Long needed reduction- Eastern SD
So I figured it was time to start out writing my...
So I figured it was time to start out writing my story. I first developed breasts in the third grade. Up until the 7th grade I wore sports bras to try to keep them minimized, since almost all of the other girls hadn't even developed yet. By seventh and eighth grade I was wearing a C cup, and high school I moved to a D, then DD. Of course, since my breasts were large, I was chased after by older boys, ogled by the boys my own age, and hated by many other girls because of it. By the time I was done nursing my son in 2012, My breasts were a size 36J. At this time, I weighed 210 lbs at 5'4".
I have considered a reduction since college. My boyfriend at the time was highly against it, and I was naive and let him talk me out of it before really even looking into it. I'm not sure what my real size has been during this time. I know I had a 36D bra that I absolutely spilled out of. Most of the time I would wear a D or DD cup, but wear a shelf camisole underneath to try to tame the "double boobs" that would inevitably spill out of the cup. Before I was pregnant, I finally wised up and measured myself out to be a 34F. I ordered a specialty bra in this size, and when it came it definitely fit better than my other bras, but I was still spilling out of the top!
Fast forward to when I finally ended up measuring as a J cup. I was very overweight at this point, and decided to lose some weight and go head off to the PS to see what could be done. In September I had dropped my weight down to 195, and only managed to go from a 36J to a 34J. I indicated that I would more than likely be losing quite a bit of weight over the next few months, as my thyroid medication was now at a good dosage and the weight was now practically falling off. We filed with insurance, and they said to re-file again after the new year after my weight loss to see where we were at.
At the beginning of the month, I went in for a re-consultation. Now, I've dropped back into my normal range at 167 lbs, but my bra size only moved from a 34J to a 34H (GG for the bra I'm currently wearing, but I don't think there is much of a difference between GG and H). It was pretty evident that even when I lose additional weight, my breast size will hardly be affected.
I received approval from the insurance company on the 25th. I went from really excited, to very, very anxious in a matter of seconds. Although the procedure will be covered by my insurance company, I have a high-deductible plan, so I am going to have to pay $2,500 out of pocket, and 20% of the cost after that, bringing my estimated costs to $4,000. of the $14,000 price tag. Thankfully, the office said that as long as I make consistent monthly payments, they have no problem letting me pay off the balance with $150 payments each month, but I absolutely cannot miss a month or the balance in full is due immediately.
So now, I am at the stage where surgery is in a week, and I am extremely nervous--no, make that petrified. I'm worried about recovery, if I will heal normally and quickly, if I will have complications, all the way to will this hurt my family financially?
I'm now waiting for my PS's instructions to come in the mail. My pre-op physical is Tuesday. I decided to squeeze an eye appointment in on the first as well to get it out of the way.
My fiance is extremely supportive. He owns a construction business and works very hard long hours to help support us. Since he can't take time off, my sister will be coming to help me.
I guess I'll update more after my pre-op physical.
Mclcricket's provider
Updated Feb 5, 2012 So here I am, surgery in...
So here I am, surgery in five hours. My pre-op physical was surprisingly quick and easy. My doctor has been my family doctor since I was 7, and the only reason he hasn't been since birth is because our original family doctor moved away at that time. He made sure everything was normal as per usual (blood pressure, heartbeat, breathing), asked about my family (of course), and sent me on my way. Once I got to work, my nerves were going crazy.
Yesterday, my PS's nurse called to go over some pre-surgery stuff for me. She first ran down some basic medical questions, and told me to be sure to remove all jewelry and not to wear contacts to the surgical center. She also said no eating or drinking anything including water after 6AM (8 hours before surgery), and that she had called all my prescriptions in to the pharmacy to pick up--an antibiotic, Vicodin, and the nausea patch which I had to put behind my ear by 6AM as well. I was also instructed to wash with an anti-bacterial soap before surgery, which I've yet to do, but will be jumping in the shower soon. Looks like I'll be taking my Dial hand soap in with me today! And of course I was advised to wear a zip sweater for comfort, and to bring pillows and a blanket if I want to help with the car ride home. I asked her about what types of bras I should wear post-surgery, and she said no underwires for six weeks, and that they will be giving me a dressing that is somewhat like a tube top to wear. I will not have drains, and my stitches will be internal and will dissolve on their own, which I like the idea of. I asked about surgical bras, and she said they don't really use them, but that I can wear a sports bra with a low band if I'd like to, or a camisole with a built in shelf support. I'm pretty sure I'll be wearing a combination of these things when going back to work. She also told me as long as I'm wearing pants and underwear with no metal components to them to surgery I can have them on the whole time and only be exposed from the waist up, so fleece pants it is.
