I'm 24 5ft 5in and weigh 210lbs. I had a breast reduction done Feb. 1st 2013 and I'm so in love with the outcome just a day later. MY back and shoulders use to ache daily from the time i was 15 until yesterday.
I have been stalking this site since Oct. 28, 2012 and I have to say that I have viewed and read ALOT of blogs and testimonies and I am excited to share mine. I am a happily divorced single mother of 3 girls and 1 boy. I have 2 wonderful and handsome grandsons that are my world as well. I have raised my kids by myself and with GOD's help. With GOD's help all things are possible. I was diagnosed in 1992 with Myasthnia Gravis and have had my fair share of struggles with it. It causes muscle weakness so stress and fatigue are my enemies. At first it was hard for me to exercise because I would get hot and tired therefore I became weak to the point of my limbs not being able to be moved. I had my thymus gland removed in 1997 and I now carry around this ugly zipper scar going down my chest. I am in remisssion with it right now and have been for a few years. I am well knowledgeable with my disease therefore I know when to start seeking treament. I have wanted a tummy tuck since the birth of my last child and she is now 12 years old. I carry this butt belly around and deep down inside, I cry with it but you could never tell from the outside because I am always smiling. I love to smile and make other smile. I met a lady on here (shout out to lady JM) that had her surgery in the same town as I am going to have mine and the only difference is that her doctor is one floor up from mine. We have talked so much that it is like we are really good friends without even meeting. She makes me smile and I know she thinks I am crazy, but all in all she knows I am just a happy go lucky woman. My family decided to take a family vacation and everyone go to the bahamas for my grandmother's 80th birthday in 2012. So on August 3, 2011 I began my first Zumba class. I fell in love with this form of exercise that I was up to doing it 6 days a week, sometimes twice a day. Yes I was sore to the point that it was hurting to move but I made it through it. I lost over 20 pounds with this but found myself still with this butt belly. So after a year of doing this, I decided that I wanted a TT but was too nervous to call a PS to get a consultation, but I forced myself to make the call in October 2011 and the PS that I went to was so loving, kind and his people skills were so warm and inviting. I knew this was the one that I wanted. The office staff was just as pleasant. I expressed my concerns and he made me feel at ease and he let me know that the surgery is not going to make me "perfect" but it would make me feel better and that is what I needed to hear. He told me that the TT would be no problem and that he will do some lipo on my flanks to give me a much better contour shape. So here I am today waiting for my "FLAT" day to come and that is in 18 days now. I am here for any and all opinions that will help me with my journey. I am open minded to anything that anyone has to say. I personally feel that this site has been a lifesaver for me when I first found this site because I was full of alot of questions and concerns. By reading what others were saying, I actually got my answers. I just pray that my recovery goes well as everyone elses and my surgery is a complete success. I have researched TT procedures, looked at numerous videos on youtube that I dream about it, I talk to everyone about it to the point that I am going to explode by the time the 20th comes around. My kids have been a big help. My mother is supportive of this venture and I know my father that which is in heaven is cheering me on. My goal in doing this is not for anyone but myself. I want to be healthier and look like it in a 2 piece bathing suit when I go back on my next cruise. This Diva is on her way back. Updated on 5 Feb 2013: I am on my countdown and I have 15 days until I am in surgery and getting my body worked on so that I can be on the flat side. I went to zumba last night and while we were dancing around and I was getting my groove on, I was thinking that once I have my TT, I will not be able to do zumba for a long while. I have an obsession with zumba and I am going to be totally lost without it. I will have to entertain myself some other way when I am cleared to resume my exercise. I forgot to say before that I have to be at the hospital at 6am, which is an hour away from me and my surgery is not until 8am. He estimates it to be 3 hours. I am having a full TT, MR, and lipo. I am having scar revision done on my bra roll area from a previous breast reduction. My insurance is paying for the revision. Updated on 7 Feb 2013: Time is flying by real fast and this Sh** is getting real. I think I am starting to get nervous. I am just nervous to