Freeing The 'Twins' - Columbia, MO

My twin sister & I were both 'blessed' with large breast as soon as puberty hit. It was like we both woke up one morning with large size C's. By our freshman year of highschool we were DD's. And now at age 28, with some weight gain we are both wearing size G bras. I attempted to get insurance to cover a breast reduction at age 24 but was denied due my BMI. I did not have the time & money to fight it, so I resigned myself to the fact that I would continue to be defined by my breast & that a reduction just wasn't in the cards for me. I have had continuous back issues over the years & spent a lot of time with chiropractic visits. At age 26, I had to have back surgery due to a bulging disc. My sister has experienced similar back issues is on her way to needing a back surgery as well. We have both been working on weight loss and decided to scheduled a breast reduction consultation together with the support of the Nurse Practitioner at our doctor's office. The consultation went well. Doctor Puckett and his intern felt we were ideal candidates for breast reduction surgery but we could benefit from some additional weight loss prior to surgery. Dr. Puckett was encouraging and supportive and didn't make us feel shamed or discouraged by the fact that we need to lose some more weight. He gave us realistic guidelines and set a time frame for us to come back. We are both very close to our weight loss goals and are 4 weeks away from our appointment to meet with Dr. Puckett again.

We went to our follow-up consulation appointment on 2/18/14. I've been busy with work, so I'm running behind on getting an update added on here. My sister and I both did good with our weight loss goal. She was 2 lbs under and I was exactly at the mark that we needed to be. One of Dr. Puckett's residents came in first to talk to us. He congratulated us on the weight loss but thought we should lose another 15 lbs or more and return for another appointment in a few months. While i understand his perspective, we were a little thrown off since the previous resident & Dr. Puckett has set a specifc goal at the previous appointment and we had met the goal, so why would we need to wait any longer to submit to insurance? My sister especially did not like his take on the situation and was eager to see Dr. Puckett. After talking with the resident, he left us to go get Dr. Puckett. As soon as Dr. Puckett came into the room, he had an encouraging smile and told us that he was proud of us for our weight loss and meeting the goal, especially considering we had to work on it through the holiday season. He checked our breasts and noted that there were no breast size changes with the weight loss. He had no reservations about sending our claims on through insurance and while he noted that our insurance carriers were notorious for being stubborn with breast reduction approval, he seemed confident that we will be approved. To further add to our excitement, he asked, "So, do you guys want to schedule this on the same day? Or schedule it so you can take care of each other?". :) We had hoped we could do it at the same time but didn't really think it would be much of an option. So now it's a waiting game to see what each our insurance companies response is. They said it could take anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks for a response. I hope we both get a positive response and they arrive close to the same time. :)

I haven't received the official letter but I called my insurance to check on the status of my preapproval and.......I'M APPROVED!! It still doesn't feel real. I'm thinking it will feel more real when I receive the official notification in the mail. My twin found out last week that her insurance approved her breast reduction as well. She has already scheduled her procedure for April 21st. I'm blessed because my supervisor has approved my request to take the 21st & 22nd off to take her to her procedure & follow up and take care of her. I have a lot going on financially and I'd like to lose at least another 10-15 lbs, so I think I may wait and have my breast reduction scheduled in June or July. The insurance said I was approved until 9/19/14, so that gives me a little time. I'm not sure I'll be able to hold out until that long after seeing my sister's relief and happiness following surgery but we'll see. I'm just trying to look at the bigger picture and use the light at the end of tunnel as an additional motivator along this road of health & happiness. I'm trying to work up to posting before pictures. My sister and I have both been working on our weight over the last year or so and continue to never get around to taking before pictures. I'm feeling more comfortable with the vulnerability of it all now that I've been approved. Possible pictures coming soon...