VERY excited to say that I received the phone call to schedule my surgery! I only had my consultation on Monday and it's Friday. I can't believe I heard back so quickly. I definitely meet the criteria for my insurance, and even though I'll so have several thousands to pay I know it's going to be completely worth it. I am super excited but also pretty scared. I've never had surgery for anything. I haven't broken a single bone, or needed to go to the hospital for much other than regular checkups. AND I have a panic disorder so I know that's going to be oodles of fun on surgery day. Also, ladies, my surgeon doesn't use drains. Anyone here that went through this without drains want to explain to me how that works? Updated on 5 Jun 2017: 25 days away from The Day. When I first heard about my approval I had excitement/anxiety through the roof but now that it's been a few weeks I'm not as agitated. And, knowing my brain, I'm going to continue to feel fine until a few days before and then the nerves are going to kick my ass. But as the days count down I keep looking down at my boobs and they just feel increasingly alien. They never felt like they belonged on my body and now I'm becoming more sensitive to their impact on my life. Now when I do things I'm thinking about how in the way they are for everything and I just want them gone, like, yesterday. There are so many activities that I'm itching to do, like jogging, and kickboxing, and rock wall climbing, that I couldn't feasibly entertain before. The biggest one is that I'll be able to walk into a store and buy a bra AND try it on I'm also a bit worried about the 2 weeks following post op. I'm trying to come up with a game plan of things I'll need to do. I want to compile a list of all the important stuff I'll need. Do you guys have any absolute 'must haves' that you didn't think about until after? I'm also trying to decide on how I'm going to sleep. I have a young german shepherd puppy that will be just over 6 months at that time and I need to decide on the kind of chair I'll have to get. I'm looking at recliners, but also the sumo bean bags, chaise lounges, and even papasans. I'm not sure what might be the best, and if anyone has a good suggestion for out-of-the-bed sleeping options I'm all ears. :) Updated on 15 Jun 2017: Exactly 2 weeks until my marking appointment! The nerves are real. I wish I could get there faster because I hate the butterflies. Not to mention that it's been 90 degrees and humid here in Michigan so I'm not digging this boob sweat. I'm on my last bra and it's getting gross but I just need to hold out a little longer. I'm going to buy so many bras. I'll have one for each day of the month, I swear. I was in line at Walmart with my boyfriend and they had bathing suit pieces selling for $2.50 a piece. So a full set would be $5!!! I'm so excited to not have to pay $70+ on a swimsuit or bra again (except for when I want super cute VS lingerie ;D). I just know I'm going to end up going a little crazy once I'm able to finally fit in all the cute stuff. My current goal is to find an adorable bralette. I've wanted to get one of those since they came out but never thought I would be able to get one. I hope I'll be small enough to be able to. I've been walking through bra sections now and the thought that I'll actually be able to pick something out in person is so crazy. I'm so excited! Updated on 20 Jun 2017: 10 days left!!! (counting today) I would like to make you ladies aware of something I wasn't. Now, I've never had surgery or my own benefits before so I've never known how this whole system works. This might be something obvious to you, but I had no clue about any of this. Last Friday I went back to my surgeon's office to talk about the questions I had forgotten to ask at the consultation as well as look at some photos of the doctor's work (Not yet put together on the site or in a booklet for me to see since everything was still only on their computers). Due to patient privacy laws I needed to come in to see the pictures because they weren't allowed to email them. After I had my questions answered I wanted to talk to billing because I still hadn't been told whether I needed to pay for anything up front. This is where my day was ruined due to my ignorance about the surgical billing procedures. It turns out that while your insurance may not require you to pay anything up front, this doesn't mean that the people actually doing the procedure won't. Let me break it down: There are 3 bills to take account of. The surgeons bill, the anesthesiologists' bill, and the facility bill. My surgeon does not require anything up front and (I have to double check) my anesthesiologist bill should not either. But the facility does (for me). Depending on your insurance this is where you can be royally f**ked less than 2 