For the First Time in my Life I Have Normal ... Actually, Awesome Breasts! - Stafford, TX

I have had saggy, mournful breasts since I went through puberty - two limp fatty flaps that just hung there looking terrible. It has been a source of embarrassment for my entire life, and when I grew two cup sizes over the last couple of years, it made everything much worse. Then I had DD limp fatty flaps that just hung there looking terrible. The only thing that was good is that I bought DD bras that I could pour all the limp ugly fat into to create some sort of shape.

I have been wanting to get *something* done for the last 15 years, but I didn't want to get breast implants because I didn't even have much of a shape for an implant to enhance. Breast lifts all had the keyhole or anchor scar and I didn't want to have that kind of scar. While perusing RealSelf I came across Dr. Horndeski who performed breast lifts without the keyhole or anchor. Plus many of the before and after pictures were from Black patients -- my being half-black, scarring is a major concern of mine and the after pictures were amazing! So I decided to reach out for more information. That very day, the office called me back and I was able to talk to Dr. Horndeski about the procedure. He was really nice, personable, and provided a lot of information about the procedure, logistics, and what to expect.

Everything was pretty easy from knowing what to have on hand for and after surgery, booking a surgery date, arranging for financing, getting a hotel, a nurse for the first evening after the surgery.

When I flew out for the surgery, I had a pre-op appointment and filled prescriptions on Monday for a Tuesday surgery. That whole evening I was having conniptions because this was the first surgery I have had under general anaesthesia and only the second surgery I've had ever. Super early in the morning on Tuesday I got a hotel shuttle to the surgery center, I filled out some forms and completed paperwork, and then was prepped for surgery. When Dr. Horndeski arrived, he very focusedly drew what felt like blueprints and roadmaps across my chest. I could tell this wasn't a "cookie-cutter" procedure but that he takes into account each patient's shape with what he plans to do.

When I was hooked up to the anaesthetic juice, I was out pretty quick and the next thing I remember was hazily waking up to one of the nurses exclaiming that he had done an amazing job. And I agree!

It hasn't been a completely easy road -- I did get a hospital infection which blossomed about a week after the surgery. My left breast was horribly swollen and red and hurt to the touch. I was in communication with Dr. Horndeski and his assistant Elisa who said I should go to a local doctor. Throughout all of the infection and healing, Dr. Horndeski and Elisa were in contact with me regularly, asking for updates and offering advice.

I had to go in for a needle aspiration to remove the fluid from an abscess caused by the infection (surprisingly painless!). I was so swollen from the infection that I could see the breast get smaller as they aspirated fluid. Culturing revealed that it was Serratia marsescens (a gram-negative bacterium that is completely not fazed by most of the prophylactically-administered antibiotics like Keflex that attack the usual gram-positive suspects like staph and strep) and I was put on Cipro to kill the infection. That was by far the worst part of the whole experience. I had every side effect under the sun - aching joints, incredible fatigue, nausea, dizziness, disorientation - though two weeks of being on Cipro did kill the infection.

One disturbing part of the infection was that there was a ton of fluid that collected in my breasts - it would gurgle when I moved. Two weeks after surgery when I removed the steri-strips, I started draining fluid from the underside of my left breast. At first it was a ton of liquid - I was replacing the gauze at least 4 times a day and it invariably would end up saturating my clothing at some point. After about a week it did subside and a little later it closed up. Also, because of the infection, I had overall more scarring than I would have had it not gotten infected.

One of the post-op recommendations was to wear a full-coverage slightly padded underwire bra 24/7 for the first 8 weeks. Because of the infection, Dr. Horndeski suggested I wear it for an additional 4 weeks.

I am currently at 13 weeks post-surgery. The infection is gone, the incisions are closed up, and I am in the process of trying to minimize the scars. If I am unhappy with the scars at 6 months post-surgery, Dr. Horndeski offered to correct this.

So as it stands now, I have awesome firm, perky breasts -- I have no idea how Dr. Horndeski created something amazing out of the terrible terrible excuses for breasts I had before -- and now it's just an issue of the scars fading. While the infection and all that stuff was pretty gnarly, hospital infections are unfortunately very common, and I would do this again a million times over!