Dr. Sullivan did my breast lift and removed my implants. I was very nervous about how my breasts would look. But I couldn't be more happy about my results. My implants were over 10 years old and I was feeling very heavy with them. Dr. Sullivan explained everything about the surgery and what recovery would be. Scars were a big concern for me but they are healing very nice.
I have had more than one surgery with Dr.Sullivan and everytime I go back my confidence in her skills show in my results. I had liposuction of my tummy a few months ago and I could not be happier! The doctor, staff, nurses and surgery center are amazing!
From my phone call for a consultation, the consult with dr Sullivan, the pre op, the surgery and here at 1 day post op with no pain, no nausea, so far my expectations have been exceeded along the way. I look fwd to seeing my results at 4-6 weeks as well as 4-6 months. I am a 54 year old male with full torso liposuction.
Dr. Sullivan and her staff were excellent. The consultation was great, it lead to me getting my breast reduction. I had a great experience, everything was explained so I understood it completely, and they gave very helpful advice during my recovery.
I've scheduled my TT for 3/12. Pre-pregnancy I was 5'0", 115-120 lbs, never teeny-tiny, but always slim/athletic without doing too much to maintain (I know...annoying). I have twins who are just over 3yrs old now & carried them full term, gained 50 pounds, my belly went from my hip bone to my ribs & was so big I couldn't drive. It's the biggest accomplishment my body has done - carrying them and delivering nearly 13 pounds (combined) of baby. After having them, I initially lost all the weight immediately (thanks to BF), but the weight was just in different places. But, going back to work, commuting, not taking time for myself...my weight crept back up. Plus I've had trouble re-learning how to eat like a normal person and not someone trying to grow 2 babies. Last fall, after seeing my weight inch closer to 130, I joined a gym & started working with a trainer 1x a week. He's kicked my butt, I'm much stronger & in pretty good shape but my tummy is a mess. I've gotten my core stronger but haven't been able to close my diastatis (roughly 2-3 fingers wide still). Plus all the stretch marks & extra skin. Blech. Most of all, I'm competitive so I hate being in classes and seeing people 2x my age crush me with their fitness! I want to be active and have fun with my kids, but there are still certain movements I can't do because of my tummy muscles - i.e. situps or any kind of movement that requires that kind of crunch motion. To sit up in bed, I still sort of roll to one side and use my arm to push up. And I hate that feeling of having my insides on my outside - I guess the hernia part. Plus, I turn 35 later this year. I know that as I age, staying fit is important but there's also part of me that just wants to look *hot* when I'm 35. I don't want to look like a dowdy momma. Plus, I resolved in 2013, because of a variety of things happening in my personal life, to STOP putting myself at the bottom of the list. Hell, I wasn't even putting myself on the list at all. My pre-op is later this week; I'm already locked in with my surgery date, got leave lined up at work and am working on covering my projects, and have help lined up for my hub & kids. I'm really anxious & nervous & excited... Updated on 19 Feb 2014: Finally took some. Might need to print these out to look at during those worst moments of recovery to come. Updated on 19 Feb 2014: Me at 36 weeks pregnant with my twins. I went another 2 weeks + 1 day. At 36 weeks I was measuring 48 weeks. Updated on 20 Feb 2014: Getting excited now. I had my pre-op visit today & am all paid up. I'm a bit of a planner and researcher and control freak. So my way of coping with anything like this is to be prepared and control as much as I can. Of course, with this kind of surgery, I can only control how healthy I am going in and how well I take care of myself and do what the doctor tells me to do afterwards. I'm hoping that combination makes the process go as smoothly as possible but am mentally trying to prepare for a worst-case pain level and side effects. I'd rather be pleasantly surprised by healing up well after, than be surprised by something worse than I could even imagine. I'm still really anxious...but glad I'm doing this for me. Updated on 26 Feb 2014: I keep getting really, really nervous about this. I mean, who voluntarily chooses to undergo anesthesia and pain? And I'm super concerned about the post-surgery nausea. I have trouble with pain meds and get motion sickness easy. After my c-section, I remember being fine in recovery but when they rolled me into my mom&baby room, the combo of the meds plus moving made me nauseous. I just remember vomiting and my husband and 2 nurses holding pillows onto my abdomen to make sure I didn't blow a stitch while another was holding a barf tray. I can't go through that again. Any tricks for eliminating that? My doc is aware, they gave me an Rx for nausea and will give me stuff in my IV after surgery. And I bought sea bands hoping that will help. Any other ideas? Things that make me feel better: 1) coming on here and seeing amazing after pics; 2) looking in my closet and seeing all the outfits I don't wear because I feel self-conscious about my tummy; 3) working out and seeing the skin hang down when I'm in a plank and knowing that won't be there. Updated on 5 Mar 2014: Nerves are kicking in. I've been