Breast Reduction Surgery - My Experience

Ever since I’ve had breasts I’ve hated them. I was unfortunately very well endowed at as a young teen, and at that time was very thin and appeared top heavy. The weight was always too much to bear, my breasts being very dense and fibrocystic, felt like bowling balls hanging off of me. This made exercising painful and the stares and glares were traumatizing. In fact, just walking around daily began to cause me pain. My back was hunched over and I appeared to be 2 inches shorter than I really was because of the bad posture. It was a nightmare that I had to live with each and every day for 14 years.

I had planned that when I was older, and had saved the money to have it done, that I would have breast reduction surgery.

I’ve had a few different consultations over the years, but for one reason or another, I was unable to have the surgery. Whether it was that I didn’t care for the Dr. or I didn’t have the money, or medical insurance to cover the procedure.

In January of this year, I went for a consultation with a local plastic surgeon which specializes in breast surgeries, specifically breast reduction also know as reduction mammoplasty.

My consultation appointment went great, the Dr. was understanding of the fact that my request was different from most women who entered his office with a similar goal. I wanted little breast tissue to remain. I wanted a very small chest, possibly as small as some of his pre-augmentation patients. Being a masculine woman, a butch, I wanted to be able to easily conceal them. I wanted to feel comfortable in my clothes, which are tailored to fit men. I wanted to wear an a-line undershirt, without a bra and look good. Though he found my request strange, he didn’t ask me to explain myself. He simply told me he’d give me the results that I wanted and I left his office that day with a tentative surgery date.

The weeks that passed were grueling. Would my insurance provider grant me the pre-approval for coverage that I needed in order for my date to be secured? Would I be able to get the time away from work that I needed? How long would the recovery be? How painful would it be? I barely got any sleep due to the anxiety and excitement. I couldn’t believe that this was all finally coming to be.

My insurance company came through, after I called almost daily to follow up on whether they’d received and reviewed the paperwork. My date was set in stone, and I would in fact get this done for myself.

Then, on February 26th, I went under the knife. I had approx. 4 lbs of tissue removed and came out of surgery wrapped in a surgical dressing and ace bandage. I was not going to be able to see my new self for another 48 hours. I felt the pain, and for a second, it felt great. I went home a few hours later and luckily for me, my wife was going to be with me for the next week to take care of me. I could barely move, I couldn’t reach my mouth to feed myself, I needed assistance with everything. Yes, everything.

The procedure that I had was called “The Inferior Pedicle” technique, which is supposed to preserve nipple sensation as well as the ability to breast feed. It was important for me to retain feeling, so this is the procedure that I opted for. Unfortunately for me, only one side retained feeling, the other functions but has no feeling.

The first time I got to see myself after the bandages were removed all I could see was how much bigger my belly was than I had realized! I thought I was bloated from the surgery or something but my wife told me that what I was seeing was “all me” I just had a partial view prior. So be ready for that!

The scarring is intense. The web is full of before and after photos and I encourage anyone who intends on having this done to do intense research. It’s important to go into it expecting to be scarred for life. No matter how well they heal the scars will remain visible. For me, the weight was far worse than the scarring.

I am approximately six weeks post-op, and still healing. I am able to function, but still have pain and discomfort. Internal staples that will dissolve still remain. There is still some swelling and bruising, but the wounds have all closed and are seemingly quite healthy. Some areas took longer to heal than others, and some areas are more sensitive than others.

A few recommendations that I have for anyone who is preparing to have this surgery:

1. Do not depend on your job’s short-term disability benefits as an income while you are recovering. Their standards are to have you back at work in a matter of days, not weeks. I am currently in a financial mess because of this. Try to save up some vacation time instead
2. Make sure you stock up on gauze pads. You will need to change the gauze a few times a day for a couple of weeks.
3. Have plenty of juice boxes available. My favorites were the bigger ones in the foil packs. It’s important to stay hydrated.
4. Have a gentle laxative in the house incase the pain meds cause you to be constipated. Constipation after surgery can be more painful than the surgical area itself.
5. Take your medication as directed. Try to save the heavier pain pills for night time to help you sleep. My worst times were at night.
6. Have a recliner to recover in. If you don’t have one, go buy one if possible. I bought one just for the recovery and I don’t know how I would have managed without it. I slept in it for two weeks!
7. If you are a net freak like me, try to have a laptop available for you.

I feel better now that I’ve had the surgery, though lately I have been experiencing some depression symptoms. A sense of loss is normal after enduring something so major. I look forward to seeing further progress in the coming months.