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Amy's Breast Augmentation Journal

Stats:
Height: 5' 7"
Weight: 130 lbs.
Small B to a 34 DD, 36 D or even a 36 DD (depending on the bra)
550 cc's L and 625 cc's R--smooth, round, moderate profile, unders, saline, Mentor's
Surgeon: Dr. James Romano San Francisco, Ca.
BA Date: April 13, 2004

My Story

I am 39 years old, married and Mom of 3 (16, 14, and 7) and have never had large breasts... unless you count the three times I breastfed and then I had a nice full C cup. That was heaven! I breast fed all three for a total of 5 years combined and discovered that while I had no real sagging, I had lost volume to my breasts so now they felt even smaller. Buying very padded "C" bras (that didn't fit me at all, cup wise) became a way of life. I wouldn't dare be seen in a bathing suit, for fear someone would find out that I had such small breasts! Buying any piece of clothing that wouldn't accommodate my padded bras was out of the question. I secretly envied every women I saw that had large breasts but never seriously considered a BA.
Then I started thinking:

In June of 2001 I found the breastimplants4you.com web site and looked at before and after photos and discovered how much you could improve the way your breasts looked by having a BA. They looked so natural and then I started reading the posts on the YTF message board and reading all the journals. I starting thinking more about it, and decided to approach my husband with the idea. I think he tried really hard to contain his excitement that I would want to do this, but he said he loved me the way I was and if this was what I wanted he would support me in my decision. I toyed with the idea, did more research online but that nagging feeling kept creeping in. I came up with every reason why I shouldn't do this, money being a large factor. At that time we had just bought a ranch in the country with a house that needed a tremendous amount of work and it just seem crazy to take some of the money we had set aside for that for my breasts. I talked myself out of it and life went on.
Several months passed..

I had a client come in to work in February of 2004 who was telling me she had had a BA four years prior. Of course, I jumped at the chance to talk to a live person who had actually done it! Before she left she offered to show them to me. She did, All DD of them, and they looked GREAT! I think it was at that moment I decided I was going to do it. She was so happy and said it was the best thing she had ever done for herself. I left work that day knowing when I got home I was going to schedule a consultation with a plastic surgeon I had been researching for the previous two years, Dr. James Romano. I knew he had a reputation for being a fabulous surgeon and several women from the YTF board had him do their BA's and were thrilled. I called and talked with his office staff who were so nice on the phone (excellent first impression). I booked a consultation for 5 weeks later on March 15th, which was the first appointment I could get. I also decided to book a consultation with another surgeon in the Bay Area and had an appointment on March 4th with him.

My Consultations:

In a nutshell, they were as different as could be. My first consultation went okay but I was not impressed. I won't go into all the details, but I just didn't feel like this surgeon possessed all the qualities I was looking for.

I was excited about my consultation with Dr. Romano. From the moment I walked into his office I was very impressed with how beautiful it was, and his professional staff and how well they treated me. Dr. Romano spent a lot of time talking to me about my medical history, what I had in mind, implant sizes, the anatomy of the chest and then he took my measurements. I got to try on some sizers and then I went into another room to talk to his surgery coordinator Courtney, who was just awesome. I looked at before and after photos and then Dr. Romano and I discussed the procedure in greater length. I just had this sense that he was "the one". I felt a total and complete confidence in him that I just didn't feel with the other PS I saw. This was the total package I was looking for and decided to go for it and booked my surgery date right then and there. I had forewarned my husband that if I liked Dr. Romano as much as I thought I was going to, I was booking the surgery. The consultation fee I had paid went toward the surgery booking fee so I wrote another check for the balance and that was that! I left his office and went out into the warm San Francisco sunshine, thrilled beyond belief. When I got home I told my hubby I had booked the date and I think he was surprised, yet happy for me that I had finally done it. Finally!
My Pre-Op Appointment:

