May need some scar revision but all systems a go! 10 weeks post-op!- San Francisco, CA

Like many I've thought about this procedure for most of my life time. Ever since I hit puberty and woke up with boobs larger than anything I had seen on any 13 year old girl I knew. I also realized that I had to endure gym class with these suckers and the cruelty of adolescent kids and I knew that my breasts would be problematic. I was shy and introverted and the last thing I needed was something drawing a lot of attention to myself when I already just wanted to hide in the shadows. My newly growing boobs made me want to hide even more.

After leaving years of being able to try and hide my boobs in a catholic school uniform sweater I went off to college not knowing how to really dress myself so I wore baggy men's clothing. Somehow swimming in xxl tops made me feel smaller and made me feel like possible no one could see that I had some giant honkers hiding in there.

For most of my 20s I had mistakenly thought I was a 38DDD. Even wearing that size with my boobs spilling out on the sides and tops, I thought that must be accurate as that was the highest size the stores carried at the time. I had finally gotten measured accurately when I was 29 at a high end lingerie boutique and the sales girl informed me I was a 36G and brought me the 3 bras they had in that size and all 3 were $150+.

I finally decided to move forward with the procedure after talking to 4 friends who had gone through it and had explained it was the best thing they had ever done. I met with a surgeon last year for an initial consultation and realized it wasn't a good fit when I found myself fearful of calling her office with questions (she was a bit too clinical and cold for me). I made another appointment with a different surgeon, Dr. Scott Mosser, February of this year and felt more comfortable with him and his office team who were much more warm and hospitable. They took photos and did all the insurance paperwork for me and let me know I was approved about 2 weeks from my consultation appointment. They walked me through insurance and payment info and how that would work (which was a godsend since $$ was one of my major stress factors about this surgery, my insurance would pay for half the cost basically) and gave me a folder with information about the surgery and a timeline for pre and post operative appointments.

Having as much information as possible was key for me to feel safe and secure and they somehow knew this because I got even more info on what to do leading up to the surgery and what to expect afterwards. I truly appreciate the care they put into making sure all my questions were answered.

My surgeon noted that the goal was to go from my current size of 36G to a C cup, but since bra sizing is not standard across the board, it would be hard to nail down an exact cup size. Right before going into surgery as my surgeon drew on me he asked me if I wanted to err on the side of larger or smaller in regards to cup size and I said smaller for sure.

Surgery day, April 25, I was a big ball of anxiety but once I was in the hospital and had talked to several nurses I who informed me of what would happen, step by step, I felt a bit better. In all honesty, everyone was correct, the anesthesiologist gives you the good stuff and you don't remember anything but waking up in the recovery room.

Waking up and getting home was probably the most painful part and it was mostly due to the anesthesia, I was super nauseous and being moved from a comfortable bed to a wheelchair to a car was not fun. I didn't throw up but the threat was there the entire time. Getting up the stairs to my apartment was not fun either. I was glad I had my boyfriend and a friend of mine who happens to be a nurse there to help me.

My surgery was at 12:15PM and I did not get home until 8PM or so. Apparently I spent quite some time in the recovery room sleeping.

I slept through the evening and most of the next day. I needed help for about 2-3 days afterwards getting in and out of bed and getting to the toilet. My breasts had been taped and I had been wrapped tight in an ace bandage with gauze inside. No surgical bra. I had no lipo done and did not have a lot of trouble lifting my arms which was a god send as i had a bit more range of motion in the arm than some ladies who have this surgery. I think it has to do with getting lipo done or not.

I had a friend take me to my first post-op appointment 3 days after surgery since I did not feel well enough to go on my own (i live in a city and the idea of being jostled around in a cab or the train was not pleasant). My surgeon cut the ace bandage off, inspected everything and said all looked well (bruises and swelling were of a normal range) and wrapped me back up in a looser ace bandage with the surgical tape still on my incisions and gave me instructions to continue to rest up, no major activity and if I wanted to I could wear a soft cup bra or sports bra or just the ace bandage or nothing at all. His only instructions were no underwires of any sort. I had the clearance to shower and while I felt tentative about it, it wasn't too painful. It was helpful to have the boyfriend near by to hand me bottles of shampoo, conditioner and soap and help me in and out of the tub. My second shower 2 days later I managed on my own. After that shower I ditched the ace bandage and moved on to a soft cotton bralette from the Gap that did not press on my incisions.

