34yo, Two Children, Long-awaited Breast Reduction Surgery. Perth, Western Australia

Breast reduction surgery has been a long-standing dream for me. At puberty, my breasts went from nipples to misshapen, elongated sacks within months. Many attributes have been ascribed to their appearance over the years: they look like sausages, they’re shaped like the ears of a cocker spaniel, the nipples look like dinner plates. Owning a naturally gigantic set of knockers is often not the wonderful dream people might imagine it to be, particularly if they’re not shaped well, and when living on a planet where gravity is a force to be reckoned with.

Disliking their appearance is one thing, but it’s nothing compared with the constant sensation of wearing two wet bags of sand draped around my neck. Anybody looking up breast reduction on this site would have experienced the same life-difficulties:
- clothes and every-day dressing revolved around having to tame my untoward breasts into a comfortable bra (difficult to find at the best of times), and into an outfit that fits and looks good (almost impossible to find).
- Going to the gym or exercising is an extravaganza of pain, necessitating multiple bras and their straps criss-crossed over neck, shoulders and back. I felt strung up like a ham, and lost in irony - exercising with big breasts requires the kind of [RS bleep] that seriously impedes the intake of oxygen, but the point of exercising is to increase requirement for oxygen intake. It’s a cruel joke.
- Wearing no bra around the house was comfortable enough, but for the rivers of sweat that would gather under my breasts and torso. Rashes were a constant problem, particularly in the never-ending Australian summer.
- I must have spent a fortune in my life on back, neck and shoulder massages, doubtless as a result of constantly carrying this karmic weight on my chest. I have also taken far too many Panadol and Nurofen tablets throughout my adult life to cope with the discomfort.

I wanted to wait until after I had children to decide whether to have a reduction. After the birth and breastfeeding of my two kids was finished, in early 2015 I began seriously undertaking research. I found the Assure Breast Centre in Subiaco, WA offered a free consultation with a nurse who could provide information and answer questions, as well as recommend a surgeon. The centre is lovely, very luxurious and patient-focused. The nurse didn’t look at my breasts or give me any information I hadn’t already found for myself online, but it was good to see the centre and gauge the level of professionalism and patient care they would provide. The nurse recommended Dr Mark Hanikeri.

After I had that consultation, I obtained a referral from my GP to see Dr Hanikeri, the referral being part of the process to obtain medical benefits cover.

My first consultation with Dr Hanikeri was around May 2015. He examined my breasts by having me sit on a medical bed, and he sat directly in front. He measured the distance from collarbone to nipple. From memory, each was somewhere between 29 and 33cm. He said the ideal is about 12cm, so clearly there has been a long of drag on my breasts through the years. He explained the process and answered my questions thoroughly. His secretary gave me the quote, which was around AU$3,500 per breast.

With two children aged two and three years old, the biggest issue I could see was that I’d be out of action for at least two weeks after the surgery. I live in Perth, but the rest of my family is in Brisbane, so I negotiated with my mother to have her fly over to take care of my children. A number of other factors had to be taken into account, which left me unable to book anything definite in for some time.

Finally, in late 2015 I was able to book the surgery in for February 2016. I had another consultation with Dr Hanikeri about two weeks before the surgery. He took pictures of my breasts, and ran through the procedure again. I felt nervous by this stage, but also certain I was making the right decision.

The process of the breast reduction itself was a real journey, both physically and emotionally. I had fears about the pain and recovery, about how my breasts would look and feel after, and about whether the scarring would be uncomfortable and overtly noticeable. But my decision-making process was based around the risk to benefit ratio. Breast reduction surgery is a form of extreme body modification, but I knew what my future looked like with my 12F breasts. I decided that if there was a chance life could be better after surgery, I was willing to take it.

I also had fears about the anaesthetic due to a vomit-aspiration issue I’d had years previous during an operation, but these were put to rest by my anaesthestist, an excellent doctor named Jeremy McFarlane. Dr McFarlane rang the night before and spent quality time over the phone assuring me of the relatively low risk. He also took steps to ensure I wouldn’t have a repeat of the vomit-aspiration incident.