weeks before your surgery. MY benefits, which I had picked out at the beginning of the year, are amazing for everyday stuff. I picked a plan with a high deductible so that I would have lower prescription costs, and lower appointment costs, which were all definitive flat number amounts as opposed to coinsurance percentages that would make everything guesswork for me and I'd be much less likely to use my benefits. It is practically perfect for someone who never thought she'd be getting a surgery during the next year. I didn't even decide to pursue this procedure until about 3-ish months ago. But I digress... My high deductible, which was cut down on a bit due to having gone to the doctor and had monthly prescriptions filled in the past half a year, is approximately $1,750. It started at $2,000 at the beginning of the year. My facility required me to pay this, but ALSO I have to pay my 30% coinsurance as well, which brings me to a total just under $2,400. This needs to be paid day of in order for me to get my surgery. Needless to say I was in total shock and I broke down into tears after leaving the clinic. I hid at the bottom of a stairwell, in a dark corner, bawling my eyes out and trying to contact my bf and my mom. I had to wait for my bf to call me on his lunch and my mom was at work, too. I had less than 2 weeks to come up with this money that I had been led to believe I wouldn't have to pay back right away. I was supposed to go back to work but my emotions were out of control and there was no way that I'd be able to hold it together. I got permission from my supervisor and went home and hid in my room with my fluffy 6 month old german shepherd and cried right into his fur. An hour later my bf came home and I could hear him talking to one of our roommates downstairs, who had seen me come home early but I hadn't said anything to (because my eyes were red af). My bf came upstairs and told me that our roommate had offered to put my pre-surgery costs on his credit card as long as we could nail down a definitive repayment plan. I was hesitant to accept and just felt totally unworthy of his generosity and trust. But I did accept and, barring any other disasters, I should be getting my reduction next week. One more thing I want to add is absolutely contact your insurance after you hear that you are cleared for surgery. Not just so that you can iron out what you need to pay day of, but also to double check whether your reduction requires a Prior Authorization Form to be sent by your surgeon's office to your insurance. I had received a call back about an hour after I'd talked with them about other details telling me to make sure my surgeon had sent it because my 'surgery required prior authorization'. I had no clue if this had happened or not and called my surgeons office again, but the girl in charge of my documentation said that my insurance had said that I didn't need prior authorization! So she had to call and verify that again and the insurance girl must have been confused or something because I actually didn't need it. And I was figuring all this out less than 2 weeks before the day of surgery! Suffice to say, I've been a damn hot mess of emotions and anxiety. But I wanted to share this experience so that some of you ladies that might also be ignorant like me might avoid this last minute damage control. Updated on 20 Jun 2017: Updated on 26 Jun 2017: I'm trying really hard not to think about it too much. I'm really excited but also really scared. I feel like I'm on one side of the wall, and I'm about to hop off to the other side. In addition to the crazy facility costs, I also started getting this weird stabbing pain on my right abdomen just under my ribs. Since there are a lot of important organs there and I was about to do this huge surgery I went to my doctor. By that time it was 4 days after it started and the day of my appointment it had gone away. She couldn't find anything wrong, no enlarged liver or stones. And then, the following weekend, I caught a cold. Been slamming water and OJ and making sure to sleep a lot so that I'll be better by thursday. AND my bf's work denied his time off request for that day. I nearly went ballistic and would've called them up to [RS bleep] them out except I knew he would've gotten mad at me for it. So he's going to try to talk to them tomorrow. I have friends who have offered to help me out, which is just so sweet, but if I can help it I want my bf there because I know he'll be able to make me feel better and not let me freak the f**k out. I'll try to update as I can because I know how much I appreciated reading all of your stories. Thank you for being so helpful ladies! ^_^ Updated on 28 Jun 2017: Hello ladies! In approximately 20 hours I'll be in surgery. Trying my best just to chill out at home. I keep peeking at the