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In October of 2015 I decided to more actively seek...
In October of 2015 I decided to more actively seek information and pursue a long desired breast augmentation. I had my daughter when I was 21, was already small to begin with (34 to 36A) but experienced a droop and hollowness after my short time breast feeding. I actually loved my slightly bigger sized boobies when I was pregnant and had always looked forward to having that again, maybe at some point when I have more kids.
I've been single off and on the last 10 years, and in my mid 20's I'd always say to my close friends and my mom "If I'm still single when I'm 30, I'm going to get boobs and braces (I've always wanted both) and if I do them together they'll just cancel each other out! No one will pay attention to my brace-face with nice new boobs!" LOL, well that was always part in jest, but now in my mid-30s l've found myself in a stage of life where I'm in a healthy relationship, engaged to be married and financially stable, and this has actually felt like a great time to do it (breasts) I've let the braces idea go for now ;)
I've been single off and on the last 10 years, and in my mid 20's I'd always say to my close friends and my mom "If I'm still single when I'm 30, I'm going to get boobs and braces (I've always wanted both) and if I do them together they'll just cancel each other out! No one will pay attention to my brace-face with nice new boobs!" LOL, well that was always part in jest, but now in my mid-30s l've found myself in a stage of life where I'm in a healthy relationship, engaged to be married and financially stable, and this has actually felt like a great time to do it (breasts) I've let the braces idea go for now ;)
Me and the 3 doctors
To start off, I love the width and round shape of my breasts, it's just the hollowness of the top and the "deflated" look that I have wanted to correct. So when seeking information, it has always been focused on a low profile and low volume look. Some of my goal pics were of Jessica Alba-type shape and size breasts, as we have a similar slim body type. I don't want to go huge, just fill out. And I don't want an obvious change that everyone will notice, I want a subtle enhancement that will enable me to wear bralettes and strapless tops without having that weird concave look. I'd love to be able to wear deep-V and backless shirts without the worry of keeping a damn rubber padded sticky bra on my front, one of which ALWAYS falls off (making for very complicated nights out).
Through RealSelf I was able to start my search for a PS in the San Francisco area. I met with 2 other doctors before meeting Dr. Vistnes (Palo Alto) who I ultimately decided to go with. The first MD I met was also in Palo Alto, Dr. Weintraub. She was great, very friendly and who I would have chosen had I not met Dr. Vistnes. She seemed safe, knowledgable and helpful in finding what suited my goals. The second MD I met was Dr. Gray in SF. He reminded me of the PS's you see on TV, very confident and a smooth-talker who operates at his in-office OR suite and seems to serve "higher profile" clientele (pun intended). He was very supportive of going bigger than what I came in looking for, and actually did not carry anything lower than a moderate profile option (300ml for 12in BWD). He was the most expensive of the 3 MDs. Since I didn't feel strongly about either surgeon, I continued to look. When I met Dr. Vistnes, I felt very confident and safe about proceeding with the idea of surgery. I have been an ICU nurse for 11 years, so when meeting all 3 doctors I focused on how knowledgable they were and how they shared that knowledge with me, rather than how easy they made the procedure sound (which was Doctor #2's approach). I appreciated that Dr. Vistnes was very down to earth, focused on explaining details, data and rationale. He has been practicing for over 20 years, completed General and Plastic Surgery residencies at Stanford Hospital, in addition to a Plastic Surgery fellowship there as well. I learned he trained under doctors I work closely with and admire, and utilizes an Anesthesia group I have also worked with. All of these factors, made me feel 100% that Dr. Vistnes was the best doctor to perform my surgery. I also felt confident in the pricing as MD #1 quoted me $6200, MD #2 quoted me $8600 and Dr. Vistnes quoted me $7200. Reasonable and fair.
Through RealSelf I was able to start my search for a PS in the San Francisco area. I met with 2 other doctors before meeting Dr. Vistnes (Palo Alto) who I ultimately decided to go with. The first MD I met was also in Palo Alto, Dr. Weintraub. She was great, very friendly and who I would have chosen had I not met Dr. Vistnes. She seemed safe, knowledgable and helpful in finding what suited my goals. The second MD I met was Dr. Gray in SF. He reminded me of the PS's you see on TV, very confident and a smooth-talker who operates at his in-office OR suite and seems to serve "higher profile" clientele (pun intended). He was very supportive of going bigger than what I came in looking for, and actually did not carry anything lower than a moderate profile option (300ml for 12in BWD). He was the most expensive of the 3 MDs. Since I didn't feel strongly about either surgeon, I continued to look. When I met Dr. Vistnes, I felt very confident and safe about proceeding with the idea of surgery. I have been an ICU nurse for 11 years, so when meeting all 3 doctors I focused on how knowledgable they were and how they shared that knowledge with me, rather than how easy they made the procedure sound (which was Doctor #2's approach). I appreciated that Dr. Vistnes was very down to earth, focused on explaining details, data and rationale. He has been practicing for over 20 years, completed General and Plastic Surgery residencies at Stanford Hospital, in addition to a Plastic Surgery fellowship there as well. I learned he trained under doctors I work closely with and admire, and utilizes an Anesthesia group I have also worked with. All of these factors, made me feel 100% that Dr. Vistnes was the best doctor to perform my surgery. I also felt confident in the pricing as MD #1 quoted me $6200, MD #2 quoted me $8600 and Dr. Vistnes quoted me $7200. Reasonable and fair.
