| Now where should I begin with this one. Well I suppose it really started when, at the age of 10, my mum made me wear a vest over my bra so my back didn't get cold. Funny I know but very true and I've been lugging the things about ever since. I had problems with sports and also in dance class and, later, when I was teaching aerobics. The sports bra's were always too small so there was no support and they dug into me everywhere. So in 1998 I began my quest to get rid of the things. Hubby and I did not want any more kids....mind you I couldn't even breast feed the one we've got and that caused a few titters I can tell you. I did alot of research on the internet finding out about the requirements and the procedure for the operation and mid-1999 I decided to go visit my GP to see how I would go on getting it done on the National Health Service. My friend had hers done a few years ago on the NHS and I reasoned, therefore, that I should be able to do the same. NOT BLOODY LIKELY.....sigh. Well to tell the truth I did get an appointment through for February 2000 but 4 weks before I was due to go they sent me a letter saying that because this was cosmetic they were no longer performing the operation. Cosmetic my bum.....ask anyone who has oversized breasts and they will tell you the same as me.....constant backache and shoulder pain, headaches, sore and bleeding underneath when you get too warm, can't get a decent bra for under £30 and then they look like they belong on a 90 year old. Anyway, the only option left to me was to go private and so I phoned around a few clinics in the areafinally settling on a surgeon who works for the NHS as well as privately (this is the safest way to do it ladies). At my initial appointment in February 2000 we chatted about my medical history and why I wanted the operation doing. He examined me and then asked when I wanted the operation to take place. He had a date for the 13th March and I leapt at it. The next time I saw him was on the big day !!!!! March 13th came and I was petrified.....suddenly there was no going back. I must say though that I never once wondered if I was doing the right thing. Hubby drove me to the hospital where I was shown to my room and asked to wait to the surgeon to come and see me. By this time I was crying because I was so nervous and I sent Hubby home because he was getting on my nerves.....poor love. When the surgeon arrived he examined me again and then did the markings where he was going to cut. Next the anaesthetist came in for a chat to tell me what would happen when I got to theatre, and 1 hour later they came to wheel me down. God I was scared. They were talking about football and I hoped that the surgeons team had won......lolol. Next thing I remember I was coming round in the recovery room and the pain was horrendous. The nurse quickly put morphine in my IV and eventually the pain subsided. I asked the time as they wheeled me back to my room and it was 6.30pm.....I had been in surgery for 4 1/2 hours. I also had drains at both sides to get rid of any excess fluid.....most uncomfortable. That night I didn't sleep much, didn't eat anything and felt sore. I couldn't see my new boobies because they were strapped up very tightly. Hubby and number one Son came to visit but I didn't have much to say....lol. The next morning the surgeon came in to check on me and to change my dressings....I couldn't look though. He said that everything had gone ok, they had removed 5lb of tissue, and that the tissue they removed had been sent off to the lab for testing......lovely job for somebody. I started moving around a little more even managing to take a walk down the corridor with a little help from a rather dishy male nurse (like I was looking my best....not hehehe). I came out of hospital the next day and spent the next 2 months recovering and getting plenty of rest. Initially I had a little trouble with bathing myself but Hubby was a treasure. I also got rather a nasty infection under both of them but with little TLC from the practise nurses at the GP's that was soon under control. How much did all this cost me - £3,000 Would I do it again - YOU BET I WOULD !!!!! I can now for the first time since I was a kid...go braless - wear skimpy tops - do exercise without pain - buy gorgeous bras at a reasonable price. |
| Below you will find some links to pages and support groups which were invaluable to me before and after my surgery. |
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