markings and where my nipples will be. I feel like in my photos they don't look as high as they really are. I'm feeling weirdly calm right now. Like the storm is approaching. I'm wondering how bad my anxiety will be tomorrow. I was told that the anesthesiologist can give me something tomorrow if I ask for it. And it's not even the surgery that freaks me out. It's the idea of the IV beforehand and the drugs that will get pumped into me. Also, I'm so excited for my new small boobs, but I know the first look I'll have at them after surgery will probably be really unnerving. I feel like it'll maybe be like losing a limb. Like what's supposed to be there isn't there. I have such a hard time imagining how it'll feel without them being so big. The last time I was even close to the size I'm going to be is when I was 12. I'm twice that age now. This is just so surreal now that I'm so close. x__x Crossing fingers now that payment will go smoothly and that my bf will be able to get approval to take off tomorrow. Those are the only things making me spam at the moment. I'll hopefully make a post tomorrow. See you then! :3 Updated on 30 Jun 2017: Updated on 30 Jun 2017: Hello from the other side ladies! I really felt way too tired to make this big post yesterday so I waited until the day after (warning, it's very long). So here goes! Night before surgery I was a ball of nausea and worry. So many obstacles had sprung up in the last two weeks that I was terrified that payment wouldn't go through, and that I'd still be too big afterwards, and that I'd be throwing up afterwards, and that the cold i was getting over would prevent me from getting my surgery, and so on. So I felt kinda pukey when I went to bed and the morning after. I cuddled up really close to my bf and it helped me calm down enough to sleep. The next day I woke up at 5am, and got up to take a shower. Most of my markings had been sweated off and I was worried about that. My nipple markings were still there, though, and Dr. Armstrong said those were the important markings anyways. We got everything together and set out, the sun starting to peek out of a gray and damp michigan sky. It had rained the night before so it felt very refreshing. We got to the center at about 6:10 am and were a little confused about where to go. I was told to turn left, but it was down the hall a little ways. We sat down with an RN to finish my paperwork, and when I was paying I had a blonde moment and panicked that I had done my math wrong and had forgotten $100. But I didn't and we laughed about it. God I was an emotional mess. So we waited in the lobby area until my name was called. We walked to my prep room and the nurse had me change into a very fashionable backless t-shirt robe, a blue hair hat thing, and grippy socks. I laid on the inclined bed and we discussed my current health state. Once we were through with that she left and then my anesthesiologist came in. He was an older gentleman and very nice. He was very reassuring and explained the process very thoroughly. At one point the nurse came back in to put in my IV and this is where the waterworks started. I was just so scared of that thing. But she numbed my hand first and I could still feel a sting, but she was a wizard with it. My bf was amazed and kept saying how cool it was. The anesthesiologist left and Dr. Armstrong came in at the same time. He was all smiles and positivity. He shook my and my bf's hands and answered any final questions we had, which weren't much at this point. He was very caring and helped to calm me down. After he left my bf told me how amazed he was about the bedside manner here. Next, my nurse cane back in to give me my relaxing drugs to which I said, "Oh thank god. I'm so ready for them." She said it would take a few minutes to really get into my bloodstream, but it was more life 30 seconds. It was super weird feeling because it was kinda cold and slowly I could feel it spreading up my arm. It hit me all at once and I got super dizzy and so she adjusted my bed so that I was laying down a bit more. Things started getting foggy after that. I remember getting a kiss from my bf, and my bed being raised up, with the sides pulled up so I wouldn't fall out. They wheeled me out of the room and took me into the operating room. Dr. Armstrong, my anesthesiologist, and a couple nurses were in there, and those ladies introduced themselves. I kept glancing up above me and the big overhead lights were aimed over me, and they were shiny like the inside of a Christmas bulb. They laid my arms out so that I was in a 'T' formation, and then I was given my anesthesia. They had to prop me up, can't remember why, and then the drugs hit me all at once and I felt nauseous/dizzy and I told them that. They eventually laid me back down and I was given oxygen and I was told