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Post-op, Day 7
Here's some photos. You can see from the bruising on the breasts that she only added fullness at the top and sides of the larger breast, and the smaller one is much more bruised all over. The general shape of the breasts pre and post-op is similar, which is fine with me as I wasn't concerned with that, For many tuberous breast surgeries, patients will ask for an areola reduction (Which the first doctor I went to insisted I get, along with implants instead of fat transfer). I didn't want one, as I didn't want to risk losing any feeling, and also didn't want the hard areola edge you get from a reduction, simply because it would feel less like "mine" (I have more of a gradiation at the edge).
In terms of the lipo, I'll take some more photos of the areas when I take off my garments today for washing. In the front photo, there is bunching at the waist that is actually due to the garment not perfectly fitting (Bagging a bit there).
I'm not sure what amount of CC's she took from my abdomen/flanks/arms and how many were injected into the breasts, but will ask soon.
The experience of the surgery itself and my post-op was a bit of a blur. I arrived on time at their surgical suite (Which is attached to their office) 6:30am on the Friday, was taken into a room to disrobe, and then waited a little while with my partner while the staff were getting ready. Dr. Sowder came in and marked me up with her pen, and I had more forms to fill/sign. The anesthesiologist Dr. Hong (I believe) came in to go over my health history and concerns, and then left. A little while later nurse Christine came in to fetch me for surgery. If you've never had major surgery before, your heart does skip a beat as soon as you walk into the operating theatre as reality really dawns on you.. Or at least that was my experience. She asked me to disrobe and lie down on my stomach as they were going to start with my back. Dr. Hong came in and started off with an injection into my hand, to relax me, and then set up the IV. I remember Dr. Sowder coming in and then drifted off.
I have these really vague memories of chatting in a bed with a woman in a bed next to me, and her partner, but when I really came to, they were gone and nurse Jennifer was getting me ready to go. My chest felt tight and I was trying to get the bra off, not realizing where I was or what was going on. Jennifer told me I was post-surgery and I immediately stopped, haha. My partner came in, and then we got me in a wheelchair and into a cab to take us the 2 blocks to our hotel. We'd originally thought I'd just be able to walk back slowly, which isn't the case. Surgery was finished around 11:30 I believe, so was around 4 and a half hours.
Back at the hotel I napped most of the afternoon away, feeling groggy, swollen and uncomfortable. I was taking oxycodone but it would give me a couple hours of nausea everytime, and then a few hours of pain relief, so the cycle wasn't that fun. They gave me anti-nausea pills but I'm not sure if they were working well for me as I took an oxy later without it and felt similar. On Saturday around noon I realized my hands were like balloons, the knuckles on my right hand like grapes, and kinda gray/blue-ish. My partner said that Dr. Sowder had said she would call that day, but we called the number given to us right away, which went to an operator, as their clinic is closed on the weekends. We passed on the message to them and they said they would pass it on to Dr. Sowder. We then googled swollen hands after surgery and saw that it advised to elevate the arms (Duh, of course). So we propped them up on pillows. Around 10-15 min later Dr. Sowder called us back and told us it wasn't anything serious and that we did right to elevate them. An hour later the swelling was down a lot and within a couple days was pretty much gone.
Saturday and Sunday I spent most of the time in bed, but would get up every few hours to shamble around the hotel room, doing laps, to try and get the blood moving and to avoid clots. Food-wise I couldn't eat much but got by on some brown rice protein natural ingredient protein drinks, protein bars, baked yams and apples, bananas, apple sauce, unsalted crackers and turkey broth.
What ended up being the most uncomfortable part of the weekend was actually my compression garment. It goes to mid-thigh and has an opening at the crotch and up the perineum to mid-butt. It was pretty tight on my butt (I have a bigger-ish butt) and when lying down my butt would be squishing through a bit, which was actually cutting into my butt, causing irritation and cuts. Lying down would be so uncomfortable sometimes, I'd get up just to get some relief, and try and hold the fabric there away from the skin. The pain from it was waking me up. We cut the fabric open a bit but it was still a problem.