I returned to San Francisco two weeks later on March 31 for my pre-op. I brought my two bra's I had purchased, D and DD. I had been wearing my "rice boobies" around the house under clothes to get a good idea of what they might feel and look like. I also brought some pictures of breasts that I wanted mine to look like and a copy of my mammogram. Dr. Romano went over everything again with me and took pictures of my breasts. I tried on sizers again in my D bra and he felt like 575-600 cc's would get me to a full D, plus help even out some asymmetry I had. We also discussed possibly going with high profile implants and that the incision would be made through the areola. I signed more paperwork with Courtney, was given my prescriptions to be filled and paid the balance of surgery. I breathed a sigh of relief at that point. The boobs were paid for...<exhale>. Next stop was Seton Medical Center where Dr. Romano does his surgery. Blood was drawn and papers were signed so I could be admitted early on the morning of April 13 at 6:30. Everyone was so nice and treated me well. I took all of this as a good sign that I had certainly made the right choice. I was on cloud nine the whole way back home. This was really happening!
Telling family and friends:

I chose to tell co-workers because I planned on taking three weeks off from work due to the type of work I do, which is more physical and I use my arms and chest muscles a lot. I didn't want to take a chance and go back before I should. I also felt my boss should know why I needed so much time off. Mostly everyone was supportive and I specifically asked them to please not talk about this in front of clients. Most of my family was supportive but a few of my sisters (I have four) were not as thrilled for me. My Mom was great about everything and went with me to San Francisco both times and offered to stay with the kids so my husband and I could go down the night before to spend the night in a hotel near the surgery center. I found that people have really strong reactions (good and bad) about BA. I heard everything from "Why don't you just learn to love yourself?....Are looks that important to you?....Good for you!....What about all the complications? Be prepared for all that and more if you choose to share. Personally, if I could do it over I would not tell. Just my Mom (outside of my husband), my children and that's it.
Food Poisoning!

My plans for getting everything organized and ready for the big day have been postponed. My daughter and I got a mild case of food poisoning that put me in bed for two days (we ordered the same breakfast at a restaurant). My BA is less than a week away and here I am feeling terrible. Fortunately, no vomiting just a terrible stomach ache and feeling really lousy. I began to feel better and went into work and got a massage from my co-worker, a massage therapist (I am an aesthetician). After that, I felt SO much better and began to prepare (again) for surgery day.
Getting closer to the BIG day!

My BA is in three days and now it's getting serious! Today was my last day of work and I'm off for at least three weeks, maybe a month If I feel good, I may go back earlier but I am also taking advantage of the time to do a tremendous amount of paperwork for my husband's business and mine as well. (Post-op note: I had good intentions, but this never got done! Recovery was the only thing I focused on!)


My clients (who don't know I am actually having a BA, but some know I am having surgery of some sort) wished me well and all my co-workers were so sweet. I am feeling so much since my bout of food poisoning has passed. Tomorrow is Easter Sunday but I am going to be spending the day getting things ready and doing laundry and packing my bags in between egg hunts!

Surgery Eve:

Monday, April 12. I spent this whole day desperately trying to do everything..laundry, cleaning, bills, grocery shopping I felt like I'd never get it all done. At this point I had no fear of the surgery itself. In fact, that seemed like the easy part! The hard part was just getting everything ready so I could get to the surgery.

My Mom came to stay with the kids for two days and my husband and I were finally off at 8:30 p.m., which was about 3 hours later than I had wanted to leave. I didn't know how I was going to stay awake for the two hour drive to San Francisco so we stopped for a mocha. It turns out going down later was okay as there was no traffic. We got checked into the hotel about 10:45 pm and I ate a few crackers, took my antibiotic and went to bed. I brought an extra alarm clock and set mine AND the hotel's just in case I overslept.

Surgery Day:

I woke up at 5 am and took a shower, washed my hair and got ready. I wore my contacts to the medical center until the last minute when I'd have to put my glasses on. The medical center was about three minutes away and I was so glad we had chosen to stay there the night before. Bay Area traffic can be a nightmare in the morning and I would have been so stressed trying to get there on time. My husband paused entirely too long at the "continental breakfast" room as we were leaving the hotel and I had to drag him out of there (he ate his pancakes in the car, while I drove!)