to take 4 deep breaths. And then after breath number 3 it was lights out. Next thing I remember is waking up in recovery with a nurse and I joked that my 30 second breast reduction was awesome and that the doctor was talented. I also asked her 'Come here often?' And she laughed and said yes, five days a week. She asked about my pain level, which I told her was an 8.5 so she gave me some more liquid pain killers. My face started itching like maaaaad, which apparently can be a side effect of the anesthesia so she gave me a dry washcloth to itch my face with. She asked me after about 10 minutes about my pain level and I told her it was still pretty high, like a 7.8 so she gave me something different and that made me crazy sleepy. So she had to leave at some point and I tried to stay awake but nodded off and I caught myself snoring several times. At some point she came back to wheel me back to the room I was prepped in. We stopped by the bathroom so that I could try to pee, and I couldn't make myself so I got back to the prep room and she asked if I wanted anything to drink or eat. I chose orange jello and sprite. While I sipped on that my bf came back in and asked how I was feeling and I said my boobs hurt, like I just had surgery or something. My anesthesiologist came back in to check on me and my nausea levels, which were shockingly non existent. I thanked him for 'keeping me alive.' and he laughed and said no problem. After some time the nurse removed my IV and I was able to get dressed (my bf helping me with my underwear and pants) and then we went to try the bathroom again and this time I was able to pee. After that we left and I called my mom to tell her I was okay and heading home. For the rest of the evening my bf played nurse for me and my 6 month german shepherd was distressed because I was blocked off from him. He specifically likes to jump into chests and snuggle hardcore so he wasn't allowed to be near me. So, now it's the day after. I'm taking Hydrocordon (Norco) at 325 mg. I take two pills every two hours and my boobs still hurt quite a lot, but the medication makes me really tired so I tend to just sleep through it. It kinda feels like they were ran over by a semi, but I'm so excited because they're so small and I know they're just going to get smaller as the swelling goes down and I remove my bandages. Thanks for reading my story! I'll continue to post updates as I heal. For now I'm going to go and pass out again. Updated on 1 Jul 2017: Definitely buy yourself some laxatives, ladies. I knew that constipation was going to be a thing and I've been bloated as all get out. Took some ducolax yesterday at 6pm and it hit me about 12 hours later and I felt nauseous. And again now that it's mid afternoon. Might be a bit TMI but I'm feeling a whole lot 'cleaner' on the inside now. Also keep yourself hydrated and it will help the whole process move along. Things I currently wish I had are a neck pillow because I'm sleeping on a recliner, and ice to put in my ice bags. Your tatas will swell up a lot in the 24 hours afterwards. My sides especially are pretty sore, but combining ice packs and my Norco makes a bigger difference than just the pain meds alone. I've been taking those every 4 hours religiously, even at night. Today is the 2nd day after surgery and the pain isn't as intense as it was yesterday, but still sucks. I peeked under my dressings and saw my nipples and poking them I couldn't really feel anything. Kind of expected that and it might change as time goes on, but it's a weird feeling. I also feel my fingertips in other spots besides where I'm touching and that's trippy too. I just have to keep in mind that my final result won't be really known for several months up to a year later and I need to be patient. Haven't taken a shower yet because I'm scared to take all the dressings off and mess something up. Dr. Armstrong did say that I could take a shower 24 hours after surgery but I'm too paranoid. I'm thinking I might try tomorrow but we'll see! Updated on 1 Jul 2017: Updated on 3 Jul 2017: The itch is real. I'm not nearly as bad as some girls I've seen on here, but where I am bruised I've been crazy itchy. I bought some non-drowsy antihistamines and I just took one so we'll see if that helps. The pain isn't as bad as the first 2 days and today they aren't feeling as firm or solid. The top of them are starting to soften up a little bit so I think my swelling is going down a bit. I took a shower yesterday with the help of my beau, and that was stressful. He wanted to shower first so that he could focus on me so I'd been standing for a few minutes and as the humidity got worse I became nauseous and dizzy and felt like passing out. So I wrapped myself in a towel and waited in my living room because I needed to sit down and get some fresh air. That was