On Monday morning at 9:15am we had my post-op. Due to bad sleeping and just generally being slow to pack up our car, we were around 10-15 minutes late for the appointment. They got me into a room right away, where a nurse helped me out of my garments to get me ready for Dr. Sowder. Dr. Sowder came in and examined me, saying that the fat in the breasts was softening so that indicated it was happy where it was. She set to cutting my stitches and pulling them out, although there are some dissolvable ones as well. We asked her a couple questions (I.e. When I could go for laser hair removal in the bikini region as I had an upcoming appointment - she said 1 week, if we could cut the garment a bit more open - yes). She told us for follow-up she normally has patients back at the 1 month, 2 month, 3 month and 6 month marks, but that I could send them photos and email instead. We agreed that the best time for us to come back to Seattle in person was at the 3 month mark. Then she put the garments back on, with my partner helping so he'd know for the future. I had a list of questions to ask but she said things were looking good, said I had a good "nurse" (My partner) and then was out the door. I assume it was short because we were a bit late, but we were left feeling a little unsatisfied. The nurse came back in to check everything was okay and then disappeared and we weren't sure if we were supposed to leave or not, so we finally wandered into the hall and were about to leave when the patient coordinator Casey called out to us from her desk if we were ready to book the next post-op appointment, which I told her Dr. Sowder had said we'd do via email, and we'd back in 3 months but I'd be in contact with her before then.
Then we were off, back in the car and headed home.
I know in this industry doctors aren't usually very accessible due to them being very busy, and Dr. Sowder has a nice bedside manner, pleasant and seems to listen. I was concerned about the lipo results, that I didn't want anything taken from my butt or hips, and she definitely listened (I remember reading another person's BFT review where their doctor ended up taking from an area they hadn't agreed on, which is what I was concerned about). So be VERY specific with your doctor.
In terms of results, I'm pretty happy so far. Before, if I put on a sports bra, my right boob would be squished to flatness, so I would wear padded underwire bras to the gym (So uncomfy). In my compression garment bra my boobs look symmetrical and have a bit more heft to them, so that I was comfortable to take out the garbage the other day.
So, for my goals, so far I'd say this was successful. We'll see how the fat retention goes over time.
Face-wise, also happy enough with the results so far. I wasn't interested in doing stages of fat transfer to the face, so the more subtle the changes the better (As by overfilling you run the risk of asymmetry and needs for revisions). By Day 6 I could go out with some makeup covering the minor bits of bruising left over, and anyone who doesn't know me well wouldn't have noticed anything. I'd say another few days and I'll look like me again, the last thing to go down being the swelling in my upper lip. I'll post some photos of the lips/cheeks/undereyes soon.
SO. Bottom-line, happy with my decision to go with Dr. Sowder so far. I'd say their office seems slightly disorganized (One nurse was measuring me for garments pre-op and didn't measure my arms, so I asked if they needed to for my compression bolero, to which she said she didn't realize I was getting my arms done, so yes... You're left sometimes not knowing what the next step is supposed to be, follow-up over the weekend was questionable if we hadn't called ourselves about my hands, etc) BUT the staff were mostly very pleasant and helpful, the doctor WAS accessible on the weekend and in the end it's the results that matter.
I was looking for small but important (To me) changes, felt like she listened, and so far results have delivered.
In terms of the lipo, I'll take some more photos of the areas when I take off my garments today for washing. In the front photo, there is bunching at the waist that is actually due to the garment not perfectly fitting (Bagging a bit there).
I'm not sure what amount of CC's she took from my abdomen/flanks/arms and how many were injected into the breasts, but will ask soon.
The experience of the surgery itself and my post-op was a bit of a blur. I arrived on time at their surgical suite (Which is attached to their office) 6:30am on the Friday, was taken into a room to disrobe, and then waited a little while with my partner while the staff were getting ready. Dr. Sowder came in and marked me up with her pen, and I had more forms to fill/sign. The anesthesiologist Dr. Hong (I believe) came in to go over my health history and concerns, and then left. A little while later nurse Christine came in to fetch me for surgery. If you've never had major surgery before, your heart does skip a beat as soon as you walk into the operating theatre as reality really dawns on you.. Or at least that was my experience. She asked me to disrobe and lie down on my stomach as they were going to start with my back. Dr. Hong came in and started off with an injection into my hand, to relax me, and then set up the IV. I remember Dr. Sowder coming in and then drifted off.
