6 months + Post Op – Love it!

I got a request for another update on how things are going.

It has now been over 6 months since I went in for my reduction and I’m even more in love than I was at 3 months I would say that the most significant change has just been the scar fading. Some parts of the scars have diminished in size but the lightening up of the scars is most noticeable for me. When I look at myself just straight on in the mirror, you can barely see them! The under scars/side scars are still definitely there but way lighter. I am actually really liking the size (I thought maybe I would want them even smaller) because I still feel semi voluptuous but they are SO much more manageable. I have still been incredibly lucky and not had any shooting nerve pain. The only “negative” thing is that I think my nipples are slightly less sensitive but that is not even an issue for me. I’m getting much more comfortable discussing the process with other people not very close to me because I am so thrilled with how it has improved my everyday life and honestly my psyche. I even brought it up to the person I was causally dating and it went over just fine…no weirdness or rudeness.

My recommendations to those recently post surgery would be to wear a sports bra for A WHILE – even to sleep in. I think I wore and slept in them almost daily for the first 3 months. I actually came to love wearing them, they were the only comfortable thing for a long time and I still wear them a lot. The sports bras keep things from jostling around and are made of a more comfortable fabric than most underwire bras. I would also (still) recommend rubbing any kind of lotion on the scars as often as you can in the beginning. I do this morning and night. It WILL make a difference in your scar size (this honestly applies to any scar) and it will break up any scar tissue under the skin.

I just couldn’t be happier with how my entire reduction situation turned out. I’m going to give out the name of my surgeon here in Seattle because I am so thrilled. Alexandra Schmidek from Virginia Mason. PLEASE stay informed if you are thinking about this and search out all the information you can. Talk to your parents, friends and doctors. Make sure if you are under 18 that you have stopped growing in your chest. Make sure you stay HEALTHY and lose any excess weight if you need to before you go in for the procedure. Take care of yourself.

Thanks and good luck out there my fellow busty ladies!

Almost 3 months and I’m a new woman

Wow, it’s crazy to realize that it has been 3 months since my surgery date…in some ways it seems like such a long time ago but comparing it to how long I planned and waited for the surgery, it seems like nothing. I’m SO happy with my new breasts, it’s really an incredible experience to see how different I look and feel. I never thought I could like the way my chest looked. I don’t regret having the surgery one bit. Although there is visible scarring on the under part and side of my breasts, the areolas barely look like they have scars and the scar down the front of the breast is minimal. I can’t wait to see what it will look like a year post op. I’m definitely a full C, small D but honestly that is nothing compared to what I was (DDD)…mainly it FEELS so much better than it did. I still wear a sports bra most of the time just because the underwire bras aren’t super comfortable right now (and I don’t know if that’s because I haven’t worn one in so long or because the scars are sensitive). I wear two sports bras right now if I go running just because I don’t want the perkiness to leave them! I have had no shooting nerve pain through my breasts which I am incredibly happy about and no problems whatsoever (and I hope I didn’t just jinx myself there). I am currently using a deep moisturizing lotion 2 times a day on the scars because my surgeon told me that lotion and vasoline are just as effective as the scar healing creams. So far there hasn’t been a huge change in the scars since they fully healed but I know they will fade bit by bit.

Truthfully I’m a little nervous for a guy to see them…I was together with someone for a while up until my surgery and that was nice to know that he was supportive and knew about it. Now that we are no longer together, it will be a little weird to “show them off” to someone who knows nothing about the surgery or how I felt beforehand. Beyond that, I have no insecurities about them and in fact LOVE them. I freakin love them the way they are now…imagine in 6 months! The total surgery bill for me was $100. Can you believe that? I am really lucky that this process was so smooth and easy, if you have any questions about how I did what I did, please post and ask. I honestly can’t describe acurately how freeing and amazing the results feel and I’m just so glad I did it. I will post a few more times on this site and put up any other good links to info on breast reduction surgery. Good luck out there to all those wanting to go boobless!

One week post-op

Everything went really well! I was pretty nervous in the day before and day of but I kind of felt like I’ve made the decision and I needed to leave it in the doc’s hands. So the day of, I got up really early with my mom (who was amazing to have around for a few days) and went to the hospital. I would recommend wearing really comfy clothes and bringing some slippers or flip flops. After waiting, I went to pre-op where they made me get into the gown, really tight knee high stockings (for blood clot prevention) and a cap. Then I met the anesthesiologists and my doc came in to draw on my breasts. It was a little scary seeing all the markings but it was nice to talk to the doc a little before. I was really glad I chose a woman doc.

