Its a long road to small boobs!

My BR is schedule for Tues 23rd Jan, and I am so excited and a bit scared. I have been obsessively viewing all the honest, frank reviews on RealSelf for about 3 months now, and they have been a real comfort as I planned and investigated my own procedure. It only feels right that I start my own review as one day it might just help someone else. So thank to you all you ladies on here, I appreciate all the words and thoughts and comments on everyone else's posts, they have spurred me into action.
I first started to think about a BR about a decade ago, shortly after my daughter was born. The feelings of hate and horror of my large boobs came and went over the years, but increasingly the pain in my neck, back and shoulders have become almost constant. Like a constant dull ache on a good day, punctuated by bouts of agony on bad days. They have also kept on growing and growing, post kids. I asked my osteopath his views on my breasts and my symptoms, and he was a bit coy but basically said if I keep on top of yoga and pilates religiously for the rest of my life then I should be able to keep just about on top of things, posture wise.
But hell, is life about 'just about managing'?! And I came to the conclusion that no it bloody well isn't. At 44 I can see the rest of my stretching out before me and I want that life to be as fulfilled, active and happy as possible. In no way is 'just coping' good enough. The final thing that tipped the balance in the favour of getting a BR was a recurrent but benign cyst to the left outer edge of my left breast. The doctors keep draining it, but it keeps coming back and its uncomfortable to sleep on. So another mammogram later to give me the all clear and I was straight off to visit my chosen PS. Ooh, and I am self funding this. No insurance in the UK to cover this procedure, and practically impossible to get on the NHS. But it will be worth every single penny.
So, thats the backstory and I now just have a few days to wait before my procedure. A couple of photos attached - which took a lot of courage to take, its really, really weird taking pictures of your own breasts, especially when you hate looking at them. I am currently a 30J, although to be honest I think I am more realistically a 32 back, but I just need to wear my bras so darn tight for extra support. I hope to be a smallish D but am braced that it might turn out a bit larger. My surgeon is obsessed with getting the shape right as a priority so if he needs to leave me a bit bigger for a better shape he says he will do that. But he knows that I want to be as small as he's prepared to take me.
Looking forward to not have big red welts around my ribcage, and not having deep grooves in my shoulders. Every time I put a bra on in the mornings I smile with glee thinking how much pleasure I will have from throwing them on the fire just as soon as the op is done. Although I plan to keep one for posterity, and to remind myself how far I've come when the (inevitable) bad days during recovery come. I hope to have more good days than bad during recovery.
Hasta la vista, big [RS bleep] ;-)))

Day 2 post surgery and all is well. Feel sore abd tight but mostly just knackered. My blood pressure is very low (95/50) and hasn’t come back up since surgery. So thats making me feel rubbish and feeble. Will post more when I’m more lucid. But here’s a snap of me fitting in a tiny sports bra!! ;-)

I am now home, and doing some serious resting. Pain isn't too bad, just taking paracetamol and ibuprofen regularly. I have stronger painkillers but haven't needed them. My blood pressure still feels low and i get dizzy if I stand or move too quickly. That will pass, and my blood pressure is normally pretty low anyway.
My first sleep at home was OK, but its hard to stay on my back. My back seizes up if I don't move so I plan to just get up and do some very gentle yoga stretches when I wake as stiff as a board.
I can't really assess my boobs yet, lots of swelling and they feel tight and hard. But I do know my surgeon removed 1.1kg of extra boob, so it has to be a massive difference, doesn't it? So I am cautiously happy and positive about the eventual outcome. Everyday will get a little easier and I will get a little more active. Baby steps.
As to the operation itself, what can I say? I felt nothing!!! And really the pain hasn't been bad at all, tender, tight and pulling sensations rather than full on pain.
One thing that might be useful for others to know is that the anaesthetist gave me purely IV anaesthesia, no gas at al. She said that gas anaesthesia is the key cause of post-surgery sickness (something I suffer from badly) and I think she must be right as I had no nausea whatsoever. A huge relief.
No photos today - nothing to see really. Very strict instructions from my PS to keep my sports bra on at all times and not to touch my dressings. So I won't get to see his work until my first post op on the 5th Feb. But to be honest I am very happy to wait, I'd rather let the healing begin and the swelling to start to go down before I look.
To those of you who are having your surgery soon, you will be fine, its really OK.