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Ready for BR Surgery Tomorrow!

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I am happy to join this wonderful support network....

  • 18 Mar 2014
  • 1 day pre
I am happy to join this wonderful support network. I have read so many of your stories and in doing so it has helped me decide that it is time to get a breast reduction. I am 40 years old and am a DD/DDD size. I am 5'5" and weight 140lbs. I developed quickly when I was younger and my breasts just continued to get bigger and heavier, even before having children. I have been thinking of getting a reduction for a number of years. I cannot wait to be able to fit shirts proper, wear a bikini top, buy a bra off the shelf that is cheap and exercise without having so much weight bouncing around! I often get rib pain, so that can go away too...

It all happened rather quickly. I ended up getting a booking with my doctor much earlier than I thought. My surgery is tomorrow! I am having my surgery in Bangkok at a world renowned hospital, my surgeon is Dr. Poomee. I met with him today and I feel much better after going over everything in great detail with him. He is very sweet natured and has a funny sense of humor too. He will be doing an anchor incision so a nice lift will be achieved. Yay, a lift!! He gave me an antibiotic pill to take tonight after dinner and told me to fast from midnight. I can't believe it is finally happening!

Any last minute advice would be much appreciated! Thanks to all of you who have shared your stories. I'll post soon to keep you all updated!

Surgery is done!

  • 22 Mar 2014
  • 3 days post
I was booked in for 7:00am surgery so had to be there at 6:00. It was hard to sleep the night before and I was quite anxious when I woke. I had to use my ol' labor breathing techniques to help settle my nerves as much as I could. Before I knew it, I was on the OR table getting my injection. Out......

I woke up to the sound of beeping, nurses talking softly and an old man next to me complaining about his back pain! I knew I was alright and in the recovery room because I was giggling to myself at the things the ol man was saying to the nurses. If only he knew what had just happened to my boobs! My legs were shaking a lot and I felt very cold. The nurses put two long plastic tubes under my blanket that were blowing warm air on me. I still continued to shake and that was all that seemed bothersome to me. Anyways, I drifted in and out for the next couple of hours or so, and actually felt ok. I looked down at my breasts and thought they were sitting quite nicely on my chest and wow, there was no breast falling off the sides. Perfect.

They brought me into my room 2 hours after surgery and I was able to kind of transfer into my bed. They showed me the two drain tubes that we're collecting a pretty good amount of blood and fluid. I thought I was bleeding terribly, but they reassured me that it was only fluid that was draining from the surgery. Thank goodness. And wow, I am glad to have those tubes in to help get that stuff out.

They gave me some pain meds and I tried to sleep, but woke up a lot feeling anxious throughout the night. My heart felt like it was racing and I couldn't get it to relax. They said it was a side effect from the anesthetic. Yuck.

My pain was very minimal, mainly just felt tight. But they also gave me Tramal 50mg for pain. It must have been working.

So before surgery I was a size 34DD/DDD, hoping I will end up being a C-cup. Also the doctor told me I wouldn't get to take a peak until 5 days post-op. I am anxious to see them, all I can see is the middle part of my boobs and they look good so far! He said the healing is best to leave them covered especially if bleeding is not present and the gauze is clean.

Surgery day is over and I am happy to be on the other side to begin the healing journey. I'll post pictures soon. Thanks to all of you for your stories and support!

Day 1 Post Op

  • 22 Mar 2014
  • 3 days post
I didn't sleep the greatest last night, between nurses coming in and feeling like I was so anxious, sleep was minimal. Did anyone else feel like this after surgery? I will be sleeping, then all of a sudden jump out of my skin to the sound of anything! It's driving me nuts.

I am booked to stay 2 nights because I am on my own out here. As for pain, today I feel a lot of tingling and tightness, but it is very manageable and I am not uncomfortable at all. It really feels great to know the surgery is over!!

Dr. Poomee's wife came in to see me first thing this morning, she is such an angel. She hung around chatting with me for about 20 minutes. She is an RN as well, so she took a look at everything, and just added some more gauze padding to me. The way I look at it is that I will feel smaller when they take off all the padding, so they can keep stuffing me I guess!

I got up only twice today to go to the bathroom, otherwise stayed in bed all day. I did feel a bit weak and very tired. Rest rest rest!

Good luck to all of you going through the same thing!

Day 2 - Getting discharged from hospital today!

  • 22 Mar 2014
  • 3 days post
Feeling tired again because I didn't sleep the best. I will choose to take only Tylenol for pain today because I have a feeling it is the Tramal that is causing the intense anxiety. I still feel my heart racing and it's hard to sleep. Anyone else go through this?