Then I walked into the operating room and the anesthesiologist started the gas mask thing…I’m pretty sure it took all of like 60 seconds until lights were out. When I woke up, I was sore but really groggy so I can’t remember that much. I do remember being in my room and my mom coming in to hang out for a while but I was really tired for the majority of the day. Nurses, residents and assistants kept coming in and checking up on me and my breasts…I was nervous about one nipple because it looked “dusky” they said. I thought for sure it was dying but everyone assured me it was just bruised. I had tubes in to drain the excess fluid but I didn’t even feel them. I was uncomfortable but not bad. I’m glad they keep you overnight at the place I was in just for conscience sake…I watched some tv but basically slept a lot. I was pretty shocked at how small my breasts wear compared to before, even with the sports bra thing and the gauzing, it was good!

The next day, they took out the drains which wasn’t painful but WEIRD…it feels like the tube is snaking out of your breast but it’s over very quickly. Then I went to the hotel where my mom was staying and basically just vegged and slept and tried to be comfortable. I really recommend the hotel thing: it was super nice not to go back to my house where all the responsibilities are. My mom and I just hung out for a few days. She got me a zip up the front Nike sports bra instead of the hotel issued one, which I totally recommend because it’s easier, more secure and more comfortable.

I was on pain meds for about 4-5 days but honestly I felt really good about 3 days after surgery. I was just tired and a little sore around the incision sites. The one thing that didn’t go well was the “flow”…bowel movements. The narcotics they give you in surgery and after surgery block you up and slow you down. They give you softeners but for me that didn’t do anything…I had to resort to a gentle laxative which sorta worked but things still aren’t normal. I’ve been doing a lot more arm movements and lifting than I thought I would but it hasn’t bothered me that much so I hope it’s ok that I’ve been doing that. Showering is fine, I can reach up and wash my hair and everything.

I’m really really pleased with the results even right now – I’m realistic and know that things won’t look “normal” for a few months so I’m happy with what I have! The incisions are a little hard to look at since they make you look like you have Franken-boobs and the bruising makes them look yellowish for a while. I have surgical glue on my incisions which have trapped blood so the incisions look dark. But already, I look totally different: different in shirts, different naked, it’s amazing. I knew my breasts were big but I didn’t realize how pendulous they were! I’m really excited to wear a real bra and bathing suit…which reminds me how tired I am already of having to wear the sports bra.

So. I’m very pleased. I hope this info was helpful, I will probably post a while later when they have changed and the incisions have diminished.

Boobless signing off

One Month away

Reader,

 In one month and a day, I will be going in for surgery! The last post I did was full of questions and had a tone of apprehension but I’m really glad I posted about all that stuff. I called the nurse and asked all those questions. I feel so much more relieved! Apparently my surgeon has already taken the written part of the boards and passed and is in the middle of the second part. The reason she hasn’t been board certified yet is because she’s young and had to clock a certain number of hours before she could take the test. I feel good about that. Another concern of mine was how “pretty” they were going to look and the nurse just told me this: “Any woman in this department would go to her for work done. Let me put it this way: if the post op tape is uneven, she redoes it.” So that made me feel like she is going to take time and use precision. The last thing I was nervous about was the end size result. I read a few stories about people who still thought their chest was too big and I really REALLY don’t want that to happen in my case. I asked the nurse what a reasonable estimate of cup size would be for me and she said C. I’m ok with that. If I’m a DDD right now? That’s a huge improvement.

So now I have just become excited. I feel like I am in good hands and that I will be pleased with the result. I will post a little more as the date approaches if I think of anything pressing. Post op I will stay one night in the hospital and then my mom is coming to stay with me in a hotel for a few days…so I should be relatively comfortable. 

I’m so excited to be able to see what bras look like, what clothes look like, etc. I know this will take some time but still! 