As for last night, I spent it playing with my son and reading him a few extra stories before bedtime. I also got in touch with one of my good friends and my son's godmother and asked if she would be willing to stop over a few days of the week to help my fiance out with things around the house and with my son, since I knew he would never ever ask for help, but knowing he will also have me to tend to at least for a few days as well, I'm thinking he'll need it. Spent the rest of the night watching TV with my fiance and just staying close to one another. At this point, I was still wavering between feeling OK and confident, and really doubting my choice.
I woke up at 5:45 this morning and had a bowl of cereal followed by a glass of water. This stupid patch is making my mouth dry which sucks, because I can't drink any water until afterwards! I then got up shortly before eight and got my son ready to go and to daycare. After that I went to my gym and had them put my membership on medical hold for about a month, since I don't need to pay $40 for this month to walk on a track, I can walk outside or in my apartment halls thank you very much! I can't wait to get back into the gym though and be able to really hit it hard, very much hoping that this will help make my workouts so much more effective! Also looking forward to only wearing ONE sports bra!
My fiance is working a job this morning but coming home at noon to get me and take me to the surgical center. I am to report there by 1, and surgery is scheduled to begin at 2. Until then, I'll be taking a lot of my fat clothes to a consignment store in town to try to get some money for them, and donating what they wont take, and cleaning our bathroom to make sure I am comfortable this week. I will update if I can tonight or tomorrow. Wish me luck!
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Now that I am a little more lucid and aware, I can...
Then the anesthesiologist came in and just ran down some of his questions and explained what he would be doing and what kind of breathing assistance I would have. Even though the nurse said I'd have a tube down my throat, he said I would actually have a tube that basically rested at the top of it and not all the way inserted DOWN into it, which is supposed to be more comfortable for me afterwards.
They put an IV into my hand and I went back into surgery and they hooked the anesthesia up to my IV and gave me an oxygen mask to breathe into. I don't even remember falling asleep, but the next thing I knew I heard my nurse saying, "Wake up MissLC86 its all over now". I definitely felt a bit of pain in my chest area, and I felt as though I'd had a long night with my son the night before and now my fiance was trying to get me up to get ready for work exhaustion-wise. She gave me a cup of applesauce and some crackers to have so she could give me my first Vicodin dose, which apparently isn't the greatest thing to take on an empty stomach. My fiance was already back in the waiting room and even had my little boy with him, so they let them come back into recovery while they helped me into my shoes and my zip sweater. I was pretty impressed at how good my son was being, considering he's only 17 months old! We drove home, but I think the car ride made me very very sick, because on our way back I was saying that I think I could definitely eat something when we get there, only to throw up my water and crackers when we pulled in. Yuck. He helped me inside and I went straight to our room and lay down. The next thing I knew my fiance was rousing me to see if I wanted to eat dinner with them. Since I didn't feel nauseous at all, and in fact pretty hungry after not eating all day long, I enjoyed some dinner and didn't feel sick once!
My alertness definitely comes and goes quickly. All of a sudden I will barely be able to open my eyes, and have to lay down and nap, others, like right now I feel very awake, but I can already feel some tiredness on its way back!
The pain is much much less than what I had expected, but I'm sure this has a good deal to do with the fact that I am not missing any pain med doses whatsoever! I am taking the maximum dosage through these first couple days (2 pills every four hours), but will probably limit down to 1 or 2 every four hours tomorrow. I'm allowed to have Ibuprofen or Motrin between doses as needed too, which I think I'll be using more of tomorrow when I start slighly weaning from the Vicodin.
I am already thrilled about the results! Both my fiance and my sister who is here with me now said I look much slimmer, and the pajamas I bought in a normal size (no accommodating for breast size!) fit me PERFECTLY. It feels SO nice to wear my real size and not two sizes up like I had in the past. They took 401 grams from my left breast, and 408 from my right. Minimum needed from my insurance company was 400 grams. Doctor said he estimates my final result to be a full C which to me is PERFECT. We had discussed how I will probably be losing anywhere between 10 and 30 lbs over the next six months or so, and he said in his experience that their shape would hardly change as a result, and should just continue to match my body as it also got smaller, particularly since I barely lost much cup size when I lost 45 lbs over the past six months.
I'm going to be able to to remove my bandage tonight to wash off (with the fiance's help of course) and to change my gauze. He said it is my choice if I want to re-wrap with my ace bandage for now, wear a sports bra or a camisole with built in bra, or if I just want to go braless--just to do whatever is more comfortable for me. I will probably add a new picture tonight when I unwrap to shower, hoping to chronicle my recovery to be as helpful as I can for anyone else considering this surgery! I already feel like I look better, and I think it will only improve from here on out! I've decided to update my ranking to "worth it", even though it is still day 1 because I can already tell there is less strain on my neck and back, and I am hoping that is how it stays!
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