I had fat transfer to my breasts on June 8th 2023. This is something I've been researching for years as I knew I did not want to get implants. I had a consultation a year prior and was told I was not a good candidate, I was thinner at the time (from being sick for a while) and he said I did not have enough fat and I would not get a good result based on how much fat might die.
A year later, I found a surgeon who uses "EVFT" - enhanced viability fat transfer. They use a system called Viality from Sientra. Part of the process with this system includes a wash with a polaxamer called P188 - this ensures the fat that ultimately gets transferred is of high quality and which improves retention rate. There are a lot of studies on P188 if you're interested in researching. All this to say, with gaining weight back and access to this new technology it seemed like a great opportunity.
I'm 36, 5'4, 137lbs, 27" waist, 38" hips, wore a 34C bra (I really think my breasts looked more like a B, but 34C fit me best), 2 children of which I nursed both.
Doctor said he could confidently increase my size by a full cup and then before I had my surgery, he said he might be able to do a cup and a half considering my breasts had been so large during nursing (DD) so my skin had already shown the ability to stretch a lot.
Posting this 14 days post surgery. Here has been my experience so far:
Surgery day - I had 360 lipo plus lipo to outer thighs and banana rolls and bodytite on my abdomen. I was awake for the surgery, it was not too bad, definitely really out of it, I kept falling asleep, dreaming, waking up and then telling them about my dreams lol.
First week - I was pretty sore, I felt like I had given birth because my body was so sore and my breasts felt like they were engorged with milk. I was up and walking around day after but very sore. I sleep with a wedge to keep me propped up and on my back (I am a major belly sleeper so this has been tough). The garment isn't too bad, my breasts have been exposed this whole time and wearing loose fitted clothes. By end of week one I was feeling pretty ok and started going on short walks. The whole time I had minimal bruising and my lipo sites have been healing up great.
Week 2 - at day 14, it was the first day I woke up and got out of bed without pain. I think I only have 1 out of 15 or so lipo sites that still have yet to heal over at this point. The first 14 days I've been "feeding the fat". The first 7 days, I definitely did this more and focused on getting in high calories per the instruction of my doctor to compensate for the metabolic process that would happen post surgery and risk fat cells dying. I didn't notice swelling start to go down until about day 8 and now at day 14, I feel like my swelling has subsided quite a bit but I should expect that I still have some swelling happening and will continue to go down.
Here are my concerns at this point in time:
- I really hope my breasts stay close to where they are, they have come down with swelling and probably some cell death but where there are today, I am very happy.
- I am concerned that the right side of my upper thigh where I had lipo on the banana roll was too excessive and might have caused drooping.
- Bodytite continues to work over a 6 month period. Right now, I still have loose skin and this was one of the main things I wanted addressed. So far there has been a significant change but there is some surface loose skin that I hope continues to tighten over time.
I have a follow up with my doc in a couple weeks and will continue to update/share. Once I feel like I am at more of a "steady" state, I will share more info like the doctor I went with and cost.
Updated on 11 Jul 2023:
I had my one month check in a few days ago. Doc is happy with the results so far. He says that my breasts should stay where they’re at now and the places he harvested from should continue to go down and just continue to enhance the overall effect. I am happy with the overall result so far. I really just wanted to remove some of the affect of having babies - inflate the girls back up, tighten the stomach, and while I think it’s still a work in progress - it’s pretty great and I feel confident. I really loved my boobs at 2 weeks though! Already thinking mayyybe I’ll do another round down the road but this was pricey so I’ll hold off for a while.
Updated on 10 Aug 2023:
I’m really happy with the results - especially my breasts and general contour improvement - it wasn’t significant but subtle in a really nice way.
I am hoping that the bodytite continues to tighten the skin on my abdomen, I’ve read it continues to improve and tighten for up to 6 months. I’m happy with the results so far, however this was the area I was really focused on and would like for it to be better still. The doc set my expectations that he wanted to first see how far the bodytite would take me before looking at additional options. I had minimal loose skin to begin with.
He removed 700ccs of fat and put in 260ccs per breast with EVFT.
Updated on 17 Oct 2023:
Happy with my results! Still have a little time for the bodytite to do more of its magic. Fat is stable at this point. I am considering in the future doing another round of fat transfer, just to achieve “extra” results. My main goal was just to bring life back into them from after breastfeeding , which I think this did. Also, I might look at other options to continue work on the loose skin. It’s a lot better than it was! Love that this is all done without major cuts or implants :).