I did it! - Hoping for 34H to 34D - Fairfax, VA

Hi Ladies!

So I have been lurking for awhile, and finally decided to post something myself! I think my story begins in much the same way as most of the women here. I started developing very young and got my first bra when I was in third grade. By high school I was probably around a D cup. I had done gymnastics basically my entire life so being surrounded by a bunch of flat chested gymnasts who had no problem commenting on the size of my knockers was fairly traumatizing. When I was a sophomore in high school I came home one practice crying after a teammate made some particularly hurtful remark. I still remember my mom saying "well if you lost some weight, they will get smaller." From that moment on, I became obsessive about dieting. I tried to eat less than 1,000 calories per day while squeezing in at least two workouts. I ended up losing 25 pounds in about 2 months. My boobs, however, were still huge.

When I started college I think I was about a DD (although I was definitely wearing the wrong size). I started to become a lot more comfortable with the size of my chest, but they still continued to grow. I then ended up being diagnosed with Crohn's disease in my first year of college, which caused me to get really, really sick at the start of my junior year. My doctor put me on prednisone, and as anyone who has been on high dose prednisone before will tell you, I got FAT....and my boobs get even bigger. I've lost most of the prednisone weight, but my boobs never shrunk back down! What gives? I should probably also mention that I started birth control when I finished the prednisone, which I'm sure probably added a cup size.

So here I am now a senior in college (just a few weeks from graduating! wahoo!), and I just scheduled my breast reduction surgery for June 26, 2013. I had been thinking about getting a breast reduction since high school, but I finally decided to do something about it and saw a plastic surgeon during spring break. The office basically told me that it wasn't likely that my insurance would cover it since I had no documentation of back/neck/shoulder pain. So I decided to tell myself that I didn't need it anyway. I decided that I would go get a bra fitted properly and that would solve all my problems. I strolled in to Nordstrom wearing a 36DDD and walked out with the only 34H bra they had in stock. Yep, I'm 22 years old, 5'4, 150lbs, and a 34H!

I was surprised when a few weeks later the doctor's office called to tell my insurance had approved the surgery! I actually feel a bit guilty after reading so many horror stories about trying to get insurance to cover the procedure. But since I started to tell myself I didn't really need it, I now keep second guessing my decision to go through with it. To be honest, my pain isn't even THAT bad. I just find it annoying that it is really hard for me to be active, and I am a really active person. I did cheerleading throughout college and ran a half-marathon last year. I would really like to run a marathon at some point. Of course being able to button up a jacket would be a nice plus as well.

I think I just need someone to confirm that my boobs are indeed huge and that I would benefit from this surgery. So, any advice? I'm driving myself crazy here!

One last thing, and this is probably a total shot in the dark, but has anyone had a BR while taking Remicade? It's supposed to suppress your immune system, but there isn't a lot of information about how that translates into your risk for developing a surgical infection. I have been on it for about a year and a half and have never had a problem with infections.

Okay, so it only took me 2 months to update my first post. I guess blogging isn't really my thing. But I just wanted to thank everyone who sent me encouraging messages, you all really helped me in making my decision.

I had been most worried about my risk for developing a post-op infection because I'm considered to be immunosuppressed due to a medication that I have to take. However, I spoke with my gastroenterologist who prescribes it, and she said that as long as I don't take it two weeks before or two weeks after the surgery, than I'm not at a higher risk for infection. I get my medication at a hospital through an IV infusion every 7 weeks. The date of my surgery actually worked out perfectly because it was scheduled exactly in between infusions (a good omen??).

I had my pre-op appointment with my PS last week, and she estimated that they were going to remove about 700 grams from each breast. I should be about a D cup. I think I would be really disappointed with anything smaller than that. Especially because I still want to lose 10-15 pounds after the surgery and don't want them to end up too small.

I'm definitely super nervous, but also just ready to get it over with! I can't believe it's actually happening tomorrow!!

I'm now three days post-op and feeling pretty good. I was in a lot of pain when I woke up from surgery, but was feeling a lot better after three or so hours so they let me go home. I got my drains removed the following day, which wasn't as painful as I was expecting it to be. Yesterday was by far the worst day because the nausea patch the anesthesiologist had given be had worn off. I literally could not keep anything down and since my PS was in surgery all day, she couldn't call in a prescription until about 12:30 (I had been up since 6:30). But now that that's over with I feel pretty good. I have very little pain, and stopped taking all prescription pain meds yesterday.

I posted one picture, but it is kinda hard to tell the size. I'll post some better ones in a few days. My one concern is that I think they are the perfect size right now, but obviously there is still a lot of swelling right now. I think it may just be my mind playing games though because as of now I still can't really fit into a 36D bra. I'm really hoping to be a 34D (down from a 34H) once the swelling is gone.