23 Years Old, 5'4" 120lbs, 32G/H to C/D

Wow..can’t believe it’s been four years. I didn’t post much afterwords because things didn’t go so great. I got wounds at the T of the anchor about 2.5-3 weeks afterwards that started getting worse quickly. I went to my surgeon’s office to have my stitches removed when the wounds were in the beginning stages (January 9th pic) and she was not concerned and stated small openings like that were very common. She wanted me to place - basic dressing on(I want to say it was aquacele? I don’t remember) At that point I had started spring semester of college back up (in nursing) and was about an hour from my surgeon’s office. I called the office multiple times stating my concerns as things got worse but I was told everything was fine and this was a common occurrence. I became extremely depressed and anxious as things got worse and felt like there was nothing I could do. I eventually took things into my own hands and called a wound care center 10 minutes from me. The nurses there could not have been more caring-I finally felt like someone was trying to help me. The doctor debrided (a special type of cleaning) the wound and cultured it for infection. They gave me expensive wound care stuff (foam pieces with collagen that were supposed to help build the tissue back up) and showed me how to change my dressings each day. I had to do go for debriding every week for probably at least 8 weeks. The culture came back positive for some type of infection so I was started on clindamycin, which turns out I’m allergic to. Yeahhhh...things were really sucking at this point. I was in an accelerated nursing program, planning a wedding for December, and having to change daily dressings on my boobs (mind you-these wounds hurt) and going to the wound clinic weekly. I had a follow up appt with my surgeon again maybe at 3 months? And she was pretty much like “These look bad. Why didn’t you call?” And I said I called multiple times and spoke with soandso. I told her I tried to get appts to come in at specific times (due to school) but she was always booked. I then told her I was going to a wound clinic and she acted as if they had somehow messed up my wounds/made them worse. I didn’t feel like she had my best interest or cared-she was just trying to make a point that her work was good and someone else must have messed it up because I wasn’t doing what she told me to (yes I was—that’s where the pictures of the wounds growing and getting worse came from-I was following her instructions at that time) At this point I had to decide who to listen to -at least the wound care people were nice and following up regularly to make sure things improved and I trusted them. Things did start to get better but it was a super slow process. The wounds at the base of the T started to heal, and then my nipple started to separate (see picture). I still had wound care supplies and just did what they had taught me and it eventually healed. I graduated in August. I went in for my one year follow-up in November and I still had flaking/peeling skin. She referred me to a breast specialist (probably for cancer suspicions, but she never said that) and said I could have scar revision surgery later if I wanted...for sure....no. Breast specialist did exam and just told me to use Aquaphor and said he had no other concerns; I did and it went away.

Are you still following? Haha soooo, December 2015, a year after my breast reduction, things were finally starting to look up! I got married and was happy I could wear cute outfits/bikinis/lingerie on my honeymoon without feeling like my ginormous boobs were taking over.

Overall, would I get a breast reduction again? Even with everything that happened- 110% yes. I don’t know why I waited as long as I did. I think it’s because I had always been known as “the girl with big boobs” and if I didn’t have that, what would people remember about me? I have no butt and didn’t feel I was especially pretty otherwise. It sounds dumb but I feel like other big boobers out there get it. I feel so much better shopping for clothes, working out, at work- just everyday I feel more confident. I feel like when I do want to show a little cleavage, it’s classy and not trashy. People who I have met since then cannot believe how big my boobs used to be because they just fit me so proportionately now. Not to mention, I do feel like my shoulders/back feel a lot lighter.

