its the last day of 2007 and i finally got on my old computer and was looking through old posts on my website, feeling guilty for my lack of blogging... and decided it was finally time for a breast reduction update.

its been 18 months post surgery and i'm 100% happy with my results. my breasts have fallen to a natural position, and the scars are fading nicely. i dont even see the scars anymore when i look at myself in the mirror, i'm so used to them. and the scars underneath are covered by the natural fall of the breasts.


i hope this journal has been helpful for any women out there considering a reduction. i would do it again in a heart beat and would recommend it to anyone!!!!

Labels: 18 months, breast, post op, reduction, scars, surgery

holy crap, i just added up the days and its day 70!!! 10 weeks!!!

I have used the silicon gel sheets, Cica-care, for a whole month (31 days) and I'm just taking a bit of a break as my skin around my nipples sometimes gets a bit sore from constantly taping and uptaping and taping again. The micro-pore tape is super duper sticky and pulling it off twice a day and reapplying it straight away is slightly irritating my skin. Not irritating but sometimes it feels like I'm ripping off a layer of skin with the tape. Luckily its not on the nipples or the scars, but just the skin around it.

I've been using Rosehip Oil and vitamin E oil on my scars in the meantime, but after this week I'll probably start up the second lot of silicon gel sheets.

Its hard to see a difference from day to day but they have definitely dropped to a more natural shape. Of course they are still uber perky and there is no way I could ever hold a pencil under them again hehehe.

I finally got the surgeon's before and after photos and wow, it was horrible. The befores I mean. SOOOO not flattering. But I got the fullbody before and the fullbody after photo and put them on top of each other in photoshop and tried to resize them to match. I lined up a few moles on my chest and shoulder and then faded one picture out and the other picture in and the difference is amazing. I still wish I had lost a bit more on my bum/hips but oh well. Can't complain.

Check out the full body comparison animated picture. I can't believe I'm showing off this horrible before photo, but at least I dont look like that anymore.

wow I can't believe its day 50 since my surgeries. Every single day I'm so glad I did this. Every day I love my new, smaller breasts more and more.

Tonight, after a shower, I tried out some skimpy tops and bikini tops and I wanted to cry with joy. My boobs just look so damn good- the bikini top doesn't need to be tied up so tight it cuts into me, just to hold the big ol' boobs up. The bikini top doesn't need to do anything but lightly cover- my perky boobs hold themselves up!

I also tried on a backless top that once belonged to my sister- I don't know why I kept it for all this time... except as a reminder of what I wanted. It was the holy grail. To be able to wear a backless top with NO BRA- wow I only dreamed of that time... but now I can! God, it feels so good.

I have been using the Cica care silicon gel sheet scar treatment for 2 weeks now, and my scars are looking fantastic. However, I don't know if its the silicon gel or if its just my body healing, but I will keep using the silicon gel for the recommended 2-4 months just in case. Before I started using these gel sheets, I was rubbing Vitamin E oil onto my scars every night and I honestly believed that was helping them fade. But the scars have continued to fade and whether its the gel, or just time and my own body, I'll keep using every method I can.

I've taken some photos, but I do feel the camera makes the scars stand out more. The camera also seems to emphasise the difference in the size of my breasts. No one has perfectly matching breasts, and although I had not really noticed, before the operation my left was alot saggier and bigger than the right. Now, post-op my left is still slightly bigger than my right. But that's ok with me. Its not as noticeable in person and that's all that matters.

Check out some photos from day 45- close up of the scars, both boobs, and a shot of boobs with my now smaller love handles.
I also took photos from day 36 and didn't mention it in my blog, so you may not have seen them.

My hips and thighs are also healing well. They still feel a little sore at times, and if I press on my outer thighs, inner thighs or love handle area it still feels like a bit of a bruise. I can also feel a bit of hardening under the puncture points- which is scar tissue I believe. But I'm trying to keep up the massaging every other day, which will hopefully soften the scar tissue sooner rather than later.