worried about nausea so my doctor has prescribed me the patch. The nurse called yesterday with my op time (9am) so I think I'm close to all set as far as the doctor's goes. I still have lots of little things to do and get so I'm hope that keeping busy will keep me distracted from my nerves. Plus work is insane - I have so much to wrap up before I go out on 'vacation' for 2 weeks. So much that I am hoping my recovery goes super smooth and I actually won't need to take the full 2 weeks off and can start working from home sooner... Updated on 12 Mar 2014: It's 370 am now. Just getting up so I can get my last shower and get to the center. Luckily it's only about 10 minutes from home. Surgery is at 1015...have to be there at 9am. See you on the flat side! Updated on 12 Mar 2014: That's 730...getting up. Updated on 12 Mar 2014: So I'm home resting. The procedure went well and the surgeon said I had like a 4-5 inch diastais. One of the biggest she ever fixed! I was really nervous about nausea and so far none! I'm not if it was the patch or iv mess. I'm sore in my muscles...like having done a million situps. And the drain sites are just kind of pinching uncomfortable. And i expext tomorrow to be awful. But this site is amazing because the pain spots and exactly what i expected thanks to other ladies' stories. Ok...getting drowsy. Updated on 14 Mar 2014: Surgery went well. I nearly fainted when they put the iv in but that's pretty oar for me. I tend to have low blood pressure so iv plus me...not good. I am on day 2 of recovery and the pain mess are helping and I'm not getting nausea. The best things right now..my recliner lift chair, nausea patch and Sea bands, and big cup to stay hydrated. I'm not draining a ton out...so I'm hoping those things can come out at my 1 week and not my 2 week! Updated on 14 Mar 2014: Hit enter too soon. My P'S told me that I had one of the biggest diastasis that she's fixed. It was like 4 inches. I thought it was only a couple fingers width. I didn't have any lipo because she said I didnt need it. OK muscle relaxers kicking in...time for some rest Updated on 16 Mar 2014: I stopped taking my prescription pain meds already. I actually stopped taking them day 2 post op and am now doing just tylenol. I had to take a laxative last night to get a bm even though I am on a stool softener and eating lots of fiber. I felt so much better after that. I've had one shower and that was the only time I felt light headed. Not during the shower or taking off the binder but after taking off the top dressings and putting on new ones. I'm just a big wuss and seeing the incision site made me lightheaded. The biggest help though has been that my kids are away so I don't have to worry about them and take care of them. I can just focus on me. Updated on 19 Mar 2014: Woke up today, day 7 PO, and even without taking off my binder and bandages, feel SO much flatter! I'm not sure what it is - just normalizing and body recovering. Last night, I did have my husband readjust my binder because I felt like it wasn't supporting and pushing out the fluid like it had been and after he did I felt so much better. first PO appt is tomorrow...crossing my fingers to get these drains OUT! Updated on 20 Mar 2014: OK so that was painful. Apparently I'm a fast healer and 1 week plus 1 day after surgery and my body started to heal around the drains. So after the first tug the surgeon had to stop, give me some pain meds, and tried again in 20 minutes. Nurse had to hold my hands to get both out...ouch. but it was fast and it's much better with them out. Updated on 24 Mar 2014: It's day 12 PO. I'm just a little bit better every day and it's fantastic. Today I worked half day from home, took a shower and put my binder on & off solo, and (gasp) put on a little bit of makeup for the first time. I am 100% so glad I did this for me. I'm so excited to try on clothes...yesterday I actually wore normal jeans. Yes, my biggest/baggiest boyfriend jeans, but they buttoned up! Sleeping has been kind of tough, I just can't get comfy though I'm back in my bed. All I want to do is a full-body stretch! Each night I'm sleeping a little bit flatter so it feels a little bit better. I think I'll probably take a couple after pics tomorrow morning when the swelling is at it's least. Updated on 25 Mar 2014: I think I need to work on standing straighter....it seems like I'm leaning to my left. I started doing that when I was pregnant because my son was on my upper left belly and he was bigger and that was the only way I could get comfortable. Anyway...excited to have the last bit of swelling go down! And just a heads up that your skin may get really dry but I've been using body butter under my camisole under my binder and that seems to help! Updated on 25 Mar 2014: I hate that you can't edit the previous postings - get on it RS. the last post should say - I'm excited for when the last of my swelling goes away. It hasn't yet - I'm a little bit impatient but I have to realize that I'm not even 2 weeks PO yet. My doc says that you can't truly evaluate the results until 6 weeks and can't evaluate the scar until 6 months. patience...not my strong point. Updated on 1 Apr 2014: Swelling is getting a little better daily. I'm getting the itch to shop...now that my tummy is smaller and spring seems like it's finally arriving. Just need a little more swelling to go down and then I can try on my clothes to see what I have already! I'm wearing some of my regular jeans already even with the binder on! Updated on 3 