31 year old anchor breast lift with silicone gel implants Hi there! I just had an anchor breast lift with (submuscular) silicone cohesive gel implants. 400cc's on the left breast and (If I'm remembering correctly) 375cc's on the right. I am naturally a D cup but breastfed for two years and so needed a bit of work to get the girls looking good again :-)
First of all, I have nothing but good things to say about Dr. Wagner. He's serious, yet comes across as extremely competent and caring. He's one of those people who you can just see the wheels spinning in his head as he examines you. He has done a great job of taking time explaining his thoughts and what he believes to be the best options, answering questions and setting realistic expectations. In fact, the reason he was my first choice in surgeons is because he was the one multiple people recommended.
As for the results...well it is too soon to tell just yet. I'm only about 10 hours out from surgery. Pain level is a bit more than I expected but certainly not unbearable or anything. It's more of an aching tightness. Uncomfortable and painful, but nothing that's hard to live through or anything. Been reading a good book so thats been keeping my mind off it. Did some meditation which took my mind off it also. Basically the pain is manageable enough to where it's not on the forefront of my mind unless I'm actively thinking about it.
I will update along the way with pictures of the healing process. I still haven't seen my actual breasts yet as I am waiting until at least 24 hours have passed before peeling back the bandages to take a look. Dr. Wagner said I could shower tomorrow but he recommends I wait until Saturday (which is 2 days post op). So I am going to try my hardest to wait, but I'm a bit OCD on cleanliness and always take two showers a day (morning and night) so feeling very icky now without my nighttime one, which is why I'm up at 1am writing this review instead of sleeping :-)Updated on 17 Feb 2017:
About 22 hours post op now. Pain is worse today. The pain pills that the doctor prescribed (Norco) made me awake and jittery last night so didn't get any sleep. I called the office and spoke with a nurse who told me that I can take Tylenol pm tonight to try to sleep (can't take it with the Norco though). So at this point I'm not sure which one I will take, the pain is bad enough to where I feel I need the stronger stuff but I also know rest is important for healing. So will play it by ear and decide later. I am hoping that I won't need the prescription pain pill for long though as I really don't like taking them. So that situation is a bit of a concern right now.
Here is a sneak peek from overnight, this would have been about 12 hours post op. I wasn't going to look so soon but temptation got the best of me. I know it's really early in the recovery process but I'm really loving the way they are looking so far!Updated on 17 Feb 2017:
I forgot to take an actual before picture, but I do have this one picture to give an idea of what my natural breasts looked like. I really wish that I remembered to take a good photo before the surgery, I kept thinking about it cause I knew I was going to do a review, but was so nervous that morning of surgery that it slipped my mind completely. But this will have to do and gives an idea at least.Updated on 18 Feb 2017:
Last night I took Tylenol pm instead of the Norco, which was the right choice because I slept a full 7 hours! Woke up feeling sore, but no worse than yesterday. No better either, but at least it appears that the pain level has peaked and should get better from here on out. Took regular Tylenol this morning and hoping to not have to take anymore Norco.
Swelling in the upper breast area seems to have gone down a bit overnight. I slept sitting up so maybe that helped?
Incisions looks fine from what I can tell. I took a shower this morning and that felt amazing. I washed with dial gold soap (doctor recommended) and gently washed the incisions over the steristrips, then patted them dry before putting the bra back on.
Been icing the area fairly regularly. Not sure if it's helping or not with swelling but does offer some pain relief which is nice.
Been taking it easy and not doing much but sitting up in bed reading. That part is hard because I'm the type that hates sitting still for too long, so it's getting to me a bit. I get up to walk around the house for 5-10 mins every hour or so, but other than that I'm just relaxing.
Stomach is still really bloated and weight is up about 9 pounds from the morning of surgery. I know it will go down in the next week or two but it's still frustrating to deal with.Updated on 19 Feb 2017:
3 days post op- haven't taken any Tylenol today. The pain is mild, it's more of an uncomfortable pressure really. Took tylenol pm last night which helped me to sleep. Woke up feeling heaviness in my chest but eased up after moving around and taking a shower.
Still a lot of swelling in the breast. Lots of numbness in the nipple and breast area as well and hoping that will go away in time.
Yesterday morning I woke up absolutely starving and couldn't stop eating all day. Normally I'm not hungry till around 2pm or so, but for whatever reason I could not get enough to eat yesterday. I'm a healthy eater anyways so I didn't stress about binging too much. Thankfully appetite is back to normal today. I'm not sure what was up with being so hungry yesterday. Guess my body needed the calories to heal.
Weight is down a few pounds this morning (even after binging so much yesterday!) and stomach is looking smaller, so the fluid retention appears to be getting better.
Had a bit of liquid drainage earlier from the incision, but not enough to appear abnormal. I'm keeping an eye on it though and making sure to take my antibiotics on time. Also, I take a multivitamin everyday and vitamin c (always have, but did up the vitamin c dosage before surgery and will continue with high dosage until I completely heal). So hopefully that will speed things along and healing with go quickly.
Assuming all goes well, the worst is over and now it's just waiting for the pressure and swelling to go down :-)Updated on 1 Mar 2017:
13 days post op today. Doctor removed steri strips, took out some of the stitches that were poking out, cleaned it all up and applied some new steristrips that I have to keep on for another week.
Everything is healing nicely. The left breast is still sitting high. Every day I can see progress and each day they take on a more natural breast shape. So far I am very happy with the results and cannot wait a few months down the line to see them!