Hello. I have been stalking this sight for several weeks now and can't began to thank everyone for putting up their stories. I am 41 years old and have 2 kids of my own (22 and 24) plus 2 step children. For all of you doing the math, yes, I started my family very young. Married at 17 and had both children by time I was 19. My ex husband always told me he would help me with a "boob job" to repair what breastfeeding back to back babies did to me. 20 years later we got divorced and I still had my deflated chest. I am now remarried and my daughter is soon to make me a grandma for the second time. I have always talked about getting my girls done and my husband just said to me one day " why not just do it?" Now I remember why I married him haha. So I started researching on the internet and spoke to a friend who had a augmentation a couple of years ago. I live a couple of hrs away from most plastic surgery offices plus work 2 jobs so can be in kind of a time crunch. I was able to make consultation appointments with 2 highly reviewed board certified surgeons on the same day just a couple hrs apart to save on multiple travel days. I am so excited but also scared that I will look ridiculous. My stats: 5 ft 10 inches 138 pounds. I have never had extra weight on me except for pregnancies. My consults are March 13. I know once I choose a surgeon I am going to be antsy to get the surgery done. I am trying to figure out a way to get time off for recovery. I am a in home caregiver for a bed ridden client and since her care has a lot of pushing and pulling I am not sure how long I will need off.
41 Year Old Grandma Ready for Some Changes - Seattle, WA
Hello. I have been stalking this sight for several...
questions questions
I have been really confused with all my research on how completely different information the different doctors give. Some doctors have you wrapped up like a mummy and have the girls in a "locked and loaded" look for weeks and then others say let them hang and be free. I will find out what my doctors say at the consults but this has had me scratching my head.
I DID IT
Since I was on here last I had 2 consultations on the same day. This was because I have to drive close to 3 hours to get to where most doctors are and I was lucky that I was able to schedule them both a couple of hours apart. The first doctor was very polite, and sat me down and asked what questions I had. I pulled out my list I had made and he answered all of them completely. He then gave me the run down on possible complications and outcomes. He asked what my desired look was and I showed him a picture I had on my phone, after that we went in another room and took some measurements and I tried on some sizers, they even gave me a v neck tee to try on with them. He came back and told me what he recommended for me and then I got to talk to the financial coordinator.Overall a good experience. I had to get up around 3:30 am to make it over there so I am not sure how awake I was and forgot to ask some questions about what he had suggested. On to appointment 2. This doctor had very high reviews and I got to message with a patient of his to see how she felt about him. Right off the bat I was not as comfortable with the doctor. His staff was lovely and his patient coordinator was awesome. In fact I would have loved to have sat down and drank some wine and chatted the afternoon away she was so friendly. Anyways, the doctor immeditely started his obviously rehearsed speech and got irritated when I would ask a question. I was not impressed. When I was able to ask some questions I did not care for his answers. I asked both doctors what their policy was on needed revision since sometimes things happen outside of anyone's control. The first doctor agreed with me and said that he does not charge any surgeons fees but there might be surgery room cost . The second doctor just snorted and told me he does things so perfectly that there was never a need for revisions. huh? Arrogant much? Then when doc #2 did my exam he just about ripped my breast off my chest. He does realize they don't come off right? then after trying on sizers again with him he also came back and suggested the exact same implant and size the first doctor did. He was a lot pushier about trying to get me to schedule a date but I was not ready. I should add that doc #2 also was cheaper and included a bunch of free botox and other services for free with the surgery. After thinking it over and talking to my daughter and my husband we all agreed that doc #1 was the one. I had felt comfortable with him from the first minute. So I sent a e-mail to his patient coordinator because I wanted to know what it was that made him recommend that particular implant for me( anatomical natrelle 410) I really was shocked when I got a immediate response back saying that the doctor was in surgery but would I like to talk to him the next day. I said sure but did not really expect to get the call. Low and behold he called me back as promised and I was sold. He explained that with my desire for a natural look and low body fat that the anatomical implant would give me the best outcome. I had him transfer me when we got done and I booked my pre-op appointment and surgery date plus paid my non refundable deposit. I was so excited I thought I was going to throw up!!