The surgery was done at St John of God hospital in Subiaco. On the morning I went in, I was racked with nerves. Thankfully I was first on the operating list for the day, so I wasn’t in misery for too long. The anaesthetist was so clever, I didn’t even realise I was being put to sleep – he said he was giving me an injection to help minimize the risk of vomit aspiration and it would make me drowsy. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in recovery.

The pain at first was pretty strong. I could feel a stinging sensation where the cutting had been done. The nurses gave me Endone and that resolved well. I spent the next two days and nights in hospital, drugged up on Oxycodone, strong anti-inflammatories and Tramadol. I had a drain each side which I couldn’t feel, and which had to be carried into the bathroom. I spent most of the time sleeping, reading and chatting with the lady in the bed next to me. The nurses kept my upper body elevated, which became uncomfortable before long, but was unfortunately something I had to grow used to over the next couple of weeks. My breasts were padded and dressed, and I did have some pain in my bowels from constipation caused by the Oxycodone, but I asked for stool softener, which resolved the problem.

The dressings were changed and the drains were removed the morning I left hospital. I didn’t even feel the drain removal – there was no pain. The nurses instructed that I keep the surgical tape on and wear the surgical garment I’d bought to hospital with me.

I didn’t have a shower while I was in hospital, so when my husband picked me up and drove me home (very carefully, and with a pillow tucked between my breasts and the seatbelt – imperative!), the shower I had was sooooo good. Then, I lay in bed for the next week. It was uncomfortable with the constant need for elevation, and I made sure to keep moving around the house within reason. As I write this, I am seven weeks post-operative, and must say it’s so important to take it easy during recovery. My mother stayed with me and looked after the kids for two and a half weeks, and then my husband picked up the slack. I was moving around well and helping with cooking by the end of the first week, but I kept my activity very low until my mother went home.

Sadly, I found the pain the worst in the third week post-op. It was constant, and it was multi-faceted: the skin felt like a constant Chinese burn, no doubt the stretching settling into place. The surgical tape itched and burned, and the surgical garment was as so tight, I wanted to burn it. There were sharp, zinging nipple pains and stinging pains in the wounds, and I had a particularly painful sensation that ran in a line from my breasts down my ribs toward my stomach. I thought it was from the surgical garment, but when I told my doctor about it (and showed him the strange cord-like tendon running down my rib), he informed me I’d had Mondor’s Disease, which sometimes happens to breast surgery patients. Mondor’s Disease is when the vein that runs south of the breast becomes thrombosed, or clotted. It has resolved over time as well.

I was also quite emotional in the third week. My breasts looked and felt so different and so painful, and I was tired of the recovery. I was in quite a bad place emotionally, but there’s no choice but to hang in there. I found the realself forums useful to understand I wasn’t alone in the so-called ‘third week blues’.

I began walking for exercise around week five, and have slowly increased so that I am almost fully back to my usual exercise regime of jogging and cycling. I had my six-week post-op check up last week, and have moved from wearing surgical tape over the scars to using a special silicone-based gel for scar therapy. It's working very well. Last night was the first night I didn’t wear the surgical bra to bed, and my breasts feel pretty good, with minimal pain. I am yet to be fitted out with new bras, but the doctor thinks the breasts are around a C-cup now.

The verdict? My breasts look incredible, and they feel amazing. As time goes on, they get better and better, and I can truly say this is life-changing surgery. My neck and back pain have gone, and it is an absolute delight to put on one, normal sports bra when exercising now. I can’t wait until summer – string bikinis, little strapless dresses, singlets! I may become known as ‘that woman who never wears a bra’ – it’s unbelievably liberating, and I finally have breasts that not only look lovely, but feel light. A weight truly has been lifted from my chest. I cannot recommend this wonderful surgery, or the very talented Dr Mark Hanikeri enough.