POSTED UNDER Breast Reduction REVIEWS
Breast Reduction to End Back Pain and Jump Start Weight Loss - Bay Area, CA
ORIGINAL POST
I’m a 41 year-old woman and I had a breast...
WORTH IT
I’m a 41 year-old woman and I had a breast reduction (BR) on August 7, 2014.
My Back Story
Like most people considering a BR, I had tremendous back pain and my life as a younger athlete was a distant, cloudy memory. Neck and shoulder pain along with the deep groves of uncomfortable bras made me feel as if I were ruled by my breasts. Clothes are hard to find that really fit properly and when searching for bras, I generally looked for the ones with the most underwire, widest straps and no lace or frills. Super sexy. I had considered breast reduction since high school. I used to smash them down and try to imagine what they’d look like as C’s or B’s. I was a G. All boobs for while, then all everything.
My Fat Story
I gained 80 pounds and became morbidly obese according to the BMI charts. I was usually good for about two weeks of exercise per 3-months or so and often rewarded my hard work with pizza, so naturally, I became a giant [RS bleep]. I had read and heard that to be a good candidate for BR surgery that you needed to be at a stable and healthy weight. I am 5’9 and weigh 270 lbs. There’s nothing healthy or stable about that. I went for it anyway because at 270, with 40 G boobs, the world is hard to navigate and I was at the point where it was Now or Never. Forget back discomfort, I needed to get healthy and decided to jump-start the New Me by getting my long hoped for breast reduction. (For those who wonder about insurance, yes mine covered it because of the amount of tissue removed. I had my chiropractor write a letter saying that a BR would be a health benefit and included the letter in my Plastic Surgeon’s (PS) file. That’s the entire insurance story.)
Preparing for Surgery
Do yourself a favor and do as much strengthening of the core as possible because sister, you’re going to need those abs. Also, I recommend the following:
• A recliner- the lounge chair position is really the only position you’re going to know for a while so make life easy and buy one. I picked one up off of Craigslist and will recycle it into the world again on the Free section when I’m done. I spent $50 and it’s already paid for itself in spades.
• A bed lounger. You may remember these from college or maybe your kids have one, but buy yourself a back chair thing for your bed. My surgeon recommended 3 pillows for elevation and the bed lounger makes it easy to accommodate that level as well as offers a place to keep your arms posted near your sides, slightly elevated. I’m sure there are a thousand options; I went kind of fancy and bought one off Amazon for $138.
• A couple of good surgical bras. Don’t skimp on this. Major surgery requires major equipment. I like the Marena Surgical Bra.
• Bendy straws and plastic cups. Everything is heavy and you’ll have limited use of your arms.
• Create a little world on your countertop of things you use often and can reach. I have coffee cups, plastic cups, bowls and paper plates on the counter. You can’t reach up, so everything needs to be at eye level or lower, but not too low because you can’t really reach down either.
• Prune juice. The pain meds WILL constipate you. I took stool softeners every day but no relief came until I drank a glass of good old fashioned, disgusting but healthy prune juice. It works and you’ll be so grateful it does.
• Tylenol. No Advil, Aleve, etc. for two weeks post surgery so make sure you have Tylenol because you don’t want to take Percocet or whatever your PS gives you for more than a week because it’s a good idea not to become a drug addict during your recovery.
Day of Surgery
I had my surgery at an ambulatory surgery center at 7:30 a.m. I couldn’t eat after midnight (standard) and arrived an hour early to be prepped. My PS came in, discussed again what size I’d like to be, and drew on my breasts, using a sharpie and a measuring tape to make sure everything would be symmetrical. Then the little something to help me sleep, and gone. I woke up in recovery very nauseated and very sore. I barely remember the ride home, but I do recommend taking pillows along for the ride. Also ask whoever drives you to take the smooth way home, if possible.
When I got home, even through the fog and nausea of anesthesia, I absolutely noticed a difference in my posture and the relief of having 1200 grams of tissue removed was evident right away. My neck and shoulders felt light and free. My girlfriend and caregiver, Kasey helped me into bed. This is a time to remind you that being taken care of is often as hard as taking care of someone else. Maybe even harder. You must remember that your caregiver is an angel and not a [RS bleep] idiot because she can’t get your pillows right. Patience is everything and it is hard to find when you’re trapped in your own body, unable to do anything for yourself. Be kind and if you can’t find it in yourself to be kind, take a nap and speak later.
I was home about 15 minutes before the vomit came. I felt a lot better after and so will you. Anesthesia is wicked strong.
The first day Kasey made sure I took a pain pill every 4 hours on the dot, accompanied with saltine crackers and icy 7-UP. This combo is better than steak, lobster and Champagne.
Day 2
Back to the PS office to have my bandages removed and to be fitted into my bra. Pretty painless. Also, I weighed myself and lost 7 pounds of boobs! Sweet relief.
Changing the Dressings
I hate this part. It’s so hard to stand in the same place for the 10 minutes or so it takes to remove the gauze, apply Vaseline to stitches and staples, and be re-wrapped. Also, I find that having nothing on them is painful. Compression really helps. This is also a time to practice that patience and not tell your caregiver that she has to hurry every two seconds. If this is the first time you’re seeing your PS’s work, get ready for Frankenboobs. It’s pretty gruesome. I’m still not totally comfortable looking.
