Big reduction

Obligatory background: I’m 48, Australian, a bit overweight (although my breasts weigh 6kgs so not sure how much of that is surplus tit), 167cm, UK32-34 K cup.
I’ve been putting off this surgery forever but the back pain is really starting to bite and there’s never really a convenient time to be an invalid for weeks on end. Speaking of which, did anyone else consider lying in bed watching Netflix on drugs guilt-free as a real perk of this surgery?
I’ve never really hated my boobs particularly, but since they got a lot bigger post-kids I’ve definitely started to resent the impact they have on a lot of aspects of my life. I feel like I can’t go on, really, at this point. Perhaps that’s why I’m not feeling at all nervous only a couple of days from D (DD?) day. It just feels like something that has to be done. The thought of not doing it is far scarier to me. I worry about what they are doing to spine. I’ve also heard that having the surgery reduces your risk of breast cancer, so I’m up (down?) for that.
I have a 12 year old and husband to help me after the surgery. I suspect my husband doesn’t have the best personality for nursing, and is pretty slack with housework, so that will be interesting. I’ve thought about buying a bell, just to annoy him, but I can probably just SMS him from another room when I need him. He’s supportive of my having the surgery. He’s never been a tit man particularly, and he is worried about my back.
I’m the master of disguise and quite small of rib, so I’ve managed to avoid a lot of the issues people here talk about in terms of people sexualising them or commenting on their breasts, etc, by wearing clothes that swamp me and probably make me look much bigger than I am elsewhere. In fact, the first night I was with my husband and stripped off he was like “Holy hell, where have you been hiding those?!” Also, I was ‘only’ an F cup until I had kids, so I haven’t been this big for a lot of my life.
As a result of keeping my boobs on the low down, one of the things that’s struck me since starting this ‘journey’ (sorry) is that I get a bit of a shock whenever people (nurse, surgeon, anaesthetist, etc) mention how large my breasts are. As in large even for a breast reduction patient. I know they’re not being rude, of course, but I’ve just never discussed the size of my boobs before and no one’s ever commented on them. (My mother aside, because she has been encouraging me to have the surgery and is very kindly financing it.) So, that’s been a bit confronting in some ways. As was having my before-photos taken. I normally hide from cameras knowing how huge I always look in photos as a result of having the equivalent of two human heads strapped to my torso so standing there in all my glory in front of a stranger determined to capture the sheer scale of them was a tad awkward.
In terms of surgical goals, I asked the surgeon to halve them. I figure that will leave me about an E cup, but who knows? I figure whatever I get will be an adjustment and an improvement so I’m not particularly wedded to any size. Probably an E would be my ideal, but a DD or F would be fine too. I’m not interested in going as small as possible at any cost. I’m so big that I fear that going down to a C cup or so would carry a lot of risk, and probably not result in a great aesthetic outcome given the footprint of my breasts. Also, I have a pretty curvy solid build and I quite like being ‘busty’. Without big boobs I don’t have a lot going for me in terms of my body – my waist is quite small, but my legs and arms are peasant-stocky.
I feel like I’ve been running around for days trying to get organised. I’ve bought everything from laxatives to special pillows based on things I’ve read online. I also have a selection of zip up sports bras which I’ve tried on for a laugh. Zipping one up while getting my breasts to stay inside it was like trying to squeeze two hyperactive cats into a sock.
My surgeon is very experienced and well respected, but I wouldn’t say that his clinic has been amazingly thorough in preparing me. That’s fine with me as I’m quite happy to do my own research, but I could imagine that some people might need more hand holding. I’ve had one consultation with him, and it was pretty chaotic, but I’ve got faith in his ability as a surgeon so I didn’t bother seeing anyone else.
In Australia we usually stay in hospital for at least one night after the procedure from what I can gather (but we pay for the surgery unless we want to wait for years on the public waiting list and have no choice of surgeon).
I will have drains apparently, but I think they come out after one day. I’m having a bit of lipo on the sides of my breasts and I think that will make things painful afterwards but result in a better shape.
I’m not looking forward to sleeping on my back as I’ve always been a side sleeper.
It just occurred to me that tomorrow will be my last day on Earth with these boobs attached me to. Let’s hope it isn’t my last day on Earth!
I have no idea what to pack for hospital. I presume I can leave wearing a nightie? I have no button-up clothes so I can’t really think of what else I could wear home.

It's the second morning after surgery. Hats off to you women who were writing updates and taking photos on the day of surgery – I have no idea how you did it. I feel like such a wimp!

I spent the day before surgery getting my bedroom ready. Bed has been turned to face the TV, new pillows have been arranged, skirting boards have been dusted and the cat tower has been moved to another room in the hope that they’ll hang out in another room and not jump all over my post-operative chest.

The morning of the surgery was quite tense. I’m not the most organised person so I was running a little bit late, didn’t bring my wallet, etc etc. It was all quite chaotic, and my husband was anxious. Don't be like me, is my advice. I only started to feel pre-op nerves immediately before I went in, but it wasn't pleasant and I think I wouldn't have felt as stressed if I hadn't been madly filling in paperwork while people waited for me.

