Mommy Makeover for a 42y/o 5'10 220lbs Woman W/70lb Weight Loss 2 Years Ago and No Kids - Miami, FL

Ready for a long read? If not, keep scrolling. I'm going to start from the beginning. The very beginning. When I was 13 and began developing breasts they did not develop at the same rate or even in the same shapes. This caused me much mental anguish as my favorite sport growing up was swimming and I gave it up to avoid the humiliation from my peers. I stuffed my bra and avoided pools/beaches/swimming until I had the opportunity to get them fixed at age 17 when my father's health insurance covered the procedure. At that time I had a lift on one side and an implant put in on the other side above the muscle. Almost a year later I had scar tissue attach to my rib from the implant and had the implant replaced. I was so happy to finally be able to wear a swim suit for the first time in my adult life that it didn't really bother me too badly that my boobs still looked like they should be on two different women. At least in clothes I appeared normal. I actually went on to model professionally as a plus size model represented by agencies in 3 metropolitan markets and even secured a lingere client. When I was 22 I noticed one day about a week after a mamogram my implant seemed to have lost volume as my boobs were again not even close to the same size. Surgery number 3 ensued to replace the implant that had leaked and again I had my two cousins back together. The surgeon I chose at that time was the best in my area and was wonderful but told me there would be no way for my boobs to ever be the same as eachother, they were just too different. Mind you, that was 20 years ago. Obviously I would LOVE to have boobs that look like they belonged to the same body but that didn't seem like it was going to be in my cards. Fast forward 18 years and I'm working out, eating clean and have lost 70lbs then on my yearly visit to my OBGYN they found something and I was referred to a specialist for surgery to have 2 softball size cysts removed off of my ovary along with an ovary and both tubes which left 3 small scars on my already flabby tummy. Glad for my health and still feeling great about my weightloss but not seeing the image in the mirror to reflect it I was talking to my hairstylist about it when she told me her story and how she had done a mommy makeover a couple years prior and how much it changed her appearance and confidence. This put the bug in my ear. I had always wanted to see if I could get my boobs to be like a normal womans and the thought of having my tummy show the work I put into it was intoxicating so I began my journey by researching the procedure, pros, cons, healing times, what can go wrong and of course looking at every available image I could of doctors work revising breasts. I met with several doctors, all who seemed very competent but saved my last consultation for the doctor with the reputation of being THE BEST. After meeting with him and witnessing his confidence in his ability to help me with my plight I booked on the spot and scheduled my surgery a month out. He was professional, as was his staff and his reputation along with photos of his work preceded him. I chose to have breast revision with removal of the implant I already had and placement of implants under the muscle in both breasts along with a lift on both breasts. I was more excited than nervous for my surgery and everything leading up to and through the surgery went smoothly. The wait times were always short and my pre-op appointment was quick. The only bad thing was that their EKG machine was not working so I had to get one last minute and I live in a small town with little access so that sent me on a goose chase but it was really not a big deal. Okay, day of surgery I arrive and am taken the back to prep. They give me a warm robe to wait in and that was very nice. The doctor showed up and marked me. He was pleasant and asked if I had any questions. I had done my research had full confidence in him so I was ready to go. They wheeled me to the Operating room and were very nice and friendly. It wasn't long before I was out and back awake. I spent about an hour in recovery and then my husband took me to the hotel room we stayed in that night. I had a pain pump and was on pain pills and didn't feel terrible at all the first day. The second day I went back to the doctor's office for the post op and the said everything looked great. I was feeling okay and super excited for my results. We traveled the 5 hours back home and I was beat. By the 3rd day I was in alot of pain even though I'd been taking the pain pills every 4 hours on the dot. My breasts didn't hurt, it was my tummy. I powered through with copious amounts of Tylenol for a week because nobody at the Dr's office got back to me about my pain situation for several days and by then it wasn't so bad. Looking back I believe I may have worn my binder too tight and that was causing undue pulling and creasing in my stomach muscles. I can't be sure though, I am a big baby when it comes to pain and this was some intense pain. 4 months later I've still got a mark on my stomach where the binder folded into my stomach from bending. Pretty sure that was what was causing extra discomfort and once I changed to my stage 2 compression garment I felt like the healing could begin. I discovered with this surgery that my body is sensitive to any tape, even paper tape. My drain stayed in for 39 days which was painful itself because I couldn't keep it taped and the drain pulled and burned constantly the entire time. Once my concern grew about having the drain in for so long I asked my doctor if it was normal and he said since my Tummy Tuck was very large that I could expect to have the drain in for as long as 8 weeks so. Even though it seemed like a lifetime I'm glad it didn't take the full 8 weeks. I had only planned for 10-14 days max and had plans that involved me getting dressed after that. It isn't easy to go about daily life not letting people know you've just had surgery when you have an unsecured drain hanging from your front pelvic region going into a bulb filled with fluid. Not easily concealable, especially in South Florida where layering clothing is practically non existent. So, the second day my fluid level was at 25cc that dang drain came out! I should have waited though. I had to visit my doctor 2 more times to have fluid removed from my tummy with a needle. Because I had a work trip scheduled my doctor had me come in on a day and time he normally doesn't see patients for this so I'm extra thankful I didn't have to live with the fluid while out of town. The actual act of drawing the fluid did not hurt because my tummy is numb, which is normal, but for hours afterwards I had severe pain pangs in my abdomen and it felt bruised like I'd been kicked in my stomach. Hard to handle but not as bad as if I had to have kept that dang drain in. Did I mention my boobs didn't even hurt? Well maybe they did but the tummy tuck was painful enough to eclipse the breasts. I've not even begun to tell you about my new boobs yet. You know about the hideous old ones. Well, I woke up with boobs that look like sisters!!! High, perky, with nipples that mostly matched and being taped up I thought they were finally the same size too. They're the best they've ever been! Ever! Sadly, they are still soooo asymmetrical that I can't even stuff my bra enough to compensate because there is enough weight difference that nothing matters. My body has not healed as expected. I'm attributing it to my mental state since physically there isn't anything else I could have done different to ensure a better outcome. The day of surgery I woke up with a brown spot that looked like a scab already at my TT incision and it has evolved to become a giant gaping hole that has taken 120 days now and is still not closed, although I expect it will be in the next couple days. I certainly hope so anyway. Still haven't been able to wear a swim suit or even go swimming and it has been 4 months. Anyway, so, I was told that the tape on my breasts would just fall off and to keep everything clean and that it was okay to shower so I'd been washing my bandages with my antibacterial soap and the tape did not dry completely which led to a very large and smelly mess/open wound on one of my breasts that has taken almost 4 months to heal up. I've only brought the asymmetry to the attention of my Dr. once and although he told me he couldn't see the difference, that I needed to wait until the swelling went down before we could discuss it further. I trust him and although I don't want to leave the house unless I have to right now, my body is still better than it was. I just can't break through the boob size difference. At least they weighed about the same before so I could stuff for size. This is so mentally painful I'm actually afraid to go back to my doctor for fear that he will say he can't fix them or that he still can't see the difference. He really did a great job of basically remaking my breasts with their new shape but, well, one is a B cup and the other is an E. Anyway, I'm down 16k for the surgery alone, not including the other 2k in blood tests, vitamins, binders, creams, and the other goodies necessary for this surgery and have a very long way to go on my road to self acceptance. Okay, I'll upload the 200 pictures I've taken along the way shortly. I'm only writing this to in hopes it helps someone who is trying to decide on surgery and for someone who may have had a similar experience as me because I've not seen much commonality in my case and others.