Breast Lift with Dr. Heck- 23 y.o.

Quick and brief update!
Currently 2 months post op and I feel 100% back to normal. My nipples are no longer sensitive, I no longer have any tenderness or pains. Dr. Heck has cleared me to resume all normal physical activity and I has said I’ve healed wonderfully.
Very happy with my results.

I'm genuinely so impressed with how well my breasts are healing.
My incision lines are looking great so far. My "T-zones" are also healing very well, they just have tiny little scabs still but that's not abnormal. Most of the incision lines look thin and pink. Most of my dissolvable stitches around my areola have come off on their own I'm pretty sure I only have one or two still hanging on.
My nipples are SO sensitive! Probably about a week and a half in I went back to work as a floor nurse in a hospital and my nipples hurt so bad just from is being so dang cold. I don't need the ABD pads but a couple in my bra just to help with my nipples being so cold/sensitive. Going back to work was not as bad as I thought it would be. I luckily had pretty independent patients so the people I had to turn or give bed baths I had good help from my co-workers so I wasn't pulling or putting too much stress on my arms. I was in some pain just moving around so much so I did take some extra-strength Tylenol and that helped.
I did end up developing a rash on my last two days of antibiotics on my forearms, hands, belly, and outer thighs but similar rashes appeared after the last time I was on longer-term antibiotics. Since I only had the two days left I took Benedryl before bed and Zyrtec during the day so I could finish my prescription and it went away. Just sensitive to antibiotics I guess!
I am still cleansing my breasts every day and making sure I have a clean bra on (I switch back and forth between my nude and black one). In the shower, I am using a light amount of CHG foam cleanser. If I am not showering I am cleansing the area with the hydrogen peroxide. Either one I only do once a day or as needed if I am sweaty from the heat or working out (still only going on the stationary bike until I am cleared to exercise). There hasn't been any drainage at all so I'm only using the non-adhesive dressings or ABD pads when I am at work just for the comfort of not rubbing against the bra with the movement. I was pretty bloated and gained some weight after surgery but now I am back to my pre-surgery weight and not bloated anymore. I had started my period right after surgery so that definitely didn't help with bloating lol.
Very pleased with my results so far! I go back to see Dr. Heck in a week for a follow-up and to have the stitches taken on the outer sides of my breasts and under my nipples.

Hi Guys! This is a long and detailed review. I have titled and organized this review by at which stage of the process I was talking about so if you only want to read on certain parts of the surgery you should be able to find which section you are looking for!

PRE-SURGERY:

I originally went into my consultation with Dr. Heck for a breast lift with augmentation, but after performing my assessment Dr. Heck said I had plenty of breast tissue to perform just a lift. I told Dr. Heck that I liked the size bra I was, a 34 D, but that I wanted the cleavage of an augmentation. We discussed the different appearances I would have with a lift and augmentation vs. just a lift. He showed me pictures of both types of procedure results he had personally performed and his team gave me quotes on both procedures. He highly encouraged me to sit on it, consider both options, and to only go forth if I was 100% sure I was getting the surgery and outcome I desired. The consultation experience was great. Dr. Heck has a very outgoing personality and was very easy to talk to. He let me express my wants and goals and I felt like he made me comfortable going forth with him as the surgeon of choice.

I sat and thought of the information he had gone over with me and researched a bunch of vlogs and reviews on the breast lift alone and I decided to go with Dr. Heck's recommendation of doing just the lift. They sent me a booklet of information about pre-surgery instructions and informed consent, as well as my final billing statement so I felt very prepared and well informed.

The team was very easy to communicate with and get a hold of. The nurses and coordinators were very fast with returning calls or emails and helped pick days that would work best with my schedule. Before surgery, I did a physical and lab work at their wellness center at the Easton location with CNP Julie and she was great. Also scheduled was a Covid-19 testing to ensure I was negative before the operation which was done all through Riverside Hospital since they do their surgeries at the Riverside Outpatient Surgery Center in Upper Arlington.

SURGERY DAY:

Before-
A few days before surgery, a Riverside Surgery nurse called and went over all instructions on how to get there, what to do before surgery and what to expect, and confirmed. She answered any questions I had and was very polite. On arrival to the surgery unit all the staff was so nice and comforting I was not nervous at all.

Dr. Heck came in to see me prior to surgery to go over again my goals for my lift, "high and tight" as he said. I wanted a lift but also wanted nice cleavage. With my degree of sagging and my goals of my breast lift, he said I would need an anchor lift and that we would need to do a small reduction of the right breast in order to make them more symmetrical. During the time of him marking me for surgery, I made a conversation about the surgeries he does and he said how for every surgery he goes through every detail in his head before and really envisions how he wants the outcome to be which made me feel confident in his confidence in his work.

During Surgery-
They took me back to the surgery room and the anesthesiologist, Dr. Dan, said he was giving me some medication through my IV to help with any anxiety and that is the last thing I remember. I don't recall feeling like I was asleep or anything. One minute I am saying hi to all the staff in the room the next second I am in the post-op recovery area.

