Patient Reviews

TeaPlease123

Review from Realself

Jan 06, 2018

23, No Kids, 36J Figured I would share my two cents, as all of your reviews have been so helpful to me. It has been awesome to follow your experiences! I have been considering a reduction for a while now, but I had talked myself out of it a few times. Self love and acceptance, right? It was manageable until my back started killing me. Any change in position from sitting to standing to lying down would be awful and painful. Walking, or doing anything for that matter, for more than 30mins would hurt my back instantly. The thing that really motivated me to seek a reduction was the fact that it would probably only get worse from here. My back pain, my posture, the shoulder indents, the boob sweat, and welts from underwire. The thought of pregnancy and even bigger boobs scared the for a while, and then really awesome later! So I saw a plastic surgeon in Chicago earlier this year. I didn't end up choosing her. She was suggesting that I also do a gastric bypass (what??) and wanted me below a certain BMI before considering surgery... Suggested weird diets and meditation. She tried to adjust my anxiety meds. I told her that was not what I was here for, paid my copay, and didn't return. That discouraged me for a while, to be honest. I thought maybe that's just how plastic surgeons were? Point is... You can always walk away if you get a funny feeling. Don't choose a provider that makes you uncomfortable. The second surgeon i saw was a recommendation from my PCP. Thankfully, we seem to be on the same page. I jumped through the physical therapy hoop... Six weeks. No relief from pain. Submitted paperwork to insurance, and within about three weeks they got back to me. Approved for surgery! It is currently Saturday January 6th...surgery is in less than two days. Monday morning. Wish me luck! Will post updates as soon as I have any. Surgery is tomorrow morning! I got a new zip up, looking forward to it being looser soon. I also have a couple button down pajamas, so that should make my life a little easier immediately after. Will probably have to get some sports bras at some point though. I'm so excited!! Hi all! Just got out of surgery, everything went well. Doc said he removed more than he anticipated... 7lbs. I'm so happy, so relieved. I can't stop sobbing. My posture is instantly better. I feel so good. I'm not just boob anymore!! I did it, you guys!! So it's currently 2:30am first night post-op. I've been drifting in and out of sleep, but I can't seem to stay asleep. Mildly annoying. Might as well provide some more details about the surgery, right? This will be a novel, so buckle up! We arrived at the hospital a fair bit earlier than our suggested arrival time, but I was able to check in and sign paperwork fairly quickly. The nurse got me into a room within minutes. She had me change into a gown, hair net, and socks. I peed in a cup as well. I don't know about other patients, but I was told that I could take sips of water until about two hours before my arrival time at the hospital... So I took advantage of that since I suspected I would have to provide a urine sample. Of course, follow what YOUR provider says! I was pretty dehydrated though, on account of some digestive troubles the night before and morning of. Good stuff. The attention I received was incredible. Honestly. I told the nurses this is what it must feel like to be a Kardashian. One of them took my vitals, and the other one worked on getting me hooked up to an IV. So surprisingly painless! She used one of those tools that shows your veins (so cool btw) and injected a small bit of lidocaine before the IV needle. No pain, I swear. After being hooked up to some fluids, different members of my operating team trickled in. Dr. Sisco came to mark me up, I asked if he noticed the time zone difference when moving from one side of my breasts to the other (ha. So funny when I'm nervous. Apologies to the staff for my awful humor). After that came a couple... Nurses? Surgical assistants? Can't quite remember. They were so sweet though. I also met the anesthesiologist and his assistant, who were very thorough in asking me questions and answering any of my own. Again, everyone was so kind and reassuring. It really helped me stay calm. Sooner than I expected, the assistants came to wheel me into the OR. I was given some sort of IV med that was supposed to make me feel like I had a couple cocktails. I honestly don't remember if it worked, but I remember talking to the assistant and making jokes so... It probably worked. In the OR I scooched onto the operating table, and I was given an oxygen mask. I remember being super agitated because it was too close to one of my eyes. But they fixed it, I felt the leg massaging devices (to prevent DVT) turn on, a weird smell in the mask, and then.... Nothing. I woke up crying. This was no surprise, I warned the anesthesia team beforehand. In my groggy state I heard them trying to calm me, and someone said "oh yeah, she said she would cry." Ha! Indeed I did! I continued to sob for a small fraction of forever. My pain was probably a 7...a burning right under my breasts. The nurse that helped me was amazing. He gave me plenty of ice chips and helped me ease into consciousness. I think the worst part of the whole procedure was recovering from anesthesia. My head felt so heavy, and I was confused. Luckily I didn't vomit or feel nauseated at all (though I did receive an antinausea medication). Once the pain meds kicked in, things were okay. I felt exceptionally sleepy and dozed off a couple times. After a while another staff member came to wheel me to a room, where I spent the next few hours. That was when I looked down at my breasts! Where did they go?? My mom informed me that Dr. Sisco had removed 7lbs of fat and tissue. Holy cow. I cried again. I was able to drink some water and eat lightly, which was sooo welcome after fasting. Once I had done that, I was able to go home as I had not been vomiting and my pain seemed under control. I was wheelchaired out and we drove the hour home. Definitely bring a seat belt pillow!! It helped immensely! Now it's just a question of healing. My pain is pretty manageable. It honestly just feels like I've been wearing an underwire bra way too long. Lots of tightness. I was given some prescription pain meds, but for now I've only taken extra strength Tylenol and it seems to be ok. We will see what the following days bring!! I was able to wash my hair and shower on my own! Big step! Sleeping is getting better, pain is at a minimum... Barely taking Tylenol now. So exciting! I had my post op appointment on the 18th! Everything looks good! Monday will mark two weeks. My steri strips were peeling so I helped them off...feel much better now. Im still getting some minor leakage, and it's staining my bras. Dr. Sisco said it's normal, since he didn't use drains. I've been back at work the last two days, driving is ok! It helps to have a big padded winter jacket between me and the seat belt. I have the ok to resume low intensity activity, so it might be time to hit the gym again!! Overall this has been so worth it and I'm beyond thrilled at the results so far! I'm still leaking a bit from my left breast, it's pretty oozey where my incisions meet... The sideways lightning bolt incision on my sternum is due to my breasts being naturally close together. Dr. Sisco created one incision rather than two to try to avoid puckering. My nipples also look like they're different colors?? Although I swear they're the same in real life. One of several! I'm fitting into size large and 36D! Going to check with the doc tomorrow morning... Left breast looks a little concerning. Right one is healing fine. Anyone else have a similar issue? We're a little more than five months out, woo! Life has been great, I'm still so happy. I have one more followup with Dr. Sisco in a few weeks, and then Im basically free! In general, my breasts have "relaxed" a lot compared to how they were initially. I like it, it feels more natural. The left one has got a weird shape going on, I'll check with Dr Sisco on that when I see him, but if it's just aesthetic, I don't mind. I still don't have feeling around some of the incisions, but that doesn't bother me too much anymore. Overall, no regrets!