In some ways my story is not much different than the rest of us big breasted ladies. I wore a bra at a young age and went straight from a flat chest to a Bcup overnight and just kept growing from there. In high school I was already a 36DD and then after having children a 38DDD. A few years ago I had a hysterectomy and am now if 38G maybe larger. I'm not one of the ladies who hates her boobs I actually love my boobs but I just think I'm going to love them more when they're smaller and I'm not in constant pain. On top of just being large breasted I also have a lot of orthopedic problems in my neck spine and hips. I have been fighting for this breast reduction for the last several months and dealing with the insurance company is a nightmare. We have resubmitted the authorization request for surgery with the plastic surgeon now 4X. They either don't have a record of receiving it or voided it because it lacked the surgery date. Their latest excuse is that I lost coverage in their system even though I really didn't so now we had to resubmit the data all over again. I'm not real confident that I will get this procedure on the 25th being that they don't seem to really care about approving it at all but I'm still extremely hopeful. It's the last chance I have to be out of constant pain. Planning on starting this journey has been emotionally difficult. I do believe in prayer in numbers and have faith that God will make all the doors open. It might help though if I had a few more people praying for me!
43 Years Old, Two Kids, and in Constant Pain. Desperately Need a Breast Reduction - Daytona Beach, FL
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KM38G
- Not Sure
- Jeffrey Demercurio, MD, Daytona Beach, FL
In some ways my story is not much different than...
I got approved today!
Thank you so much ladies for all of your prayers. They have been answered. This morning I got a phone call from the plastic surgeons saying surgery has been approved. The date's been set back though until the 27th of April, no problem can't wait.
Starting to get nervous now
Now that the surgery has actually been approved I can start to get nervous. My pre-op is scheduled for April 26th and I'm nervous I won't have time to get the things they tell me I need to in just that one day. Any help on things I should get ahead of time would be greatly appreciated. I'm putting a few more before pictures up in one of my favorite house dresses. I can't wait to see what it looks like on after my procedure. Right now I just feel like it makes me look like an old lady with these huge balloons hanging from my chest. I'm actually pretty thin everywhere else and I'm tired of looking heavy just because I have huge breasts. My pain has been quite unbearable. That will be the biggest relief of all of this, but the bonus of looking good I also can't wait for.
Double bra-ing to hold them in
I just figured I'd put a picture in with my two bras on. This is a daily ritual to try to keep them from moving too much and popping out of the top of my bra. I will be so happy when I can wear one or even no bra. Can't wait for this to get done I'm counting the days. Having to double up on your bra like this just makes it so hard to even breathe. The pain starts instantly once the first underwire bra goes on.
Tired of the boob hatred
In these last few days it amazes me or maybe it doesn't the comments that people have. One lady told me that there are exercises to reduce those boobs, that I don't need surgery. Another woman says God girl why would you want to do that I would give anything for those boobs. People just don't get it. I could lose all the weight in the world and I'd still be just a skinny woman with two balloons hanging off. I'm not that heavy I could stand to lose 10 or 20 pounds but that's about it. I'm also tired of the boob hatred when it comes to the way other people perceive us. I have been turned down for jobs and even when I was in college I was criticized by my instructor for my appearance. It did not matter that I was the top of the class with a 4.0 GPA only that my boobs are huge and she thought it made a bad impression. I would have never told her that she is fat and that makes a bad impression. I'm tired of the way people look at women with big boobs like we're some sort of slut or whore. All I want is to feel normal like everyone else and not be in pain. I'm sure all of y'all can relate to my rant this morning. The countdown begins with 12 days to go till I join the normal Itty Bitty Titty Committee. Hooray
10 days and counting
I've been running around like crazy trying to guess what kind of supplies I'm going to need after surgery. Thanks to all you ladies and your stories I think I have a pretty good idea now. My pre-op is not until the day before surgery so I really don't want to have to run around that day looking for supplies as well as filling prescriptions. Hopefully I'll just be able to rest up that day and save my strength haha like I won't be a bundle of nerves and going crazy. Thanks for all of your support the countdown has officially started.
One week till surgery
One week to go and boy are things going to be different. I've been making my lists and gathering supplies. I live on a small farm so getting them ready has been my main focus this week. I'm kind of a control freak, so letting go of the reins will be hard, even though I will be grateful for the help. This week my focus will be on getting the house ready. I'll post again on preop day. Thanks for all you ladies for your support.
Save those bras!
