Happy with my breast reduction; hit a few bumps on the road

I had my breast reduction 12/05/2012. I have dealt with mid back pain and insomnia for 12 years and have tried therapy many times. I finally decided this year it was time; when my neck required injections and chiropractic care, and I developed hidradenitis(boils) under my right breast. My procedure was about 4hrs long, and 5lbs removed from my chest. I had one drain on each breast, stayed overnight in the hospital with a pain pump, then went home the next day. I went from a G/H cup to C cup.

The first few days there was moderate pain, and I took pain meds around the clock. By day 5 I was down to pain meds 2 xday. Post op day 6 drains were removed and I had a good report in the office. By post op day 10 on 12/15/12 I noticed I started to have drainage trickling down my abdomen. I examined my incisions under my breasts with a light and mirror and noted redness under both breast and around the verticle incisions, yellow pus under my dermabond strips under both creases, and a 1 1/2 inch opening under my right breast. I notified my doctor's nurse, hysterically packed a bag(I knew I was going to be readmitted) and went to the ER. I was admitted for four days with cellulitis of the breast incisions (infection) and fat necrosis (fat tissue that dies as a result of trauma or surgery that liquify and drains).

Also the areas where your vertical scar(under nipples) meets the crease on each breast are healing slower as well. I received 2 strong antibiotics in the hospital and wound packing and dressing changes daily. My PS said this will resolve with meds and I did not need to go back to the OR, thank God! I was discharged from the hospital 12/19/12. I am doing better, the redness has resolved and the drainage has slowed some (before I was saturating bras). My incisions look clean, but healing is in progress. I have no regrets although I am having a minor setback. My back and neck no longer hurts and I can sit up straight. I am a nurse in the recovery room so I had a lot of knowledge before hand, and did a lot of research. The one thing I have taken for granted is the restriction. If the PS says so, follow the rules of DO NOT lift arms above head, keep elbows down and at your side, do not lift >10lbs. I had my mom's help for 9 days but was stubborn and still did too much. I may have caused some of my own healing delays. Now I am following these rules and bought a reaching stick. I am packing my wound and changing my dressing twice a day. Things will get better. I still have a lot of swelling, but my boobs sit up high, and they are perky. I am happy with my results overall. I cannot wait until they take their final shape, and no longer feel like hard coconuts. I look forward to buying new bras and tops in a month or two!

I went for my 2nd post op visit since leaving the hospital 12/19/12 and things are looking good. My left breast is just spotting and is healing faster than the right. My right breast wound is healing from the inside out, I will still need to pack it 2x day until my next visit 1/15 so it continues to heal this way. The T junction on the right will take a little longer because of a stitch that will be removed in the future. I am happy with the look of my boobs and have no regrets.

Happy New year to everyone and I pray that all will recover well. Just an update to say that nerve pain in my right aereola and nipple nearly caused me to come unglued new yrs eve . It hit me at a public place, I rushed to the bathroom and pulled out my breast it felt like something with sharp teeth was biting and would not let go. I drove home crying in a pain holding my bra away from my skin b/c that sensation was hittimg me like lightening. I got home, took bra off, saw no signs of anything wrong with the areola/nipple. I dug into my medicine cabinet, put some lidocaine ointment on the sensitive to touch area, took a neurontin for nerve pain & had to take a norco and muscle relaxant to sedate myself from this awful pain. It continued thru the evening, I applied more lidocaine ointment, decided to do both sides this time and after a couple of hours it really dulled the nerve pain. Now new yrs day, it is much better, still have the nerve pain but tolerable. I never lost sensation to my nipples and glad for that. I know they cut a lot of nerves during surgery, so I guess this is a sign of healing with these sensations