WARNING: This article contains images of boobs!
So, I had my first breast reduction consultation and I’M ALIVE. I was so nervous going in, would I be rejected for the surgery? Would they tell me to lose more weight and come back in a year? NO! They gave me the all clear.
After waiting for this day to come for as long as I can remember (although the wait from when I committed to the reduction and my first consultation was only two weeks) I had mixed emotions on the day.
There is a whole host of emotions that go along with having major surgery, the worries of will it look good, what will I do if it goes wrong etc, but to be honest all of my worries of the surgery are emotional. For the last 10 years I have looked like this, everyone knows me as the girl with big boobs so I worry that men wont like me anymore, or that I wont be confident. I know this seems irrational but this is honestly how I feel and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one to have felt it. Although the reduction will reduce my cup size I still have a huge weight loss journey to go through post op!
However, on the day my doctor Dr Douglas McGeorge took me into his office, a surprisingly unhospital like room (I guess that’s a plus of private!) and asked me to sit down on a rather lavish chair in front of a large mahogany desk. I don’t know why but I was half expecting it to be a more business like affair, a come in – top off – let you know what has to be done occasion, however for the majority of the time my boobs were firmly placed in my hammock of a bra. I don’t know why I felt self conscious to begin with, this man must see boobs day in day out, I wouldn’t be surprised if his wife was completely flat chested!
So, I’m sure you want to know the details, when and how, so let me fill you in.
First of, Dr McGeorge explained to me that the amount of breast that you can remove varies dependant on the person and their initial cup size! Going in, I honestly thought that if it I wanted to I could have them completely removed in one swift move of the knife. (This is not what I wanted, it was meerly an assumption).
I have decided that for me, a DD is where I will be comfortable. Now I’m aware that to most people that a DD is a big boob size anyway but I’m 5ft 8 with a dad who is 6ft 6 and 19 stone, I was never going to be tiny and I don’t want to be out of proportion, I think women look best with curves in the right places.
For those of you who have never looked into breast reduction surgery then let me give you my simplified version of all of the medical mumbo jumbo that I had the doctor explain to me:
The surgeon starts off my making your saggy nipple look perky, (it’s about time mine stood to attention!). This is called the anchor procedure as they cut around the nipple, then out at an angle, take out the excess boob, then stitch it all up in an anchor shape. Please refer to exhibit A:
Exhibit A
If you have smaller boobs then you can have less scaring by having just a vertical scar (See exhibit B), but unfortunately there is just too much boob on my chest! I thought the scaring would really bother me but as the process has gone on I have come to realise that it will only be me and my future man seeing them, and men are usually happy if there is something to play with!
Exhibit B
So naturally as soon as I come out of the consultation I do some more research on the surgery itself (mainly the ‘what happens if it goes wrong articles’) and then out come a whole host of images. I believe that this (Exhibit C) is a pretty successful job… However I have now convinced myself that I am going to be one of the minimal percent with a complication. (I keep on picturing myself with one nipple or some sort of gangrene). I have been reassured over and over that neither of these will happen, there is always a first for something though, right?
Exhibit C
To answer the when, that is still unknown to me. I am currently finishing my second year so going back for a second consultation when I finish, hopefully the surgery will be this summer (keep your fingers and toes crossed for me!). But I will keep you all updated I promise, feel free to leave any questions you may have, or if you are in a similar boat then get in touch, it’s always nice to know when someone is going through the same thing as you.
Ciao for now my big boobed amigos!
My cup runneth over! 