45 and Ready to See my Toes. Charlottesville, VA

I have wanted to have a breast reduction since the 6th grade. At the beginning of 6ht grade, I was just pleasantly plump. By the end of the year, I was pleasantly plump with double D breasts. Needless to say, I was mortified by all of the attention that I received from grown men and all of the teasing from my peers. My cousin had a breast reduction at the age of 18 and she was always embarrassed by her scars, so that scared me away from even seriously considering the surgery for years. Not only that, since her breasts were so much larger than mine, I assumed that I would never be eligible for insurance approval.
All of my adult life, I would joke and say that when I turned 45 I would get a breast reduction. I was only half serious. At the same time, I started working out in my early 20's with the hope of reducing my breast size. The good news is that I have adopted a healthy lifestyle that I continue to this day. Fast forward to about 4 years ago when my thyroid went on vacation (hypothyroid). My weight escalated and my breasts swelled from a 36DD to a 36H and my weight went up about 35 pounds. Long story short, we got the meds right and the thyroid functioning again. Now I am back to working out and have lost 20 pounds. But guess what?! The 36H is alive and well. Yeah, I know... lucky me.

Anyway, a friend had a breast reduction a few months ago and that got me thinking, perhaps I could get that reduction after all. It has been over 25 years since my cousin's surgery, so I would imagine that the procedures have advanced. I asked my friend every question I could think of and scheduled an appointment with the same plastic surgeon. Well, I just had the consultation today. Dr. Vastine and her staff were very friendly, thorough and professional. Her nurse asked me all of the questions that looking at this site has prepped me to expect. I shared my experience with back pain, "road rash" under my breasts, double bras to work out, shoulder indentations, ibuprofen, and the like. Dr. Vastine then took pictures and measurements and told me that, given my measurements and my history, she thinks that I am a good candidate for the surgery and, by extension, for insurance to cover it. That was a relief to hear! One thing that she said when I told her about my extensive exercise (at least 5 times a week for the past 7 months) without any loss in breast volume, was that given the density of my breasts, exercise would never reduce the size. I worry that insurance will say "lose more weight" and deny my pre-auth.

I have seen so many on here who are larger than me, and even more women in my community who are larger than me who are not pursuing this course of action. Sometimes, I doubt myself and whether I should do this, but when I hear your stories, I know I want to get to the other side and be able to wear normal clothes and bras.

So, after a few phone calls to shepherd the process along, the insurance company got the information that they needed and my surgery was approved this past Tuesday. I had my preoperative appointment today and met with the nurse practitioner to fill out and sign forms, to get my scripts and to get my questions answered. Dr. Vastine's practice is populated with caring, professional women who shared my excitement about the approval. That was cool because this is their job and they could easily be blasé about it. Dr. Vastine does about two of these surgeries a week! It was nice to feel like there was someone in my corner!
I am feeling a little anxious about the recovery process. I have had surgery for other things in the past so I know the anesthesia alone can be a bear to recover from, but I am still thinking a lot about the actual process of healing. It takes time, day by day. I am a "go go go" person on most days so, quietly, I am looking forward to some down time, but I don't really have that much time off from work to take two weeks off. I don't have a strenuous job, but the brain fog we a challenge and not being able to sleep when I want will be a challenge once I go back to work.

Today I am two weeks post op. I really like Dr. Vastine's work and recovery plan. The entire surgical team was fabulous and all female, which I love. I stayed overnight at the hiospital and went home with instructions on when to take my pain meds and antibiotics, how to change my bandages daily, and to not raise my arms above shoulder height. One thing I would recommend is that you drink lots of water before and after your surgery. It will help with the slowing of your bowels from the anesthesia. I am talking about two or three quarts a day, plus soups and fruit. You'll thank me later.
Since I had drains for the first week, I could only sponge bath until they were removed. Though I don't like the look and feel of the surgical bra, I am grateful for the compression that reduces swelling and the support that keeps stress off of my sutures.
My incisions are healing nicely. I have a concern about hypertrophy and hyperpigmentation so we are going to be a little more aggressive with scar management after the sutures are removed this morning. We will begin with vitamin e oil then move on to silicone sheeting.
As for the girls, they are itty bitty to me. She had to take around 1000 grams from each breast and did a little lipo on the left side. We haven't talked size yet but they are probably a small C. It's probably going to be ok, but it's a little weird now because I skipped right over this size during puberty and they sure weren't this perky, even then. As the incisions heal, I will be able to appreciate that more and more.
I am glad to report that I maintained feeling in my nipples, though right now, they are a bit hypersensitive. I am hoping that will level out.
My husband has been awesome, changing my bandages every day and applying the antibiotic ointment on the incisions. He likes my new girls, even at this stage.
I returned to work on day 10. I have an office job, so no heavy lifting or anything. I chose not to tell my coworkers what surgery I was having. They can't really see the real difference now because I am still wearing big shirts because of the size of the surgical bra. The straps are huge and the front comes up really high.
One day, I will post pics so you can see the changes.