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| Journal of a Breast Reduction Patient |
| By (name withheld) |
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Pre-surgery
After four to six years of back pain and chiropractic treatments, I decided at age 23 and size DD breasts that it was time for me to get a medical opinion of the size of my chest. Throughout college, I had been trying to lose weight hoping it would reduce the size of my chest. I was self-conscious, had low self-esteem and reduced physical activity. I couldn’t run – even jogging was a challenge for me.
I first went to my family practitioner who then referred me to a plastic surgeon. I trusted the referral, as this was the doctor who delivered me – the doctor I had been going to my entire life.
The next week, I met the plastic surgeon. The funny thing is that once the plastic surgeon weighed me, weight loss was not even an issue. This really validated to me that I was making the right choice for my body. We talked about the procedure and he took "before" pictures. The Doctor’s office even handled the correspondence with my insurance company. I had to write a letter to the insurance company stating my case to prove that this was not cosmetic – that I had spent several years with back pain and sessions with a Chiropractor. My Chiropractor also sent a letter to the Insurance Company to back up my case.
The whole process started in May and it was at least a month before we heard back that my insurance would cover the surgery. The next thing I did was set the date for my surgery.
One negative thing, that may have ended up being positive for me, was that I never watched any pre-surgery videos or engaged in pre-surgery counseling. I have seen videos since the operation, and I don’t know if I would have had the courage to go through with it. I think the videos would have scared me from getting the surgery.
Day of Surgery - August 9
I checked into the hospital today at 6:20 a.m. and met with the surgeon. He drew his cutting "pattern" on my breasts with a permanent marker. As he explained that he obviously tries to make them even, he reminded me that this was one of the risks of the operation.
He also explained that he was only going to remove the minimum amount of tissue required for insurance coverage – any more than the minimum would have been too much of a reduction for me. He was going to remove about one pound off of each breast, bringing me from a size DD cup to a full B cup. I was just the right size to be able to qualify for the reduction. In reality, the decision of how small I wanted my chest to be was not up to me – it was left up to the Insurance Company!
Post Surgery
The surgery went well. I woke up with a tight vest on that zipped up the front. There were drainage tubes coming out from under both armpits because they did liposuction on the fatty tissue by my armpits. This was also covered by insurance. I spent the night in the hospital.
August 10 - The Next Day
The doctor came in to check on me and remove the drainage tubes so that I could go home. This was not a comfortable process. As he was taking one side out, a nurse was taking out the other side. His came out without much effort, but she kept tugging on hers, which was very painful. Apparently, she had forgotten to cut the few stitches that were holding the tube in! I left the hospital at noon.
August 11
Today I decided to take a look at how things turned out. I opened the vest and saw my new breasts. The sight was quite a shock – I got weak and had to lie down. I guess all of the stitches and blood were just too overwhelming to look at so soon after the surgery. My breasts felt like two hard tennis balls. Overall, I was pleased with the size, just very uncomfortable and sore. Even riding in the car was painful – I felt every little bump. Pain medication for soreness helped quite a bit.
August 15 – 6 Days After Surgery
I had some swelling around my armpits and back. I was scared and went back to the doctor. After he told me some swelling was normal, they put some wide support tape around my back that helped reduce the swelling.
August 23 – 2 Weeks After Surgery
Today the stitches were removed. Everything looked great. I have used vitamin E for scars, which should help them to fade sooner.
2 Months Later
For the first month, I had absolutely no physical activity – not even light lifting. Thankfully I was in between jobs, so I was able to rest for almost for a month and take it easy. Two weeks would have been the realistic time for me if I’d had a job to go back to. I wasn’t able to wear a normal bra for at least 2 weeks – I wore the vest they gave me at the hospital. Next, I moved into cotton bras for about 6 weeks – no under wire yet.
After a few months, I started exercising. My breasts were still firm for a while but gradually got softer with each day that passed. The vitamin E definitely helped fade the scars which were across the bottom of my breasts, up the middle and around each of the nipples.
 Before size DD  After size B
Today - 6 Years Later
I have never had a second thought about having a reduction. It has changed my life and improved my self-image. After six years, if you looked at my breasts, you wouldn’t even notice the scars – they have faded almost entirely. My only concern now is whether or not I will be able to breast feed, which I guess won’t be the end of the world. Some women also experience a loss of sensation of the breast and nipples - I never experienced this.
My physical activity increased greatly. 6 years ago, I couldn’t jog or run. In the last 4 years, I have run 2 marathons and exercise every day. I would highly recommend breast reduction to anyone in a similar situation. It was one of the best decisions of my life.
Getting Started
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