Today is eleven days post-op, and my first day at home alone. It's really quiet in the house. The cats are napping. The weather is cool enough to keep the windows closedI slept until 10am, dipping back into the sea of dreams until she wouldn't have me any more.
Hero is back to work, and the boys are in school. I made myself toast and coffee, nothing more, and went straight to the couch. I've been ordered to strict relaxation, no exercise, for the next ten days.
The surgery went well! More than three pounds of tissue removed from EACH side. I requested that the team remove absolutely as much as possible, while leaving blood supply for the nipples to remain viable. Looks like the size will turn out to be around a full C cup after the swelling goes down.
The surgery was set for 2pm, and we had to arrive at the hospital at 12pm. I started fasting after dinner the night before. I was surprised to have a good sleep and wake up just feeling excited the morning of the operation. Hero got the boys off to school while I slept in. I took a final shower with surgical soap, and packed a small bag. Then we tried to stay calm and waited for the right hour to arrive.
At the hospital's surgery center, everyone was kind and efficient. I was giddy. I think I surprised the staff by how happy I was to see them. We picked out the best veins for the IV, got through all the questions and vitals quickly, and then I rested for about an hour. They put me in a gown that had an inflatable liner; a hose was connected to it that blew warm air into the gown and kept me warm.
About 20 minutes before surgery, the anesthetist came to meet with me. Then cam the anesthesia staff, surgery interns, and surgical nurses. I introduced Hero as my delightful husband. It was very pleasant to say hello to everyone who would be working on my transformation!
The last person to come in was my surgeon. He looked energized, which was a good sign to me. I gave him my requests: living nipples, no square corners, and breasts as small as possible. He told me that the corners might be unavoidable, because that's the nature of the surgery. But he'd try. He could definitely go small, especially compared to where we were starting from.
As someone who has had breasts larger than a D cup for nearly 30 years, my memory of being relatively breast-free is based in pre-pubescent childhood. Really. I think I was wearing D cup bras when I was about 14. Significantly sized breasts run on both sides of my family. You look at family reunion photos, and there are just rows of giant bosoms all lined up. If a woman hasn't got a large bosom, she's either not had children yet, or she's had a reduction surgery.
I woke up in my hospital room, with nice nurses checking my vitals and providing me pain medication. The procedure had taken just two hours, and I had done well!
I just ran across this post. What was recovery like? I'm squeamish - would it be too gross for me to consider?
ReplyDeleteHi, SC! Good to hear from you. Recovery was as easy as could be for me. It wasn't very gross at all. I was fortunate that the drains from surgery did not need to stay in for more than 24 hours. If that had been different, the gross factor would have gone up tremendously. As it was, the drains were out before I left the hospital.
ReplyDeleteGraphic, but useful info: For the first week after surgery, I had clear yellow oozy drainage and then some scabbing along the incisions. I cleaned the incisions, applied ointment, and had Hero help wrap me with clean dressings twice daily. After 7 days or so, I could do all the ointment and dressing changes myself. I only had one minor area of infection, and that didn't require antibiotics.
I rested deeply during recovery. I read lots of books, slept, watched plenty of Netflix series, and let my family wait on me hand-and-foot. I had three weeks of no-activity recovery time.
Now that I'm a year out from the surgery, I think it was one of the best choices I've ever made about my body. I can move freely, without consideration of the (former) massive weight of my bust. I have far less neck pain, and no longer have numbness in my fingers as a result of bra straps cutting into my shoulders.
I don't even have to wear a bra if I don't want to--though I like the support. I can buy bras in most any store that sells them, and they're often under $30. Forget those 40L-cup bras that could be $80 or more!
Most importantly, though, is that when I look at myself in the mirror, my reflection matches my inner self-conception. I was a thin, athletic kid whose body changed from hot teenager to something much more matronly over the course of about 10 years. Now I'm back to what I feel is my old self.
Feel free to write to me via email, too, if you'd like to ask more questions offline. I did take some homeopathic stuff for healing, and could recommend other resources to guide your decision.
<3
Glori B.
I got what you mean , thanks for posting .Woh I am happy to find this website through google. reduction mammoplasty surgeon in Oakland County, Michigan
ReplyDeleteHappy to hear from you, Terri. I hope you've lived well in the months since your comment. Yes, breast reduction surgery is a life changer. I'm still so glad about it, years later.
Delete