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Angel's TUBA Experience!

I just had my consult and I'm really excited. My first appointment was on Thursday, July 18, 2002 with one of the nurses, Shirley, from Dr. Dowden's office. She helped me with sizing and had my husband and I watch a video about breast augmentation. I had been doing the oatmeal test, so sizing went very smoothly. I already knew what size I liked and what was too big for my taste and my nurse was very impressed that I knew what I wanted. After sizing she talked with me and my husband and answered our questions. Most all my questions had been answered already but I had a few questions about herbals (They don't want me on anything 2 weeks before or after because of possible bleeding properties.) After the consult with Shirley she took some time to ask where we were staying because we came from out of town and recommended a hotel in a different location, which was great. Dr. Dowden stopped to give us directions to a couple of places and was very friendly and then we left to go to our hotel. The next morning we met with Dr. Dowden who took measurements and explained the possible complications to us. We finalized the size I wanted to have in my clothing so that he could calculate the cc's needed to give me that look. He was very open and honest with us, which I appreciated. He also suggested having a separate savings account for the extra expenses associated with BA's in case of complications or just things like mammograms that may require extra pictures and etc. Then we read through more material and watched a second video and looked at a book with pictures of models. I was given a piece of paper to cover the cleavage area and was told to only look at the models' breasts from the 9:00-12:00 position on the left breast and the 12:00 to 3:00 on the right side. Then I had to rate them 1 to 5, 5 being the best. He looked at the pictures I rated 5's and found two more models close to my size and asked which I liked more. One had a little more definition and one a little less. After choosing he explained that I would need overs to achieve the look and gave me some pros and cons to unders & overs and I decided on the smooth, round, overs using the TUBA incision. After leaving the office I was very excited and extremely impressed. I felt very comfortable throughout the consultation and knew that I found my PS.

Oct. 31st

Surgery day was finally here. I was pretty excited and a little nervous. I got to the surgery center about 2 hours before my surgery (which was at 1:30pm) because I had an antibiotic IV that took about that long to administer. During that time the RN Anesthesiologist came and explained that part of the surgery. He told me it would be like drinking one too many martinis and then I would be out. He also explained they would use a tube to help be breathe and that it would come out before I would wake up. Then he asked if I had any questions. I was very tempted to ask him what it felt like to drink one too may martini's, LOL. (I don't drink and never have.) Then Dr. Dowden came and marked me for surgery and soon afterward I was taken into the OR.

The surgery took about 1 1/2 hours and when I woke up I was just really confused. I couldn't lift my head and I wanted to just "snap" out of it and couldn't. The nurses told me just to relax and then I got sick. And sick again for a total of 4 times. I guess me and anesthesia don't get along very well. After I got a little more in control the nurse brought my husband in and I sat in a chair for a few minutes, then he got me dressed and it was back to the hotel. The nurse advised my husband that I seemed to have a pretty high pain tolerance and to give me the weaker of the two pain pills. I basically slept off and on the remainder of the night. The next morning my husband helped get me up and dressed so we could get to the appointment at 8:15. I decided to take one of the stronger pain pills because of all the getting up and down earlier that morning and it made me very nauseous. My husband had to sit me down and get me a cold wash cloth for my head and just hold the front and back of my head for several minutes until I stopped blacking out. (I almost never use medication and I guess it was just too much for my body.) The morning was so rough that we were 20 minutes late for our appointment. That was definitely the roughest day for me. Walking through the medical center to Dr. Dowden's office was very hard for me -- I felt horrible. Afterward, my husband pulled the car around for me and we left for home. We stopped to get me some Jell-O and let me just say those 3 1/2 hours on the way home seemed like forever. I couldn't move around very easily to adjust myself in my seat. We stopped a couple of times so I could get out but I was glad when we got home. I really didn't realize how little strength I would have in my arms. The littlest thing hurt my chest when I tried to use my arms. We had stopped at a McDonald's on the way back so I could use the restroom. I pushed open the door and instantly there was pain in my chest. I should have let my husband push the door open for me. Luckily another girl was in there when I was finished and she pulled the door open for me or I might have been stuck in there!! Even taking on the phone wore me out the first day. I dreaded the process of laying down and getting up but it got a little easier by Friday night. I think the single most painful part was the tightness I felt from my skin stretching. I did have some bruising that took a couple of weeks for the color to go away. But even with the pain I never regretted a minute of it. All the pain was manageable and I knew it would get easier each day and it did. Saturday was a little better. I didn't have as much pain and was able to walk around a little more. Sunday and Monday each got progressively better.

All of my family was very supportive which I greatly appreciated. Two of my sisters and my Mom came to visit me at different times to keep me company since my husband need to work. He was great and made sure I was okay before he left and because he works so close he checked in on me at lunch. The worst part with him was that I don't really think he was prepared for me having pain. It really bothered him and he asked a couple of times when it was rough if I was glad I went through with it. Of course my answer was yes

The incision in my navel was so small and never bothered me at all with the exception of the incision tape which fell off after about 2 weeks. (No stitches to be removed!!!) The other thing I experienced was a burning sensation and peeling, especially around my areolas. They were very sensitive to touch at that time. Anything rubbing them, like the my bras, really made them burn. But don't get me wrong everything was very manageable and continued to improve as time progressed.

Now I am 4 months post-op. I recently had one of my follow-ups with Dr. Dowden. He says everything looks great. He is very supportive of what his patients want, but still whenever I go in he compliments me on the size I choose because with clothes on it does look like a very natural size for me. My scar is very unnoticeable (as it has been for months) partly because of the location but it has faded a lot as well. I did lose sensation around my nipples. After about 1 1/2 months sensation returned with a vengeance in some areas while others were still numb. That is almost completely back to normal now and is steadily getting better. Dr. Dowden said that was great because it can take up to 2 years to return to normal. I am extremely pleased with the results. They are exactly what I was aiming for. I'm a 32D although I wear 34C's sometimes because they are easier to find. (I fit perfectly into the bra I used for sizing.) Now I can wear all the beautiful lingerie I've owned but was never confident in. Blouses and clothes fit much better now too. For anyone who feels that this is something they would really like to do, my advice would be to read a lot, do your research, make sure this is what you really want, save up, and do it!!

~Angel