Suddenly there are many questions

This is going to sound crazy but I was just reading about Kanye West’s mom dying after undergoing a tummy tuck and a reduction…suddenly I got nervous and had a bunch of questions I wish I could ask my doc RIGHT NOW. I need to know more about the anesthesia and the process of going under. Then I moved onto finding other blogs about women who are going/have gone through a breast reduction and got nervous about post-op…I want to get the BEST results possible in terms of size, shape and scarring. I wonder how I would be able to convey that to my surgeon without sounding like I don’t trust her? Another thing: my surgeon is a relatively young woman who has only been practicing for like 2 years. I really trust her but everywhere says that you should go with a board certified surgeon who has been practicing for years (obviously they have experience) but there’s something to say about being fresh.

I want to do everything I can to minimize my pain and scarring. I’m nervous about the shooting pains I keep hearing about that some women experience and nervous that my post-op pain will be more than I expect. I’m pretty sure that I will get a bunch of medicine to go home with, so that is good.

Here are some questions that I have:

• Is it bad that she isn’t board certified?
• Can I talk with the anesthestician?
• How much will be removed?
• How many has she preformed?
• How even will the scarring be?
• Will there be drainage tubes?
• What about shape and nipple position?
• Do I need a mammogram beforehand?
• Will she lipo the sides?
• What support do I wear when I go home?
• Can I bend over?
• What meds will I get?

So those are some of the questions…I think I will call up the nurse that talked to me and ask her some of these things. I’m not SUPER worried about the actual complications of the surgery because I think I will be staying at the hospital hotel thing that is about a block away from the actual hospital. So I’m just going through some questions, I want to make sure that this is the best scenario for the procedure and that everything goes as perfectly as possible.

 Surgery date: Jan 8, less than 2 months!

Why I chose to have a breast reduction

Dear Reader,

I’m getting a breast reduction! I hope that this blog can be something that appears on the internet when people are looking for more information regarding the procedure. I want to include as much personal info as possible so people can get a more detailed account of what the process could be like. There are many variables to look at when deciding about the surgery: age, weight, breastfeeding desires, insurance coverage, etc. I want to cover as much of that as I can. At this point, I am very excited to get the surgery…I’m sure there will be moments of “what the hell did I do” but hopefully those will be pushed aside by “I love them!” At any rate, I am definitely willing to take those risks to achieve more comfortable “girls”.

I am twentysomething, about 5′8″ and 135 pounds. I am a 36 DDD. At least that is what Nordstrom measured me at the last time I went to buy a bra (an experience I’m sure everyone woman can honestly say just plain sucks) but I believe they are bigger than that seeing as the bra no longer really fits. I have always been athletic and it’s fair to say that my chest looks completely out of place on my body. I feel like I SHOULD be around a large B small C…all the women in my family are either that or smaller. I probably brought the whole large chested thing upon myself when, at 15 with the body of a 10 year old, asked the high heavens for boobs. See, it seems I was what people call a “late bloomer” and I went from a training bra to a C cup basically overnight (at least that’s how it seemed to me)

In the last 5 years, they have grown slowly and become way not fun. They are cumbersome, uncomfortable, irritating and a drag. I can’t even really appreciate them. Friends close to me that I love (but get ticked at) make comments after not seeing me for a while like, “Wow! I forgot how big they are!” or “Oh my god they are HUGE” and it bothers me. Running is uncomfortable with two sports bras and I can barely find clothes that don’t draw all the attention to them. So I made the decision (with the help of my insurance co. and my plastic surgeon) to go under the knife.

My first step in this process was talking to my doctor about how to make my breasts more comfortable. I recommend going to a doctor that is a woman simply because for me it was the relatability factor. She told me about various bras I should try and also referred me to a physical therapist for upper back pain I had been having. I do everything to make my breasts less…I wear a normal/heavier duty bra and a built in bra tank top everyday but the strain of them is significant. I have lines from the straps and the underwire and my posture isn’t great. After doing the recommended things from the doctor, I realized that I was never going to be happy ”just living with them” and something more drastic needed to happen in order for me to live an athletic, happy lifestyle. So she referred me to a plastic surgeon (a woman) and after my consult with her, everything went fairly easily. The appointment was informative and the insurance stuff was taken care of for me. It was nice.

Now I am at the stage where my surgery date has been set and I have told my close friends and family. There are risks I am scared of: pain, scarring and loss of sensation but I have to just think positively about the positives outweighing the negatives. And I’m ok with the negatives. I am young and ready to make the best out of the situation.  I’ll write back to update and give some more pointers or relay info that I have read/heard about reductions!

Thanks for reading,

 Boobless in Seattle

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