The choice to go LOW
So although now I am 3 days post-op, because I hadn't had time to post before the procedure, I am now trying to catch everything up and contribute since Real Self was so helpful to me. I want to do my part in sharing in order to help others. I hope to be fully up-to-date later tonight. That being said, this is about my decision to go LOW...
My breast width diameter (BWD) measured approximately 12.5-13cm. My MD said I could choose implant sizes anywhere in that range. Early on in my decision-making process, I had decided that a lower profile implant would give me more of the look I was going for. For reference I've included a few of my goal pics.
For sizers, my MD's office had the last models of the Natrelle Classic round silicone gel implants to try. They came in Styles 10 (Moderate), 40 (between Mod and Mod-Plus), 15 (Moderate Plus), 20 (High), and 45 (Extra High). Moderate (which was the lowest profile in these styles) is what I chose, and as you can see, with my BWD my choices for implants range between 270-320cc size implants (it just sounds so BIG...*home alone face).
Also taking into consideration that my left breast was measured by Vectra imaging to be approximately 40cc larger than the right, I would also have to choose two different sized implants to slightly correct the difference. I had a hard time choosing between the 270cc (left) and 300cc (right) combination or the 300cc (left) and 320cc (right) combo. Though the MD and medical assistant assured me that the difference was minimal, and that in their experience most people wish they had gone BIGGER and not smaller, I still felt like when I tried on the 300/320 that it just looked too much bigger than what I wanted. In the end, it took another trip back to the office to try on the sizers once more before I felt confident in my decision to choose the smaller option...the 270cc (left) and 300cc (right).
After all of the back and forth, it came time to ORDER the implants and when the office called, they said the models I had tried were no longer available...LOL, of course. Now they could only order the newer models, the Natrelle Inspira Smooth Round Gel implants which have a little more selection in profiles and sizes. They have an even lower profile model, but I decided to stick with my same comparable size. The new styles are named differently: Low, Low-Plus, Moderate, Full and Extra-Full. The comparable implant to the Moderate Style 10 I had initially chosen was the Low-Plus.
What the doctor finally ordered for me was the Low-Plus 280cc (12.5cm diameter , 3.3cm projection) for the left and the 300cc (12.75cm diameter, 3.3cm projection for the right).
My breast width diameter (BWD) measured approximately 12.5-13cm. My MD said I could choose implant sizes anywhere in that range. Early on in my decision-making process, I had decided that a lower profile implant would give me more of the look I was going for. For reference I've included a few of my goal pics.
For sizers, my MD's office had the last models of the Natrelle Classic round silicone gel implants to try. They came in Styles 10 (Moderate), 40 (between Mod and Mod-Plus), 15 (Moderate Plus), 20 (High), and 45 (Extra High). Moderate (which was the lowest profile in these styles) is what I chose, and as you can see, with my BWD my choices for implants range between 270-320cc size implants (it just sounds so BIG...*home alone face).
Also taking into consideration that my left breast was measured by Vectra imaging to be approximately 40cc larger than the right, I would also have to choose two different sized implants to slightly correct the difference. I had a hard time choosing between the 270cc (left) and 300cc (right) combination or the 300cc (left) and 320cc (right) combo. Though the MD and medical assistant assured me that the difference was minimal, and that in their experience most people wish they had gone BIGGER and not smaller, I still felt like when I tried on the 300/320 that it just looked too much bigger than what I wanted. In the end, it took another trip back to the office to try on the sizers once more before I felt confident in my decision to choose the smaller option...the 270cc (left) and 300cc (right).
After all of the back and forth, it came time to ORDER the implants and when the office called, they said the models I had tried were no longer available...LOL, of course. Now they could only order the newer models, the Natrelle Inspira Smooth Round Gel implants which have a little more selection in profiles and sizes. They have an even lower profile model, but I decided to stick with my same comparable size. The new styles are named differently: Low, Low-Plus, Moderate, Full and Extra-Full. The comparable implant to the Moderate Style 10 I had initially chosen was the Low-Plus.
What the doctor finally ordered for me was the Low-Plus 280cc (12.5cm diameter , 3.3cm projection) for the left and the 300cc (12.75cm diameter, 3.3cm projection for the right).
Provider Review
Board Certified Plastic Surgeon
1515 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, California
When I met Dr. Vistnes, I felt very confident and safe about proceeding with the scary idea of surgery. I have been an ICU nurse for 11 years, so I tend to focus on how knowledgable I feel the MD is, rather than how easy they make the procedure sound. I appreciated that Dr. Vistnes was very down to earth, he focused on explaining details, data and rationale. He has been practicing for over 20 years, completed General Surgery and Plastic Surgery residencies at Stanford Hospital, in addition to a Plastic Surgery fellowship at Stanford as well.