HI everyone!
I was reading the boob job diary section of one of the forums today and it was amazing to hear other ladies experiences so I thought I'd add my boobie journey. It's a pretty long road so far so I will add it parts.
Part 1
I've wanted a BA for as long as I can remember really, everyone in the family is very busty, by the time the boob fairy got to me she was sick of all work lol so I never really developed. I was an A/B cup depending on my weight as it would fluctuate quite a bit, I also have tuberous (constricted tissue) breasts.
In late 2011 I finally was able to start perusing my goal of a BA, I set up several consults with clinics here in Ireland and they were a series of disasters! There was little care, rude staff, 6 hour waits, uninterested Drs... the list goes on...the worst of them all was not long after Xmas 2011, it was a 2 hour bus journey, I got lost on the walk from the bus to the clinic, it poured down, when I got there the staff were so unbelievably rude... I was fed up...and I continued to be for the 6 hours I sat in the waiting room! I live in quite a rural area so I had no option but to wait as I didn't know when my next chance would be. They even started sending in ladies before me who had arrived ages after me!
Eventually the put me in a little room with a sports bra and some implants and said I could try them on, long before any explanation of the implants was offered... so I tried them on and was then brought in to the room to meet the Dr, he asked me a few questions, explained the procedure to me then asked if I had questions, I asked him if he did mostly unders or overs, he told me overs weren't a real thing.... that I had made it up... he said the same for some of the risks I asked about and when I asked about CC he told me "I think you read to much" ;_; He then gave me an examination, in a room in the front of the building, with the windows open... he wasn;t happy when I requested he shut them lol but the worst was yet to come... he was examining my left side and I noticed he had changed his expression... he asked if I had recently self examined, I had not, he told me that he had found lump and that any talk of the op would be put off for the moment and to contact my Dr right away.
I was shown back to the waiting room where I was told to wait for the PC, I was still reeling from what he told me, it was like time stopped, he said I had a lump and that was all that went round in my head, what was it? The PC came to talk to me and I explained the situation, she said not to worry about it and started trying to *SELL* me a boob job :/ I just got told I had a lump and she was telling me OH just book now if it's serious we can change the date! She tried reletlessly to get me to book and to have the lower quality cheaper implants so that I could pay on the day and book sooner. It was disgusting :/
The bus ride back and the weekend seemed to go on and on forever, i had had my consult so Friday so couldn't call my Dr till the following Monday. I didn't mention it to anyone. My Dr got me very quickly and examined me, she said I'd need to be refered to the breast clinic in the next county and she would get on the case asap, all I could do was wait for a letter with a date.
I had another consult booked so in a bid to take my mind off things I went to it which wasn't the best idea ever I know. Again it went badly and he also felt the lump and checked my lymph nodes, he had to stick his hand right in to my armpit, it was the least fun thing ever lol and all he said was "They will 100% need to biopsy that".
The weeks waiting for the apt to arrive dragged on and on and I still hand't told anyone close to me, I had written about it in a blog but that was all I could manage, if I ignored it then it wasn't happening. When I did get the date I rang my Mom and told her as I would need her to come with, it was a hard convo to have needless to say.
The date rolled around and I sat in the clinic petrified of what they would find. I was called in to a room and was told I'd be having a scan then if they wanted to biopsy it I would have that done after. They started my scan and the lady said she needed to get someone else to have a look at it, the Dr she brought in said it looked highly unusal as t wasn't a lump but a cluster of lumps. I needed a biospy.
I went through to another waiting room for my biopsy. I was called in and they explained the procedure, the area was numbed and they took a needle and used a machine that *shot* it in to the breast. I was given paper stitches, was told what would happen next and that I would get a call in a week.
A week passed and the call came, the nurse told me it was a tumour and needed to be removed, it actually grown in that week so it was almost a relief to hear it would be out soon. She said they didn't know exactly what it was so it would need to be tested after removal.
I got an op date shortly after and it was removed. The removal was of the cluster of tumours, milk ducts and tissue it had spread to via areola incision so I was able to keep my nipple.The surgeon took a pic on her phone and showed it to me, it was disgusting. It was almost the length of a biro and about 2 ins high, if you ever seen an animals heart in the butchers that is what it looked like.
I was given post op instructions, a load of pills and was sent home to wait for test results. The painkillers they gave me were a form of morphine and they were awful!! I took them the first few nights only then just went with paracetamol and pain lol, I was hallucinating, I had chewed the inside of my mouth of bits, had no energy and was in a daze all the time.