scary. I'm still oozing a teeny bit in a couple of spots which I think also made me freak out when I took the original gauze and padding off. I hate blood and I'm just so scared that my incisions will come apart, even though everyone is assuring me that it won't happen and that I've been super careful to not over exert myself. So I think that contributed to my dizziness and made me panic. So when it was my turn to get in I had the water lukewarm and let it just run over the girls and just dripped suds on them from a loofah. We got all the basic spots clean and then I was out right away. He helped me dry them and put new dressings on. He's just been so awesome and I'm so lucky to have such a caring guy ^_^ But lordy was it a relief to have clean hair. I was starting to look like an Italian car salesman with how oily I was getting. So far so good! I have my first post-op appointment on wednesday, July 5th, and I'm really looking forward to hearing professional opinions on my healing experiences. Updated on 6 Jul 2017: Hello ladies! Had my post op appointment yesterday! I woke up with leftie pretty sore and I was down to my last few pills, so at my appointment I was able to get a refill. Dr. Armstrong said everything was looking great. My bruises are minimal in comparison to a lot of the girls on here and I'm grateful. They're turning quite a lovely shade of diluted mustard. :) I'm still itchy as f**k, but I know it's from my body revving up the histamines for healing and also the nerves trying to grow back so I've just been taking an antihistamine and a Norco and it clears it up for the most part. Now here's the part that is concerning me a little. Right before bed I took my bra off to look at the girls (I just adore them and can't get over how small they are) and I noticed that rightie has a bit of redness on the lower bottom of it. I attached some pics of it so that you can see it. It's not itchy, or tender. I don't have a fever or any sudden nausea either. It's just a little red. I have an anxiety disorder so I'm kind of fixating on it a bit and can't get it off my mind. I'm thinking I might call my surgeon's office tomorrow to figure out if it's something I should worry about. I'm hoping it'll just disappear. I'm giving it about 24 hours to clear up. So, if any of you girlies have had a similar experience and might be able to give me some advice I'd definitely appreciate it! Updated on 17 Jul 2017: I hath returneth. Had a bit of a scare the last 10 days. Up until about 3-4 days ago I was terrified that I was infected. You'll see in the pics here that I got pretty red. It was warm to the touch, I was internally itching like crazy, too. It was at least as itchy as chicken pox but on the inside of my boobs. I was taking antihistamines every 12 hours when I'd be allowed to take another one. I put cold packs on them to try to dull the itch, but since I'm also numb in some spots I had to be careful. It was so itchy that I had a hard time falling asleep. I thought that I HAD to be infected, or that I was allergic to the tape I was using to keep gauze on my incisions. Even though I was cleared to let my steri strips fall off and everything I'm still bandaging myself and trying really hard to keep myself aired out. That's been difficult since I live in Michigan which, despite being a northern state, has pretty rotten summers which are humid and have been about 85-95 degrees everyday. And I live in a house with no AC except for my bedroom. I ended up getting so nervous about the tape that I took everything off at one point, removed any loose steri strips/snipping what was curling up, and took a shower where I gingerly soaped up the incisions that were exposed with antibacterial soap. I wanted to eliminate anything that could have been causing a possible itch. I also had tape residue on my skin and it all was just driving me NUTS I tell you! I had also attempted to come back to work after about 10 days. I felt okay at home. I wasn't taking painkillers anymore and I felt like 2 weeks was excessive. It must certainly isn't, haha. I have a desk job that's very laid back and I discovered that there is a significant difference between sitting reclined in an armchair and adjusting your position up to 90 degrees at a desk. My incisions were NOT happy. Gravity stared pulling down on them and my nips started throbbing after about 5 hours and I had to tell my boss that I needed the rest of the week off as well. I used up the last of my PTO for the year and luckily my management is incredibly laid back and only wanted me to get better so they were fine with me going home. I still felt terrible, but I just haven't ever had a big surgery like this and I never realized how finicky the healing process is. I ended up taking two Norcos when I got home and I was hurting pretty bad