I met with
my surgeon, Dr. Dean Webber, on Monday, June 25th, 2001 at
his offices. He looked at my breasts and let me know that not
only can he decrease the size, he can remove scar tissue that
was left over from them being so large. He even let me know
that he is going to move the area of my nipple further up to
where it's supposed to be (considering my age, I'm 22). He
told me that if I go through with the procedure I will not
have any feeling in my breasts nor will I ever be able to
breast feed, and I didn't really care to tell you truthfully.
Dr. Webber
told me that I will have to have my surgery done at St.
Mary's Hospital instead of in his clinic because my insurance
wouldn't cover his clinic, only the hospital. So we scheduled
my bilatiral breast reduction for Wednesday, September 19th,
2001. I was also scheduled for another pre-op appointment
with my primary physician in early September to make sure I'm
fit for the surgery.
I had
pictures of my breasts taken by his assistant for
before/after comparison as well as for insurance purposes.
No, my face was not in the picture. Dr. Webber was really
nice and answered my questions about how long it might take
for recovery (depends on the person, darn it).
I recently
received the confirmation letter from my insurance company
giving me permission to have the breast reduction under full
coverage from July 31, 2001 - October 31, 2001. Those are the
dates in which I can have my breast reduction done, and a
copy was sent to Dr. Webber's office.
I arrived at
St. Mary's hospital a little after 8 a.m. My surgery wasn't
scheduled until noon, but I could go in sooner since Dr.
Webber's second surgery was not expected to take a long time.
They had me change into a hospital gown, robe, and footies
(sexy huh?). I had to sit in the waiting area with other
patients (all of us in gowns) and their family members. Jerry
and Austin waited with me for about an hour, but then the
meter outside ran up and Austin had to get home to eat
breakfast anyhow, so I told them to go. Now I was waiting for
a nurse to come get me with a stretcher.
Around 9:45
a.m., a nurse came and put my hospital bracelet on my right
ankle. She then listened to my lungs, took my tempurature,
and my pulse. This nurse was a sweetheart, and her and I
talked for awhile before she left me to wait longer. I was
finally taken to Pre-Op Holding on a stretcher, where I
waited for about an hour. There was a really nice man across
from me who had a conversation with me about all our battle
wounds from previous surgeries. I waited for the
anesthesiologist to come and talk to me about which
anesthesia he was going to be using for this surgery. Finally
he came and talked to me, then a nurse came to take my
temperature, listen to my breathing, and took my pulse. She
then asked me a few family health questions (i.e.: did anyone
in your family have any reactions to anesthesia?)
Dr. Webber
came to see me shortly after I received my I.V. (they hadn't
given me any anesthesia yet), and he drew the surgery lines
around my breasts and on my breasts, letting me know that
he'd have to take most of my chest off during the surgery. He
said that the breasts were not attached to anything (how they
were) and that they were just hanging there. He said he
couldn't save most of the tissue and skin because it was so
scarred and stretched, so he'd need to take a lot off my
chest. I was a little worried when he said this, because he
said I might not even make a B cup and that I was going to be
pretty flat-chested when he was done. He did mention that he
would try to save as much as he could. He then showed me
where he planned to re-position my nipple, and considering my
breast as it still was -- the nipple was sooooo low from
where he wanted it. He told me I'd never be able to breast
feed and that I'd have no feeling in my nipples. I was okay
with that, and I told him that I didn't mind that. He said
that this surgery would make my breasts better then they were
now, even though it would be such a dramatic change. He also
let me know he'd tell me the next day how much he took off.
So finally
they gave me some anesthesia in the IV and that's honestly
the last thing I remember. I know that seems odd, but once
you get the anesthesia it's only a matter of seconds before
you are out. I remember waking up and being so tired. I could
hear nurses around me talking, taking my pulse, and asking me
to slide from one side to the other so that they could change
my bedding. I had drains in each breast to drain fluid/blood
from the area, and my chest was securely wrapped in a
surgical sports bra and two paddings of gauge. I didn't even
bother looking at my chest because I was in and out of sleep
for the next few hours. I remember asking a nurse what time
it was and she told me 4 p.m., then a couple of hours later I
woke up out of a bad sleep and asked a different nurse for
the time. She let me know it was now 6 p.m., and by then I
was being moved into a room with another patient who'd had
gullbladder surgery.
They served
me dinner around 6:30 p.m. (menu below). I ate most of it,
but I was really hungry by this point. I hadn't eaten in
thirteen hours.
