DDDerby Girl Ready to Part Ways with Her "Girls" - Plantation, FL

Hi there! I've been on and off of this forum for a few months now and am ready for the next step towards my breast reduction surgery. I am 5'1'', 31 years old and currently 175lbs. I am a fairly active person. I live in South Florida and I enjoy the water and scuba diving. I have a great gym with some great trainers and really enjoy spinning in the mornings. But, my true past time is playing roller derby with an amazing team and amazing coaches in Broward County. However, it saddens me that I can not perform these hobbies or play this sport without the frustration and aggravation of my giant breasts. I am popping out of a 38DDD (honestly, I think I'm larger but I don't know the next size). The strain on my neck, back and shoulders, as well as migraines, are a constant reminder of my lifelong struggle with "the girls". I've acquired these lovely divots in my shoulders from my bras and the weight of my boobs. Finding sports bras, uniforms, bathing suites or clothing in general has become a grueling task from all angles. When I am training with my team or in the gym, the bouncing and pressure on my chest is terrible. It definitely affects my breathing too. Doing crunches or sit-ups is always fun with your boobs squeezing into your throat. Running is out of the question. I am sure I am preaching to the choir here so no need for me to continue to go into details. Bottom line is that it's time that the girls need to go. I am ready to train harder and become healthier and I think this decision is an important one to allow me to get there.

I had my consultation with a second doctor back in June. I really liked the doctor and the practice. We talked about my desire to drop to a LARGE C or a nice D and he agreed the size fits my frame. I don't want to go any smaller than that because I love the look of large breasts, just in a natural and healthy capacity. He measured me and said that my nipples will have to be moved about 5-6 inches up and that one breast is slightly larger than the other so they will sit me up towards the end of the surgery to make sure they've taken enough from both sides to leave me even. I have very pendulous breasts and the tissue is not very fibrous (aka I'm saggy like crazy at 31!!!). I can't even imagine what it would be like to have nipples on the FRONT of my boobs instead of pointing down to the ground. Also, a normal size areola?!?! I don't even know what that would look like. We took the pictures, measurements and did the paperwork to start the journey of getting this covered by insurance. Within 2 weeks, I received the call and letter that the surgery was approved, the provider was in network and the only expense out of my pocket will be for the inpatient surgery center since that is out of pocket. I have the option to have the surgery moved to an in network hospital but I am on the fence because my gut tells me the doctors probably enjoy doing surgery at their facilities whenever possible and I feel like the best work is done by comfortable doctors! Even if I stay at the out of network facility (even though the doctor/practice is in network and covered and in the same physical building?) my out of pocket is going to be about $700-800, so not to bad regardless. Has anyone heard of this before with the surgery centers that are part of a covered practice?

The last step was to schedule the date. I didn't want to do it in the summer because I had already bought into this huge roller derby convention in Las Vegas so I called after I got back to pick my date and so they can send the new date back to the insurance so that I am ready to go. I also was coming off of a derby injury for a torn PCL earlier this year so I needed to get back on skates for a little bit before I moved forward with this (another reason why I was fixed on doing the reduction this year --- I had met my $2000 deductible for the first time ever!!!). And, I've lost 20lbs since my consultation bringing me to 175lbs so that is exciting news too! I selected October 7th so fingers crossed the insurance doesn't change their minds on my preauthorization!!! Ironically, the week I chose to do the surgery, my boyfriend/hubs is out of town on business so won't be home with me. I contemplated changing it but I don't really mind much though, because I feel like I will sleep through the first couple days and then have a couple of days feeling like crap. And then he will be home and can deal with my aftermath. He's always been 100% there for me through everything else so I am not too concerned he will be away. My mom will be traveling down from PA to take care of me during and after the surgery. It's been something she has offered to do since I was about 20 years old and started considering a reduction. So, I will play my last game on October 5th (and my mom will be here for the first time to see me skate) and then gear up for surgery on the 7th.

I am confident in my decision and hope that everything turns out well. My hubs and my family and friends are all so supportive. I can't wait to see the new boobs!! I'll be starting a countdown soon... once I hear back from the office that we are all set with my new date.

My hands down biggest fear is my nipples being completely crooked OR my boobs ending up two very different sizes. But, I guess nothing can be worse than how it all looks right now! What do other people usually worry about? Here are some questions that come to mind for now. Anyone who wants to share or chime in, please do so!!!
Pre-Surgery - Should I be starting and vitamins or skin creams/oils to help with recovery or scarring? What do I need to go out and buy beforehand? Bras -- how many and what type for the recovery period? How long does the surgery last and does the anesthesia make you really sick? Any food, drinks or otherwise that you need to stay away from before surgery? What types of meds do they give you? Tramadol makes me extremely ill so I can NOT use that!!
Post-Surgery - Do you lose your appetite? Will I be able to stand up and walk to the bathroom on my own? Showering...how do I do it? Do you have to keep your incisions dry? How long do you keep in your drains and do you clean or empty them during that time? Do you have your boobs wrapped or the sutures covered? What are zingers? Is it realistic to think I can go back to working from home on my computer the following week? When can I start light workouts or leg exercises? And the million dollar question is, how long do you think before I can go back to skating and when can I start skating???