I couldn't even look at my breasts, I hated them before but now to have one small breast and one half a small scarred breast was very hard for me to deal with, I planned to get my BA asap.
My results thankfully came back clear of anything sinister, it was a Phyllodes Tumour and I was now in the clear, I concentrated on healing so I could look at getting my BA, now it was for reconstruction rather than just not liking the size, it was in my head a case of be careful what you wish for!
Part 2 -
So... part 2 of the boobie journey!
Pretty much as soon as I was awake properly and off the horrible pain meds I was looking in to my BA again, there aren't many options here in Ireland and I was getting to the point where I thought I'd have to go to the UK (something that I wish I had done!) I had seen two more places, one was just an all round awful consult the other was nice but the Dr wanted to give me anatomicals which I didn't want due to the chance of rotation, it seemed an extra risk I didn't need and he wouldn't budge on that. There was one company I didn't see as they looked great to start but after a bit of digging I saw they had a few high court cases against them and lots of unhappy customers. I then stumbled upon a fairly new clinic, they had rave reviews so far and were on the way to receiving a JCI accreditation, a high award for excellence in the medical field, they would be only the 2nd purpose built plastic surgery centre to get this award so it sounded very promising! The award I later learned was more for the clinic it's self, equipment, cleanliness and such rather than the abilities of the Drs who worked there.
I booked a consult which was held in a conference room in a hotel as they had only the one clinic they travel around the country making them more accessible to clients. The staff all seemed lovely, they were professional, friendly and helpful. I spoke with the PC and filled in some forms, I was then taken to meet the surgeon DR Wim Danau. He explained the procedure, gave me his recomendation which was 460 unders, he gave me an implant to try and addressed all my concerns, I then went back to the PC she told me not to rush into anything and to go home and think everything over.
Overall I was very happy with them, they were professional, friendly and made me feel comfy and at ease. I spoke on the phone with my PC a few days later and a date was booked.
Once everything was paid up I started having issues getting hold of my PC if I needed to discuss anything or get clarification on pre/post op procedure, it would take her 3 or so days to reply to emails or phonecalls which drove me crazy but I was so fed up with the state of things I put it out of my head and waited for the op day.
OP day arrived, it was a 4 hour drive so we left at 2 as I my admission was for 6.30 (I'm a diabetic so I was first on the list). I arrived the surgical centre and was greeted by my DR, he showed me to my room and I waited for the nurse. She did all the usual height, weightm blood sugar, fitted an IV, gave me a gown/socks ect. DR Danau came in and asked to take some pictures, he assured me I'd have a very nice result and he was confident it would all go well. The one thing that bothered me was just before he left the room he said "How much did you pay?" ...which seemed a very odd thing to ask.... I told him which implants I was told I'd have ect as I was a bit panicked by this coment... he said "Yes I know which type but how much? Your Mom is here with you maybe she knows?" The nurse then came back in to the room and said we would be going ahead in a few mins, nerves took over and I put the comment out of my mind.
I went in to the OR got on the table, the staff there were very nice and made me feel at ease, they chatted to me whilst I fell asleep the BOOM I woke up. I had 460cc Nagor Impleo unders - my first thought was literally "Owwwww, why?! Why did I do this, ouuuch" haha ;_;. The nurse came in gave me some toast, got very annoyed when I asked for coffee rather than tea lol and gave me an injection for the pain, she said everything went well and I'd be ok to leave soon. I called my Mom to tell her to come get me as for some reason they refused to let her wait wait there for me, they said she had to be off the premises... so I called, she'd had a disaster and her tire on the car had burst so waiting for someone to come put a new one on! I told the nurse and she said I should get ready anyway in case she came back quicker than I thought. She pulled me up out of the bed, gave me my clothes and told me to get dressed. Let me tell you this was not easy! Bare in mind I had been awake about 45mins if that at this point!
So I managed to get dressed and the nurse came back and told me I had to leave the room... again, I had been awake about an hour and I was bit shocked at how fast she was throwing me out lol, she told me to go down to the waiting room, I had never been to the surgical centre so had no idea where I was going, I had no help going down the huge flight stairs which was difficult given I could barely walk about. I would have understood them asking me to leave if I had all ready been in there hours and my Mom late collecting me ect ect but I hadn't been there long at all.
I got to the waiting room which was very busy and crowded, totally not what I wanted given I was tired, in pain, groggy and looked awful given I just had surgery! The PC came in, didn't ask how I was, just asked how long I'd be there for which ended up being about 45mins. At one point a car pulled up outside, they assumed it was my Mom, the clinic manager came and got me and showed me out. The person in the car was a total random so I had to be asked to be let back in.
