Part 1: Capsular Contracture at 4 months post op- Houston, TX

Hello everyone! First off here are my stats. 5'5", 177 lbs., 38 yrs. old., No children- and no plans for any. Pre-op 36 small C, Hoping for a full C, small D. (and really, no more than that!) The plan is 371 cc in the left, and 392 on the right Cohesive Gel Silicone, Inframammary Incision, sub-pectoral, dual plane technique

HOW IT STARTED: I decided this January that I am not getting any younger, and I want to look as good as I can for as long as I can. I mean who doesn't right? I actually look younger than my age, and I am a returning college student changing my career about to graduate from college this May. During my time in college I moved to another state, been to three different universities and have gained 30lbs after moving to a hotter climate and sitting on my butt studying all the time. I really have been feeling like I have been wasting my youth, while feeling powerless to change it. I don't know if many other people have this issue before they get augmentation, so I am hoping my story might help some of those ladies as the majority of ladies getting BA's seems so to be in really good shape. I actually started out at 190 lbs, and have lost about 13 so far. When I get closer to my ideal weight I should be around a 34 B from the 36 C. I hope to lose another 10 pounds by the time I have my surgery, and will then continue to lose more. I need to lose a total of 37lbs to get to my "ideal" (140lbs) which is still on the high end of ok for my size. I will have to start job hunting after I graduate and I want to be more “presentable” weight wise while doing so as I feel really unattractive. So this is how this all started. I have been researching the web and creeping around in forums trying to learn whatever I could learn about these things. It has been wonderful to have that sort of reference and hear everybody's stories in order to compare my experience. And thank you everyone for posting pics! That is so brave! I am still trying to decide how I will as I know there are men who view these reviews, and it sickens me when it is for the wrong reason.

CHOOSING THE DR: The Dr. I chose seems to have hundreds of reviews that are just raving. The lowest rating I saw for him was 4.5 out of 5, but mostly 5's! Also I found a couple ladies on the forums that I roam who had their BA's with him and they are all happy confirming these reviews. I broke a cardinal rule by only having one consult- I hope I don't regret it later but I am sooo confident he will do a good job and his before and after pics look great. He is Board of Plastic Surgery certified and has many awards and been in many magazine reviews. (I hope I am repeating that right) So anyways, yadda yadda- he’s got the credentials and has been doing it many years.

CONSULT: Today I finally had my consult (3/20/12). His office is very nice and is located right next to a hospital. They have you fill out your new patient paperwork on a digital tablet which is really cool, and my husband asked them if they had any coffee- and they asked him if he would like espresso and “how would you like it sir?” They were all very nice and very professional. I didn’t have to wait any unreasonable time and was quite entertained by the tablet that had other things for you to look at. We were brought back to the exam room where the coordinator asked us some medical history questions and confirmed what we were there for.

The Dr. came in after she was done and spoke with us a little bit then had me change into a paper vest that opened in the front. When they both came back they took a look and took some measurements. After the measurements were taken, we went to another room (while I held the vest closed, but no one else was there anyway as I was the last patient). In this room, he had me put on a cotton-stretchy bra and asked me what size I was thinking. He placed some sizers into the bra and had me put on a form fitting white shirt and then analyzed their appearance in the shirt. Along with my husband and the coordinator/assistant (I’m actually not sure what her title is). He felt like my slight asymmetry was more obvious and decided to use different sizes which he and everyone else felt looked more even. I put on a couple of shirts I brought and my hubby took pics of me in the sizers. We sat down and discussed the pre-op, the surgery procedure, recovery, and post-op. He also answered any more questions we had, then took pictures with the sizers and shirt off for his records.

Once done there with him, we went with the coordinator to talk money, payment options, scheduling, etc. I booked my surgery for May 11th at 8:30 am!. FINALLY! But will need to be there by 6:30 am for pre-op preparation, I will be in surgery for 1 hour, recovery for 1 hour, then I will be free to go home. They will put an anti-nausea med in my IV to hopefully prevent any sickness when I come to. I am instructed to not wear any bras or straps or anything for 6weeks after, as well as dietary, alcoholic beverage, smoking, vitamin, painkiller, requirements before and after the surgery.

So that is where I am at right now, sorry it is sooo detailed! But hopefully this will help someone. When you have no idea it’s like a big black hole that your imagination can run wild in! LOL. I hope to have some pics posted soon. Until then…..! I'll change my "worth it" status once I have the Aug done and can truly determine.