Breast Reduction - Albuquerque, NM

Am now 2 1/2 months post surgery. Was a size G or H and nipples were level with my elbows. Now a size C to D and incision closed. Still some breast tenderness and redness of part of incision. I am 60, so healed slower than if I were younger. I did have a couple of complications. I have asthma and I had a partial collapse of both lungs during the procedure. I had to stay a couple of extra days in the hospital, go home with oxygen, breathing treatments and prednisone. This resolved in a couple of weeks, but the prednisone caused problems with wound healing and a rather large part of the incision opened up. I had to do dressing changes several times a day to prevent an infection. Despite the complications, I felt an immediate relief from chronic shoulder and neck pain. Everything I do all day is easier and less painful! Shirts fit better, my breasts are in, not under the shelf bra in my bathing suit! I was having to fold my arms under my breasts so I could walk without uncomfortable swinging back and forth. I had quite a bit of breast tissue under each arm, removing this has made my underarm pain go away and the pins and needles feeling along the inside of both arms disappear. This is sad, but my husband was not at all supportive of me choosing to have this surgery done. He was angry and resentful of the extra work and did not understand why it was so important to me. I'm not sure, but I think he may have felt that if only I tried harder to lose weight the surgery would not have been necessary. Luckily, my cousin who had breast CA, a mastectomy and reduction on the other breast was there to help, encourage and just be sympathetic through the whole process.

There were a couple of things that I thought about last night which I didn't mention, but might help other people considering this surgery. I didn't really think about getting this surgery earlier for several reasons. I thought I might get breast cancer because of my family history and just thought that if I got cancer I would just have a mastectomy and a reduction on the other side or just get a double mastectomy. My mother had breast cancer in the 1980s and had a mastectomy and wore a (miserable) large prosthesis on that side. After having several relatives with different types of cancer, I had extensive genetic testing done and found that I don't have either of the mutations that cause breast cancer.
Also, my husband said that insurance doesn't cover breast reductions and I was reluctant to spend that kind of money on myself. When I had the surgery consult I found that, in my case there was no question that the insurance would cover all of the costs minus the deductible, substantially decreasing the out of pocket costs.
I did want to breastfeed if I had children and it turned out that I didn't have children and finish nursing until I was 37 years old. I'm happy I waited because there are many benefits to baby and mom from nursing and know that there is not a guarantee that breastfeeding will be successful after reduction surgery. I did have a huge increase in breast size and also in breasts sagging after nursing which did not improve very much with weight loss.. I guess some people return to a more normal size, but I did not.
From this experience I learned that doing research, talking to the physician at the breast care center, getting a referral from him for a plastic surgeon, and doing the preoperative surgery consult gave me the information I needed to make an informed decision about whether to have the surgery or not. I do wish that I would have looked into this many years earlier, but very grateful for the benefits to my health and wellbeing that I am enjoying now.
I took the recuperation quite slowly, but am now back to all of my presurgery activities, swimming, hiking, volunteering, babysitting, etc.
Several friends who had different types of surgery recommended Arnica Cream (not ointment) to massage into the bruised areas, not the incision itself. I think this has helped with soreness and bruising, but I would check with Dr and also make sure you aren't allergic before using it on a large area. I don't have any other cream to compare it to, so maybe it was just the massage and not the exact cream that made the difference, but the bruising for me went away quickly.

Today is exactly 3 months since the surgery. I have completely healed from the two major complications I had as a result of the surgery, breathing problems and the wound opening up. The scar where the wound opened up is completely closed over, but is more red, thick and edges not smooth. Luckily it is hard to see as it is right under my breast, so not really visible. I still get some irritation where the bottom band of my bra rubs on the incision. I really don't have any complaints at all because I have such relief from the pain of carrying around those huge, heavy, pendulous breasts around every minute of every day for decades.
I feel astonishingly better in so many ways. Dr. Morehouse removed breast tissue from under my arms. I didn't even realize how much better I would feel from just that. No more sore armpits, no more pins and needles along the inside of both arms! I have been going to physical therapy for back issues for several months. When I was able to go back a couple of weeks ago, he was so surprised how much better my posture, core strength and balance is now compared to before the surgery. He thought I might have lost some ground after being sick for a couple of months. He was very surprised at all the improvements..
Here are some of the other miscellaneous things I've noticed; don't have to lean on anything to put my pants on, easier to reach things on the floor, don't have to use my arms to cradle my breasts when I walk to prevent swinging, clothes meant for women actually fit, I can wear shirts that have a waist, my bathing suit has a built in bra that my breasts actually fit in, instead of hanging under the bra, I don't feel like I'm suffocating when I lie down at night, can tie my shoes without juggling huge breasts around, wearing pajamas around the house without a bra doesn't give me or anybody else nightmares, can eat without every stray crumb ending up sitting on a prominent shelf..
Actually feel like a whole new, improved self. Was definitely worth all the worry, embarrassment, complications, initial discomforts. I look back at photos of my mother, grandmother, great grandmother who all had the same problem and wish that they had the opportunity that I have had to feel so much better.
Really glad that I had a great surgeon, and his staff were all the best, very kind and gentle.. It has been the single most significant improvement in my life in so many ways.