see what I will come out looking like. I trust my PS and I know he will do his level best. I was just telling my youngest daughter last night that after this weekend, I will have only one weekend left to get everything finalized and together so that on the 18th when I go for my pre-op, I will be good to go and just sit and wait for the time to pass. I still have not told anyone at work and I dont really even know how long I will be off of work. I drive a school bus and I am not sure as to how many days I will need to take off. Does anyone have any advice on supplements or anything to take to lessen the bruising and swelling that ACTUALLY works. Updated on 8 Feb 2013: Today is just one more day closer to celebrating the disappearance of my butt belly. I got my call yesterday afternoon from the hospital to do my preregistration for my preadmission testing and also for my surgery. At that moment, a light began to shine on the situation and it is really going to happen. I also called my PS office yesterday to find out how long I will need to be off work and I had to leave a message and the office called me back first thing this morning and he said that I will need to be off work for 3 weeks. I still have not told anyone at work and all I want to do right now is shout it out to everyone there that I am having this surgery, but for right now they do not need to know anything. I will give my notice one day next week that I will need to have this time off. Updated on 9 Feb 2013: I am finally in the single digit on my countdown. 9 days to go and I will be getting ready to head to the hospital. I know right now that I will not be able to sleep because it is after 1am and all I have on my mind is the surgery and what I will look like afterwards. This obsession has taken over my mind. Has this happened or is happening to anyone else. I ordered some Bromelain and Arnica from MMH and I am to receive it no later than Tuesday coming. I havent received any instructions from my PS as of yet that would indicate that he does not want me taking anything as such but I will get the paperwork before it is time to start taking the Bromelain. I also pray that those pills work with the swelling and bruising. Just reading everyone's stories about the swelling, it just sounds uncomfortable and I hate being uncomfortable. Has anyone else taken the Bromelain and the Arnica before and after their surgery and how well did it work? Updated on 12 Feb 2013: I have one week and a day and I will be in surgery. I dont know if there is anyone else that is feeling like I am feeling but this surgery has consumed my every thought. I can not sleep at nights and when I do all I do is dream about this surgery. When I am able to fall asleep, I wake up a couple hours later and then I have to force myself to go back to sleep and before I know it, my alarm is going off and it is time for me to get up and start the day all over again. I dont know if my nerves can take anymore. Next week needs to hurry up and get here. I am going to zumba at least 4 times this week so I am going to try to get in my last few workouts since I will not be able to do it for a while. I need all of my RS sisters to pray for my sanity. Updated on 12 Feb 2013: Yeaaaaa, got my Bromelain and Arnica today and I will start that on Sunday. I feel that it is really getting real. Went to zumba class tonight(night #2) and my back is killing me and my legs are like jelly. I will go again tomorrow night and that will be it for the rest of the week. I will do some other exercises here at home just to keep my muscles strong because I will definately need them to be. Updated on 14 Feb 2013: I am closer to my party date. I got my visalus shake mix today and I am so ready now. I finally got my paperwork from the PS office on instructions on do's and don't. I do have one issue. Got up this morning and my throat has some drainage that is making it feel raw. I pray that this goes away and it does not go into a cold like it normally does. I went to the store and got some Airborne chewable tablets and some ChlorTabs as directed by my favorite pharmacist but now I am asking if anyone has any other remedies that will work to insure that I do not get sick this close to my date? Updated on 17 Feb 2013: I am but a couple of days away now. I go for my PAT (pre-admissions testing) tomorrow at the hospital and then go see Dr. Whitt for the last part of my pre-op. I just pray that everything goes well. If all goes well, Wednesday, February 20th will be the day of the flatland. I got up this morning and thought to myself that this time next week, I will be minus the butt belly and covered up with a binder. I have gotten about 95% of my house together and my bed is full of pillows so I can sleep comfortably in my bed. I have a recliner and it is in the living room but I do not want to sleep