Breast Reduction Recovery - Atlanta, GA

I'm finally able to post pictures. I'm in a lot pain still and i had to stay over night. I had way better pain killers in the hospital then now. The ones in currently on don't help much. My ps said I had tougher tissue than expected and that is why I'm in so much pain. I'll post after photos maybe tomorrow if I'm not in so much pain.

It's been 3 days and I decided to go and get some more. It wore me out a bit so I can't imagine walking around my school campus next week. I decide to put some old shirts on to see the difference and I definitely do but it will be an even bigger difference once I don't have the swelling and the padding/gauze in my bra. Pain isn't nearly as bad as the first day

I decided that I want to give as much information as possible to the people who might want it like I did before my surgery so I'm going to try and give as much as possible. First off I knew how much I wanted this surgery and I did a lot of research into it before I got it. I watched videos and read tons of articles. I know people tell you not to do this before surgeries or Doctor appointments but as long as you know everyone is different with how they will look and feel post op then you will be fine. It is important to not set your standard high because you could be disappointed. My first step was I went to my Primary and told him I wanted a breast reduction. Keep in mind that I have thought about this for awhile and didn't care that I was still in high school. I wanted it. He examined my boobs and agreed it was needed for how large my breast were. I was a 34H and I'm 5'0 and weigh 140. He referred me to get a breast reduction and gave me a list insurance would cover so I called one of them and scheduled a consultation. It happen quickly because the appointment was only about a week or 2 away. I got there and filled out paper work and she also examined my breast and measured how long they were from some point on my neck and other things. She also lifted them and just started at them for a minute. There were also 3 other ladies in the room besides my surgeon and my mother. I had a nurse, her surgical nurse or something and than the lady who plans stuff I guess. (Not really sure what anyone is called). However she said I was a definite candidate and told me in detail about it all and what to expect and the risk. She basically answered all my questions before I even asked them. ( I had a list of questions to ask from my research) she told me she writes good letters to insurance and was sure it would get covered. The other lady than took me t her office and scheduled my surgery for little over a month away. It was going so fast and that made me quite happy. She gave me a peice of paper where she wrote my surgery date on the top. ( nov. 30th) it also had other info for before surgery. After this was just waiting to hear if I got approved and than my surgery. We figured they would call to say it got approved but that wasn't the case. I guess they were just so sure it would. I don't really know. But we called them about a week and half before the surgery date and they said it was approved. So jumping forward to the night before surgery. I had to stop eatting and drinking anything at midnight. ( I stopped everything at 11:52) I took a shower and shaved. I washed my face real good. However I couldn't put anything on afterwards.( that meant no lotion or deodorant) I packed my bag just in case of spending the night at the hospital and went to bed. Ps: earlier that day we put my mothers handicap recliner in my room so it would be easier for me to relax and watch tv and stuff. The recliner stands up so easier to get up and it is electronic. Anyways the next morning we got up and left for the hospital which was about an hour away but with traffic took about 2 hours so I was pretty anxious. We got there around 8:20 and I was suppose to be there at about 8:55. We checked in and then went into a little room and just got wristbands and my signed a couple of papers. The man told us they would call us back in about 15-20 minutes. It only took 5 though. I was really happy because I really had to pee. We went back she got my height, weight, heart rate, blood pressure, and peed in a cup for a pregnancy test. she than moved us into another room where I waited for hours to go into surgery. My surgery was scheduled for 11:55 ( I thought 10:55 but my mom told me the wrong time) however she was having complications in her other surgeries so it was taking a minute to get taken in. I think I finally went in around about 2ish. I basically sat and watched greys anatomy until it was time to prep. A tip would be to bring snacks for whoever is there for you. After a couple of hours I wasn't hungry just ready. By the time it was ready for surgery they put some liquid in my arms to "take the edge off" ( t was a children's hospital so they try and make everything as easy as possible) they than took me to to room in the bed and than made me move to the surgical bed. They put the blood Pressure thing on my arm and a heart rate monitor on my finger and tons of other things on my chest. They than face me laughing gas and talked to me and that was when she slipped in the Iv for anesthesia and than I was out. I remember waking up in pain in a big room with compression things on my legs and my chest hurting like something heavy and sharp was on it. The nurses were taking to each other about me going home that day and I just kept shaking my head no. I than fell back asleep and they took me to my room where they told my mom I wanted to stay over night so I was and she decided to stay with me. I was in and out for the rest of the night on percete(or however you spell it) my first time to go pee was horrible. I went to get up and it burned and hurt and I was crying. I had to walk a couple rooms down and than sit and whip myself. It burned peeing because I had a catheter in during surgery. When I got back to the room I was exhausted and went back to sleep. The whole night and half of the next day was basically a repeat of this. I was on my pain meds and anti nausea meds every 4 hours. All I ate was graham crackers and chocolate pudding. I had half a burger and one chicken finger and like 2 fries. I drank water but it tasted awful. I would sugges if you are picky about you water than being your own bottles from home because I hated the way the hospital water tasted and even worst I could taste the laughing gas and the anesthesia. I eventually went home I think the next night around 2ish. The car ride home was quick and I was asleep the whole Time in and out because they gave
Me meds. Someone had to help me in the house into the chair and the rest of the day I was in and out. Ps: they took my drains out the second day in the hospital and it didn't hurt. It was just like a tug and a small sharp pain like a pinch at the end.