18 Yo, Back Pain and Insecurity from 34DDD - Seattle, WA

Things are going pretty well! I've been applying the wound cream regularly and changing the band-aids, but afters a few days I found that my skin was getting irritated and I was really itchy. Took off the band-aids and saw a visible red outline of bumps where the band-aid had been! I wish I had a picture, but you can see a little in one of the photos. Luckily, I already had an appt with the Dr the next day. He said it was a typical adhesive reaction and prescribed me a topical steroid cream which has helped a bunch! I also got to go the day tapeless, which was kind of a weird sensation. He also said I could get back to all normal activity (including exercise!) in two weeks!

Anyway, the rash is pretty much gone now. I put my tape on this morning all by myself. It was surprisingly easy- just make sure you have a full body mirror! Also, I can now sleep on my sides pretty comfortably which is a nice change from sleeping on my back. :) The only motion I feel restricted in is reaching my arms up at an angle greater than about 135 degrees.

Also- I just wanted to be clear: my doctor has said that my recovery is going extremely well (better than above average were his exact words) so don't be disappointed if it takes you a little longer to heal! I'm on break from university so I haven't had any pressure to over exert myself or get back to work. Dr. Haeck said that my healing is moving very fast (probably just cause I'm on the younger side of patients).

From now on I'll probably do updates every week or so unless anything important comes up. Of course, feel free to message me with any questions!!

Happy New Year!!

Yesterday I went through the scary process of taking off the tape on my own. I did it in the shower so the adhesive would loosen up, but it was still a little painful to pull off. Mostly I was just scared that I'd open up a wound, but I think that's mostly in my head.

Once I got the tape off I tried my best to get rid of the leftover adhesive. I tried baby oil but it didn't really work, I just ended up scraping off what I could with my fingernails and leaving everything else. Once I was dry, my mom helped me put the prescription wound cream on my scars and put on new tape. It's tricky to put on the tape with the cream, but if you just put on the bra right away and try to stay still for a bit, eventually the tape sticks.

It's pretty gnarly to see the scars up close, but I was happy to see that they are definitely healing. I'm sill getting a tiny bit of discharge out of my left scar, closest to the armpit. It's where the bandaid is in the photo. The other bandaid it on my right t-scar, where the doctor recommended applying the scar cream more regularly.

I'm off ambien and Percocet now- just Tylenol and melatonin for me! I was pretty sore today, but the itching is the worst! Not much you can do about it other than shift around.

Anyway- here are some updated photos! Next time I change the tape I'll take photos of the nipples.

Thought I'd give a summary of how my first week with the surgery went.

The first two days, when I was still on a fair amount of percocet were relatively easy. Aside from not being able to lay on my side and stretch, I was pretty comfortable just sitting around all day.

By day 2 I'd started taking less painkillers
and was able to do a bit of activity. I went grocery shopping with my mom. It's nice to get out the house! For the next few days, I'd get periods where I'd get super tired out of nowhere for a few hours. Taking frequent naps helped- I think my body was just working hard to heal, plus the weird sleeping position wasn't helping.

Finally got off percocet and switched to Tylenol on Sunday. Sunday was rough for me. I spent the entire day with my parents at the car dealership. There weren't many snacks so I was exhausted by the time we finally got dinner. I'd worked up a little headache, so sleep was challenging even with the Ambien. I actually woke up in the middle of night to throw up (something that often happens when I get bad headaches). The throwing up triggered a bloody nose and I got a bit worked up. Once I tied everything back to exhaustion and had a glass of water I felt exponentially better. I went back to sleep after that and felt great! Moral of the story: bring snacks, take rests

Now, I've been able to drive and do most tasks without restriction. As long as I keep my arms lower than a 90 degree angle, I'm good. Sometimes turning motions can hurt as the drain holes are really sore. Itching hasn't been too bad, but I'll keep you updated as the scars heal.


So far I'm beyond happy with how my boobs look! I'm so glad I went in for that first consultation with Dr. Haeck- I highly recommend his services to anyone in the Seattle area. His entire staff has been a pleasure to work with! They are all so responsive and knowledgeable- it made the insurance claim a breeze.

I'll upload some pics tomorrow!