Breast Reduction - the journey

In short, like many other ladies on this forum, I’ve struggled with the pain and discomfort of having big breasts. For years I’ve suffered from back pain. My breasts felt like they grew overnight as I was pretty much a small B cup until my junior year of high school when I became a D (and it went up from there). I’m 5’6, weighing around 130-135lbs (depends on the day), with a 34DDD bust. My breast have become saggy and the weight is coming down.

I decided that I wanted to have a breast reduction when I turned 18, but I never pursued. The idea of surgery made me uneasy and I was about to start college.

3 years later, my pain had reached a new height and I made an appointment with my PCP to get a referral to get evaluated by a PS. During my visit with my PCP she gave me a referral to start physical therapy and to see a chiropractor. Coincidentally, I had an appointment with GYN that same day. I had a chat with my provider about the issues I was having with my breasts and she wrote me up a letter of recommendation for surgery!

I spent a few hours researching the plastic surgeons in my area. I found my PS, and booked a consult with her. The appointment was made for about 4 weeks after I saw my PCP and got my referral. By the time I saw my PS, I was already in physical therapy (2 x a week), and seeing a chiropractor (1 x a week).

2/15 - My initial eval went great, she took my pictures and explained to me the insurance process. I had brought in all my paperwork and letters of recommendations so they would be able to have it for the insurance. I have GHP with Medicaid, and the biller was hesitant to submit the prior - with for my surgery because they’re known to require 6 months of treatment before surgery.

I had no issue waiting a few more months if this meant I had a higher chance of getting my insurance to cover the cost. When I was leaving my consult, the nurse told me to call when I was ready for the auth to be submitted.

WELL - on 2/23, I received a call from my surgeons office telling me that my surgery had been approved! I didn’t even know they had requested the approval, especially since I had only began treatment a month earlier.

During the call, I scheduled my surgery for 3/12. Due to my age and medical history, I wasn’t required to get a medical clearance done.

I have one last visit with my surgeon on 3/9 to go over everything before my surgery.

Whoop!

I forgot to mention in my initial how much I’m ‘supposed’ to be getting removed. During my eval, my surgeon had an estimate of about 375 grams removed from each breast. Obviously, this could change the day of surgery but I’m hoping to end up a C cup!

I have an appointment with my PS for a pre-op visit tomorrow. I’ll be bringing in pictures to show the type of shape and lift that I want for my breast. I haven’t been given any post appointments, which I find off. PS mentioned the sutures she would be using dissolve on their own but I would have thought that I would’ve been scheduled for one or two post op visits.

I’m worried because my surgeon is always booked. I hope that she’ll be checking my breasts a few days after surgery! Has anyone else experienced this? Your PS office not scheduling post op visits?

Hi all,

I was going to write an update yesterday after returning from the hospital but I wasn’t feeling that great.

My arrival time was at 9:30 (surgery scheduled for 11:30) and i was greeted by a few nurses who took my vitals and other necessary information. I then met the anesthesiologist and his nurse, they went over the type of anesthesia I was getting and how I was going to get medication and sedatives before to decrease nausea. Or so he thought ...

My surgeon later came in and marked me up and answered any last minute questions I had. They came in a little before 11am to wheel me into the OR. I was awake for about two minutes until they put the mask on me and then I fell asleep.

I woke up at around 3pm, the surgery took a little over two hours and it took an extra hour to wake me up. Waking up though? Not so pleasant. It seems I had a bad reaction to the anesthesia because I was throwing up. I couldn’t keep any fluids down. I was throwing up for about 8 hours after my surgery which had my family and I concerned.

I attached some pictures of my surgical bra, new boobs feel a decent size just really sore!