size issues
I forgot to put down that both doctors agreed that I will need two different sized implants to help correct asymmetry. I liked the look of the 350 for the large side and around 400 for the small one. I made some rice sizers and they were 360 and 420 my husband thought they looked great but I was so shocked at how huge they look. I don't know if it is because I am already a c cup but dang. I also was told by the patient coordinator to get a mammogram and she was happily surprised when I told her I already had one scheduled. That was not fun , the mammogram itself wasn't too bad but the x-ray tech came in and said that they want more pictures and after that I was told that the radiologist saw something and immediately took me back for a ultrasound. After 2 separate people went back and forth, while I am lying there about freaking out the radiologist said it's ok, your breast are so fibrous and are filled with cystic bundles. That explains why every month I feel like I have a chest filled marbles and they hurt soooo bad with pms. I felt much better after all that anxiety. Now I have been researching about the anatomical implants to see if I will go with the doctors suggestions.
Post Surgery Bras
So now that I am getting a moment to think about the surgery it is really hitting home that I will be going under the knife in just a few more weeks. OMG. This last month I was so busy with doctor appointments and planning my daughter's baby shower that I did not have time to think about it much. Now I am back to my regular life I have boobies on the brain. I have read so many reviews and kept seeing women buying Coobie bras for post op. I went ahead and ordered 3 of them to have on hand. I figured that they looked comfy to wear at night. I ordered what size I think or hope I will be after surgery. I tried them on and they seem to fit me great right now so I was a little concerned that they will be too small later on. I put my rice sizers on with them and they do stretch. I also want to get some front closing bras but think I will hit up Wally World to get some cheaper ones. Any suggestions would help out greatly.
Paring down my to do list
Wonderful new, my new grand daughter made her debut at around 8 am this morning! When I made my surgery appointment I then made a mental list of all the things to get done before that date. Taxes, classes, baby(easy for me) spring cleaning and up the work out routine. I am happy to say that I only have 2 more classes to take and everything else is done. I have said before that I am nervous about the surgery and I wanted to clarify that I am 100% sure about getting the implants it is just that I have never been put under before or even had any medical issues really except for having my kids and that was many moons ago. I also worry about if I am taking enough time off from work, I am a in home caregiver 40 hrs a week and then have 2 housekeeping jobs for another almost 10 a week. I am scheduled to have 11 days off, which is the most time off I have had off for almost 5 years but I read about girls having issues 3 weeks out and I will be horrified if I did something to hurt my results. My little lady I take care of is completely bed ridden and I am worried about the pushing pulling movements that I have to do. ugh. Just have to wait and see with crossed fingers that I am one of the lucky ones that sale through recovery. I am also worried that my husband will have issues dealing with me if I get all depressed and emotional, which I see is very common. He tends to want and fix everything and I could see him wanting to beat up the doctor if I complain about any results. haha . He raised 2 sons and does not know what to do around a bunch of emotional women. I have a daughter plus 4 sisters, and now grand daughter, poor guy. Well that is my rambling for the day. I can not wait for May to get here.
pre op
Pre-op done! Got up around 4:30 this morning to get to my appointment. Was so excited/nervous I could barely sleep and woke up before the alarm went off. I signed enough papers that they surely cut a few trees down to make them all. I have been so torn with trying to decide sizes that I wad driving my husband and myself crazy. It was not until the doctor started going over the fact that he will be using 2 different sizes to reduce my asymmetry that the light bulb went off. I have downloaded the size and dimensional size chart for the 410 natrelle implant and the size that fits is just what you deal with. I said this to the doctor and he said exactly. I felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders. They gave me a special medical sponge impregnated with some antibacterial wash in it to use the morning of the surgery and also all of my prescriptions. I paid in full and it wad a bittersweet moment handing over the stack of cash I that I have been hoarding away for the last year or so. The doctor took pictures and let me know my show up time for surgery is at 4:00pm. I wad bummed at first because I know that will be a nerve racking day! But in hindsight I think it willwork out because I can get up and take the last shower I might get for a while and then make the 3 hour trip and be able to get ssettled into our hotel room before heading over to the surgery center. Right now the only apprehension I have is the anesthesia. I have never had any surgery before, my kids were both natural and I wasn't even put out when they removed my impacted wisdom teeth. I just don't want to throw up. That would just be a nightmare. They said I will talk to the person giving me the go go juice before hand so hoping he has some anti nausea meds to help out.
