DDD to a C (I hope!) - Saint Louis, MO

I was worried about having a possible infection under my right breast, so the nurse at my PS's office told me to go without a bra for 24 hours to let it breathe and then to come in the next day if it was still really inflamed. I was pretty uncomfortable about it at first. I can't remember the last time that I left the house and spent the entire day at school interacting with my colleagues without a bra on. It must have been before I was ten or eleven years old (of course, I didn't have colleagues then. Haha). That's nearly two decades. Well, guess what ladies? I expect that this might be the case for you all as well. You cannot tell that I wasn't wearing a bra. Even though I'm definitely larger than a C right now, the way that they have been sculpted means that they are perky enough in pretty much every outfit that I own. You know what that means? Strapless tops and dresses. Backless dresses that we never would have been able to wear before. Tops and dresses that give a tiny amount of support. So many freaking options! I know that the reason that everyone wants to hear for getting a BR is that it is to reduce back pain (and of course, that IS a reason), but my main joy that I am taking out of this so far is being so much more FREE. I had an argument with a friend the other day about why people get plastic surgery. She disagrees with people getting PS if it isn't medically necessary and I disagree with her. We all have a right to feel happy and comfortable in our own bodies. If a person has never experienced the burden that someone experiences from having breasts that are HUGE or a nose that everyone stares at or being so overweight that people do not take them seriously, then they have no right to say that PS is a wrong choice for them. My biggest wish for the world is that everyone would teach their child how to empathize with others. If people were more understanding of the often invisible burdens that we all carry, then imagine how much nicer this world would be.

I'm so excited! I got the go ahead to wear sports bras over a week ago, but I put it off to give my breasts a little more time to recover. The itchy surgical bra was too much, so I went to Old Navy today and picked up three bras. The lacy one is a size large, and the two sports bras are mediums. I am blown away. Even if the swelling doesn't go down (which I know it will), I would be satisfied with this size. The pink one was only $4.99 on sale! I don't know about you ladies, but I've never been able to purchase a bra for less than $30 (normally closer to $50!)! :D :D :D These give me a lot more support/compression than those awful surgical bras, so I have less pain/tenderness when wearing them. Have I mentioned that I'm excited?!

Well, things are definitely improving, and I seem to be healing faster than expected. My glue started peeling off less than two weeks out and it really freaked me out so I had my surgeon's nurse look at it. She said that everything looks good, and it really depends on how quickly a person is healing (it could stay on up to six weeks). Two nights ago I was patting my incisions down with a warm, wet cloth, and more glue started coming up, so I gently pulled it off. It was so obvious that the glue was ready to come off, that I took about 20 minutes testing different areas to see if they were loose and healed enough for the glue to come up. I was so surprised by how healed everything was underneath. The glue had been all scabby and bloody looking, so it gave me the impression that everything was still super raw. I know that I still need to be really careful about how I move and take care of my incisions, but I feel a lot better about the surgery now that I can see how things are healing. The one site of concern for me is the T-junction under my right breast. It's quite red, but it has all of the signs of healing. From what I have seen on the internet, the white tissue is slough (necrotic tissue) that should come away as new, healthy tissue forms underneath it. I wasn't quite sure what it was, but it is very stringy tissue, so that definitely fits the description of slough. I have this slough tissue directly underneath each nipple and at the T-junction of each breast.

I have random shooting pains in my breasts at times, which I have attributed to the healing process and nerve endings reforming, etc. The upper part of my breasts (an inch or so above the nipples) are extremely sensitive lately to touch. The rubbing of my surgical bra against my skin actually hurts there. My doc said that I can switch to sports bras now, so today I am going on a bra quest! Looking forward to being out of these itchy contraptions. Whoever thought that velcro between the boobs was a good idea?!?!?!?! I am actually thankful that I don't have complete sensation in a large part of my breasts. I imagine that this whole process would have been a lot more painful if those nerve connections had not been severed during surgery. I am surprisingly apathetic about the possibility of never regaining complete feeling in my breasts.

My breasts feel much more natural now. They no longer feel like stiff bowling balls and move naturally when I do things like lean over, etc. Very glad that has passed as I feel much more like these are actually my breasts and not some abstract alien things on my chest.

My three week follow-up is in four days, and I'm looking forward to hearing what my PS thinks about how I'm healing. Hopefully he'll take out the black stitches under my right breast and some of the clear dissolvable ones that are causing me some irritation around the nipple, between my breasts, and under my arms. Tylenol Extra Strength has been my friend over the past few days to help minimize some of that sensitivity that I have been feeling. I am being careful with it though, because it is important to listen to what the body is trying to tell you. If it has had too much movement, then perhaps I should just sit my butt down and read a book or something. :)

Oh! I had my first full week of school this past week and I rocked it! Very minimal pain, and it feels SO GOOD to be back to work at things and to have more structure. My boobs are no longer the supreme focus of my life at this point, which is a relief. Thinking and talking about them all of the time has definitely gotten old quick. :)