until the next morning. But like I said, since Friday the redness has decreased significantly! I had decided if it didn't start improving by then that I would then make an appointment. Now it's almost all gone. I think it might be possible that I was allergic to the glue on the incisions if that's what he used in tandem with the strips. It's the one thing I could find in my research that was really close to what I was experiencing. On a much lighter note I had to go shopping in a few places today. I had to walk thrive both the Home Depot and Menard and after that we went to Meijer for groceried. By that point my leftie wad feeling a disturbing pulling sensation so I elected to use the motorized 'amigo' carts. I felt pretty embarrassed actually since I don't look like I'm 'disabled' in any way and I felt like I was being judged. People kept getting in my way even when I was obviously waiting to get through to somewhere and it was a bit frustrating. But that's the extent of the updates for now. I'm officially back at work. Also, you can actually see visibly a little that my swelling is going down. I feel like my boobs are already starting to 'drop' and they're on their way to being rounder. They look kinda big in my pictures but they're totally not. I feel so flat. It's amazing! I can't wait until I can exercise and get myself back to a healthier size. I'm hoping it'll reduce me further at that point. TTFN! Updated on 17 Jul 2017: That last update was typo city! Updated on 26 Jul 2017: Hello again everyone! As of tomorrow it will have been exactly 4 weeks since surgery. Over the course of these 4 weeks there have been a lot of unexpected healing quirks that my body is doing. I don't know if I've been overly descriptive of what I'm going through, but I figure that maybe ONE person might read this during their recovery and it'll reveal something they didn't realize before. Like the redness problem. I couldn't find anything that didn't suggest infection. In fact, it seems like any little thing could be infection so it's been nerve-wracking. The redness was the first curve ball. For the most part that's all gone. Then there was the ungodly itchiness. After that it was just figuring out when I was able to go back to work (spoiler: not as quickly as I thought I could). The past week has has been eventful in new ways. A few days ago I discovered that my nipples were pushing out some of the dissolvable stitches in the form of small pockets of yellowish liquid. I'm not going to mince words, because I was just so grossed out by it, but the liquid was very reminiscent of popping a pimple. Except there wasn't a 'head' or anything. Just a hole that I could squeeze that grossness out of. After dealing with that I started soaping everything up with anti bacterial soap, rinsed, dried, applied neosporin, and then carefully bandaged everything up. You'll see that I included a few pictures of rightie, and that's from today. Nipple has two teeny holes with a sort of yellow clot that I'm just leaving alone. I've been putting neosporin on that, too, and it's smaller than a few days ago so I think it's just doing its own thing, which is fine by me. However, I have been feeling some irritation at the bottom of my 'anchors', but especially on rightie. So yesterday I removed the steri strips on it because I feel like part of my problem is that every kind of goo that came out of those incisions since surgery has been trapped under those strips. By the time I removed these in particular they were covered in a slimy layer of old blood and yellowish-green healing goo (I think it's healing goo, anyways). They were just gross and scary to look at. As I was saying though, under the strips at the bottom of the anchor were some red, irritated incisions. A few spots sting. I cleaned them up last night and put neosporin on it and covered it up with fresh gauze with lots of tape to keep tension in that area. I'm hoping that they'll be able to breathe a little better and the redness and irritation will go away. I'm sure my left side is the same, but it's not feeling as bad as rightie did so I'm waiting on doing anything on that side. This entire time I've been told by a lot of other girls to leave the steri strips on, but they were just so gross and I don't see how that wouldn't just trap bacteria. I know compared to some I'm definitely not anywhere near having a difficult healing process, but I have to admit I'm a little jealous of the girls that had their steri strips and everything off after 2 weeks and looked like they were 2 months in the healing process instead. I'm really ready to just have everything tightly sealed, no gooey crap, and especially NO MEDICAL TAPE. That stuff is the most annoying and difficult to ignore part of this. Well, I think that's about it for this update. Until next time!
