Relief after 7 long years of trying! - New York

2 weeks today! I really had an easy recovery where pain is concerned, but I am moving around so much better in week 2. I'm starting to go out of my apartment, but I'm pretty low energy. I've been raising my arms without problem for a few days now and only experience discomfort when I over extend. I've been able to sleep on my side this week as well and I desperately try to flip to my stomach but I always regret that decision. My nipples are absolutely killing me! I think I got back sensation the end of week 1 and it's been hell ever since. The worst is when I get out of the shower and the fabric of the towel is way way way too coarse and then also when I get really cold. They are overly sensitive right now! These steri strips are still driving me mad and I want to rip them off! I've taken off a few and attempted to bite the bullet and just rip them off today but immediately stopped when the first one I picked still had a little flab of skin trying to go with it. Freaked me out! My next post op is in 3 days, so I'll let the good doctor deal with them. Some of the stitches on my nipples have dissolved and I'll be happy when they're all gone!

I'm still oh so nervous about the outcome of my shape and size. I wish they had placed my nipples just a tad higher. My side shape is so weird and I'm trying to tell myself everything will settle into a tear drop shape below the nipple, but I'm so worried that it's just going to sag the nipple down instead. Only time will tell and anything is better than what I had before! I haven't experienced any pain in my back or neck these past two weeks so I'm so grateful for that considering that was the whole point of the surgery.

Happy healing!

I feel like week 2 seems to be rough patch in my recovery. I feel great, but I'm starting to feel unsure about my results. I know it's a process and what I see now aren't my end results, but its hard to keep reminding yourself that. I feel like my nipple placement is a little too low and I feel bigger than what I had hoped for, so I'm worried that instead of the breast mass continuing to drop below the nipple and perk them up more, it will just sag my nipple downward. It's amazing how much a procedure that was done to help with a physical problem has become so much about the cosmetic results. I feel so much relief, so I don't know why I'm feeling so emotional about the results. I'm so afraid I'm just going to end up right back where I started. Did anyone else turn into such an emotional wreck during week 2?! This healing process is really hard emotionally, I'm learning. I'm having a really hard time convincing myself that my results today, at day 9 post op, are not going to be the same results at 1 month. Like I said, I'm so happy that I did this because my back feels so much better, I just didn't expect to feel the way I do about how they look.

I also bought some "bralettes" for my recovery that I've worn the past three days and I'm starting to worry that they weren't supportive enough at such a crucial part during my recovery that they caused my nipples to move downward. Is that crazy? I just switched to a more supportive sports bra, but I'm so worried that the bras I wore for the past 3 days only did damage to my recovery.

God, I just want this to be over already! I can't get out of my head and I'm just starting to get neurotic and obsess over everything.

Okay! I'm starting to freak out a little about these steri strips. I really wish that my doctor would have just removed them for me because every little thing I find makes me nervous and I don't know what to do. It's not an emergency, so I don't want to call my doctor, but I just want someone else to deal with it. I started to remove some of the strips that we're loose (which made me super light headed and nauseous) and I discovered dried up clumps of my blood near my incisions. I was able to just peel them off, but they took a layer of skin with it like a scab would. Did anyone else experience this?! Is this normal? Now I'm so worried that I'm going to have all these scars around my incisions. Only a fe pieces of the strip were loose enough to peel off and I just got too freaked out to pull off the rest. Now I'm obsessing over these stupid strips and whether or not it's okay to pull them. My stepmom is a RN, so I'm just going to call her for advice. Am I obsessing too much over something silly?