6:30 am...we paid for the balance of surgery (OR room/anesthesia fees) and then they called me in to change into my gown and socks. I took two pills for nausea and then she had me get into my bed and started my IV. The anesthesiologist came by, reviewed my medical history and said he'd give me little "cocktail" in my IV to relax me. Wait! Can I talk to Dr. Romano first? I knew I'd be loopy soon (had that same cocktail with my thyroid surgery three years ago!) and wanted to have a conversation about size again and be coherent. Dr. Romano soon stopped by, drew on my breasts and we discussed size. At this point, I was pretty out of it. I do remember him telling my husband he'd take care of me as if I was his own little sister, which was sweet. I slightly remember being wheeled down a hall and then being transferred onto another bed. It was freezing in the operating room. They put electrodes on me...very cold. Dr. Romano told me he had my pictures I had brought to my pre-op and he was looking through them. My arms were strapped into a T-formation and then I was just....out. Nothing. No memories except hearing Dr. Romano saying something about putting 600 cc's in and waking up in recovery. I woke up shivering and someone finally put a blanket on me. I don't remember any immediate pain, or the elephant feeling on my chest...just being cold. The nurse would pop by every now and then and ask about pain and I remember telling her it hurt...it must have, I guess because I told her it did! Bam--I'd be out again. I woke up later to my husband sitting there and he brought flowers for me. I think he felt sorry for me as he had tears in his eyes and said that he loved me and that I was his best friend...awww!! He fed me ice chips for a while, which was nice. My throat was dry and hurt a bit from the breathing tube having been down my throat It came time to leave recovery and go home and my husband dressed me. I felt groggy but was awake. I was SO HAPPY that hotel room was three minutes from the hospital because the car ride there was not fun. Every bump along that three minute ride I felt. Somehow I walked into the elevator, got to the room and laid down immediately (with my husband's help, of course). It was hard to get comfortable but I dozed on and off the rest of the day. I woke up later to a very cold room and no husband! He had put the A/C on and stepped out to get some food. Luckily, just as I was trying to get out of bed to turn the darn thing off, I heard the door opening and there he was. He brought food and I was hungry! Yay! I can finally eat! It was a long night and I think I woke up every hour, on the hour. In the morning we went into downtown San Francisco to Dr. Romano's office My appointment was at 10 am. It was such an effort to walk there, even though it was only several blocks from the parking garage. I had to walk so slow! But we made it, and even arrived 10 minutes early. Dr. Romano removed the dressings and what a relief! I looked down at my new boobs and felt faint, very light headed! They seemed huge! He said they looked as good as he's ever seen, maybe even the best one day post-op. That made me feel good. I found out that I received smooth, rounds rather than HP's. Dr. Romano felt they looked better on me (that wonderful aesthetic eye of his!) and I am glad he did as I ended up getting lots of cleavage and nice round breasts (just what I wanted). His nurse Eve did an ultrasound treatment that was to help bring down swelling. I physically felt better (less sore) after I left the office. My next appointment was two weeks later. We drove the two hour drive home, which wasn't too bad. I was happy to see my Mom and kids but went directly for the recliner which I slept in for the next 4 and a half weeks.