So as my surgery wines closer I can't seem to get my nose off the internet. But I did find something useful while I was searching. I've wondered what I will do with all these large bras that I have that I've spent so much money on. Most of my bras in the past have cost me anywhere from 25 to $50 a piece. As I was searching yesterday I found a charity where we can donate our big bras to those less fortunate who cannot afford them. I thought this was a wonderful idea so I wanted to post it on the site so as large breasted ladies who are going under reduction will have something else to do with them besides just learning. Send your old bras to:
Breast Oasis
322 Indianapolis Boulevard
suite number 103
Schererville Indiana 46375.
I know I will be sending all of mine after the surgery is done on Wednesday.
Breast Oasis
322 Indianapolis Boulevard
suite number 103
Schererville Indiana 46375.
I know I will be sending all of mine after the surgery is done on Wednesday.
4:30 am ugh!
Well its 4:30 in the morning and I'm up and getting ready to leave for the hospital. I'm not really a morning person so I am so tired. I'll post after everything's done wish me luck to get ladies.
I made it to rhe LBTC
I am now officially a member of the Itty Bitty Titty Committee. Surgery took 6 hours. I guess I was a difficult case with my size and my past medical history. I made it though and I'm doing okay. I haven't got a good look at the girls yet but they're definitely a whole lot smaller. By the time I came to and Recovery I did not see the doctor but the nurse said that I should be about a c. It feels weird but I'm sure I'll adjust soon.
So ready to go home
I think I forgot to mention in my last post that I did wind up having to stay last night in the hospital. I am so ready to go home now. I hate the hospital although I don't know anybody that likes it here. My night has been pretty good considering I'm not in my own home or in my own bed. My pain has been relatively minimal, the worst pain has been in the incision areas only because the surgical bra was riding up on them and it has elastic around the edges. The elastic does not feel good. I'm a taller girl and this surgical bra has no shoulder adjustments so I'm sure that's why. I did take some of the other ladies advice though and the nurse brought me some sanitary pads to pad those incisions, what a great idea, thanks ladies. When I get home and get a better look at these girls I'll be sure to upload a picture. Thanks again for all of your support
Home at last
Well overall I had a pretty good night at the hospital. I sure was glad to get out of there though there's nothing quite like home. Once the anesthesia finally wore off I really didn't have any real bad pain. That's a good thing most of it is just irritation at the incisions. I'll be sure to take it easy for the rest of the day and you know as long as it takes but I'm so glad to be home.
ANGRY BOOBS
This morning the new girls are angry. I guess that's to be expected since the plastic surgeon took a thousand grams from the left and over 600 from my right breast. Wow that's a lot of boobage to remove. Even with all that he removed I do think they'll still be pretty big. Maybe even a D. Right now they look a little bit funny but they're really not too bad I can tell that once they settle down they're going to be just fine. I'm kind of tired so I'll update again soon and I'll try to get a few pictures load it up for you all to see
Every day gets better and better
Yesterday was a busy day since I had to see the plastic surgeon for my post-op appointment and I live an hour from the plastic surgeon's office. Not only that last night my daughter had a performance at her school and I wasn't about to miss that. Needless to say I was quite exhausted after the day but I made it through okay. Today I'm just taking it easy but quite honestly I feel great. The pain is minimal which is mostly itching and some irritation at the incisions. I was very fortunate that the doctor did not have to put drains in so I don't have to worry with those nasty things. And my family has been very helpful and supportive through all of this. I do believe this is truly a blessing. The new girls are still a little tight but less swollen than yesterday and I have all the faith that they are going to be beautiful once they just relax and quit being angry. I can't tell you how amazing it feels to just be able to sit up straight without having five pounds of extra weight pulling my shoulders down all the time. The pain that I suffered from 24 hours a day in my shoulder area and around my rib cage has been minimal if not gone since the surgery. What a blessing.
1week postop
Well it's been a week now and I guess I'm at the point now that I've seen on many ladies reviews where we start to pick apart our new boobies. Overall I'm healing well. The pain has not been too bad except in the evenings after overdoing it. I have had a small amount of drainage around the incisions but since I did not have drains, I kind of expected a little bit. Now to my nitpicking. My left boob is obviously larger than my right although I realize this may be still due to swelling, although I don't think so since I noticed it on day one. My left nipple is purple hopefully it's just from bruising. I do have feeling in it though. My biggest complaint is that my right breast is beautifully centered in my chest and my left breast seems to want to be off to the left field. You're probably wondering what I mean. Well I measured the distance from my Center Line to my nipples and my left nipple is over a half an inch or more farther away from my Centerline. Now both my nipples are at the same level but when you put a bra on, I have nice cleavage from my right breast but my left breast is off in left field. Any suggestions on how to get it to shift more to the center. I really hope they straighten out. I am still happy I had the procedure done though. I can't say that I am pain free, but I can say that my pain is much less and my posture is much better.