I have these really vague memories of chatting in a bed with a woman in a bed next to me, and her partner, but when I really came to, they were gone and nurse Jennifer was getting me ready to go. My chest felt tight and I was trying to get the bra off, not realizing where I was or what was going on. Jennifer told me I was post-surgery and I immediately stopped, haha. My partner came in, and then we got me in a wheelchair and into a cab to take us the 2 blocks to our hotel. We'd originally thought I'd just be able to walk back slowly, which isn't the case. Surgery was finished around 11:30 I believe, so was around 4 and a half hours.
Back at the hotel I napped most of the afternoon away, feeling groggy, swollen and uncomfortable. I was taking oxycodone but it would give me a couple hours of nausea everytime, and then a few hours of pain relief, so the cycle wasn't that fun. They gave me anti-nausea pills but I'm not sure if they were working well for me as I took an oxy later without it and felt similar. On Saturday around noon I realized my hands were like balloons, the knuckles on my right hand like grapes, and kinda gray/blue-ish. My partner said that Dr. Sowder had said she would call that day, but we called the number given to us right away, which went to an operator, as their clinic is closed on the weekends. We passed on the message to them and they said they would pass it on to Dr. Sowder. We then googled swollen hands after surgery and saw that it advised to elevate the arms (Duh, of course). So we propped them up on pillows. Around 10-15 min later Dr. Sowder called us back and told us it wasn't anything serious and that we did right to elevate them. An hour later the swelling was down a lot and within a couple days was pretty much gone.
Saturday and Sunday I spent most of the time in bed, but would get up every few hours to shamble around the hotel room, doing laps, to try and get the blood moving and to avoid clots. Food-wise I couldn't eat much but got by on some brown rice protein natural ingredient protein drinks, protein bars, baked yams and apples, bananas, apple sauce, unsalted crackers and turkey broth.
What ended up being the most uncomfortable part of the weekend was actually my compression garment. It goes to mid-thigh and has an opening at the crotch and up the perineum to mid-butt. It was pretty tight on my butt (I have a bigger-ish butt) and when lying down my butt would be squishing through a bit, which was actually cutting into my butt, causing irritation and cuts. Lying down would be so uncomfortable sometimes, I'd get up just to get some relief, and try and hold the fabric there away from the skin. The pain from it was waking me up. We cut the fabric open a bit but it was still a problem.
On Monday morning at 9:15am we had my post-op. Due to bad sleeping and just generally being slow to pack up our car, we were around 10-15 minutes late for the appointment. They got me into a room right away, where a nurse helped me out of my garments to get me ready for Dr. Sowder. Dr. Sowder came in and examined me, saying that the fat in the breasts was softening so that indicated it was happy where it was. She set to cutting my stitches and pulling them out, although there are some dissolvable ones as well. We asked her a couple questions (I.e. When I could go for laser hair removal in the bikini region as I had an upcoming appointment - she said 1 week, if we could cut the garment a bit more open - yes). She told us for follow-up she normally has patients back at the 1 month, 2 month, 3 month and 6 month marks, but that I could send them photos and email instead. We agreed that the best time for us to come back to Seattle in person was at the 3 month mark. Then she put the garments back on, with my partner helping so he'd know for the future. I had a list of questions to ask but she said things were looking good, said I had a good "nurse" (My partner) and then was out the door. I assume it was short because we were a bit late, but we were left feeling a little unsatisfied. The nurse came back in to check everything was okay and then disappeared and we weren't sure if we were supposed to leave or not, so we finally wandered into the hall and were about to leave when the patient coordinator Casey called out to us from her desk if we were ready to book the next post-op appointment, which I told her Dr. Sowder had said we'd do via email, and we'd back in 3 months but I'd be in contact with her before then.
Then we were off, back in the car and headed home.