in the living room. I started taking my Bromelain this morning and I have one more dose to take for this day. I just pray that the Bromelain and the Arnica do what it is suppose to do and keep the swelling and bruising down to a bare minimum. I will keep everyone posted after tomorrow if my pre-op testing and appointments go well. Just pray for me for I only have 2 more days to run, jump and dance around before my surgery Updated on 18 Feb 2013: IT IS OFFICIAL....my surgery is the day after tomorrow. I went for my pre-admission's testing this morning and I was stressed out over that because it was the unknown that had me worried. I then went to my PS for last minutes Q & A session and the nurse gave me my hibicleans to use the morning of the surgery. I live an hour away from the hospital so I need to leave my house around 4:45am so that I can be sure to get there by 6:00. Surgery is scheduled to start at 8am. Dr.Whitt said that it should take about 2 1/2-3 hours. I asked him how long it will be before I am able to shower and he told me that I can shower the day after surgery. That was certainly music to my ears. I will have to stay overnight and that is really not an issue with me as long as I know that I am not in pain and being taken care of. I am so excited right now that words can not describe. I will try to get some sleep tonight but I already know that I wont. Updated on 19 Feb 2013: I am down to a few hours now before I have to be at the hospital. I am officially a nervous wreck. I know that I will be ok but I think my subconscious mind has awaken and has decided to take over. I am so nervous that I can not sleep and at this point I have been awake for 19 hours and I feel like I could vomit. I am going to try and get some sleep as I have to get up at 4am and with the hospital being an hour away, gives me some thinking time and time to try and relax. Just pray for me on this journey starting tomorrow and I will keep everyone updated and posted with pics. Updated on 20 Feb 2013: Well.....it is time for me to head out the door and get this done and over with....I will update as soon as I can. Just continue with the prayers. Updated on 22 Feb 2013: PO day 2 and I feel really good right now. Surgery was on Wednesday 20th and I came home on the 21st. The hospital staff was excellent and my PS is definitely a blessing. I tried sleeping in my bed but after a couple of hours of bring uncomfortable so I moved back to the living room where my recliner has became my bed. The pain so far has been controlled and tolerable . I am going to try and start taking some stool softener and take a shower. I will try to also get some pics . Updated on 24 Feb 2013: I am PO day 4 and I am feeling great. I dont have to take my pain meds as much. I only took my pain pill and mucsle relaxer twice yesterday. I have to admit that I didnt have a BM until yesterday which was PO day 3. I know this is TMI but the gas is more painful than the actual incision. I have 4 drain tubes and to be honest, they do not hurt at all. I have two going in my sides and two going thru my mons pubic. I do not have any bruising but the swelling is certainly making up for it. I was going to take pics of my incisions and put on here but the swelling is more than I can bare with taking pictures of so prayerfully I will be able to when I go for my follow-up appointment on Friday, March 1st. Updated on 25 Feb 2013: It is hard to believe that it has been almost a week and I am still feeling great. I am swollen but not as bad as I was when I first joined the flat land. My pain is really non existence. I was not having alot of pain when I was in the hospital. I have been only taking a pain pill during the day and at night before I go to bed. I went to buy some more abdominal pads and found that it is cheaper to get the maxi pads that do the same thing. I took my shower tonight and found that my back was about to snap in half and my legs were about to give out on me. Luckily my youngest daughter was in the bathroom with me and she helped me out of the tub, she ran and got my massager and started rubbing it on my back. She is 12 years old and she thinks pretty quick on her feet. I quickly drained my drains for the night and got in my recliner with my heating pad. My drains for the day have been in drain number 1 is a total of 35 and in drain number 2 is 17. I go in or my follow up on Friday and I pray that he takes both of them out or at least one. They dont give me any problems but I am ready for them to be out. I am having some serious swelling and I am looking for some input as to how to get the swelling to go down so I can see some results. Anyone have any suggestions? Updated on 28 Feb 2013: PO Day 8 and I am still sleeping in my recliner. The drains are starting to irritate me and I pray that I can get at least one removed tomorrow as