work out blues
I forgot to add that my behind is already in trouble. I hurt my knee somehow and could not work out for a week, then talked myself into a couple more days off just out of laziness. I have not gained weight but my goodness does the body composition change so quick when you hit your 40's and perimenapause ( thank you mother nature) so hoping to hop back on the wagon or I won't fit my shirts AND my pants by time I get healed up. I am going to get brave and post my before pictures tomorrow afternoon. Ugghh.
pictures
Well in less than 24 hrs I will be checking in for surgery. It feels very surreal and I am pretty calm right now. I have done everything I can for now and am so thankful that my husband is ready and willing to help out. I filled my prescriptions and was so happily surprised that my insurance paid so much. I paid only 22.50 for 5 prescriptions! . I have cleaned everything in my house, husband changed the sheets today and house is stocked with healthy food. I have tons of pillows, foam wedge, arm pillow, neck pillow, stool softener, enemas (just in case) arnica gel, chapstick and lots of coconut water. I bought some very lightweight zip up jackets and several coobie bras. I will pack my overnight bag tonight and be able to get up and take a nice long shower in the morning. I want to thank Titsmcgee for all her support this last week. It really did help. So I took some before pictures here at work and OMG. I really did not know how bad it was until I saw it in pictures. Well won't have these sad puppies for too much longer. Thank you saggy boobies for giving your life for my babies, you can retire in peace.
On the other side!!
Well I checked in at 4 pm and was taken back pretty quick. Nurse went over a couple of things and the the doctor came in to mark me up. I will have to say I was so hungry and thirsty that my anxiety was non existent. The anesthesiologist let me know what was going to happen and then he led me into the OR.. he told me it was cocktail time and i was out. I woke up at 6:30 and holy crap bat man I was in pain. I react bad to pain pills so I was scared to take a whole one at a time and it did not touch the pain. My husband was awesome making sure andwake me for meds and walk me around. I am going to my post opthis morning and am going home afterward. I am going to try to take a whole Vicodin for the ride ( 3 hrs) along with the valium, fingers crossed. Have not seen the girls yet but Lord do I know they are there.
day 2
Well I was worried about meds and it was justified. I ended up throwing up onthe way home when I tried to take a Vicodin. After a night of pain I found the happy medium of 1/2 Vicodin and 1/2 valium every 4 hrs hrs keeps things tolerable. My post op went well and I likeit when the dr smiles and gets excited at your results. I go back in a week to check things out. My stool softener is not working and I really haven't had much of a appetite either. I have been so queasy from the meds that even the anti queasymeds weren't working. Sorry I am rambling. My daughter stopped by and took a couple of pictures for me. I have 375 medium height full projections on the left and 410 medium height extra full projection on the right.
meds from hell
I finally got sick of feeling sick and stopped all meds except for the antibiotics. I am sitting here without my surgical bra on while it washes and man does that feel good but I can tell in about half an hr I will want it back on. My left side feels ok and I have some range of motion on that side. The right side he man handled a little by trying different sizes and it is a little more swollen and tender. But over all once I stopped the meds I felt decent but tired. I was only taking 1/2 a Vicodin and 1/2a valium every 4-6 hrs and it wad still too much. But I am so happy with my results so far. My husband has been like " oh whatever makes you happy, I don't care". But let me tell you he was more excited than I was to finally see them. I told him that was worth it right there to see the look on his face every time he helps take off my bra. Haha. Power to you ladies who got up and tried on clothes, I was thrilledto pull up my own ununderwear. I will get pictures after my shower.
