing pajamas around the house without a bra doesn't give me or anybody else nightmares, can eat without every stray crumb ending up sitting on a prominent shelf.. Actually feel like a whole new, improved self. Was definitely worth all the worry, embarrassment, complications, initial discomforts. I look back at photos of my mother, grandmother, great grandmother who all had the same problem and wish that they had the opportunity that I have had to feel so much better. Really glad that I had a great surgeon, and his staff were all the best, very kind and gentle.. It has been the single most significant improvement in my life in so many ways. Updated on 4 Jun 2017: Went to see the nurse practitioner at the breast care center yesterday. I had some questions about when it is ok to have a mammogram after the surgery. I guess it depends on how quickly the tenderness goes away. In my case they want to wait until about 9 months after the surgery. I also have several small hard lumps near the incision, about the size of a small pea. She said it was a small amount of scar tissue that formed around a stitch. Also, the entire incision on the right side is redder than the left. She said that is due to the increased inflammation where the hole opened up. She said that would even out eventually.. I have five relatives who have had breast cancer, so I have been compliant with getting exams and mammograms. Wondering if it will be any less of a bother now that I don't have enormous breasts to try and squish flat. :) I sometimes wondered if the techs used to think, Oh No, going to be a long day when they saw those huge things. So, only small concerns.. So sorry to hear about people who have had serious complications or who have gone through this whole experience and been really unhappy with the results. Updated on 15 Jul 2017: I've seen quite a few questions about incisions opening up, so thought I would share my experience with that. Most people don't have the same problem I did, having breathing issues and the medication used for that (prednisone) causing a problem with wound healing. I ended up with about a 5 inch by 2.5 inch by 1 inch deep hole where the T intersection is on the right side. It never got infected, but had some scary looking dead tissue. A much smaller wound happened on the left side. Dr. Morehouse recommended using Silvadine Cream and menstrual pads to dress the wound. I got advise from a wound specialist nurse and came up with a more elaborate wound care routine. She used a small sterile scissors and trimmed most of the dead tissue away. She only needed to do this once.I don't recommend trying this at home!!! She was really helpful to me and I think helped me avoid a second surgery. Here is the routine the wound nurse and I came up with: Cleaning wound with sterile saline (I got syringes of this from the wound nurse) Using clean gloves to mush silvadine cream into a sterile cause. I just got these at the pharmacy. Then I gently pushed the gauze lightly into the wound. I used just my gloved fingers to do this, but the nurse used a sterile qtip to push the gauze in. Then I put a nonstick sterile 4x4 inch telfa pad over that and a sterile 4x4 inch gauze over that. I had quite a bit of drainage for about a month, needed 4x4 gauze so that so bra wouldn't get yucky. I did the same thing on the left side, except it was much smaller, so I just used a dab of silvadine cream on the 2x2 gauze. I wore a really soft Bali bra over both dressings day and night, so didn't need any tape to keep dressings in place. I did this dressing change 3 times a day for about one month. The wound nurse would give me supplies and to check for infection about once or twice a week. About 2 weeks after the hole opened up, Dr. Morehouse put a couple of sutures in to close the hole a bit faster. He was considering a second surgery, but decided it was healing so nicely that it wouldn't be needed. I took showers, just used baby shampoo for my hair and as a body wash while incision and hole were healing. I used Arnica Cream for the bruised areas and Neosporin on the incision until scar tissue formed. After that, PS recommended A and D ointment on the incision. I couldn't keep using that because of the smell. Fish oil on a 40 inch long incision right under my nose. Didn't work. I found another scar cream on Amazon that is expensive, but I like better. I'll try to post a picture of what scar looks like if I can figure out how to take and import the picture. Once I got a routine down and had all the supplies I needed, it really wasn't that bad. I felt like I was doing all I could to make healing happen and prevent an infection. If you have access to a wound care nurse (there was one at my primary care Dr's office) I would recommend taking advantage of that help. Hope this helps anyone else who has trouble with their wound healing!
