5'2", 117lb, no children, first time breast augmentation

Sorry I'm updating late! Here's the summary of the consultation appointment:

The office is gorgeous, very modern and fancy. I brought my whole backpack like a nerd because it had all my things in it including my iPad and I wasn't going to leave it in my car, so I felt and probably looked tremendously out of place lol. I had last minute copied and pasted a generic googled list of questions to ask Dr. Corey and/or his staff about the procedure in addition to the questions I had already prepared in advance. I already put down $200 for this appointment and I was going to get as much value out of it as I could lol.

I first met with Crystal. She was incredibly knowledgeable and efficient with informing me about what to expect and gave me a very effective briefing prior to seeing Dr. Corey. I'm not sure how these things normally go, but it was a challenge notating everything she was telling me. Do other girls just go "uh huh" and nod their heads? There was so much valuable info she was going over I find it difficult to believe you can just brush over that much information and remember it all without taking notes.

Here's a brief summary:
the procedure will take place as an outpatient surgery at Mccormick Ranch surgery center, 2 miles down the road from the office.
Pre op will be 1-2 weeks before surgery
there will be a 1 week post op follow up, then a month, 3 months, and 6 months and a year post op.
the incision will be 3/4 under the muscle.
incision in the underarm (transaxillary).
Dr. Corey has been practicing for 27 years and is a board certified plastic surgeon.
during recovery, no bouncing around. no running, jogging, or elliptical for 3 weeks post op.
no reaching above your head or reaching behind you for 3 weeks.
no chest exercises for 3 months.
3 types of gummies (silicone implants): gummy 1 (softest) gummy 2 (middle) gummy 3 (cohesive, firmest). gummy 2 is the most popular.
selection of the firmness of the implant is based on skin, anatomy, and what kind of result you are looking for. gummy 2 is also referred to as "soft touch". gummy 3 is usually for patients who are very very thin and have thin skin who want upper fullness and they are worried about possible wrinkling.
the only test that determines if you have a rupture in a silicone implant is an MRI. at some point before your 10 year anniversary, you would usually need an MRI. that should be done through your PCP. if done by Dr Corey, it would definitely be out of pocket and not covered by insurance. You usually want to get the MRI at year 9 or 9.5. This is because you have a lifetime warranty for the implants and if anything were to happen, you will always get 2 replacements for free (not including surgery costs). If you get the MRI prior to the 10 year mark, you'll get money towards the surgery on top of the free replacement implants.
On average, implant last about 12-15 years. You don't need to exchange them every 10 years, only about 10% of pts have a rupture or deflation at year 10. If everything is ok and you are happy with the results, just keep going until you know it is time, but it's not a every 10 year thing.

That was the end of Crystal's briefing, then she took photos of my face and my pre op breasts and then I awaited meeting Dr. Corey.

See part 2 for the meeting with Dr. Corey, I have to go to bed sorry. XD

I had a TON of questions answered during my pre-op (which I will share! I just gotta sit down and type it ALL) which is awesome! Dr Corey’s staff were all incredibly knowledgeable and friendly. I’m quite confident I am in good hands and now I just can’t wait for the procedure itself.
Bad news is the earliest surgery date available is in February /sigh.
I didn’t book a surgery date yet because I have to request the time off work and I have to put down $500 minimum to hold the surgery date and I’m planning on opening a credit card with a good sign on bonus to offset some of the guilt and the cost of the procedure /wink
Note to those who are considering Dr Corey: he does not accept Care Credit, which I thought was interesting as it’s become a popularly marketed credit card to those with large and uncovered medical expenses.
Also note to self: I read that during the first few days of recovery, getting up from a sitting/lying down position is difficult without pain but using your abdominal muscles rather than your arms is helpful to avoid that pain. Unfortunately my abs are terribly weak lol. Hey, maybe the ab crunches will help with bloating and constipation from the pain meds too! Huh.
I have, among typing up my notes for you all, also on my to do list to repeat the rice test with specific instructions from Dr Corey and how to measure the rice. I will be using panty hose type socks rather than a plastic bag this time to avoid the irregular shape of the rice bag. I got lazy the first round and didn’t want to cut up a pair of panty hose so I ended up using plastic produce bags, which work well, but don’t conform well to my body under the bra.

So while I wait, I’ve been watching a few more of Dr Corey’s YouTube videos and they put me more at ease and also more inpatient to get the procedure haha. I’m in the middle of reading an article that described the difficulty of using a transaxillary incision when dissecting the pocket, however on a video uploaded by Dr Corey 6 years ago, he uses an endoscope, which offsets that disadvantage. I had previously watched a video from a different surgeon “realdrsix” where an endoscope was not used for a transaxillary breast augmentation and I got a little concerned. Apparently without an endoscope, symmetric dissection of the pocket and also proper dissection of the pectoral muscle is difficult through the armpit incision.
Anyway, also for your (and my) reference, my current measurements are: 30.5,25.5,36.5 for bust, hip, waist. I definitely gained more weight in the last 5 years or so. ;_; i think what did me in is bored-eating. I’m really good at avoiding unnecessary snacking at work, but when I’m at home, there’s food everywhere and it looks so yummy. I can only blame the covid pandemic so much lol.
My next task on my “to do” list is to find more doctors to have consultations with. I had my heart set on Dr Corey, but another Realselfer mentioned it’s good to have a few other consultations. I like the scottsdale aesthetic of being within the “safe to go to grandmas house” range of breast size yet looking amazing in a swimsuit. I’m pretty sure I’ll stick to Drs in that area. Vegas be too crazy for me lol. I knew that Scottsdale was the place to look into when I noticed Scottsdale is full of really pretty trophy wives (if it isn’t too rude to point out) so they must be doing something right! Lol