The whole next week

This paragraph describes MY experience that first week after surgery. You may be different. I was in pain, didn't sleep well and felt so helpless having everyone waiting on me. I couldn't raise my arms, dress myself or even shower. My family was wonderful in caring for me. I couldn't have done it without them. Emotions were up and down for me. No regrets though, mind you. I shed some tears, tried not to laugh (it hurt too much) and wondered if I would ever feel like my old self. I had to wear the strap and it really irritated me until about day 4 when it started to feel nice and it was the first thing I wanted on after a shower as the boobs seemed huge and it felt good to strap them down! I religiously slathered on shea butter 2-3 times per day to avoid any stretch marks and to help with the feeling of stretching/itching skin. My breasts felt like they were stretching my skin to the LIMIT. I knew they had a ways to go to drop and I wondered how much much they could stretch!! My tummy felt so bloated so while my breasts seemed huge, so did my stomach! By the end of the week, I finally got more "regular" but still had the tummy bloat. I finally decided that I must have gained a few pounds that went to my stomach after all that laying around...lol The bloat persisted until week two and then I fit into all my jeans Also, my pupils were dilated that first week and it was hard to focus on small print. I think it was the anesthesia/Vicodin in my system and they finally were back to normal at the end of the week. I stopped Vicodin on day 4 and only had one on day 5, then Extra Strength Tylenol as needed.

Day 7...Finally I feel better

I am 7 days post-op today as I write this. What a difference in how I feel today. I showered by myself, dressed myself, put on makeup (the hair did not look great as I can only raise my arms up to shoulder level, but who cares!) and did a few minor things around the house. My mother came over to take me out for the first time in public in a week. We had lunch, shopped, got ice cream and I felt SO MUCH better when I got home. Being out in public, seeing people and knowing that the world was still revolving out there made me feel better. My spirit returned! Looking at clothes in the store was fun because I knew at some point I could shop and how fun it would be to finally have some breasts to fill out all those cute tops.

Week 2:

I had my post-op appointment with Dr. Romano on 4/28. My daughter and I drove down to Pittsburgh and caught BART, which took us right into the city. I had started driving two days before and felt like I needed the additional support of an extra person with me while driving, even if she only has her permit (she's 16)!! It was a gorgeous day in the city and we looked at clothes...oh, the possibilities with breasts!!! Dr. Romano said they looked good, but were still swollen and to continue wearing the strap for another 2-3 weeks and I could wear a bra if needed as long as it did not support or compress the breasts while they were healing and dropping. I also bought some ointment from his office for my incisions and was told how to do the breast compression exercises, which I started a few days later. While at my post-op visit, I got to meet Paula H. from the YTF board who was having her pre-op with Dr. Romano right around the same time as my appointment!

During this week I finally had to go out and buy some button-up sleeveless shirts as it got really hot and all I had were my zip up jackets I got for after surgery. The pain overall was much better, but feelings of sharp shooting pains persisted. Nerve regeneration!

Week 3:

Things really started to improve now. I was still sleeping in a recliner but had much more energy. I didn't feel drained by afternoon or need a nap. I was still looking at clothes but not trying anything on that required me to raise my arms as I could not raise them up too high. I was still getting the shooting pains here and there, more so on my right breast (the 625 cc'er). I also decided not to go back to work this week as I originally planned because my work is strenuous and I just didn't feel up to it. Thank goodness I am self-employed and had the option to do this. I noticed my breasts feeling softer now that I had been doing my exercises faithfully and my incisions were hardly noticeable.

Week 4:

It just keeps getting better! Shooting pains are minimal, and my right breast has really dropped down from where it began to catch up with my left but more dropping will occur on each breast as the weeks go by. My nipples are heading north after looking south for a month! They feel even softer. The compression exercises really work! I continue to wear the strap faithfully but I sometimes wear a bra out when I go somewhere (a 36 DD gives me a little more room, like Dr Romano suggested so I wear that). Wow! Having larger breasts is a lot of fun, I am finding out! Everything I wear looks better on me and sexier, too! I did go shopping, finally and even got a bikini! I probably won't wear it anywhere except for around home this summer, but it's so fun to put it on and have big cleavage. My husband is VERY happy with my results!

I am feeling so good and returning to work on my 5 week post-op anniversary. I took an additional two weeks off from work to give myself the optimum amount of time to heal. I love my breasts!!!!