I can’t wear underwire bras anymore because my boobs are too “on the front” of my chest and the underwire makes this weird skin pinch thing in the middle. I’m not going to complain about that though...wireless are way more comfy! Right now, my best fitting bra is a Warner’s 34D. If I go to Victoria’s Secret I still measure as a 34ddd but we all know their sizes are wack. I only wear string bikinis now because I hadn’t been able to wear swimwear without an underwire since like 7th grade and I’m just so happy I can :) I that’s partly why I chose a wedding dress with a vneck too

As far as nipple sensation goes—ehh. As to be expected with all the stuff that happened- Left boob is probably 60% what it was and right is probably 30% (it’s honestly inverted sometimes which is embarrassing but no one really sees besides my husband and he likes all boobs). I don’t know if breast feeding will work when that time comes but I’ll deal with that when I get to it. I’ve accepted that if I can’t it will not be the end of the world.

What would I do differently? I wish I would’ve listened to everyone on here and went for other consultations. Yes-the shape of my boobs is good (not boxy like I had feared) but bedside manner became important when I started to have complications. I think I would have taken a more boxy boob shape for a more caring/helpful/understanding surgeon when crap hit the fan for me.

But I’ve been typing this on my phone for over an hour haha hope my post can help someone else out there!
I will post updated pictures tomorrow—I’ve got to 1. Take them 2. Crop my face out of recent photos

My surgeon told me I could expect to have scabbing and bruising gone by 6 weeks. I am on edge to buy new bras! I just don't want to invest in buying any if my boobs are going to keep changing dramatically in size..When did all of yours seem to finally be done swelling and kind of settle down to a size?

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in awhile..been busy with this new engagement and all ;) I'm going to post pretty long because I know when I was trying to decide to have the surgery or not I wanted to know everything about it. But I'll tell you guys what I can remember about my surgery:

The night before my surgery I had what could be considered a breakdown haha I just had a lot of anxiety about the surgery and my boobs not looking good and it all came out in the form of tears the night before. Luckily my mom is very good with me when I have these moments and she helped talked me through my concerns. I woke up the next morning feeling at ease and relaxed because I think I had gotten all my worries out the night before. Also, I am a Christian girl and I think praying for peace really helped. Turned out my dad knew the anesthesiologist from high school and for some reason that made me feel like he had more of an interest in me and would take better care of me. Next thing I knew, surgery was over and I woke up to staring at my boyfriend and parents. I was pretty doped up and apparently fairly entertaining haha. I just remember being very sleepy. Oh! I forgot to say, I told the nurse beforehand that I get nauseated super easily and asked for a patch (just like the ones you wear to prevent seasickness)..I highly recommend that to everyone. I stayed overnight and actually had a nurse where I was his only patient which was nice. I would tell him when my pain got too bad and I wanted more drugs and he was very good about trying to keep my pain to a minimum. He also always gave me an anti-nausea with every pain med I got, so I didn't feel nauseous at all which made me happy because I was super nervous about that. I was hungry and ate some mac and cheese and applesauce. The only part that sucked about staying overnight was I had to pee all the time because of the fluids they were giving me and that was annoying. Went home the next morning and with valium and hydrocodone..because of that I don't remember the next almost 3 days. These drugs helped relieve my pain but basically made me sleep ALL the time. However, overall, the pain wasn't bad at all. Just felt like someone punched me super hard in the boobs. The greatest pain was on the sides of my boobs-at times felt like they were on fire and the skin was ripping. I had my first day out of the house on day 6 which I needed for my sanity. I went shopping for another bra to wear because the surgery one was super see through and I needed one with my padding so my nips wouldn't show when I started to interact with people in the real world haha We went to Kohl's..I had to stop and sit down every 10 mins or so due to shortness of breath. I saw a black and gold dress in the juniors section. My mom asked if I wanted to try it on and I did and it fit..and I started crying. I started crying because I just have never been able to pull a juniors medium dress off the rack and have it fit. I felt wonderful about the way my body looked in clothes for the first time in a very long time.

I did not end up going to the pacers game on New Years Eve because my grandma ended up getting married to her boyfriend of 18 years that night (which is why I needed a dress).

I have been having "zingers", still don't know if I have any sensation or not. At first look, I thought they might be too small but am getting happier with them everyday. I will post pics later-feel like I've been typing forever!