The nurses came in today to helped me shower from the bra down. They also washed my hair while I layed down on my hospital bed. Such a nice treat too. It felt great! I walked around a lot more today and felt overall much better. Pain was minimal, but I could tell that being out of bed more than 30 minutes at a time was tiring. I got dressed and packed up my things to be discharged. There is a Starbucks here, so I tested myself before leaving and went down and enjoyed a coffee. It was so good to have a coffee! And I know I am ready to get out of this place now too!

I checked out and headed off to my hotel room. I'm on my own now and can't wait until Monday for the big reveal! I expect to be happy and shocked at the same time. Anyone else have to wait this long?

Day 3

  • 22 Mar 2014
  • 3 days post
I slept much better last night - finally! I propped up the pillows and watch tv until I fell asleep. I slept for 6 hours then fell back to sleep for another 2.5 hrs. Funny thing is, I still feel tired! From what I've read from all the posts, this is normal. I will follow how I feel, so I heal the best.

All the anxiety I had been feeling is gone. Finally. I did some research on the drug Tramal, and anxiety is one of the side-effects. So I am going to assume that was the cause. I will stick to taking Tylenol when needed. I was surprised to read that drinking alcohol while taking Tramal can be fatal! Omg!

Not much else to report on... I do want to help ease anyone's worries about the surgery. It will be alright and over before you know it. Think about all the reasons you wanted to have this done in the first place, it helps!

Day 4

  • 24 Mar 2014
  • 5 days post
Day 4

Slept about 8 hrs last night. I woke up feeling very good. No pain, yay. Got out today and went shopping. I took a couple breaks when I felt things tingling, but otherwise I did quite well. I even had my hair shampooed and blow dried, what a treat. So far recovery seems to be going well. Tomorrow is the big reveal!

Day 5

  • 24 Mar 2014
  • 5 days post
Day 5

A bit tender this morning. Probably too much walking yesterday. I will see doctor today and see what they look like. Maybe did too much yesterday? It's the first time I feel swollen.

Day 5 - The Big Reveal

  • 24 Mar 2014
  • 5 days post
Got to the doctors office, and he had me lye down. He took off bandages and tape. It felt great to have that tape off instantly! However, I could tell right away that the tape was definitely supporting me. I stood up and couldn't believe my breasts were staying up on their own. A moment that almost brought tears to my eyes. I told the doctor they looked fake or that they belonged to someone else. He laughed at me and said that they're all mine now. I think I did better seeing them for the first time than I thought. That is thanks to all of you who have shared great pictures and stories! Thank you.

The left breast is swollen and quite a bit larger than the right, but he said it will come down in swelling a lot. The left is the one that feels swollen and it also has some bruising underneath.

I was surprised to see that the incision under my right is only about 1.5 inches and the left is only about 2.5 inches. That explains why I don't feel too uncomfortable when I raise my arms a bit. That was my biggest fear - having a huge long incision underneath.

He said I could wear any one of my old bras because they would probably still fit. He showed me how to just put one piece of gauze over the incision and carefully put my bra on. No tape and only one piece of gauze. Done.

He also told me I could shower and just not try to wash my breasts. He told me it was perfectly fine to let the shampoo and soap just run down over my breasts.

Day 5 - 8 Hours after reveal and a shower!

  • 24 Mar 2014
  • 5 days post
So the doc told me to expect changes to happen very quickly. He said the power of healing is amazing. I have to share this because change happened quicker than I would have ever thought.

Later after my appointment, I walked around for a couple hours, ate dinner and then enjoyed my first shower. I took a long shower because it felt great. I let some cooler water run over my breasts too. When I got out, I couldn't believe how much the swelling had went down on the left side since my appointment only 8 hours earlier! I feel more hopeful that they will be more symmetrical eventually. Hope is a good thing to hang on to.

I wonder, how long did it take for swelling to subside for any of you?

Day 7 - One week post-op and stitches removed

  • 2 Apr 2014
  • 14 days post
Today I had my stitches taken out. It didn't hurt at all. I was a bit concerned about it being "too early," but Dr. Poomee reassured me that it was good timing. He said everything looked really good and that my incisions were healing really well.

He told me I could wear any of my old bras including underwires and showed me how to place a gauze pad over my incisions. No tape at all, just a single piece of gauze inside my bra. He told me not to do any massage, ice, heat, and not to put anything on the incisions for at least another week. Beginning week 3 or so or when incisions seem closed and healed well, he said I can put adhesive gel pads on for scarring. I bought some at the hospital before I left in case I can't find them at home. Apparently they last 28 days and you just take them off to shower and then put them back on. Seems easy enough. Has anyone used these for scarring and if so, how did they seem to work?

