Midlife Crisis Reduction. Columbus, OH

Hi! I'm as 45-year old mother of two who doesn't remember a time when my chest wasn't large. I feel like I went from 0 to DD all at once in middle school and finally up to a G/H after my second child was born. Now that I have ruts in my shoulders and walk slightly hunched over (because if I stand up straight I feel like they're on display, plus it hurts to stand straight for too long), I've decided to do what I should have done years ago and get them down to a reasonable size. I've also met my insurance deductible for the year, so I only have to pay about $600 out of pocket.

I'm nervous about the surgery (particularly about the scars and recovery, I'm a little squeamish), but looking forward to the positive changes which are coming--no more buying $60 bras, no more underwires required if I don't want to wear them, and the ability to exercise without feeling like I'm going to give myself two black eyes. I'm 5'0" and overweight at 190, so I need to exercise and lose a lot of this extra weight. I told the surgeon that I wanted to go down to a B cup, so I imagine I'll probably wind up somewhere between a B and a C and I can live with that. I worry about what my almost-13-year-old daughter will take away from this about body image, but she and I have talked about it and she knows how physically uncomfortable I've been and that surgery is a last resort in my case, not simply the easy way out.

I'm glad to have found this place and hope to benefit from everyone's experiences and advice. :)

I thought I put this in here but I guess I didn't. Surgery scheduled for this Thursday, the 31st--Happy New Year to me!!

Added some pictures of the bazookas. It's not really until I saw all the markings the PS did that I realized just how big they were before.

Today I don't really have any pain, just swelling and itching. The itching is driving me nuts. I'm not sleeping well, though--I'm sleeping propped up on the sofa in the living room and everyone else is in their beds upstairs. But the kids aren't sleeping well because I'm not up there, and so they keep my husband up, and it all wakes me up.

Anyone have any advice for the swelling and the itching? I've tried Benadryl but it's not working. Ice packs help for a little bit, but as soon as I take them off to re-freeze them, it's like I'm right back to square one.