I had my pre-op yesterday. Between reviews here and my doctor, I feel pretty well prepared. I am 43yo, never had kids, am 5’4”, and 147 lbs. I wear a 34HH and would like to get to a “full C.” And now I have to come up with words to describe how I want my future breasts to look.
How does this sound:
-full and round, so a nice fullness on top, not just the bottom
-perky (higher)
-nipples facing forward (and smaller)
-bit of separation between the breasts
-don’t extend much past the rib cage
-full enough to hide some tummy
I’ve shown a few pics from here.
Thoughts on what else I can say? Or do I need to get out a ribbon and measure and be more precise?
Updated on 2 Oct 2020:
Surgery updates:
Here is a surgery update.
Surgical center pushed my surgery out a week, so I had to isolate after my covid test 1 more week. This cause a bit of a work issue, since that was the week I had full coverage. But it worked out.
I spent the time cleaning, and organizing, and prepping. Put everything up high, at a level I could reach them. And felt ready.
So surgery 9/28 at 7:30am. Got in, did the admission, and was wheeled into surgery, where I don’t even remember falling asleep. Woke about 3 hours later, and was nauseous, so they gave me meds for that and more hydration. At 11:30am, my parents took me home. Got out of the car, made it up the steps, took 1 Norco, and went to bed.
Monday and Tuesday my parents woke me, or gave me 1 Norco every four hours. (I didn’t sleep well at all, but am really good at pretending.) And I ate a bit of food every time I took them, and walked around for a few minutes. TIP: start taking colace right away! I wish I had.
I don’t like Norco, and wasn’t really in pain. So on Wednesday, I switched to 3 Advil every 4 hours, and took the colace. This felt much better. And I had to work (I’m an assistant, WFH, and only had partial work help.) I mostly checked emails, and calendared a few things throughout the day, but rested the rest of the time. This night was my best night’s sleep.
There was some blood in the gauze in my bottom t-sections. And hoped it was just a bit of oozing.
Thursday was more of the same. And was the day I could shower, but couldn’t bring myself to open the bandages yet. So mostly, a bit of work, lots of tv, and doing nothing. And I finally had a bowel movement, and it was rough. (TIP: Take the colace!) I also, didn’t sleep great Thurs night. I don’t know if because it was too warm, or I had rested too much, or couldn’t get comfortable (I’m a side sleeper, and my back and neck hurt a lot at night, trying to sleep on my back.)
So Friday, today, I worked in the morning, toom the Advil (now mostly for my back), had another rough bowel movement (TIP: Take The Colace!) and took my first shower.
Taking off the bandages, there are no steri-strips or anything hiding any of the scars. And I’ll be honest, I got REALLY woozy in the shower after seeing it. The bottom t-spots are definitely a bit open, and the left side was bleeding a bit. Not a lot, but a bit.
Took a fast shower, not as thorough as I would have wanted, because I was afraid I was going to get sick. And got out, and laid on my bed to dry off, and calm down.
Then I rebandaged myself, and now I’m writing this.
I’ve been emailing my surgeon’s PA with updates. And I think everything is going to plan. I see them for post op on Wed.
All in all, I’m so glad this is done, that the pain wasn’t at all bad, and now I just need to be patient and let it heal.
Only thing, there is nothing left to hide my tummy. (Hoping some of this is surgery bloat.) But now that I see it, I hope I’ll make better food choices, to get it rock solid.)
Updated on 7 Oct 2020:
Just to start off I want to say that any weeping or oozing or the little spots at the bottom t-sections stopped by Sunday, so the PA was right that was just normal. And likely caused by taking off a bit of scab when taking the bandages off for that first shower. So yay!
Since my last update, this Sunday was day 6, and I felt good enough to go for a walk, and took my second shower, which was way better than the first. And was the first day I started to feel almost back to normal. Which is shocking to me, I was fully prepared for way more pain and needing to be on the medication, and being super groggy and laid up in bed for a week and a half. So to be able to go for a walk on zero pain meds and take a shower and feel good, was great feeling.
On Monday I started back at work but definitely took it easy. And I went for a walk and I still felt pretty good. I definitely thought I would be more tired then I was, but I did stop to take more breaks. I should note that my current job is at my dining room table where I am an admin and mostly just checked emails all day.
On Tuesday I took another shower and by now I’m feeling pretty good. The only thing I notice is that it feels like my breasts are in too tight of a sports bra but also not being fully supported at the same time and it’s a weird feeling.
Today is Wednesday, and day 9, and I had my first post op appointment with my doctor. He said that incisions are all healing well, and said that some of the surgical glue-scabs will start to lightly flake off. Their only concern was that everything is really itchy and they think I’m still swollen, so we’re going to keep an eye on that. But I think that’s because my period is about to start, and so instead of my breasts getting tender they’re just itchy. Hopefully that’s all it is, and I will keep you posted.