I go for my first PO appoinment. If they remove both I will be one happy chic. The binder that I have on I finally washed today and let me tell you, I did not feel good without it being on. I have it on as tight as I can get it. I just want the swelling to go down. I am starting to feel pain in my sides I guess that is where he did the liposuction. My back is still aching me even though he told me the other day that I didnt have to continue to walk bent over. Does anyone have any suggetions on swelling? I am open for anything. I also added a couple of pics that I took yesterday once I took my binder off to take my shower. I have to admit that the incision is already flat. I am going to try and take some pics tomorrow at the PS office and I pray that he gives me another binder because the stitches in this one are starting to come loose because of trying to get it tight. He said for me to wear it as tight as I could, well now it is falling apart. Updated on 1 Mar 2013: PO Day 9 and today is my first PO appointment. I will get to see my BB for the first time today. I pray I lose at least one if not both drains today. I will keep everyone updated when I get back from my appointment Updated on 1 Mar 2013: Today is PO day 9 and I had my first PO appointment this morning and I am sad to report but he did not take any of my drains out. I was sad at the moment but I know he is only caring for my well-being and for my own health they had to stay because of one of the drains is putting out dark fluid and the other one is putting out a little but still not ready he said. He took the bandage off of my BB and this was the first time that I was able to see my BB in years. I did take a picture of it and I am so pleased and so excited that it looks perfect. I am still numb in that area but I could feel when he removed the tape and the guaze. He really had it on there. So now I pray that I can get both of the drains out next Friday when I go back. I will keep everyone updated as there are any changes to report. Updated on 3 Mar 2013: PO Day 11 and I had a bad night last night. Started out after I took my shower, I put on my clothes and was straightening out the clothes and I pulled on my drain tube and not only did it burn but it came with alot of PAIN. I thought that I pulled it out but I didnt. All I could do at that moment was cry. Then I was eating a bowl of Progresso low-sodium soup and somehow or another I got choked on the juice and instantly started spontaneously coughing and it seemed like I was ripping every stitch that I had in my body. I cried some more. Took pain meds and I was having a hard time going to sleep and staying asleep because I was uncomfortable at that moment. I get up this morning and the one drain that had started turning yellow and was only barely putting out 5 is now putting out dark fluid and the amount has increased. I feel that these things are going to be in there forever. I need everyone to pray that these things cease and assist and can be removed this Friday. How is everyone else doing today? All in all I am still in high spirits. Updated on 7 Mar 2013: I am now PO day 16 and I have my good moments as well as my bad moments. I still have my drains and I go to the doctor at 9:30am this morning and I am so looking forward to it. Last week, he left both drains in and took the bandag from my naval and it is still HOT looking. Drain number one is still draining out fluid and it is dark red. On Wednesday it put out 50 CC for the whole day and today it put out 30 CC. To be honest I would rather he leave that one in another week or a few more days because the amount is still great. Drain number two on the other hand has been my favorite one. For the past couple of days it has hardly put anything out. Today's total was 5 CC, so I feel confident that he will take that one out and I feel safe with him doing so. Drain one has been my trouble drain. It hurts at the site of where it is going in and no matter how I walk, I can feel it pulling in my mons pubic. I had pulled on the tube that goes into my hip area last Saturday night and I believe I pulled the stitch loose. It has been bleeding more and I also think that it may be infected. I am still sleeping in my recliner and for some reason I have been stretching while I am sleeping and when I wake of the mornings, I begin to have some pain but it does not last long. I am due to go back to work on the 13th, but at this point that is up in the air. I still have a great deal of swelling and I would love for anyone that has any tips or tricks on getting this swelling down, I am all ears with an open purse to buy whatever I need just so that it goes down. My binder that was put on me the day of my surgery is falling apart. When I say that it is falling apart, it is literally tearing. I am posting pic and I am still swollen(I hope that