Eventually my Mom got her car fixed and collected me and went on the 4hour drive home. I had a fairly good recovery, I wasn't in too much pain so long as I kept up on my meds and didn't try to lay down, I slept upright on the sofa for a few weeks but everything was ok. My sticthes came out day 7 and all was well at that check,I had the dreaded fankenboobs which made recovery very up and down, I was always thinking aaargh what did I do haha but that settled some what after a while.
As the weeks past I dropped and settled and all was looking great, I saw my Dr at week 6, he looked, um'd and ah'd said everything was *fine* but he didn't want to take after pictures, he told me to always wear a front closing bra as they were sitting far apart and that was it. I was in for perhaps 6 mins, which was annoying given it was a 4hour drive but I went on my way.
I had started to notice some weeks later that things didn't seem right, they weren't dropping, fluffing and were moving further apart rather than closer together, I emailed my PC with my concerns and heard nothing back, rang her, no answer, rang the surgery centre, was told she would call back.. it took 5-7 days anytime I contacted her for me to hear back, I was upset that things weren't right and I was given no support. When I did get hold of her she said everything would be fine give it time ect ect which I did, at 3months I knew things wouldn't get better, my implant was in my armpit all the time, I had no upper or lower pole, it was ALL *sideboob* my nipple sat almost at the bottom of the breast, when I lay down they slid totally in to my armpit and felt very heavy/painful, I could constantly feel my implant and I had started to get some painful episodes.
I sent my concerns along with pics to my PC, it took me 2 more months to get an apointment with my DR, in that time I had travlled up there to see him only to be turned away, after 4hours drive! The apt was cancled more than once and when I did see him his answer was "You will probably get used to it" I could not believe what I was being told..... why I should have to get used to painful, rock hard, sideways, mangled breasts??
Another month of fighting them ensued, I saw a new DR in that time who told me I had lateral displacement, muscle distortion, mild CC in one breast, tenting caused my muscle being dissected in a strange way which also caused the muscle to crush the implant flat and lateral, I sent this along to my PC and I was given an apt to see a different Dr, this Dr told me he wouldn't speak against his co worker... and that was about it...
I was so depressed, I felt worse than I did in the first place, I was pain and discomfort all the time, I felt I looked like a freak. I had wide flat breasts, I couldn't fit them in to a bra and they made me look huge. I HATED them, more than I ever had before.
My biggest issue with my clinic was the lack of support and aftercare, I had an aftercare package, I also had been told my DR would fix any issue that was his fault yet none of this happened. All they did was deny the issue, if he had offered to fix it I wouldn't have let him near me again but the offer would have been nice... I feel he and the clinic took no responsibility and just walked away laughing 4k richer. Complications are terrifying, had I not done a lot of reasearch and knew what was happening I would have gone crazy. I was lucky that I did have support from the forums I was on because my clinic offered me none.
I got in contact with Dr Revis in the US via the forums and he gave me an online consult, told me the same as the last Dr and gave me an outline of what I needed to do to have this issues fixed. Armed with that info I started seeking a new Dr, people would often ask me why I didn't seek legal action against the clinic and the truth is I couldn't face it, I was so sad that I just couldn't bring my self to go over it again and again so I just concentrated on moving forward. I started a blog online to help other women going through what I was going through and that gave me some peace, a place to vent and to a place to feel I was doing some good was what I needed at that time.
I saw and/or spoke to over 15 Drs in Ireland and the UK by the time I found a revision Dr, most of the Drs I saw told me to go back to my Dr as he should fix it and that they felt the case was too complicated for them resolve.
I orginally had written a great review for this clinic on my blog, someone had left a comment stating they had a terrible time with them and the clinic hounded me over this. No thanks for the nice review just all kinds of crazy over this comment. The phoned me at work, would just yell down the phone when I answered, they sent me emails, I had harrasment on twitter and from two other email accounts posing at paitents, I was threatend with legal action (all though I didn't write the comment) I got it removed and wrote an email to the clinic manager about terrible they had treated me, again no apology, no thank you, nothing. I never heard from them again, I recently contacted them to ask for my before pictures and more ignorance.
Now that more info on this company has become available I have learned that they are a Re-Brand of the the company I mentioned earlier that had several cases against it, they simply re-named the clinic, removed all traces of it being the same place and carried on, which just goes to show you can never do enough research!
Part 3 -
It had now been a year since my tumour removal and first BA, I had spent a full YEAR fighting the clinic on my issues to no avail. 100's spent on travel to dublin, days wasted, countless ignored emails and phonecalls, I had sent them all the info given to me by Dr Revis, Dr Sulman and Dr Salman and nothing to show for it. All I knew was it needed to fixed.