I guess that's all for now. I am sure I will think of more things and will be posting often with all my updates. Before pictures to come soon too. Thanks for letting me start my journey here and looking forward to hearing from everyone!!

So, it's been a little while since my last update so let me bring you up to speed. I received my approval from the insurance company with the new surgery date of October 7th @ 7am at the outpatient surgery center in the office. I had my pre-op appointment on Monday 9/26 and asked a barrage of questions and I feel like I did a really good job of explaining the size I am looking to go to and what my expectations are (a D, just a nice D, a small D or at worst a very large C --- I am too curvy and big for anything smaller). He did a really good job explaining how he was going to take the "side boobs" away and be able to meet the insurance requirements for tissue removed. I also told him that I wanted him to save my boobs so that I can see if before they send it away. I know that sounds gross but I am really curious what it looks like. I am feeling pretty confident and starting to get excited for the surgery. My boyfriend will definitely be out of town for this so that's still a little weird but my mom is coming down from Philadelphia to take care of me so that is great. I started all my pre-op stuff. Gotten off vitamins and medicines (though I was fighting this cold so I kept taking the Zinc and Echinecea --- but I've finally won!). Got some homeopathic stuff for afterwards for bruising and healing, etc. I have Vitamin E oil, which I can't really use until the wounds close so, oh well. I opened an FMLA/STD claim with work just in case I am out more then just the week that I had submitted. My boss is on board and I'm starting to delegate some of my stuff out for the time I will be recovering. I have a post-op apt scheduled on day 1, day 4 and then the following week and I have them scheduled. Another kind of weird thing I did was a living will/advanced directive. You never know. I'm sure the folks that I gave rights to are probably freaking out right now but I wanted to do one anyway so that's all taken care of now for when I'm 100 :-) I had my visit with my OB-GYN and she said I am good to go. I had an appointment with my PCP yesterday and all is well with her also. She wanted me to take a flu shot but I wasn't going to risk that so close to surgery. The only thing that is a little bit goofy right now is that I had a mammogram last Friday. My OB-GYN called and said results looked fine. But now I got a letter from the screening place that they need me to come back for more screening (possible MRI or Ultrasound). I called my surgeon when I got the letter but they had left for the day... so now I am freaking out a little bit because there are only 5 business days until the surgery so I don't know what this means. The nurse said maybe since it is my first one they don't have a baseline or anything to compare it too. Either way, it makes me anxious.

Aside from that, I think this weekend I want to pick up at least one bra other than the 2 surgical bras that I have from the doctor. I also need some pillows of various shapes and sizes. I need to buy some button up shirts or pajama tops for the first few days and a couple pair of comfy pants. I need to take my pre-surgery pictures.My derby team wants to "cast" my boobs this week. All these crazy girls say they can't believe they've never seen them and I am getting rid of them blah, blah, blah. Next Saturday I play my last derby game of this season so it's sure to be a blast. The after party will be rather lame though because I p;robably shouldn't drink too much on Saturday night with Monday surgery scheduled. On Sunday I am going to pick up anything I might need from the food store with my mom ( I can't wait to request all sort of delicious home cooked things I haven't had in years since I moved). I dropped off my scripts at the pharmacy already so I just need to pick them up (Keflex and Vicodin ES). The office said that in the event they needed to give me any first aid type stuff or gauze or whatever that they doctor will tell me at my post-op appointments. I feel like I am kind of unprepared but not really sure what else I need to get. Any other suggestions please send them over.

The only thing that has hit me this week is that I had this awesome vision of when I did this surgery, being laid out on the couch in recovery and being catered to by my hubs and mom, with my dog cuddled next to me making me feel better. Well, he passed away about 6 weeks ago and the thought of him not being around for my recovery makes me sad. Nothing I can do about it, I just miss him bunches.

I promise to get some pictures up soon. Talk to you soon!

Today is my last roller derby game of the season because I go in for surgery in 2 more sleeps!!! I'm going to miss it so much while I'm recovering. I've got a great support system so I should be back in no time :)
My mom is also flying in today for Monday. Gonna use tomorrow for any loose ends before surgery.
I might have mentioned about my mammogram coming back indeterminate.. Well, they did send me for an ultrasound, however, no one ever called me back on Friday so I'm assuming all was fine. If not, I guess I'll find out Monday.
My hubs flys out tomorrow for work. I think he's starting to feel bad that he's gonna miss this but I am fine with it. He won't have to see all the gross recovery stuff. Ick!!
That's all for now. Sorry I haven't posted my before shots yet. I promise I will. The Grrls on the team are a little sad because they wanted to cast my boobs in plaster before Monday. Clock is ticking so that might not happen. I'll update again tomorrow!!!