Days 2-6
As with most recoveries, these are the tough days. You’ll itch, have razor sharp pains, stomach problems, irritability and drug brain from the pills. I recommend watching 700 episodes of something to take your mind off it. You just gotta get through it. I am reading, writing, watching TV and taking a lot of naps. You aren’t allowed to do much physically, so make sure you go outside at least three times a day. Kasey and I have a nice routine now where at the end of the day, after my sponge bath and re-dress, we have tea on the patio and watch the sunset. I look forward to it and I think she does, too. We’ve been together for 10 years, by the way, so she doesn’t hate me when I am awful, and I’ve been awful. Note to self * DO NOT SPEND IDLE TIME EXAMINING THE FLAWS OF YOUR LOVED ONES.
Day 7.
That’s today. Right now, it’s 1 pm PST and in three hours I have an appointment to get my stitches and staples removed. I am excited, scared and anxious. I don’t know what to expect! Stay tuned…
I had my staples and some of the stitches removed. Make no mistake. It hurt like a SOB.
Day 8
I guess it is the trauma of the removal, but I don’t feel so good. Bad day.
My Back Story
Like most people considering a BR, I had tremendous back pain and my life as a younger athlete was a distant, cloudy memory. Neck and shoulder pain along with the deep groves of uncomfortable bras made me feel as if I were ruled by my breasts. Clothes are hard to find that really fit properly and when searching for bras, I generally looked for the ones with the most underwire, widest straps and no lace or frills. Super sexy. I had considered breast reduction since high school. I used to smash them down and try to imagine what they’d look like as C’s or B’s. I was a G. All boobs for while, then all everything.
My Fat Story
I gained 80 pounds and became morbidly obese according to the BMI charts. I was usually good for about two weeks of exercise per 3-months or so and often rewarded my hard work with pizza, so naturally, I became a giant [RS bleep]. I had read and heard that to be a good candidate for BR surgery that you needed to be at a stable and healthy weight. I am 5’9 and weigh 270 lbs. There’s nothing healthy or stable about that. I went for it anyway because at 270, with 40 G boobs, the world is hard to navigate and I was at the point where it was Now or Never. Forget back discomfort, I needed to get healthy and decided to jump-start the New Me by getting my long hoped for breast reduction. (For those who wonder about insurance, yes mine covered it because of the amount of tissue removed. I had my chiropractor write a letter saying that a BR would be a health benefit and included the letter in my Plastic Surgeon’s (PS) file. That’s the entire insurance story.)
Preparing for Surgery
Do yourself a favor and do as much strengthening of the core as possible because sister, you’re going to need those abs. Also, I recommend the following:
• A recliner- the lounge chair position is really the only position you’re going to know for a while so make life easy and buy one. I picked one up off of Craigslist and will recycle it into the world again on the Free section when I’m done. I spent $50 and it’s already paid for itself in spades.
• A bed lounger. You may remember these from college or maybe your kids have one, but buy yourself a back chair thing for your bed. My surgeon recommended 3 pillows for elevation and the bed lounger makes it easy to accommodate that level as well as offers a place to keep your arms posted near your sides, slightly elevated. I’m sure there are a thousand options; I went kind of fancy and bought one off Amazon for $138.
• A couple of good surgical bras. Don’t skimp on this. Major surgery requires major equipment. I like the Marena Surgical Bra.
• Bendy straws and plastic cups. Everything is heavy and you’ll have limited use of your arms.
• Create a little world on your countertop of things you use often and can reach. I have coffee cups, plastic cups, bowls and paper plates on the counter. You can’t reach up, so everything needs to be at eye level or lower, but not too low because you can’t really reach down either.
• Prune juice. The pain meds WILL constipate you. I took stool softeners every day but no relief came until I drank a glass of good old fashioned, disgusting but healthy prune juice. It works and you’ll be so grateful it does.
• Tylenol. No Advil, Aleve, etc. for two weeks post surgery so make sure you have Tylenol because you don’t want to take Percocet or whatever your PS gives you for more than a week because it’s a good idea not to become a drug addict during your recovery.
Day of Surgery
I had my surgery at an ambulatory surgery center at 7:30 a.m. I couldn’t eat after midnight (standard) and arrived an hour early to be prepped. My PS came in, discussed again what size I’d like to be, and drew on my breasts, using a sharpie and a measuring tape to make sure everything would be symmetrical. Then the little something to help me sleep, and gone. I woke up in recovery very nauseated and very sore. I barely remember the ride home, but I do recommend taking pillows along for the ride. Also ask whoever drives you to take the smooth way home, if possible.
When I got home, even through the fog and nausea of anesthesia, I absolutely noticed a difference in my posture and the relief of having 1200 grams of tissue removed was evident right away. My neck and shoulders felt light and free. My girlfriend and caregiver, Kasey helped me into bed. This is a time to remind you that being taken care of is often as hard as taking care of someone else. Maybe even harder. You must remember that your caregiver is an angel and not a [RS bleep] idiot because she can’t get your pillows right. Patience is everything and it is hard to find when you’re trapped in your own body, unable to do anything for yourself. Be kind and if you can’t find it in yourself to be kind, take a nap and speak later.
