43 Yr Old with 4 Kids.. BL, BR, BA, TT, BBL and Lipo. Dallas, TX

My surgery is in the morning and so I'm not able to provide a review yet. I am very nervous but at the same time very excited. I have done a ton of research and feel knowledgeable in the recovery process and I just hope it is enough to get through it without too much anxiety. I am 5' 6" and weigh around 160 and am in a C-D cup and am anticipating to be in a DD cup using the Mentor Silicone Gel. Dr. Harris and his staff have been very professional and have answered every question I have had over this process. I feel very confident in my decision and trust Dr. Harris completely.

This was by far the hardest thing I have gone through; however, it was really just the first 7 days that were a nightmare. I seemed to have turned a corner after that. I am now able to walk without a walker and am even going up and down stairs fine. The main problem I am having now are what I researched as "zingers and they feel like electric shock type pains in my boobs and I guess it is the nerves regenerating themselves. It is super painful and seems to happen the most when I am in a reclining position (such as to sleep or relax, go figure). The nurse told me to take vitamin B6 100 mg three times a day, which I have done now for the last two days and it doesn't seem to have helped at all, but will keep doing it anyway. I have been back to work for the last few days but I work at home from the computer , so it has been okay. The fatigue is not near as bad as it was. The thing that is most disappointing is that I thought I would have no clothes to fit me as I would be so small after surgery -- L O L -- and I fit into the same clothes and they are even a little tighter from all of the swelling and wearing the binder 24/7.

The day I hit the two-week mark I went to try to sleep after being super, super tired and started getting a sharp pain in my left shoulder. I knew I was not lifting anything, but it kind of felt like I worked out too hard at the gym. I then thought maybe it was from my bra. The pain got more intense and then when I would take a deep breath I would get sharp pains in the left side of my back, the same side as the shoulder pain. I then started to freak out a little bit and the first thing that came to mind was pulmonary embolism. I called the ER and they told him that I should be seen right away. I drove myself there having a panic attack the whole way. They did a D-dimer test, which was at 5000, the highest the test would go. After a CT scan, it was confirmed that I had blood clots in both lungs, one of them was pretty severe. I was immediately started on heparin blood thinner and admitted to the hospital. I spent the next seven days in the hospital receiving shots of Lovenox every 12 hours and then started on Coumadin. Keep in mind, that I am a very healthy 43-year-old who has never had any complications from surgery before having had hysterectomy and ectopic rupture. I did everything I was told to do -- started walking as soon as I could and moving my feet when I was sitting. They ran a series of blood tests and I have no family history or any type of blood disorder. This is a rare, but very scary and real risk of the surgery. Most people die within 30-60 minutes of symptoms first starting. I consider myself very lucky to be alive. I will now have to be on blood thinners for possibly four months. I had a cruise planned (for today actually) and because of the PE I had to cancel. Every little pain I have in my shoulder I fear is the blood clot. It is hard for me to be excited about my body at this point as the surgery almost killed me. I am hoping as time goes by that I will get over the fear I have and will be able to enjoy the results from the surgery. Please listen to your body -- when I thought of PE symptoms I thought of chest pain and rapid heartbeat. My symptoms were left shoulder pain and then low back pain with deep breath. I also had some shortness of breath for the few days prior, but I related it to the binder as I was wearing it pretty tight due to the amount of swelling I had.