that is what it is), but still happy that I still do not have the hanging butt belly. Check out the new pics and I will update everyone when I get home from the doctors office. Updated on 8 Mar 2013: PO Day 16 and I had my second doctors visit. I have no regrets with my procedure or the surgeon. I love his office staff as well as him. I have been treated with the upmost respect since day one. Today he removed the stitches that were in my BB. I didnt realize that I had the kind of sutures that had to be removed and with that being said, I didnt feel a thing because I am still numb in that area. I do have alot of itching on my sides and along the incision line but I am going to say that that is the nervers trying to reconnect. I dont scratch and the itching is not so bad that I need to put something on it. Today was also the day that he took 3 out of the 4 drains out. One of the drains that was on my right side and going thru my mons pubic was giving me alot of pain so he said to go ahead and take it out and when the nurse pulled it out, it had a really long blood clot and it was actually clogging the drain but not to the point that the fluid was backing up and causing me problems. We both looked at that tube and then at each other and that clot was so long it looked like a worm for sure. Then that site area began to really drain once the tube was out and the clot was not blocking it. I go back next Friday and the one last drain that is left should be ready to come out. I am still numb in my stomach but I could feel as she was pulling the drain tube out and it felt really funny. I am now hoping that since the drains are out, maybe some of the swelling will go down as well. I am going to bo and buy some pineapple juice tomorrow because another friend of mine here on RS has said that pineapple juice is suppose to be good for the swelling. I am now in the market for looking for a good CG. Does anyone know where I can look for a good CG now that I am 2 weeks and 2 days past my surgery? I would love to be able to walk in a store to get one and try it on to make sure it fits but if that is not feasible then I will have to order one online. As you guys can see in my pics, the binder that I have is coming apart so I need a CG ASAP. I am open for any suggestions. I need help with this one. Updated on 12 Mar 2013: PO Day 20. I am feeling wonderful. I still have one drain and I am only emptying it twice a day, every 12 hours and it is only putting out 20cc within that 12 hours. I feel that it is infected, because it has a really loud smell. I have it covered with a bandage and a pad and it still finds a way of leaking out and getting my undies wet. I know this is TMI and I apologize up front. My incisions are healing well because they do itch but not as much as I thought that they would. I am still wearin my binder and so happy to report that some of the swelling has gone down. On PO Day 18, I took a pic of myself and you can see the difference. I want you to check out the pic and let me know what you think. I am praying that this is a good sign that the swelling is going to go down even more so soon. I go for my weekly appointment this Friday and prayerfully he will take out the last drain. I think this drain has worn out its welcome and it is time for this thing to be evicted. I tried to sleep on my left side and let me tell you, that was a nightmare. It felt as if everything from the right was trying to join in on the left. I will also say that I am finally sleeping in my bed. I moved to sleeping in my bed the night of PO day 17 and I am loving it. Tomorrow is my 3 week PO since my surgery and I still say this daily......I DO NOT REGRET THIS AT ALL
Unfortunately you did not provide any photos. The key is the location of your nipple. If it is below the breast fold, you will not be happy with implants alone. You should seek the advice of a BC plastic surgeon with whom you can discuss your options.
I most always use drains with reductions. I did not until about 10 years ago, but feel there is less bruising and swelling when they are used. I typically keep patients in hospital overnight but this is not absolutely necessary. True reductions almost always require general anesthesia.
In my opinion the most naturally appearing and feeling breast implants are silicone implants placed below the muscle. There are, of course, other important factors. It is also important to select implants which "fit your breasts".
I agree that you should ask your surgeon for his/her instructions. I allow my patients to shower the day following surgery and am not aware of this ever creating a problem.
One month is way too early to determine the final appearance of a scar. You might consider using one of the OTC silicone-containing scar products, but you certainly need to give it a bit more time before your final judgement.