Post-Operation/Recovery-

I woke up feeling pretty groggy but the only pain I felt was from the stitches themselves. A post-op nurse was with me the whole time and gave me a dose of pain medication which helped a lot. I would say within ten minutes of me "coming to" I was fully alert and talking with my staff. Everyone was very surprised with how well I was waking up from the anesthesia. They let me walk to the bathroom with the nurse by my side to ensure I did not fall and helped me get dressed. I recall a male staff member walking by me and saying how I didn't even look like I just had surgery.
Normally they go over post-op instructions with your designated driver but considering I was completely awake and alert the nurse went over all information with me at the bedside before I left and answered any questions I had before I left. Pain level leaving the surgery center was maybe around a 3/10 and the biggest thing was feeling a little wobbly when walking around.

RECOVERY DAY 1-3:

Once I got home the first medication I took was the nausea medication because I am known to get nauseous with pain medication and pain in general (I pass out when in intense pain). I took this med then about 20 minutes later took my pain medication and fell asleep. I had alarms set on my phone for each medication. I had pain pills Q4hrs PRN, muscle relaxer Q12hrs PRN, nausea medications Q8hrs PRN and my scheduled antibiotics.

The first two days I took my pain pills and muscle relaxers pretty much on the dot just to help subdue the pain and chest tightness, and since staying on top of them those two days I really was not in a lot of pain at all. Mostly the muscle relaxer helped with the chest tightness. I would nap a lot through those first two days but never felt "high" off the dosing or felt over sedated. I feel the medications were appropriately prescribed. I found the meds did not give me nausea so I did not use those as often.

I have been sleeping in my reclining chair to help make sure I am elevated at the appropriate degree for recovery. I thought this was more comfortable than in my bed with pillows propped. I had all my meds on my side table with water and a fan (I would occasionally get hot flashes but no temps so that's good). All the pill bottles were covered but not screwed tight because to push and twist the bottle caps hurt my sternum area. I did notice I had weight gain the first coupel of days. I normally weigh 135 on my scale but was up to 142 (this went down and back to normal around day 5). Basically the first two days I slept and rested and felt pretty well.

Day 2 post-op appointment went well. I saw the nurse because Dr. Heck was in surgery. She took off my bandages, cleaned my sutures, said I looked great, and gave me extra supplies to clean the suture lines at home. Very quick and easy appointment. I received a couple of their medical-grade skin products to sample, a $25 gift card for their medspa, and coupons for the products they sell. Included was also a scar recovery gel from SkinMedica which I am to use once sutures are removed and incisions have healed.

Day 3- I stopped taking the narcotic pain medications as often, I felt the muscle relaxer helped more with the sternum area chest tightness. Other than that the only pain I had was from the sutures and it wasn't bad enough to keep taking the narcotics. Since then, I only take the narcotics before bed to help me sleep in the recliner to help me get more comfortable.
The only problem I ran into was when I went to change my dressing and clean my suture lines I almost fainted when I first saw my breasts. I'm not a queezy person and work as a nurse in a hospital so I see lots of gross things, but for some reason, I faint really easy when it comes to my own body (even though it didn't gross me out?) I laid on the floor to prevent me from passing out and when the episode passed I showered and dressed my breasts with no problems. I had minimal drainage and so far was looking pretty well.

Day 4- I went on an hour-long walk outside to get out of the house and to get some exercise. The only medication for the pain I was taking was Tylenol during the day. My range of motion in my arms felt normal, no crazy pain. I can lift and move my arms but made sure to play it safe.

Day5-7- taking Tylenol as needed but really I am not in any pain at all. The biggest thing right now is the itching from the healing surgical sites. I am not having any leakage at all and my suture lines are pretty approximated. I am driving now that I am no longer taking narcotics and going on walks. I do have a gym in my apartment and I have done stationary biking with the back support for days 6 and 7 for 30 minutes just to get some exercise. I know I am supposed to wait for clearance but I feel normal and am not moving my arms or upper body and was taking it slow. I did notice my recovery bra was a size 44D and did not fit well at all. It was baggy in the breast area and I felt it did not support them so I wore a front zip sports bra and contacted the office and they gave me a smaller bra size which fits much better.

INCISION CARE:

The follow-up nurse said to clean with hydrogen peroxide and use ABD pads for my dressings. But I did things a little differently. The first few days I was using a mineral oil emulsion dressing that I had cut to the shape of the suture areas and used non-adherent pads so that the dressings did not get stuck on any drainage areas or sutures. Once I stopped draining I no longer used the oil emulsion dressings and only used the non-adherent pads for a few days. I ran out of supplies fast because I was cleaning often since its been 90+ degrees every day I have been sweating a lot and want to ensure the areas stay clean and not sick in wet dressings from sweat. SO now day 7 and the areas are pretty approximated so I am using a non-adherent pad for my nipple and verticle incision and I know this sounds crazy but using panty liners for the horizontal under-boob incisions (essentially this replaced me using ABD pads). I just put two together so there isn't a sticky side and use it as more of a cushion with the bras I'm wearing. Cleansing wise, I use CHG soap when I am in the showers, have used iodine a few times until I got more hydrogen peroxide. So far I have had no signs or symptoms of infection but also am making sure I am not over cleaning and drying them out. This is all just me winging it and it happens to work well so far with me.

I'll continue to update, but so far everything has gone perfectly and I couldn't be happier! Attached are pictures and I will note which day of recovery each one is.