Hi niecsey,
I have been reading the posts here, and I wanted to give you some info on my sister, and my best friend regarding breast reduction. My g-friend had her surgery 3 yrs ago, at the age of 54. She is thrilled with the results, and speaks highly of both her surgeon, and the way she looks. She was so fed up with the size she was, I'm not sure of her bra size, but I know she was huge, and because of the pain her boobs caused, she wanted them completely off!! Of course her Dr.'s talked her out of that LOL.
She was bent over with the weight of them, causing her spine to curve that way as well. She also had deep indentations on her shoulders from the bra straps. Both caused her to be in constant pain. This is a women, who spared no expense for a bra. Even though she spent huge amounts of money for those supposedly correct, perfect bras....they of course, still weren't enough to fix her 'problems'. Her only answer was surgery.
She was beautiful before, and she is beautiful now. She said she recommends this surgery for every woman who needs it. She has been reduced dramatically. She told me what size she was before, and her new size, but I'm sorry I don't remember exactly what they were. I know she was in the H's, and in fact, she spoke once about a J cup size, (different make of bra I assume), and she is now a B cup. Sorry, but that's all I can remember about the size. I really just wanted you to know how fed up she was with her huge breasts, and how willing she was to get rid of them, (her words, not mine). Her advice is to research the surgeon, and find one with excellent credentials, and you are off to a beautiful new set of boobies.
She even was in contact with other women her surgeon had worked on. The results, as far as she was concerned, are fantastic, and she wishes now, that she had done this 20 years ago.
She says now, even though her boobs are firm, and she doesn't need to wear a bra, she does, because she wants to keep them supported and perky LOL. She said she can now wear the bras she longed for before. Sexy, lacy, cheaper by the dozen, little ones lol, that she loves to show me every time she buys them. The cost of a bra now is a fraction of her bras before. She was out driving her Mustang, 6 weeks later. Her scarring is minimal, and her pain is gone, I think anyway, because she never complains about pain! She is so proud now. Before, when she was burdened with the weight, and walked hunched over, now she stands as straight and as proud as she can. I know I tend to go on and on sometimes, so sorry if I did here. I just wanted you to know of the success story, so you could use this as another pro for your decision of whether or not to have the surgery. Good luck to you.
My sister had a reduction at the age of 16. That was 36 yrs. ago now, and I know Dr.'s have improved the methods with far better results. The surgeon my sister had, unfortunately didn't do a the job surgeons do now, but my sister was still happy. All she cared about was the fact she had been in so much pain, even at the age she was, and now, even with fibromyalgia, she is still glad 'they' are gone. She has no regrets.
I hope you are feeling better too. I suffer with fibro as well, and I find that I am my own worst enemy. If I am having a GOOD day, I tend to try and get as much done as I can. This as you know is the wrong way to go about things with fibro. That just sets you up for several days of a fibro flare.
I had one Dr., a rheumy, who told me not to focus on my pain. LOL, That is the last thing I do. It catches me off guard, as you know it can do, and I try meditation, stretching exercises, even swimming, (which by the way is the best thing for it), among other things. Don't focus on my pain.....I wanted to punch her in the nose and say "Here, focus on that!! Does it hurt, just ignore it now."...what a bi**h. Another said, it was because I was depressed. I wasn't depressed before the fibro, but being in that kind of pain, where even the clothing on your back hurts you, year after year, I think anybody would be depressed. It can turn into a vicious circle of pain, depression, more pain, deeper depression, but even if the depression lifts, the pain doesn't stop.
My GP 1st diagnosed this, and he has been the absolute best every step of the way. I am so lucky to have such a Dr.. He says he has no time or patience for Dr.'s who don't recognize fibro, so they don't, or won't help their patients, try to have a pain free life. He says those Dr.'s should walk a day in our footsteps, and see how it feels to have a shower that hurts, not remember how to do the surgery he/she needs to do, because the fibro fog is so bad...and literally have their whole life turned upside down because it. Thank God he is my Dr. I don't know what I would have done without him. I do know I wouldn't have come as far as I have, and I would be dealing with the pain I had when i was 1st diagnosed.
I am by far pain free, but the difference is life saving.
OK, I'll get down now, and give somebody else a chance to give their experiences, and opinions.
Have a great day ladies. You deserve it.
Oh, I forgot! There's one last thing I wanted to mention. I stopped taking my HRT in April, and I am close to 3 months without it. I slowly weaned myself off, by gradually decreasing the amount I was taking. I have had the odd flash, both mild and severe, but compared to before the HRT, this is heaven! There is an article on this web site that says that might happen, but should get better. I am so pleased to be off the HRT. It's done it's job, and it helped me through a very hard time in my life.
The weather here is like a sauna right now. With humidity factored into it, we are experiencing temperatures in the low to mid 40 C!! Today, I drove my son to his friends house, and I was out in that for almost an hr. I didn't even have a bead of sweat on me, and I was hot!!! That was thrilling!!!
I was on HRT, for well over 13 years, maybe even closer to 15, and I had been on a large dose of it the past 2 years. I kept up with my cancer screening tests, I kept up with mammograms, had 2 D&C's, and yearly pap tests, etc.. All the results were good. By the way, mammograms aren't my favorite thing to do, but they only take a few minutes, and my experience with them haven't been that bad. They do squeeze the hell out of the poor things, but only for a few seconds, and then click, you're done for a few years.. The discomfort of a few minutes is well worth the peace of mind you get after.
I hope I've helped you here.
Bye for now. Take care.
(((HUGS)))
Platte
