13 September 2004
Its a little less than a month since I had my surgery. I'll be taking more pictures next week. The swelling has gone down dramatically and I am no longer flat as a pancake :) The swelling in my nipples has also gone down a lot, although that took longer.

I had to continue with the bandages and the proxy stips until about 3 September. Even after I took all those off, I still covered my nipples for about a week because they were sooooo sensitive! They felt like they stuck to my bra and even just a shirt rubbing against them hurt.

I also had a little bit of skin breakdown at the "t" intersections. More bandages - triple antibiotic ointment and gauze 2x2's. The pics look worse than it did up close and personal. It did hurt, but only for a couple of days. The breakdown I had was very mild compared to some. This is VERY common post-op, and if I remember right, Dr. Janitch told me skin breakdown happens to 99% of breast reduction patients.

I had a follow up appointment with Dr. Janitch on 9 September and he said I'm looking really good. I have fat necrosis (sp?) which is where the oil in your skin makes it turn reddish. At first I thought it was just irritation from the tape being pulled off my skin every day, but nope. Its not permanent and it varies among different in how long it takes to go away. And just when I was all excited that I didn't have to be covered in bandages and tape anymore, Dr. Janitch tells me I'm ready for scar reducing treatment. Awesome! I'm all over that! Well, then I find out what the scar reducing treatment entails.

You'll see in the pictures next week, but what they are are silicone strips that are shaped like a huge smiley face with the tongue sticking up from the center. They cover the bottom incision as well as the scar from that up to the nipple. And they're taped on. Irene, Dr. Janitch's nurse, told me that the doctor doesn't know how they work, she doesn't know how they work, but its gotta be something with the chemical reaction between your skin and the strips. They felt really ackward the first two or three days I was wearing them, but I'm pretty used to them now. That's not to say they're not annoying the beegezes out of me.

To get the most out of these strips, I have to wear them 23 out of every 24 hours. The treatment lasts for 12 weeks. Basically, I get to take them off for long enough to take a shower. Its frustrating because I have to peel off all this freaking tape, lay the sticky strips out on the dresser and wash them if they're looking gross. After my shower I have to wait until my skin is completely dry so the tape will stick, and then I have to tape the whole thing back on.

I know I'm bitching and whining about these damn strips, but Dr. and Irene told me they've seen excellent results with them, and 12 weeks of tape is worth a lifetime of very very faded and hopefully not very noticable scars. Its kind of like being in lots of pain for a couple of weeks after the surgery is worth a lifetime of normal sized breasts!

20 September 2004

This is what all the tape and the scar reducing strips look like. Unfortunately, I had some skin breakdown under the strips so I took them off for a few days. About three days after I put them back on, I wound up with a HORRIBLE rash under both of my breasts. Dr. Janitch said to put cortisone cream on it (which helped!) but after that I was scared to put the strips back on. I waited until my follow up on 29 September to ask. Instead of the strips I was given silicone gel to put on the scars.

The scars on the sides under my arsm go back pretty far. I'm kind of glad I got the gel instead of the strips because the strips didn't cover the entire length of the scar anyway.

Here are my "official" one month pictures! Not sure yet when I'll take more ... probably at 3 or 6 months.