When I finally met with the surgeon he just came into the room and started drawing on me without much consultation. “Take as much off as possible, right?” he asked, and I said “No! Remember, I wanted to be an E cup or so.” He looked at his notes and said “Oh yeah – still busty”. Then when he was drawing, he drew the circle for the new nipple right above the current one and that freaked me out because my boobs are so dangly that it didn’t seem enough of a ‘lift’ so I suggested a little higher. He complied by about ½ an inch, but then I really regretted telling one of the country's most eminent breast surgeons what to do! If they don’t look great I’ll forever blame myself.

I suspected I’d be a post-operative vomiter (have felt sick after Caesarian sections in past) so I asked the anaesthetist to put a little something for that in my anaesthetic. He did.

The operating theatre I was wheeled into had big windows facing onto a building site. I was a bit shocked by that, but they closed the shutters over the windows when I commented on it. Apparently the windows are treated so people can’t see in, so I suspect they were just humouring me.

When I woke up in recovery – a big room with a few other people in it - I was really woozy and had no idea where I was or why. It was super weird. Once I realised what had just happened I kept opening up my gown to marvel at my new boobs (lack of inhibition alert). They eventually had to tell me to stop! I went from super-prude to exhibitionist.

I was told they took out 1.25kg and 1.5kg respectively, so about 2.75kgs in total. I’m pretty happy with that as I weighed them at 6kg before surgery and hoped about about half would be taken out.

A few people mentioned my surgeon is a “real perfectionist” after the surgery. I can’t remember who or why – I was too drowsy. It made me wonder if he’d driven them all nuts in theatre!

I felt pretty great once I came out of recovery and went into my room, and made a few peppy phone calls to family members, but then the nausea kicked in. Despite feeling like absolute crap, I insisted on being taken to the toilet rather than using a bed pan. That resulted in near fainting and vomiting all over the bathroom. That first day was so rough, and I kept thinking about the fact that women have this as a day surgery in other countries. There is no way I could have gone home in that state. The anti-nausea meds weren’t working and I couldn’t even keep a mouthful of water down. That meant I was still on a drip, which combined with drains and those electric leg massager things they use now, made me feel a bit tethered to the bed and not very comfortable. I still managed to sleep a lot. But I was really struck by how slowly time moved. I’d look at the clock, have a nap, wake up and check the clock and only 2 minutes had past. I guess that’s what being on a cocktail of downers feels like.

I felt so sick that I didn't even bother lifting my shirt to try to look at them until the next day.

The worry about the shape/size has started. Are they too small? Are they too high? Are they to splayed? I went into a bit of panic once I looked at them, but have decided to CHILL because I’ve seen enough recovery photos to know that you really can’t tell what they’re going to look like for months.

My awesome small-busted best friend has humoured me, sending about 20 reassuring texts and insisting that if they’re smaller than planned I’ll have a whole new world of strapless and shoestring fashion options open to me.

I am slightly nervous about being discharged – what will the drive home be like? – but it turns out to be fine. The nausea has eased and I’ve eaten. My husband brought four pillows along, bless him. Speaking of my husband, I told him to go home during my surgery because by the time I came out of recovery it was going to be 6 or so hours. They assured him they’d call when it was done, but no one did. So he got very nervous that something had gone wrong until he eventually called the hospital. I’m pretty unimpressed with that. My mother said she’d never seen him so nervous.

I’m taking Oxycodone and Paracetemol/Codeine. Thanks to advice on here, I’ve also taken some stool softeners and avoided any trouble in that department. Thank you, everyone!

I bought a weird pillow with arms that you sit up in before surgery and it’s turned out to be fantastic. The wedge pillow, not so much. What I’m finding is that my lower back is sore from all the lying around and sleeping on my back. My shoulders and neck feel great though. Fingers crossed they stay that way because that was a big motivator for the surgery.

The pain is manageable, but I was sent home with drains, which I think will come out tomorrow when I visit the surgeon’s office. Dreading the removal, although I’m looking forward to getting rid of them because they’re quite inconvenient and have already leaked all over my bed, which I’d made up with designer linens and was feeling very proud of (I don’t even usually make my bed, let alone style it with fancy pillows).

I am surprised by how much arm movement I have. I can lift my arms (I know I’m not supposed to) and only feel pain under my breasts, probably where the drains are coming out. I think without the drains, it would have been less painful. Not sure. I got my husband to take a photo this morning. They don’t look this wonky in real life. He said I had one shoulder up. Not sure I believe him, but here they are anyway. (And yes, I’m still wearing my husband’s shirt from the day of surgery. I didn’t wear it in hospital, so it’s not dirty, just in case anyone was grossed out by that!) Hot tip if you’re going home with drains: a pair of slouchy pants with pockets is great for carrying them around, but you might want to tape the outlets closed so they don’t leak.

A big issue I’ve had is keeping my cats off me. I have two huge cats who like to jump all over my chest, so we’ve had to cordon off part of the house and keep them in there. They are not happy with this sudden rejection.