Pain scale: 3/10 only by late afternoon time. More of a achy feeling. Actually feels like mastitis (I had that twice while nursing and it really feels the same!)
Swelling: 10/10 I still feel big! Hope it's because of swelling.
Bruising: 6/10
Hardness: 10/10

Day 9 Pictures

  • 2 Apr 2014
  • 14 days post

2 Weeks post-op

  • 2 Apr 2014
  • 14 days post
Day 14 - Two weeks post-op

Wow, time has flown! A little update on how I feel...

Pain: 2/10 in the evening. Feels achy still and a little pulling sensation sometimes. Not many zingers anymore.
Swelling: 10/10 still...
Bruising: 5/10. It's a bit darker now in some spots, but I am a bruiser!
Hardness: 9/10: just in past 24hrs, I noticed a couple of softer spots making their way in.

I did email Doc to ask how long swelling and hardness take to go away and he said 2-3 months. He also said I will be smaller too. I hope so because I do feel large still.

I tried on some of my old bras today and they fit really good. In fact they fit better now than before. I think I was stuffing myself in them before. I have no overhang and I love that my arms have lots of swinging room. That's such a funny thing but wow!

2 Week post-op pic

  • 2 Apr 2014
  • 14 days post

3 Weeks - interesting painful week!

  • 8 Apr 2014
  • 20 days post
This third week has been interesting in regards to pain and discomfort. On day 16-18, I had terrible pain and discomfort over both breasts, but more on the right side. Strange because that side has been behaving better than the left. To describe what I was feeling is hard, but something like this...like the internal stitches were struggling to hold everything up and they were throbbing from the inside all over. Pain was especially high over the horizontal incisions. The bruising over the right breast was very dark and more prominent too and underneath both sides felt hardened and thick. Even my armpits felt tender again. I didn't do anything differently, in fact, I am really taking a lot of time to relax and take advantage of not working right now. I go back to work next Monday.

Today is day 21 and I feel better than day 16-18 now. I read that many ladies have had a painful week 3, so am guessing it is part of normal healing.

Any advice? Should I be putting some cool packs on for extra relief?

I still feel a bit on the big side, but waiting patiently for swelling to turn me into a large c cup anytime! The shape and lift is great and is something new to me, I love it. I do fit all of my D/DD bras nicely and there is no overflow.

I plan to start using the adhesive gel sheets on my incisions this coming week. Everything seems closed well, but I think I want to wait another week. I posted a picture of the box. I bought it at the plastic surgery store at the hospital in Thailand. The doctor said the sheets were the most successful for scarring that he has seen in all his years doing PS.

Pain: day 16-18 was a 9/10. Now tender at a 5/10.
Swelling: 10/10
Bruising: 7/10
Hardness: along horizontal incision: left 8/10, right 5/10.
Sleeping: still propped up with 2 pillows and one under my knees.
Dr. Poomee
  • 18 Mar 2014

I have had a wonderful experience with Dr. Poomee, he very professional and his expertise and skill is tremendous. His wife works with him as well, she is an RN, and it was a pleasure having her accompany me through everything as well. She was even there when I arrived at 6 am for surgery, and held my hand while being put under anesthetic. Nonetheless, I highly recommend travelling to the wonderful city of Bangkok and having your PS needs done with Dr. Poomee. He can be reached through email, and he is extremely prompt in replying to all of your questions directly. Dr. Amorn Poomee, MD Bumrungrad international Hospital, Vitallife Wellness Center, 210 Sukhumvit 1, Bangkok 10110. Email: apoomee@hotmail.com Education Medical Degree: Mahidol University Law Degree: Sukhothai Thammathirat University Post Doctoral Training Intern: Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok Intern: Pennsylvania, USA Resident in Surgery: Michigan Resident in Plastic Surgery: Canada Licensure and Board Certification Diplomate American Board of Plastic Surgery 1977 Licensure: California, USA and Thailand. Hospital Appointments Private Practice Plastic Surgery: Michigan, USA 1976-1981 Private Practice Plastic Surgery: California, USA 1981-1994 Consultant in Plastic Surgery: Bumrungrad Hospital. Memberships, Offices and Committee Appointments Member, American Society of Plastic Surgeons Member, The Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons of Thailand Fellow, Royal College of Surgeons of Thailand Fellow, American College of Surgeons Fellow, International College of Surgeons

5 out of 5 stars Overall rating
5 out of 5 stars Doctor's bedside manner
5 out of 5 stars Answered my questions
5 out of 5 stars After care follow-up
5 out of 5 stars Time spent with me
5 out of 5 stars Phone or email responsiveness
5 out of 5 stars Staff professionalism & courtesy
5 out of 5 stars Payment process
5 out of 5 stars Wait times
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