I set about trying to get my revision and putting Avoca behind me. I saw Dr Salamn at Auralia again, he was lovely and the clinc team were fantastic as always, he was a little hesitant to the idea of a revision and wasn't too sure if he was happy to go ahead, all though he was lovely I decided against going with Auralia given he wanted to use anatomicals only and the fact he was hesitant put me on edge. I next spoke THG in Ireland, at present they have only one Dr operating in Ireland who felt my case was too complex and that I should return to Mr Danau (no thank you) I spoke with several other small private clinics in Ireland, all of which gave the same opinion. I knew then I would have go to the UK which was scary, how would travel be post BA? What if I had issues? I had so many different questions in my head but I knew I had no other option.
I set up a consult at MYA with Mr Chantrask, he was lovely and very professional, he told me he was uncomfortable fixing another Drs mess and he also wasn't happy using a large implant so it was a no go. I was getting very depressed at this point I felt I was running round in circles and was never going to get an answer.
I booked with THG, I forget which Dr I was booked in to see...two days prior to the consult the Dr had to cancel due to family issues and was unavailable for quite some time, I asked the PC if there were any other consults availbe with another Dr for anywhere within an hour ot two of London as I had all ready booked flights only to find there wasn't! It was becoming, tiring, expensive and heartbreaking, I had no idea where to go next.
Shortly after I got an email from the PC at MYA, she wanted to follow up my apt and ask how the consult went, I explained it hadn't gone well and gave the reasons. She asked if I would like to see another Dr. I wasn't sure how to answer this as it was almost worse getting geared up to see someone only to be told no when I got there than it was seeing no one at all. She explained that all though they don't usually allow for it, iif I sent along some pictures and an explanation of my issues and what I wanted she would show them to the Drs at MYA and see if anyone thought they could help (thank you Stephanie!). She informed me Mr Singh had said he could help, I booked a consult and went nervously on my way. I couldn't stop wondering wtf I was going to do next if he said no...
Luckily for me I never needed to find out :) I saw Mr Singh and I have to say he was fantastic, he made me feel comfortable and at ease. I find lot of Dr's lack personal skills which isn't great given you're trusting this person to cut your chest open lol, having a good bedside manner is the difference between being reassured and happy or worried and stressed. He explained he could fix the issues, he told me what the issues were, that he would be adjusting the pocket and fixing the LD and tenting as well as adding more volume. I was so happy with everything and I couldn't wait to book! I went back to the waiting room where my friend was waiting for me, I told her the good news and big hugs and girly squealing followed mwahaha :p
I didn;t see a PC at my first consult with MYA so I was put in to contact with Jennifer Collin, she answered all my questions, passed on countless messages to Mr Signh for me, worked wonders with changing things around for me due to me traveling from Ireland and was an round HUGE help.
As the op got closer some of issues worsened so I aked if I might be able to see Mr Singh again, Jennifer booked my pre op and 2nd consult with him for the same day so I would be all set.
The pain I was having in the muscle had become worse, on a scale of 1-10 I was on a 6/7 on a daily basis, the muscles were crushing my implants side ways, were lifting my skin in the middle and felt like they were trying to tear through my chest!
Mr Singh explained he felt it would be a better option to go in front of the muscle so long as I was happy to, I had gained a little weight so I had enough breast issue for me to do, I was concerned about things like increased risk of CC but after some explanation from the Dr and a little of my own digging I found placement really plays only a small role in CC, in the US where most testing is carried out, overs are usually paired with a SMOOTH implant, not the textured we kind we use in all our implants in the UK and Ireland, it is actually the smooth coating that carries the risk for CC not the placement it's self.
He told me I find this far more astheticly pleaseing as well as more comfy, after all your breast wasn't designed to sit behind the muscle the term used was "God didn't put your breast behind the muscle so why would I?" which made a lot of sense haha. He put my mind at rest about the chance of other problems, he said he couldn't tell me I wouldn't have ripples, thats not something he could say either way, however they would use every precaution to lower the risk. I had decided after this long with multiple issues trading all of them for a little rippling would be more than a good trade (I never got ripples at all so even better). We decided on 615cc Allergan Naturelle Soft Touch, he would order 525cc just incase the 615 wouldn't fit. We were going in front of the muscle so a new pocket would be made, nothing from my last ba would come in to it given the different placement, he would remove the unders and scar tissue and place my muscle back then put the implant on top. I was for the first time in a year happy about what was ahead for the girls and I! I would feel normal and comfy and not be in pain!