Apr 2014: Good checkup today. The bad: still no driving for another week and no lifting more than 10 pounds for another 3 weeks. The good: scar is healing nice, all the steri-strips have fallen off, swelling isn't too bad, I can start walking for exercise, very gentle stretching, and massaging 2x a day to relieve swelling and fluid and scar tissue build up. Still have to wear my binder or spanx for support but she's being very cautious with my recovery since my muscle repair was so extensive. And that's fine by me, I'd much have a conservative and safe recovery than suffer a setback. I'm excited for my appointment at end of April to get my rehab instructions and exercise plan. I have a personal trainer that I'm supposed to start back up with may 1st buy I might wait until June 1st and do the first month on my own. It depends how fast I progress and how I feel toward the end of the month. Updated on 6 May 2014: I've had a major issue with some online identity theft so I'm closing down pretty much all my non-essential accounts online. Plus I realized that RealSelf keeps everything you put up - once it's up you have no control over it. I don't like that. So I'm out - take care ladies and heal well.
A vertical breast lift will help shift breas tissue more superiorly on your chest and will initially give you more "upper pole" fullness. It will also elevate the bottom crease of your breast (inframammary fold) so that your breasts sit higher on your chest. However, over time, you will lose some of the roundness in the upper part of your breast as the breast tissue settles. Having an implant can help keep the upper pole fullness longer.
I think you are wise to be cautious about who you have inject fillers and what, where and how much you inject. You are beautiful and you want to be careful that the fillers are not "overdone" and change your face too much. Different fillers are needed for different areas in order to get the most natural results, and the recommended filler will vary from surgeon to surgeon. Ultimately I would recommend that you have the fillers injected by a board certified plastic surgeon (not a technician or a doctor in a different medical or dental field). In my practice, I usually recommend artefill or restylane for the nasolabial folds (or "parenthesis around the mouth"), restylane for under the eyes and cheek bone area, and juvederm for the lips. I would also be conservative with how much you inject initially (not more than 1 syringe for the lips, and 1 for each of the other areas) - you can always add more if needed but it is harder to take it away.
In general, it is a good idea to wait 6 months to allow for post operative healing before you look at breasts critically to decide if any revisions are needed or wanted. This would allow time for everything to "settle" and give swelling time to go down so you can more accurately assess your shape and size, and give yourself time to get used to your new breasts. That being said, traditionally the "anchor type" breast reduction ultimately creates a wider based breasts than the vertical breast reduction technique. Since you are only three months post op at this time, I would recommend that you wear a good bra to support your breast and allow more time for healing. If after six months, you still feel as if your breasts are too wide at the base, you could ask your surgeon the pros and cons of doing a minimal revision using the vertical technique which would in effect tighten and narrow the base of the breast, with or without removing more tissue depending on how you feel about the size.
I would recommend that you consider having a vertical mastopexy (breast lift) procedure with or without implants. The vertical scar will be around the areola and down the center of the breast (but not under the breast in the crease). This procedure will move your breast tissue higher and more centered on your chest so that you will have more cleavage and more youthful appearing breasts. If you are happy with your bra size, you could avoid needing an implant. If you want to go bigger in size, your surgeon can help you find the implant that will fit your chest wall properly and acheive your desired results. I would not recommend just having an augmentation with a 500cc implant - this will create very heavy breasts that ride low on your chest and will most likely be quite uncomfortable for you.
It is a difficult situation when you have large breasts that are very uncomfortable and make every day activity difficult, but your BMI is high enough to put you into a high risk category for surgery (and general anesthesia). If your surgeon is recommending that you lower your BMI before you have breast reduction surgery, then I would assume it is because he/she wants to make sure the procedure will be successful and safe when it is performed (going along with the oath of "do no harm" - your surgeon is probably looking out for your best interests). It sounds like you have a good surgeon! However, it is also a bit of the "chicken and egg" situation where it is hard to exercise and lose weight when your breasts are very large and heavy. I would recommend that you look for a local place where you can do the Ideal Protein diet - a diet that will help you lose weight safely and quickly (around 3 pounds per week) so that you can get to the BMI range (around BMI of 30) that would make your surgery safe and successful. Good luck with everything - your surgery will be great and life changing when you are in the right position to proceed.