Week 5:

I am so happy with everything, and they are healing beautifully. I returned to work this week and everything went well. I also did some clothes shopping and found out that having nice breasts makes trying on clothes a whole lot more fun. I feel so much more proportioned now.

6 weeks:

I really felt good this week. I had returned to work the previous week and realized none of the things I had been worried about (breasts getting in the way, back pain with my work) were going to be a problem. A few of my co-workers commented on my new appearance but no clients really noticed (maybe they did but they just didn't say anything!) I finally got back to sleeping in my bed...no more recliner. "Morning boobs" are minor and just for a few minutes after getting up.

7 weeks:

My breasts haven't changed a lot in appearance (at least from what I can tell) since probably week 4 or 5 but feel quite soft. I still faithfully do my compression exercises and wear the strap at night. My incisions really look good now. I think I have more dropping to do (maybe on my left?) but am not completely sure. I'll find out on my next visit with Dr. R on June 23 where I am at in the healing process. It is amazing how quickly you get used to the size. I'm glad I took some pre-op pictures with my digital camera so I can look at them from time to time to remember what they used to look like! As a side note, things are much more fun in the bedroom now. Whereas I would never want my husband to see me without clothes on (unless it was dark!), I am totally confident now (with lights on!) and feel so good about my body. He loves them!! I look forward to going lingerie shopping soon (you can't exactly drag the kids into Frederick's of Hollywood, if you know what I mean...that's a trip I need to go on by myself so as soon as I can, I will).

8 weeks:

Things are just going great! They feel like a part of my body! There is no more pain (shooting pains or otherwise) and I can do everything fully that I did before surgery ...except run. I will NOT run with these babies. Nope, running is out. But I do love a good brisk walk! lol Also, I have complete sensation in my breasts and nipples. Bra shopping is interesting. Before I would grab the most padded 36 C bra I could find (never mind the fact that it didn't fit me at all) and buy it. I have found that I can wear the following sizes...34 DD, 36 D, 36 DD and even a 38 D! It all depends on the bra/manufacturer which makes bra shopping....very interesting!

My advice:

Life is short. If you've been seriously considering BA but are afraid...well, we BA girls have all been there and felt those jitters. I decided (at age 39) that I was finally going to have beautiful breasts before I got old and went into the nursing home. Well, I got them and whoopee, it's FUN!

However, with that said ...research, research, research. Get referrals, check qualifications and credentials, and go on as many consultations as you need until you find "the one". This is your body we're talking about! Take your time until you find the right surgeon. It is worth the wait until you do. There is no better feeling than going into surgery and knowing you are in the best hands possible.

Recovery thoughts:

I found out that everyone's recovery is different. I was in more pain than I expected that first week. I printed out the "list of emotions and how you might feel" from the YTF board and ran down the list a few days post-op and I had nearly every one. Luckily, it all passes quickly and by day seven I started feeling human again. Showers and getting out of the house does wonders for the soul. I isolated myself that first week at home but I really wanted to take it easy. As each week progressed, so did I. I would suggest giving yourself plenty of time for recovery, if possible. More than you think you need, just in case. I have to say I didn't do a whole lot of anything for 4 to 5 weeks! Yes, my house looked terrible but I didn't want to risk complications from overdoing it.. so I didn't.

Another thing that is important to remember is that you do not go in to have a BA, and come out with the finished product. There is a recovery period that can last for weeks/months and patience is required. Think of this as two different surgeries on your breasts. They will not heal at the same rate, and they may not drop at the same time. Cosmetic surgery is not an exact science. I think if you go into this with realistic expectations, you will be much more satisfied with your outcome.

I want to thank my fabulous surgeon, Dr. James Romano, for giving me my beautiful breasts and being so great at what he does. I feel very fortunate I was able to have him do my surgery and would highly recommend him to anyone considering breast augmentation. Also, thanks to my husband for paying for it (!) and for being so sweet and supportive about the whole thing. And to my children for waiting on Mom during her recovery period. Without a doubt, this is the BEST thing I have ever done for myself.
~Amy