And kind of lastly I just want to say that the spot that has been in the most discomfort or pain are my ribs. It’s like the ribs right below my breasts, along the sides and then kind of on the back. Not really sure why, but wanted to point that out if others experience it.
Updated on 12 Oct 2020:
Today was 2 weeks post op. I’m still itchy and swollen, but I think less so than last week. The surgical glue is starting to fall off. And the breasts are starting to feel like they can hold themselves up without a bra. And I can see the shape better, and I’m really happy.
Also, and crazily, I swear my sway back is less curved already.
Outside of the itching, the only “pain” I feel is if I twist, and I feel a pain in the middle of my ribs. So, good to note, I still need to limit my movement.
Really the hardest next part is just being patient.
Updated on 20 Oct 2020:
Another week of healing in the books.
Last week I was super itchy and swollen, and the skin around the incisions were really red. At the post-op apt. the dr and PA made a note of it, but didn’t ask me to come back sooner, so I thought it must be slow healing and ok. Well, it stayed that way for another 4 days, and I was starting to get worried, but this weekend, all that subsided, and the swelling is WAY down.
The scabs and surgical glue are slowing coming off.
The current discomfort comes from:
- my nipples are super sensitive, and get irritated if I move too much.
- I still can’t twist very much, or I get a pain in the middle of my ribs.
- there is a weird rope like feeling that is pretty sore running vertically below my breasts, along the ribs. I can only imagine those are some internal sutures, but they can get sore.
- since week 2 my hair seems to be falling out a lot. I think from the “trauma” of the surgery, so I got some hair skin and nails vitamins, and am doing a scalp treatment with argon oil with rosemary essential oil.
In hindsight, I would recommend starting the vitamins sooner and getting the topical Benadryl spray for the itching.
One more week til I can try sleeping on my side. I’m so looking forward to that.
Overall, I think, while proportional, my breasts are slightly larger than I may have wanted. But they are so much better. And they won’t go down too much if I try to lose weight. So that’s good.
Updated on 22 Oct 2020:
Found out about the rope-y pain things along my ribs. This is from my PA.
“Happy to hear you’re recovering well! Thanks for sending the photo over, and we do see this sometimes after surgery - it’s called Mondor’s cords:
During surgery, we routinely cut through some blood vessels going to the skin when we make that horizontal lower incision Sometimes this can cause back-up of the blood that is now reaching a dead-end and it can get a little swollen and irritated. It’s something we call phlebitis, or inflammation of a vein.
The good news is, it tends to resolve on its own as you heal. Things that can help treat the discomfort from it are warm (not hot) packs and ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin). It can take a few weeks, but it does go away on its own.”
As always, just knowing that it is all normal makes me feel better.
Updated on 15 Sep 2021:
One year post-op
I meant to post updates at the 3 months, and forgot. One thing on the itchy, redness, and swelling for me…turns out I’m allergic to surgical glue. So others may not experience that.
The reduction size settled to a 34D. And for my frame, they work. Remember this was based off of photos that I wanted to end up looking like vs. asking for a cup size. And since I’d never been flat, it might have looked weird to go to small. Also, with any weight loss (that I’m still working on) I didn’t want to lose more.
The scars ended up looking like the indents you get at the end of the day from your bra. That’s it! They stayed very flat, and aren’t red or too shiny. I’ll be honest, I was not great about massaging the scar tissue, and there are one or two spots where you can feel the scar, but it doesn’t look any different. And there is a bit of a “dogear” on the sides where I didn’t do liposuction. I’m told if you do, you won’t have that.
The nipples still have sensitivity, and there is so much lift. In some of the pics, it doesn’t look like there is, but I’m bad at taking selfies. Between surgery (and WFH for COVID) I pretty much only wear bras to workout. It is amazing!
I’m so grateful to Dr. Mohebali, and Anya his PA, and Edna at the desk. They always made me feel comfortable, and reassured me through the whole process.
https://www.realself.com/dr/khashayar-mohebali-corte-madera-ca#reviews
Updated on 17 Sep 2021:
I’m so grateful to Dr. Mohebali, and Anya his PA, and Edna at the desk. The whole team made me feel comfortable and reassured throughout the process of my breast reduction. When people say, I should have done this sooner, it is true! But I’m glad I waited until I found Dr. Mohebali. I can’t imagine a better outcome.
I was able to go from a 34HH to a “perky” 34D. I can wear tops that I never thought possible, my back and shoulders feel so much better, and my self-image is leagues better.