I know in this industry doctors aren't usually very accessible due to them being very busy, and Dr. Sowder has a nice bedside manner, pleasant and seems to listen. I was concerned about the lipo results, that I didn't want anything taken from my butt or hips, and she definitely listened (I remember reading another person's BFT review where their doctor ended up taking from an area they hadn't agreed on, which is what I was concerned about). So be VERY specific with your doctor.
In terms of results, I'm pretty happy so far. Before, if I put on a sports bra, my right boob would be squished to flatness, so I would wear padded underwire bras to the gym (So uncomfy). In my compression garment bra my boobs look symmetrical and have a bit more heft to them, so that I was comfortable to take out the garbage the other day.
So, for my goals, so far I'd say this was successful. We'll see how the fat retention goes over time.
Face-wise, also happy enough with the results so far. I wasn't interested in doing stages of fat transfer to the face, so the more subtle the changes the better (As by overfilling you run the risk of asymmetry and needs for revisions). By Day 6 I could go out with some makeup covering the minor bits of bruising left over, and anyone who doesn't know me well wouldn't have noticed anything. I'd say another few days and I'll look like me again, the last thing to go down being the swelling in my upper lip. I'll post some photos of the lips/cheeks/undereyes soon.
SO. Bottom-line, happy with my decision to go with Dr. Sowder so far. I'd say their office seems slightly disorganized (One nurse was measuring me for garments pre-op and didn't measure my arms, so I asked if they needed to for my compression bolero, to which she said she didn't realize I was getting my arms done, so yes... You're left sometimes not knowing what the next step is supposed to be, follow-up over the weekend was questionable if we hadn't called ourselves about my hands, etc) BUT the staff were mostly very pleasant and helpful, the doctor WAS accessible on the weekend and in the end it's the results that matter.
I was looking for small but important (To me) changes, felt like she listened, and so far results have delivered.
Post-op, Day 4
Just a quick update: surgery went well. Had my post-op check up yesterday morning, had my stitches removed, we drove home. I did opt to get the face fat transfer as well (under eyes, nasolabial folds/laugh lines & lips) and Dr. Sowder said that my face has recovered from bruising/swelling unusually fast, which I attribute to always lying down with my head elevated (Got a big wedge pillow that's been awesome), taking arnica/bromelain tablets and following a low-sodium diet before and after surgery.
My donor sites, the torso and upper arms are pretty sore but to be expected.
Boobs are looking good so far, very bruised but she definitely evened out the cup-size difference and added some extra fullness. During the post-op she examined them and said they're doing well, softening already which means that the fat is pretty happy where it is.
Will update with some pics tomorrow and more thorough description of the surgery/recovery. So far, so good!
My donor sites, the torso and upper arms are pretty sore but to be expected.
Boobs are looking good so far, very bruised but she definitely evened out the cup-size difference and added some extra fullness. During the post-op she examined them and said they're doing well, softening already which means that the fat is pretty happy where it is.
Will update with some pics tomorrow and more thorough description of the surgery/recovery. So far, so good!
Pre-op, Day Before Surgery
Checked into my hotel this afternoon, went to the clinic for my in-person pre-op. Pestered Dr. Sowder with lots of questions, signed many consent forms, got my prescriptions filled, and am nervously awaiting tomorrow morning.
My check-in time is 6:30am and I have to have a shower before, using their medical grade antibacterial soap sponge. Then into the clinic sans lotions, makeup, hair products, etc. Surgery itself should be starting around 7:15-7:30 and is anticipated to be finished 11ish. Was a bit nervous about being under general for so long but nurse Raven (Yep, she's got a cool name) had some comforting words of her confidence in the anesthesiologists they work with, all of whom have 20 years of experience under their belts. Feel much better about it.
Update coming soon!
My check-in time is 6:30am and I have to have a shower before, using their medical grade antibacterial soap sponge. Then into the clinic sans lotions, makeup, hair products, etc. Surgery itself should be starting around 7:15-7:30 and is anticipated to be finished 11ish. Was a bit nervous about being under general for so long but nurse Raven (Yep, she's got a cool name) had some comforting words of her confidence in the anesthesiologists they work with, all of whom have 20 years of experience under their belts. Feel much better about it.
Update coming soon!
Provider Review
Board Certified Plastic Surgeon
1101 Madison St., Seattle, Washington