updated pictures
I took 2 Tylenol pm last night and slept from 10 pm to 7 this morning it felt so good to not be sick. My husband is so cute, he saw me take off my clothes and chewed me out. Even though I have some range of motion back he would not let me wash my hair. I was laughing just listening to him try and get it all. He shaves his head bald and my hair is past my shoulders. I told him he would have to work on the pony tail to get his grandpa badge.haha I had him take a couple of pictures. The swelling is going down and I had a twinge or two of boobs greed until I saw what they look like from below.I just want them to feel like a part of me.
new pictures
I have been so busy I haven't had time to update. I went in for my 1 week check up and everything was looking great. I have brown tape I put on my incisions 2 times a week and go back to the doctor in 6 weeks. I was cleared to walk but told to take things easy. Then a few days later my step son and his family came for a visit. We put together a swing set and a above ground pool and I only got a twinge or two if I tried to apply pressure to anything wich made me immediately back off. I had both of my grandkids for the afternoon one day and boy was that fun a 23 month old and a 7 week old. They had me hopping. I have been feeling so good my swelling is going down every day and they are starting to feel like they are a part of me. I don't feel like I have to hold them every time I bend over anymore. But I have to watch myself because I am always playing with them and that might look weird in public. Haha. So far my mom hasn't noticed andI catch my daughter in
again
I didn't finish before, I catch my daughter in law checking out my chest but she hasn't gotten the nerve up to ask me yet. I still have to wear either my surgical bra or sports bras until my 6 week check up but I have been wearing my coobie bras and they are so comfortable. I go back to work full time tomorrow and I am bummed. I ended taking almost a full 2 weeks off and have gotten used to hanging around the house doing whatever I want.
mondors chord
I woke up to get ready for my first day back to work and while looking at my incisions I noticed a mondors chord under my left breast. Thank goodness I have seen enough about them here on real self to not panic. It doesn't hurt and you only see it when I stretch my arms up. Something to keep a eye on but I am not worried.
almost one month
I have been back to work for a couple of weeks and it has been going well. I had a frantic phone call from one of my clients that wanted me to come climb a ladder and fix a broken light fixture. When I explained that I was still not able to hold things above my head yet she was kinda upset with me and asked how I was able to clean her house if I could not reach up like that. I am alot slower right now in cleaning and have learned to do alot of bending and arm movements to minimize my chest muscle use. I am so paranoid about screwing up my BA. You would think she would be understanding since she told me how she messed up her breast job by doing things she wasn't suppose to and had to have 2 revisions to fix it. Oh well I am a house keeper not a handy man and she just got spoiled because I take care of so much for her. That is my rant for the week. Haha. My main concern right now is healing up completely and I have dreams about my anatomical implants rotating and wakingup llooking deformed. On the plus side I woke up without any morning boobs for the first time. I have only been getting it on my right side Wichita is the one he played around with to get sizing corrected and I am right handed. I was also able to sleep on my side for the first time and it was soooo nice. I measured myself when I wad about a week out and my band with was 31 and right across the nipples was 39. I did it again this weekend and was 31 band and 37 across. So quite a bit of swelling is gone. Glad I did not rush out and try to buy bras. I tried on some of my bras that I wore when I had pms swelling ( fit one side padded the other) and it fit like a glove it wad 34 D from gap. I think it is closer to DD in some Wal-Mart bras. I am still sleeping in surgical bra and wearing coobie bra or sports bras during the day. Will get some pictures up later today.