I was home about 15 minutes before the vomit came. I felt a lot better after and so will you. Anesthesia is wicked strong.
The first day Kasey made sure I took a pain pill every 4 hours on the dot, accompanied with saltine crackers and icy 7-UP. This combo is better than steak, lobster and Champagne.
Day 2
Back to the PS office to have my bandages removed and to be fitted into my bra. Pretty painless. Also, I weighed myself and lost 7 pounds of boobs! Sweet relief.
Changing the Dressings
I hate this part. It’s so hard to stand in the same place for the 10 minutes or so it takes to remove the gauze, apply Vaseline to stitches and staples, and be re-wrapped. Also, I find that having nothing on them is painful. Compression really helps. This is also a time to practice that patience and not tell your caregiver that she has to hurry every two seconds. If this is the first time you’re seeing your PS’s work, get ready for Frankenboobs. It’s pretty gruesome. I’m still not totally comfortable looking.
Days 2-6
As with most recoveries, these are the tough days. You’ll itch, have razor sharp pains, stomach problems, irritability and drug brain from the pills. I recommend watching 700 episodes of something to take your mind off it. You just gotta get through it. I am reading, writing, watching TV and taking a lot of naps. You aren’t allowed to do much physically, so make sure you go outside at least three times a day. Kasey and I have a nice routine now where at the end of the day, after my sponge bath and re-dress, we have tea on the patio and watch the sunset. I look forward to it and I think she does, too. We’ve been together for 10 years, by the way, so she doesn’t hate me when I am awful, and I’ve been awful. Note to self * DO NOT SPEND IDLE TIME EXAMINING THE FLAWS OF YOUR LOVED ONES.
Day 7.
That’s today. Right now, it’s 1 pm PST and in three hours I have an appointment to get my stitches and staples removed. I am excited, scared and anxious. I don’t know what to expect! Stay tuned…
I had my staples and some of the stitches removed. Make no mistake. It hurt like a SOB.
Day 8
I guess it is the trauma of the removal, but I don’t feel so good. Bad day.
BayArea415's provider
UPDATED FROM BayArea415
10 days post
Day 10: Little Milestones
Double digits! I've learned to look for the little milestones in recovery. I'm fortunate that I haven't had any setbacks so far (knocking wood) and am healing well. The most annoying part at this point is not being able to sleep on my side. The swelling on the sides, around the ribcage is pretty severe. I know my body will tell me when it's time to reposition, but it's not today. So I wait. My PS gave me Arinca Montana tabs to dissolve under my tongue. If yours doesn't or didn't, I highly recommend using them. They really do help!
There's a lot of down time. You'll want to find little projects that you can participate in and complete. To keep forward progress, I cleaned out my bra drawer and put all my giant bras in a bag to donate to Goodwill.
The pain has gone from sharp pains to dull aches. I'm beginning to feel enslaved by the compression bra and I think that when it's all said and done, I may have a bra burning ceremony or maybe just send send it to Fox News, where I imagine it's hot and fiery.
Stitches come out on Thursday 8/21, so that's something else to look forward to. I've barely started to think about the future--about a life with normal sized breasts. I don't worry or even wonder yet about what size I'll ultimately be because it feels a long way away. I see posts about women saying things like, "I'm 8 days post op and a 38C..." How would you know that? The swelling is still so significant, I can't imagine determining correct band size. All I know is now that my breasts are smaller, I can really see my gut, which needs some serious shrinkage to match these wonderful breasts. One day...one day... Photos coming soon.
There's a lot of down time. You'll want to find little projects that you can participate in and complete. To keep forward progress, I cleaned out my bra drawer and put all my giant bras in a bag to donate to Goodwill.
The pain has gone from sharp pains to dull aches. I'm beginning to feel enslaved by the compression bra and I think that when it's all said and done, I may have a bra burning ceremony or maybe just send send it to Fox News, where I imagine it's hot and fiery.
Stitches come out on Thursday 8/21, so that's something else to look forward to. I've barely started to think about the future--about a life with normal sized breasts. I don't worry or even wonder yet about what size I'll ultimately be because it feels a long way away. I see posts about women saying things like, "I'm 8 days post op and a 38C..." How would you know that? The swelling is still so significant, I can't imagine determining correct band size. All I know is now that my breasts are smaller, I can really see my gut, which needs some serious shrinkage to match these wonderful breasts. One day...one day... Photos coming soon.
Replies (1)
December 8, 2016
"...send it to Fox News, where I imagine it's hot and fiery." Dying! Thank you so much. Day 6 post-op here and really needed a laugh to break the boredom. Cheers!
UPDATED FROM BayArea415
11 days post
Day 11 and the Tickling is Horrendous
I am experiencing something akin to Chinese feather torture all over my breasts. I assume this is my nerves rebounding but holy hell it's excruciating and so very annoying. Something between a tickle and an itch is driving me mad I tell you!
Replies (2)