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Chele's Breast Augmentation Story

Stats:

I'm 5' 9" tall and 150 lbs. My pre op size is a deflated 36B. My surgeon is Dr. Richard Anderson in Scottsdale, Arizona

Why I wanted breast augmentation:
I've though about having bigger boobs since I was in Junior High, when every other girl was developing and I wasn't. I slowly did finally develop into a small 34B. So it was maidenform (which run small) demi push up bras for years!! When I got pregnant at 25, my breasts found a life of their own and grew to a very full 36D! Wow, I was liking those! But of course as soon as I finished nursing, and lost my weight, back down they went!

How I went about researching the procedure and finding my surgeon:
I starting looking at the Breastimplants4you site about a year after I had lip augmentation. I had relied on Marianne's wisdom and all of the wonderful information of her lip augmentation site, that I naturally had to check out the BA site. When I knew I was really ready for consults, I asked on the board for recommendations in my area and also of course knew I would talk to Dr. Anderson, who did my lip lift.

How my consultations went:
I only went on one consult. I went to see Dr. Anderson first. I knew that he prefers a natural look and that was my main concern. Because I wanted my size to be "DA*N", and I didn't know if he would do that. So I talked with him and told him I wanted to be a DD and he said without a second thought, "sure, you can handle that size really well." Much easier than I thought! So, with that, we talked about other procedures what type of implant, incision preference, etc. I knew that since I was so happy with his prior work, that if he would do the larger implants like I wanted, I would go back to him! So I set a date!!

Preparing for surgery:
My original date was March 4th. I went on my pre-op appointment on February 20th in the morning. At 11:30 that morning, I was rushed to the hospital by an ambulance, slipping in and out of consciousness. I was diagnosed with spinal meningitis. I was in the hospital for a week. I called Martha, Dr Anderson's nurse and told her what had happened and she talked to the Dr and called me back and cancelled the surgery. WAHHH!
Fast forward to the end of April...I had recovered from my illness and called Dr Anderson again. I had another pre-op appointment and my new date was set for May 13th.

I made sure to print out all of the prep lists that M has on her site, because I'd rather be anal, than be caught off guard!! Hubby is going to take two days off of work, so since surgery is on a Thursday, he'll be with me for four days. I made sure the house was cleaned and pillows were fluffed and tried to relax!

Surgery day:
Well, off we went for our hour drive in traffic!! We arrived a few minutes early and Martha (Dr Anderson's nurse) was there to greet us. We were immediately brought back to a room where Martha had me change into a gown and we tried on lipo garments (I also had full body contouring and a quad bleph) and waited for the anesthesiologist and Dr Anderson. The anesthesiologist came in first and we talked about anesthesia (imagine that!) I told him I do tend to get nausea and he said not to worry, that he would take care of that! Dr Anderson came in and we talked again about the 500 HP's. I told him that I wanted to go BIG, but I wanted to make sure my chest wall could handle it. So he double checked the measurements again and said no problem! So he marked me all up for my BA (including a + sign above my left breast) so he would know to over inflate that side to compensate for the asymmetry. Plus he marked me for my lipo and my bleph. Martha came in and gave me one of the nausea pills and I kissed hubby good bye and walked back to the surgical area. After getting on the table, the anesthesiologist came in and was putting in my IV. I looked over and saw this GIANT implant. I asked Martha, "Is that my implant?" When she said yes, I said "That is so big" and she said "Well, honey you're going for DA*N, remember?" I giggled and said "oh yeah". The next thing I know Martha is saying "Oh, hi honey, you're waking up!" I looked down and saw BIG breasts...YEAH!! I found out later that my PS went with 545 cc's in the left breast and 510 cc's in the right. I was fairly out of it. She called my hubby and told him he could come and get me. He had gone home as I was in surgery/recovery for over five hours. He came and Martha helped me get dressed and we went to the car and we went home. I really didn't feel any pain to speak of. I had the On-Q pain pump for my BA and the lipo fluid was still in me so I didn't feel that either. I did feel a heaviness and was a little afraid to take a deep breath. For the rest of the day, I pretty much just slept. My hubby was wonderful and made sure I kept drinking and kept me on a regular pain pill schedule, whether I wanted it or not. Me PS wanted me to keep my pain *Managed*, so those were his directions.

Recovery:
With as much as I had done that day, I felt recovery was great! There was some pain, don't get me wrong!!! But overall, not a big deal. But I am REALLY glad I had the On-Q pain pump, or I don't think I would have been quite as happy! We took out the pain pump on day 4 and I got to take a shower. I realized then just how much the pain pump had helped! As the medication wore off, I could hardly stand up straight! I felt so top heavy! That slowly weared off as well. The swelling and hardness were a little much, but again, that settled down. I only had one tiny bruise right next to my crease incision on my right breast. That's it! Pretty good, huh!!

Any advice for pre-ops, tips, etc.
Read everything you can on Marianne's site! There is a WEALTH of information! If your PS allows, take Sin-Ecch and bromelain. My recovery was a breeze with it. My PS said I was recovering faster than 75% of his patients! Lots of pillows!!! Keep those prescription pill bottles open...those lids are impossible to open after surgery!! Make sure to have a good laxative to take. You will need it! We invested in a husband's pillow (or as my nurse called it a 'big fat momma'. I had no back ache's at all from sleeping upright. Get a sleeping eye mask, like the movie stars! It will help block the light out when you are trying to sleep in the middle of the day. If you are tired...rest!! Your body is telling you something. Listen to it!

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