Is this normal
Still feeling better every day a little bit more and more. My friend got me out of the house yesterday and we went on a road trip. I have to admit after several hours of riding in the car my boobs were about tired of all the little bumps in the road. My left nipple is still pretty purple and bruised up but the odd thing is after a week of not seeping or oozing at all, now I have a small amount of drainage coming from the nipple. Not around the nipple where it was cut, but the nipple itself. I'm sure it's probably not anything to worry about since I do have feeling in the nipple but I'm going to call the surgeon's office today just to make sure and ask. It doesn't have a foul smelling odor so I'm not to worried.
Lefty looking rough
So most of you know if you've been following my update that my left nipple has been having some issues. Since the surgery and has been a purple color. Well over the weekend the purplish skin has started to peel back from that nipple and a nice pinkish reddish tissue underneath has appeared. It kind of reminds me of a blood blister that has finally shrunk and pop. I think this is a good sign since it is nice and pink underneath. My past experiences a nurse has led me to believe this. Since I was not able to contact the plastic surgeon's office on Saturday to ask for specific instructions on what to do I have been keeping it covered with a bandage and triple antibiotic ointment. I'm sure that we'll just have to be fine.
2 Week Update
Well I finally made it to the 2-week mark and everything's going pretty well. My left nipple is starting to heal and getting more of a normal color towards the middle of it and the dark area it seems to be lessoning around the edges. I still have a little bit of seepage from the t-junction under my breast where there's a small amount of Separation under the left one. I also have a pucker in the skin around the side of my left breast which is quite tender and painful and has some drainage as well. I asked the doctor about it yesterday and he said it should resolve on its own and if not he can fix it later. I guess that's comforting except for the fact that it hurts now. Overall I think the new girls are starting to relax a little and the swelling has gone down some although I noticed there seems to be more swelling in the evening time and they hurt more. I'm sure in another week or two this will be less of an issue.
Wound separation OMG
So the wounds on the bottom of my left breast has opened up quite a bit. This is really scary to me since I've had many surgeries and all of them closed and stayed closed. I went to the ER on Sunday and luckily my surgeon was there checking on another patient. He said this was not a big deal. They didn't even address it or try to put steri-strips or tape or anything over it. That really doesn't make me feel any better but I guess I'll just have to trust my surgeon that this will heal. They just said to keep it dressed and covered I washed twice a day. I would feel much better if they would have at least tried to close the holes with some steri-strips or something.
Feeling Better
The antibiotic that the doctor gave me at the ER on Sunday has definitely helped with the pain along the incision. Who did ever thought that an area like under your boobs would be so prone to infection I don't know, what sweaty and being 90 something degrees outside. I kind of would have thought that might be an obvious issue. The doctor assured me when I went to his office on Thursday that this does happen sometimes and it will heal it's just going to take time. Patience is not one of my strong suits.
What about the cleavage
I've been noticing more and more how uneven my cleavage is. My left breast has nice rounded cleavage and my right breast just sort of comes straight down. It doesn't look so bad without any clothes on but when I'm wearing a bra or something that shows cleavage it looks really really odd. I sure hope this settles down or they can fix this.
MRSA
That's right you heard me I got MRSA with this surgery. I complained to the doctor 13 days post-op how bad my incisions were hurting. His response is will be fine if they need revision we can do that in a year. Five days later I went to the emergency room because my incisions were splitting open. At the emergency room they did a culture inside the wind where it tested for heavy growth of MRSA. The only place I could have gotten it was the hospital before. I finally got the right antibiotics and have been on them since on two separate doses. Thank God I am now healing and all of my incisions are closed. I have a little bit of scabbing left on them but no thanks to the doctor who thought everything would be just fine. I wound up using wound closure strips from Walgreens on the open incisions and they closed beautifully within a week's time. I left the steri-strips on for almost two weeks to be safe. The nipple is healing and has a small amount of black scabbing still on it but seems to be feeling well from underneath. This has been a lot more than I expected but I am still happy with the overall results since I did this for my health. My neck does not hurt anymore, my shoulders do not hurt anymore, and my back pain has been reduced greatly. I am just so thankful that I'm finally healing.
Photo update
I took these photos about 2 weeks ago. I've been having a hard time loading up photos with my Google.
3 1/2 Month Update
Well I'm finally pretty much healed as far as my wounds go. I did lose about a third of my left nipple but I still have a feeling in it thank goodness. The right nipple looks beautiful but the feeling not so much. My doctor has said he could do revision surgery in about a year to try to fix the things that bother me like the nipple and the funky cleavage. That cleavage has gotten some what better too I think. I'm not so sure I want this doctor to do any more surgery after the first go around and who's going to pay for it is insurance going to pay for that? I'm considering just getting a tattoo to make the left nipple look more normal in a few months and be done with it.