After
getting into my room, I layed there in and out of sleep for a
few more hours. Jerry and his mother showed up with some
really pretty flowers (picture below), and to visit. The
flowers really did cheer me up. Jerry got a quick peak at the
new boobs and he took a picture of the surgical bra. He was
really in shock about how much they had taken off. I got a
look at the breasts when I showed him, and I couldn't believe
how small I was. Of course going from a DDD to anything under
a D would make you think you've got a flat chest. I was
thinking that Dr. Webber had taken too much off and now I
would look funny. But Jerry assured me he liked the new
chest, it would just take some getting use to. I put my hands
around the bare breasts (when Judy had left) and I still had
about two handfuls of perky boobs on each boob! I loved it. I
haven't had perky boobs since I was 12, so this was great to
me.
I could
automatically notice the difference in weight when I stood
up. I didn't have to hunch over. I could bend over without
having to adjust my boobs to keep them from falling out of
the bra. I was relieved that I could sleep on my back without
having to feel like I was being crushed, or that they were
falling to either side of my rib cage. I also realized that
I'd never have to adjust the boobs in public again to keep
them from popping out of my too-tight bra! It was a miracle.
It took a little getting use to, balancing and sitting up
without huge boobies -- but I managed. I felt light and
honestly "free".
There was no
pain, which I don't think is common for most women. Let me
explain something really quickly. My mother had this thing
where she could handle pain really well, and she barely felt
it. I think I must have the same thing because throughout a
c-section, abscess removal, and this surgery -- I had no
pain. The only pain I've had during this surgery was the damn
I.V. site, that really hurt. It took them three times to get
it in correctly, by the way. Anyhow, I didn't have any pain
so I needed no pain medication. They kept me on fluids for
the first few hours though just in case I became dehydrated.
They also gave me some antibiotics through my IV two times,
so I wouldn't get infected.
My room had
a nice little window view of Duluth, and my roommate was
about 80 years old (and she was a totally sweetie). However,
since my roommate was in lots of pain and on morphine she had
to use a bed pan. The nurses took forever to come and help
her, so during the evening she asked me to help her with her
bed pan two times, and I did. I felt bad for her, I didn't
realize that her granddaughter had come earlier while I was
sleeping to visit. She laid all night, barely complaining
although she told nurses her pain was a 7 on a scale from
1-10 (10 being worst, 1 being none).
I tried to
sleep, but every two hours I was woken up for blood pressure,
tempurature, and to check or change the surgical drains
(which had lots of blood in them, ewww). I slept on my side
most of the night, which wouldn't be possible you'd think if
someone just had a breast reduction. But it was really
comfortable. I forgot to mention that I had circulation socks
on during the entire surgery, and for a few hours after
surgery. They were really annoying and loud, but it kept the
blood running through my legs to prevent blood clots.
My sister
called from Madison and we talked for about an hour on the
phone, I was so glad she called. Then my step-mother called
and we talked for another hour. I watched CNN most of the
evening (Bush is definately milking his coverage), and then
around 8 p.m. I tried to dose off for the night. I woke up
(no kidding) at:
10:30 p.m. *checked on drainage,
emptied it*
12:30 a.m. *took temp and blood
pressure*
1:30 a.m. *took temp and blood pressure*
2:40 a.m. *gave me some more antibiotics
in my I.V.*
4:00 a.m. *checked on drainage, emptied
it*
6:00 a.m. *took temp and blood pressure*
After waking
up at 6 a.m., I dosed on and off until 8 a.m., and then
decided to get up and watch Little House On The Prarie. I
used the bathroom throughout the night, mostly going in there
to pee really quick and wash my mouth out with some
mouthwash, I could still taste that nasty anesthesia in my
mouth. I tried to write some in my journal, but my I.V. hurt
so much and it was on my right hand (and I'm right handed),
so I gave up after a few tries. Breakfast was served (see
menu below) but all I ate was the scrambled eggs and I drank
the milk and the orange juice.
I just tried
to make mental notes about what I was going to write here
when I got home. I had my surgery dressing changed at 8:30
a.m., and my I.V. removed at 9 a.m. Dr. Webber was the one
who came to change my dressing, and he set up an appointment
for me to have my nipple dressing changed and my surgery area
checked on Tuesday, September 25th at 10:00 a.m. at his
office. He also wrote a perscription for Kelflex (an
antibiotic) and Harovik (pain killer). I'm supposed
to take the Kelflex three times a day, one tablet.
I was
released from the hospital at 11 a.m., and my sister Katie
gave me a ride home. We went to Perkins first to have lunch
with her friend Heidi, because Heidi was worried about me
(awww). Katie was in awe of my new chest, and I think she was
very happy for me. She bought me lunch, isn't that sweet?
Jerry couldn't come pick me up because he had to sleep in
since he works the night shift on Thursday nights (ugh). But
he came home around 3 p.m., and I showed him the breasts
without the padding. He seems pretty happy with them, but
most of all -- I'm happy. I'm so glad I did this! That is all
there was to my breast reduction story -- not much
"drama" at all!