The next few weeks flew by and before I knew it I was on the plane waiting to go to surgery ^_^
I had NO sleep haha I was so so excited!! I booked my taxi for 6am, I woke, showered with dettol soap and dried with a fresh washed towel. I wore a soft zip front hoddie and jogging bottoms, I took with me slippers, a gown, phone and charger, peppermins for anti nausea, hairbrush and my Sportsjock D3. Once I got to Highgate I was given a few forms to fill and was taken to my room.
The nurse came to see me shortly after and kitted me out with my surgery gown, socks, slippers and wonderful paper knickers :p She took heigh, weight, pregnancy test, blood sugar, BP, went over my medical history and allergies. She was so lovely and chatty and really made me relax! Mr Singh came to see me about 7.30, he chatted with me about what to expect, made sure I was happy with everything, had me sign a few forms, took some pictures, marked me and told me he would see me again soon! The anesthtist came for a chat, asked me about allergies, what I had to eat and drink and how long ago it was, he told me to get ready to go down and someone would come and get me shortly.
A nurse came and told me it was time to go, we walked down to theatre where I saw the anaesthetist again, I got on to the trolly, he asked me where I had left my veins .. if I left them up in the room lol, they always have issues finding my veins!! He told me not to nervous and soon I'd be having a nice nap. He gave me a "Gin and Tonic" as he called it and chatted to me about where I live until... BOOM I was out!
Next thing I know I woke up, a nurse came and asked how I was and if I wanted to have a look, she helped me have a sneak peak and I remember just saying wooow thank yooou :O I thanked her and rambled a load of nonsense that I can't really remember haha. I do remeber I kept poking them through the gap in the strapping and as like woah.. they're soft! They're not like rocks?! What is this sorcery lol!
I was taken back to my room and a nurse came to ask how I was, she told me Mr Singh was very happy and all went well and he would be back to see me later. I was given some toast and coffee and was told to relax for a little while.
It was SO different from the first time! Everyone was smiling and happy and no one was rushing me out of the bed and throwing me out of the room haha. It was such a lovely place and everyone was beyond wonderful I felt great in myself and was in less pain right after surgery than I was before I went in ^_^ I had a wash, brushed my hair and got dressed, sat back in bed an watched some TV.
I was kept in until around 5pm just to keep a check on my blood sugar for those first few hours, Mr Singh came in to the room and I was greeted with "How are you feeling beautiful?!" I can not stress how lovely he is, he made me feel so at ease and was just wonderful to me. Not to mention he is an amazing surgeon and fixed my ruined, awful, chest and gave me big epic boobs of win!
I stayed in the UK for a week so I could go to my first post op, the recovery was fairly non eventful, I didn't have much pain, what little I did have was when I over did it, I was off walking round the supermarket and visiting my family at day 2 post op, I got tired fairly easy and that was about the only problem I had aside the usual stomach issues and problems sleeping, otherwise everything was great. By day 5 the strapping was very itchy and I was eagerly awaiting getting it off!!
I had my post op at day 7, the nurse took the strapping off, looked at my incisions said they looked great and were fully closed which is great news at day 7 esp given my medical condition. Finally I heard the words I waiting for.... "Do you want to look?" I went and stood in front of the mirror and I couldn't believe what I saw... they were amazing.. they looked normal... like normal, human boobs, they were soft, squishy, were movable, had no craz sideboob and no tenting, I almost cried, after all this time they were finally just BOOBS, no crazy boobs, painful boobs, horrible boobs, just boobs ^_^
I'm now almost 4 weeks post op and I still love them as much as I did that first day. They are to me, perfect, they do have differences, given I had the partial mastectomy that is to be expected so whilst they may not perfect to everyone else to me they are. They are just the right size, on the bigger side of natural looking, the "are they or aren't they fake?" type of look. Even though I have round, xhp over the muscle they are very natural looking! I have a nice slope, good upper and lower pole a nice shape and a soft, comfy feel.
I am currently around a 32 F/FF I do still have some settling to do, as I have the shiny stretched skin in the upper pole which may take a little while as I have thick skin (good for zero ripples ;)) so far I have no issues at all, no tenting, no ripples, I have done the typical crazy post op thinking I have every complication ever thing haha, one thing boob jobs going wrong will make you is PARANOID. I was waiting for something to go wrong... thakfully everything is good, all is looking well and I will keep updating to let you all know how recovery goes from here on in :)
No more nightmare boobs just dream boobies for this gal ^_^
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