Its hard to measure the difference in size before and after the surgery, and often I look at my thighs and think there is not a huge difference. However every single pair of pants fits so much better now. In fact a number of jeans/pants are bagging so much around the inner thigh and the back of my thighs/under my bum. And of course I dont get that horrible muffin top (the bulging of fat over the top of hipster pants) anymore.
My favourite pair of dark jeans are almost bordering on 'too big' which makes me sad. But I will keep wearing them, even though they are no long slim fitting. Another pair of light colored jeans which are very stretchy, now bag and bulge at the inner thigh. Obviously my inner thigh fat had stretched the jeans so much, they are permanently like that now. And now I have no inner thigh to fill them out, YIPEE!

I had to take painkillers for the first time in a week and a half because my boobs were hurting on the inside. Stupidly, I carried some reasonably heavy bags from the Alibi to home after selling some of my stuff downstairs, as a sort of sunday garage sale. It wasn't a huge success- I still have way too much stuff but it was about $30+ for sitting on my ass for a few hours.

But yeah, I tried to lighten each bag, and took it all home in 3 trips, but it was obviously more than I should have done because once I got home and sat down I had pains on the inside of my boobs.

Its so easy to forget that there are all these internal stitches all throughout my breasts. Its so easy to just think about the outside, visible scars, which are pretty much healed.

The scary thing is, despite not feeling in pain at the time, I wont know the damage until its too late. Its not like i'm going to lift my arm and suddenly feel a huge rip... but its all the little movements that could slowly widen the scars if i'm not careful.
I keep trying to remember that, but its hard not to get back to normal activity (cleaning, cooking, moving, picking things up) when I feel completely fine! I feel so lazy avoiding these everyday activities, because I do feel painfree. Its 3 weeks tomorrow and I feel like that should have been more than enough time to recover... but its not :( I know its not, everyone tells me its not.

no longer do i feel like i have zombie-boobies. the frankenboobs are long gone. my nipples look like they are part of my boobs and the scars are coming along nicely.

i've decided to upload all my photos, from the day of the surgery up until now, in my photo gallery. I'll keep adding new photos as I recover. Check out the breast reduction gallery here. The latest photos were from day 16. The wounds are no long wounds. They are healed and now are scars. Its crazy how quickly our bodies heal.

Todays my last day of holidays, I'm back at work on monday. I came into the city to meet everyone for pub lunch today and then ended up coming back to work because I couldn't be assed to go home and then come back in again. So i've just been going through my emails, deleting all the spam, sorting all the emails, saving the important ones. Save me having to do it on monday.

I'm glad to be back, I've missed everyone and just missed the atmosphere of work. Although I definitely could have enjoyed a few more days of watching tv shows. I've now finished 2 seasons of dawson's creek, 1 season of felicity and a few movies.

I've definitely had a reaction to the tape, so today Sascha removed the sterile tape, and rather than putting the skin coloured tape on, she is letting me have 48 hours tape free. This should give my skin time to settle down, stop itching and get better. This isnt that uncommon so I'm not too worried, except the itching is still pretty bad. And the skin around where the tape was is a bit red and inflammed.

Its pretty scary seeing the wounds and the stitches minus the tape. With the tape they look clean and healed and well, but without the tape its pretty confronting. I have zombie boobies!

Although the stitches are clear, there is a bit of dried blood and whatnot on the stitches especially around the nipples. I had originally thought the stitches were coloured or black but nope, just blood and gunk!
The wounds down the breasts aren't entirely straight and are not yet just a thin line.So yeah, its a bit of a shock. Without the tape, I feel so fragile. Not that I'm likely to pop a seam or something, but the tape just made me feel more secure. I do have to watch I dont lift anything heavy for these 48 hours because I dont want to stretch the scar/wound while there's no tape on holding me together.