1 month
I can't believe it has been a month already. They are softer and getting to be part of me. I stopped putting the brown tape on my incisions because my skin wad really irritated on one side and I think I have a stitch sticking out. I have been putting neosporin on it and covering it with gauze. I don't think I have any swelling left and am pretty happy with the results. I was a little bummed the other day and telling my husband how small they are since I was kind of usef to the swollen look. He looked at me like I was crazy and said they are not small just remember what you started with. I went back and looked through my before pictures and was quite satisfied with the changes. I still have asymmetry but it is much better. Even after using different sizes and profiles. Oh well I HAVE BOOBS NOW!! Now I can't wait to get cleared for working out so I can get my saggy backside whipped back into shape from weeks of lazing around healing. Shopping trip already planned for some new tops and bras , just 2 more weeks.
bad night
Well I thought I was on the mend and then last night was miserable. I was out of clean sports bras so after my shower I put on my old sports bra that was so loose on me before that I thought I could use it like a compression bra for the night. Wrong. I started getting a ache in my left breast that kept me rolling around in bed all night and woke up to morning boobs big time. For most of the day I have had a sharp pain deep in my chest that feels like getting jabbed with a ice pick every time I try to take a deep breath. It got so bad I took a half a Vicodin around 4 o'clock and the pain has almost completely gone. What the heck. I also pulled a chunk of undisolved stitch that was sticking out and my incisions seem to be healing up pretty good. I can still feel a stitch that is trying to work itself out on the other side but not enough for me to get a hold of it with the tweezers. My husband gets upset at me for even touching my boobs because he is even more paranoid than me about screwing them up. I caught him video taping me while I wad doing my squats and lunges last night, he says he likes what he sees but just afraid to touch them. Haha. Also made him erase the video.
7 week check up
Friday I had my 7 week check up and the dr was thrilled with my results and released me to start back slowly into my normal routines of excersing and weight lifting. Yeah!! My m ondors cord is completely gone and I have full range of motion. It is still not comfortable laying on my stomach but honestly I don't do it very much. They are nice and soft and he said that they will soften up even more in a couple of months. He took a bunch of pictures I wonder if they will make his portfolio. Right after my appointment I went to Nordstrom and got sized out for brad and was blown away as I am a nice full 34DD. I tried on 6 different brands and they all fit awesome. I only bought one and then caught a sale on Zulily and got 6 t shirt brad for 29 dollars. I had a blast shopping with my daughter but was bummed because I tried on a couple of adorable dresses that fit my bust but sagged around my behind and hips. Oh what a problem to have haha. I don't need to see the doctor again until next May and I will probably talk to him abouta mini brow lift then to finish uup my grandma make over. Funny conversation with my daughter on the trip her baby is 2 months old and she never really said anything bad about me getting this done but she just thought it wad me being dramatic about post baby boobs. Now she told me that she 100% sees why I wanted this done and I should have done it sooner. I love my new girls and thank my dr for giving me back my confidence.
1year
I will post more photos but wanted to give a update. My new additions are doing great. I feel like I have always had them. I have noticed that they are quite soft when it is warm out or after a shower and when I am cold they feel a little firmer. I have to admit that bra and clothes shopping can be a challenge. I am either a 34 DD or 34DDD depending on the bra and finding cute and comfortable in those sizes can be an issue. I can't wear the loose flowy tops anymore because they hang off my boobs and I look like it's a maternity top. I have been having a really hard time getting back to my work out routine and it has been hit or miss. I actually lost several pounds that I did not need to since the surgery and unfortunately it was muscle. I can yoga and pirates with out any problems but weight lifting I have to modify. I have some distortion when doing chest exercises but I don't think any one would notice it unless I pointed it out while I am naked. I also have some slight rippling near my armpits when I bend over but again non one would ever see it but my husband or myself and then only in certain positions. I don't think that will ever go away unless I gained 10 or 15 pounds. I can still see a difference in sizes but they are so much better than they were in can not complain against that. I feel that I had very realistic expectations going into this and I am not disappointed in the least. I sleep in a soft bra (coobie) every night,not because I have to but it makes me more comfortable and I am hoping to keep the skin elasticity as long as possible and I have read that it helps reduce sagging. I had my follow up mammogram and everything was clear and no changes in cysts. So all in all I am very pleased with the work that Dr. Salemy did and will be using him again when I go in for my eye lift procedure I have been researching.
