56 Years Old, Multiple Procedures, and Better Late Than Never! - Denver, CO

An update! I had a breast reduction and a Pelvic Prolapse Repair with mid-urethral Ion July 22nd, performed by two different surgeons.
In general, my breasts are looking very good, with minimal bruising (less than the IV sites). The left breast seems to be healing more slowly but I have more pain under the band on the right side. The PS and staff has been pleased at my progress and very supportive as well.
The doctor removed over 1500 grams from both breasts, which is about 3 lbs. She also raised my nipple height a full 3", without resorting to a nipple graft. I have noticed that my left nipple is still a lot number than my right although the areola (sp?) on the left is very sensitive. I am still not sure if I will be a C or a D in the end, although Dr. Huang still thinks I will be a C. They are wonderfully perky in any case and my neck is feeling great!
At about 2 3/4 week post op, I noticed some increased pain and swelling right under my breasts, enough one night to have me return to narcotic pain relief. The PS's surgeon staff asked me to come in the next day just to double check on my progress.
My favorite PA, Catherine, at Dr. Huang's office, taped me very securely for more support and she cleaned off some of the dried blood around the nipples.
She said that deep stitches may be dissolving and nerves from the pelvic surgery and the breast reduction may be regenerating. I am feeling the truth of that in both surgery sites! I am now sitting on a donut pillow with an ice pack on top most of the time LOL. But I have had much less pain there, hitherto, than a lot of patients who have bladder slings and Pelvic Organ Prolapse Repairs. I attribute that to the skill of my fabulous urogynecologist.
That PA also mentioned that some patients are starting to get a lot more active by the end of the second week. I immediately thought of the previous Saturday when I let a well-meaning friend whisk a very bored me to a crowded mall for an hour or so. I ate sushi there with soy sauce and I think all the sodium might have been implicated in the increased swelling.
I actually have been less active since then and enjoyed reading novels as my favorite past time.
I am hoping to take and post more photos when my husband returns from taking one of our daughters to start grad school on the East Coast.
Overall I would said this past week has been more challenging in terms of healing and pain than the 2nd week. My energy level has improved this week though.

I took my pain med as suggested by many of you on this site before I went to my first post-op appointment with the RN at my Physical Therapy. She was happy with my healing and self-care and I was happy with her offer to remove the drains!
I felt some stinging when she cut the stitches that were holding the drains in, and then I felt the soft plastic tubing slipping through my skin but that was not painful at all. The nurse taped up the incisions where the drains had been placed with paper tape since I am very sensitive to adhesives in bandages and medical tape/ The paper tapes seem to be holding fine.
I have had some itching but that is partially my reaction to the pain medication and I have taken one Benadryl to help control it. Colorado is very dry so I have used lotion everywhere the doctors would permit it. I have used Biotene spray when my mouth gets dry from the medicine too.
I have been running some fevers if 101F or lower and we discussed those. I do not have any infections though, so the fevers are my reaction to the surgery. Drinking a lot of water and getting up and walking around the house has proven helpful.
The combo of the bladder sling, POP and breast reduction make my healing more like that of a Mommy Makeover than a breast reduction, but unfortunately my stomach has not shrunk at all.
I have been going back and forth trying to decide if I will end upas a C or D. I am hoping that it will be a C. A blogger on here called it "playing the size game."
This recovery is rather a slow boring process but I am listening to doctor's orders as much as possible. My breast are still hard on the top, getting a bit more bruised on the side and sore around the rib cage, but not unbearable. My lower back is sore from sleeping and sitting upright so much. I am not complaining, just detailing the healing process in case the information helps a reader out there.
I will post some after pictures soon! Goodnight my friends!

Well I am at home. My breast look so tidy and small. I am hopeful that we reached the C Cup I was desiring. My neck already feels better!
If you remember, I had two different procedures performed by two different surgeons, a bladder sling and pelvic prolapse repair followed by a breast reduction .After the surgery, the recovery staff had some trouble waking me up from the anesthesia and then keeping up my oxygen rate overnight at the hospital, but I sent my husband home with my grown daughters and I was glad he got a break while I had a good nursing staff attending to me. But the big bummer is I am still using intermittent self-catheterizing until my traumatized bladder "wakes" up" all the way. Heavy sigh.
I have been sleeping in my husband's lazy boy recliner, which has been working well for me. I could definitely see renting a medical recliner or hospital bed for the first week or so at home, if you don't have one. I am thinking of switching back to my bed tonight or tomorrow for the night.
The most bothersome part of recovering from the breast surgery is the drain sites. Tonight I think that one of my drains has sprung a leak since it is inflating rather than just draining.
I will discuss it tomorrow morning when I will have my first Post Op with Dr. Huang's PA.