I had my second post op. appointment 7 days after surgery in which my PS took off my surgical tape and snipped some stitches. It wasn't as painful as I had thought it would be. He inspected everything and noted all still looked well. My stitches are dissolvable so he didn't need to take those out (he just snipped some ends that were sticking out). The stitches around my nipples were bleeding so he put some bandage over those but told me to remove them when I got home. I made my third post op appointment for next week for another check in.

Currently, without the surgical tape and bandages I feel a bit vulnerable but not too bad. Using panty liners in the inside of my bralettes is helping with those spots that are still bleeding a bit. I'm keeping careful, washing my hands often and trying not to touch anything directly. I basically stopped taking the pain meds 4 days after my surgery (felt better without the vicodin haze and the pain wasn't awful) but have been taking asprin when i feel super sore. I'm still icing when I feel like they're super swollen, which tends to happen when I try to do to much or move around too much. The bruising is getting better and fading but the incisions are still a bit ugly but it's only been 8 days since surgery.

I look down and see my little chest and i'm so so pleased. The day after my surgery I was walking to the bathroom with the help of my boyfriend and I looked down and actually saw my feet and freaked out a bit. I couldn't believe it. Then I noticed my posture and how I was no longer lurching forward. Even going down steps is different. I'm feeling so much relief already in my upper back, shoulders and neck, it's really amazing.

While recovery is a bit slow going and it'll be awhile before I can get back to the gym, to yoga and my regular activities I am so pleased with my decision to have this surgery. It really is a life changing experience for me and I cannot say enough how happy I am to have done this.

Day 12 Post Op - After my shower last night the gals looked lovely and looked like they were healing well, lots of the bruising and yellowing had gone away. I come home from my 2nd day back at work and take off my sports bra to see some yellowing in the skin around my nipples that wasn't there yesterday. I don't know what would cause that but I'm sure going back to work and having to ride public transportation to and from may be the culprit. i do feel swollen at the end of the work day.

I still feel tenuous about bending over so I've been squatting down to get things if I need to. That and I'm really good at picking things up with my feet. I wonder if this is what it's like to be pregnant.

Speaking of, the belly still feels a bit bloated though I've been off my pain meds for some time now.

The boobs still feel a bit foreign to me as they're still hard and this miraculous 'drop and fluff' i've been reading about here on this website has not happened yet. I go back and forth from wearing a sports bra that has a good degree of compression and wearing a bralette that has no real compression at all just to give the girls a break as sometimes i start to feel like the compression is too much an too painful. I wonder if this is ok to do to switch between the two or if I need compression 24/7 for shaping? I'll have to ask my PS at my third post op appointment this Thursday.

Still don't regret a thing. Loving my smaller cupcakes despite the soreness. :)

Day 13 Post Op - My right boob hates me.

The deep kind of sharp zinging pain has been happening a lot in my right boob since yesterday. The skin around my right nipple too has seen better days. The incisions are scabbing and healing but sometimes I feel if I move too abruptly something pulls and the sensation is far from pleasant. I know I've heard that the acute sharp pains are nerves waking up and reconnecting but MAN is it painful and annoying!

I found myself sitting in a meeting at work today holding my right boob (on top of my shirt) in my hand because that somehow made it feel better for a bit. The people I work with are awesome and no one blinked an eye just asked me if I needed anything.

The pain is on and off and it's driving me crazy.

Also: Strange bumps have appeared around my neck and chest region above the breasts like i've had an allergic reaction to something. I haven't eaten or done anything out of the ordinary except wear a new front closure surgical bra. I'm not a fan of the nylon in the bra and while it provided more support than the other bras i've been wearing I think I'm going to ditch it and stick to my sports bra during the day and see if the rash goes away. As I was dubious of the material of the surgical bra I wore my cotton bralette underneath it so it would not touch my poor sensitive healing incisions and I'm glad I did. Ordered a seamless wireless pull over bra made from a company called Barely There and another by Rhonda Shear called Ahh Seamless. Having a limited collection of bras that fit with varying support levels it's hard to decide each day which one to wear that holds the girls in place without been too tight that it hurts 2-3 hours into the day. I only have one sports bra that fits just right (ahh, my glass slipper!) but it's been discontinued.

My third Post-Op appointment is tomorrow. Some incisions look better than others. The ones at the T-Junction at the bottom of the boob and the ones around my nipples still look a bit fragile. I hope my PS can let me know what to do about my right boob pain. I'm out of pain pills and Asprin is not helping as much as I hoped it would.