7 Days To Breathe. Toronto, ON

Every morning I wake up with stiff hips, a searing pain through my mid-back, tight shoulders...that's if I'm lucky. Mostly I wake up several times throughout the night from the pain and inability to sleep through it. I have an expensive mattress, a wonderful pillow and raised hips (if that cushion doesn't slip from my knees). What else do I have? Well, big boobs.

Yep, to all those people who claim to want what I have, trust me, you don't. The pain that I have been feeling over the past 20+ years is ridiculous. Of course, I didn't realize that this is what was causing it and it has gotten significantly worse over the past 5 years.

I am in my early 30’s, 5’7”, around 190 lbs and Canadian. I am a 32J (UK sizing) and it’s killing me. Although, over the past few years I have managed to find clothing and bras that happily fit my bust, I knew that I had to look into getting breast reduction surgery. So that’s what I did. I’m 7 days away from having them reduced and hopefully taking the pain away with it.

Under Canadian healthcare, I am apparently entitled to have insured breast reduction surgery done anywhere in the country. Prior to moving to a new province, I was on a waitlist that was 3 years long. I hadn't even had a consultation yet. Well, in a matter of 90 days here, I managed to obtain a new doctor, go for a consultation with a plastic surgeon and have surgery scheduled. There was a bit of a delay in obtaining OHIP coverage but today I received word that my surgery is covered.

Naturally the speed at which this has all happened is throwing me for a loop. I've occasionally wondered if I should give myself a little more time to think about it. However, I am laying in bed while writing and I just realized how difficult it is to lay flat on my back. I can't breathe this way. This one thought makes me feel like I've made the right decision to go ahead with the surgery.

How I got to this point...A couple of months ago, I went to a new doctor and asked her if she could refer me to a surgeon for breast reduction. Less than a month later, I was sitting in the waiting room of a lovely office mentally preparing for my consultation.

About this office, the atmosphere is pleasant when you walk in, the staff instantly greets you and they have a little side area where you can speak about your situation (if you are not ready for the public to know). After a short wait of maybe 10 minutes (and I know I was early), I was called into a room. The resident surgeon came in to talk to me about my history. It was standard questions:

-Do you smoke?
-Do you drink?
-Any children?
-Any desire for children (yes, breastfeeding is not always possible)
-Prior medical history
-Etc.

After the question period, she gave me a gown, asked me to remove my shirt and bra, and put the gown on with the ties in front so that she could come back into the room to do a breast examination. I'm kind of glad that she reminded me to put the ties in front because I probably would have put it on like a hospital gown. When she came in, she was carefully about making me feel comfortable despite the fact that she had to touch me intimately. She also took measurements. Then she asked me to wait again.

Not more than 2 minutes later after a quick consult with the surgeon (I could here them in the hall although no personal info was exchanged), the plastic surgeon came in and introduced himself. He had a laptop with him and was typing my answers to his questions into the computer. He was kind, a little quiet but definitely had a sense of humour. When I was asking about complications, he said of course death is one and we had a bit of a laugh when I said that's not really something I am interested in. He asked all of my questions honestly and did give me the facts. I was quite happy that some of my questions were answered before they were even asked. The resident also gave me some information that the surgeon confirmed when he mentioned the same things. My one disappointment is that drains are used at this office and I have heard that they can be a little painful.

Because my breasts are so large, he said that the pain I am feeling, as well as the migraines that I get could be relieved by the surgery. I was well aware that any corrective liposuction to correct the auxillary breast tissue at the sides/armpit area is not covered by insurance. Although there is an extra cost, it makes sense to me to have them fix everything at once.

After his exam was done, I was told that I could get dressed and that the nurse would come on and speak to me about the actual surgery, process and price. When she came in, she gave me a paper with the pricing and told me that I could speak with the lady at the front about possible dates. Please note I never felt any pressure to book immediately. When I reached the front, I was told that I could book my surgery as early as February 9th.