I went into mum's shop this afternoon and got a fresh new hair cut again, as well as new colour. its really really bright red, this new product Goldwell Elumen. It is a really vibrant, bright colour which I absolutely love and should stay in my hair for longer than previous products.
wheeee!

oh my god, my boobs are so itchy!!!! argh its making me insane. although my appointment isn't until tomorrow, to have the tape removed etc, I actually went past Dr Gaffield's office today with mum (mum's been going there to sort out an operation my great-grandmother has to have in the coming weeks). I had a quick chat to Sascha and told her my nipples and boobs were really itchy and she said it was probably a reaction to the tape. everyone i've spoken to about it says when wounds are healing they can itch too.
so its not a big deal, or anything bad. but fuuuuuuck, i just want to scratch so badly. i thought it was probably because its been over a week since i scrubbed my chest, boobs. I've just let water run over them while showering but not really scrubbed them/exfoliated. but yeah, its just under and around the pieces of tape that feel tingly/itchy. thinkingn about it is just making it itch even more!

oh yeah, i went to Medicare with all my bills (the plastic surgeons bill and the anesthetist's bill) and I ended up getting $1200 back. I was surprised as I had been told I might get $600 back, but am very very pleased to have gotten something back! anything is better than nothing!

it is now just more than one week post operation/post surgery. i can't believe it, how great my recover is.
sascha said my bruises will drain down my legs. so currently they are mid thigh.... but over the next week or so, they might drain down, even down past my knee onto my calf.... and then they will fade. mum has been massaging my legs and hips every day which is great because she said massging the area that was liposuctioned is great for it.... as well as walking. i went for a 45 minute walk today, just to get the legs moving.it felt great.

so i thought i'd share another photo. this was a self taken photo- my left boob does look bigger in this photo and i dont honestly know if its the angle the photo was taken on, or if they really are different sized. but even if they are, i dont care. they are still perky as! and who cares if they are a bit lopsided.
so here it is, this is day 8 post op. dont know if you notice but my love handles are massively gone in this photo. to me, its really really really noticeable!

the last couple of days have been resting and recovery, watching hours and hours of dawsons creek and turning into an emotional mess and a hopeless romantic. all that grown up talk about soul mates between an imaginary group of friends- i found myself crying in almost every episodes. l4m3.

the stiff and soreness of my legs has lessened to the point where i can get up, sit down, lay down, move around with ease. I can walk normal again and not like a little old lady, hobbling along.

We've removed the little bandages off the puncture wounds and they are fully closed up. The bruises have really developed now. My hips, ass and thighs are covered in an elaborate pattern of red, yellow, black and blue. On the outside of both of my thighs, the bruising is really really bad. Perhaps because that is where the claps/zips of this tight compression suit sit, it has been so tight on my skin it didn't allow the blood to settle in some areas, so I actually have a zigzag pattern in my bruise. click here for a pic- be warned, its a pretty yucky bruise.

I can now start softly massaging the area, I think its to help move the fluid out of your body (if it hasn't left your body already) as well as to soften the scar tissue under your skin. To prevent scar tissue from hardening? i was told the areas that were lipo'ed could feel lumpy afterwards, but I haven't felt that yet.

of course, touching/rubbing a deep bruise hurts.

Not much change with the boobs. Still very little pain. The other day it sort of ached 'inside' the boob, like I could feel the wounds inside healing. I have the tape over the scars, it wont be changed til Monday, so I can't see the actual wound/stitches. Their shape is still good, they still have alot more settling to do, but they are looking good in my opinion.

My nipples are really sensitive, I wish I had taped gauze over them so they don't brush again my clothes all the time. I gues that's a good thing though, would have hated to lose sensitivity there.

I'm going to lunch down the road today with mum and her friends. This will be the first time out of this house since coming back Tuesday! woot!

it turns out they removed 40grams from my boobs. 40 grams TOTAL!!!! so 20grams each boob. that is NOTHING, i had read stories from other women who have had 400 grams or more removed from EACH boobs.
It was mostly skin and a little breast tissue, but they mostly just re-constructed and re-shaped my boobs, for the better! Sascha said there was almost 2 Litres of fat and stuff removed from my thighs/hips!!!

Sascha had me up on a table while she removed the tape from my boobs. She cleaned the sutures and said they look very good. I had a quick glance but actually seeing stitches holding my skin together was a bit full on and I couldn't look for long.
After she put some anti-bacterial stuff on the wounds, which had made me skin turn yellow, she re-applied the tape and hopefully that will stay on til Monday when I have my next appointment.

I can start softly massaging my legs and hips, to help soften the scar tissue under the skin.