I had extremely old and ruptured implants removed after 30+ years, I have NO regrets of doing that...my only regrets still lie in the fact that I was ever foolish enough to get them in the first place. ...I'm hoping for regret to go away someday now. I have had immunological issues now for over a decade, so now it's a waiting game...to see if after a year or so, my body is able to recover a bit, I am so tired of feeling ill and tired. :( ...when I can, I may put some after shots up, to show the amount of sagging after the removal. I am finding them to unbelievably enough, still be way larger than I'd hoped they'd be after the capsulectomy. ...it appears over the decades of gaining weight, having children, etc., that I actually grew a pair of my own breasts during that time. Wish I'd known that was going to happen as a teenager, it would have saved me so much time, money and grief. Now they are a large B cup, even after all of the implant material was removed...in a bit of shock really. ...if money allows, at some point, I might opt for a breast lift, and have them reduced just a bit in the process. A small B at largest, I want breasts to not be in my face any longer...they have been such the eyesore and reminder for so long, just want them to be a part of the backdrop now. ...I might also consider after ALL is done, a slight bit of fat grafting to shape them a bit. My implants were almost nonexistent by the time they were removed, they had long since ruptured it had turned out...and my breasts were just filled with nasty chunks of hardened silicone, and scar tissue. The removal left a little bit of dimpling here and there, and a depression more on my right side, so perhaps someday I will even them out...then again perhaps I won't care, I am not sure at the moment. Anyway, if you are considering it, that means they have worried you, perhaps are making you feel ill...or might be the contributing factor at least, just find your place back to comfort, comfort with your own body, and your own decisions. ...make your breasts your friends again. ;) I spent too many long years, feeling oddly unattached to the things stuck on my chest...then questioning if they might be to blame for my feeling so out of sorts, now I can hopefully move on from that, and just watch for recovery and a better sense of self. Good luck ladies. <3 ***..so far the drains were uncomfortable, but manageable, and I might have gotten a seroma forming near one of the drain sites, but will watch and wait.*** PS: I still have silicone in my lymph tissue (nodes), finding a doctor comfortable enough to remove it...is proving to be a problem, since lymphedema will likely occur. So I am still in wait mode on that part of the issue, but I will make decisions on how to proceed as time goes on. Updated on 24 Mar 2016: I'm at 2.5 months now, and I am finally seeing what I am left with...more in it's entirety. ...the swelling is gone, the incisions look remarkable. The shape isn't too bad, considering he really had to piece me back together again...after finding nothing more than chunks of old silicone and scar tissue in there, when he did the surgery. ...my upper breast is deflated a bit, and I have more sag than I'd like, but I really feel he did a remarkable job, for what he was handed to deal with. I will post photos shortly.
Good afternoon, I am currently 29 years old, no kids and 215lbs. I am scheduled for a Fat Transfer tomorrow with Dr. Morehouse in Albuquerque, NM and I am super excited. They doctor will be taking from my flanks and back, he suggested I get a tummy tuck but I feel that isn’t for me. He will be transferring all the fat to my butt and hips. The posts and comments on this website is great, it has been very helpful, but I see everyone has their own journey. I am excited for mine but nervous at the same time. Dr. Morehouse explained my shape as a “V” shape and I want that “A” frame. I always had no junk in the trunk but I worked with it all these years. I feel now that I am almost 30, I need that change and a little push with my appearance. What I want most is a smaller waist and a bigger behind. I explain to Dr. Morehouse, just by looking at my behind, I want people to say she had to had pay for that! I don’t want an average size butt or fits my frame naturally, I want big and thank god I have enough fat to literally make another person back there lol! I will take pictures later on tonight before surgery and after surgery and good luck to those who are taking that leap and making yourself happy, because that’s what this life is all about. BEING HAPPY ? Updated on 22 May 2015: Today I am sore to the max but I see a waist and a butt so I am extremely happy happy!