Vertical Lift & 360 cc's !! Loving Life!

[spaceyt]

Well I did it. I had my breast aug with a vert lift done on the 11th I cannot believe that it’s only been a little over a week and I already feel this good.
I went to the surgery center around 11 am even though my surgery wasn’t suppose to start until 1pm. They called me back pretty quick and things went pretty fast once that happened. Pee in a cup, change clothes, lay down, hook up the I.V. and bam there ya go. I thought it was funny that about a half hour later the nurse said “Good news, you’re not pregnant.” Good news for him because I wouldn’t have been the one that had to break that news to my husband! I tend to be a little on the queasy side. Everything makes me nauseous so after sharing that information with my nurse he brought me an antacid and another kind of pill to help. That started the onslaught of men into my cubicle. Nurses, anesthesiologists, assistants to the anesthesiologists, a patient care coordinator and then a shift change where they all switched out. No matter because there names would be one of the many things I would never remember from that day. One after the other verifying who I was, what I was there for and what I was allergic too. Good to know that they care so much and that I wouldn’t be leaving there with an allergic reaction to the new knee replacement that Ms. Johnson in the bed next to me was scheduled for. Seriously every one of them was professional, attentive and very nice. The staff there at Baylor Surgical was grade A. So far so good.
My doctor got held up on the surgery he was performing that morning so we were running about an hour behind schedule. No matter. Plenty of time to lay in my cubicle and people watch. What a great place for it too, plenty of birthdays going on. Well I’m assuming that because there were a couple of nurses walking around with tiaras on. Every work place has there share of divas I guess. There are nurses walking patients to the bathroom, where it’s mandatory that you be able to pee on your own before you can leave apparently. And if I had a quarter for every time I overheard a nurse ask the patient if they preferred saltines or graham crackers I could afford the tummy tuck that I wanted. Now on the downside I heard several people being wheeled back to their cubicle after their surgery and let’s just say that they had me very worried. Lots of hollering, moaning and crying in pain. I don’t know what they had done, but I did notice that I heard more men than women. Funny.
So time flew by and before I knew it Dr. Kunkel was there apologizing for being late. (According to all of the nurses he’s well known for not keeping his patients waiting.) Then out came his marker and he proceeded to draw all over me. I asked him if he was connecting the dots and he just laughed. He said he does the drawings so that he can remember what went where originally because apparently when I lay down flat on my back things tend to shift around. (well duh, that’s why I’m there). He also tried to put me at ease and assured me that he really felt good about how happy I’d be with the results afterwards. He told me that he’d take his time and it didn’t matter how long it took because he didn’t have any where else to be. Me neither.
So as soon as he walked out, in came a nurse and the anesthesiologist. I got a patch placed on the back of my neck for the nausea and then they gave me a shot of something through my I.V. They immediately started wheeling me back towards these double doors and I don’t even remember making it to them. I was out.
So fast forward three and a half hours later and I’m somehow back in the recovery room. I remember a voice that kept asking me who was there to take me home that day. Apparently I wasn’t giving the right answer because she asked me three different times and each time I gave her a different answer. First it was my uncle, but that wasn’t right because my uncle lives on the other side of the state and he’s not exactly the type of person that I’d drag along to my boob job. Then it was my brother, another interesting choice since I’m an only child. Finally I remembered that it was my husband that was there to pick me up. Ding. Ding. Ding. And miraculously he appeared in front of me. Fade to black. Several hours later I remember being asked to recite my ABC’s but I kept drifting back off to sleep. Now keep in mind I remember bits and pieces of conversation during this time. I remember the nurse and my husband laughing about how they couldn’t keep me awake, I remember something about how they had to bring me out of the anesthesia during the surgery because I guess I was “too under”, no idea what that means. Finally around 8:30 that night I started really waking up. The nurse was scared that I’d drift back off so she was doing her best to keep me awake. The surgery center had been completely full when I went in and now there was only one other patient in the building. She kept asking me to recite my ABC’s and I even remember singing them to her. Then came the great saltine vs graham cracker debate, which by the way tastes like cardboard after surgery. Not to mention the nice white foam that’s coming out of the sides of your mouth. But now the apple juice was primo. Best thing I’d had in weeks. LOL After that I had to do the “pee before you can leave” dance. And that’s probably the funniest part. My husband walked me to the restroom and stayed in there with me to make sure I didn’t fall over. The entire time I had to keep singing my ABC’s so I wouldn’t fall back asleep. And I had to pee. I kept telling myself I had to pee. The two cans of apple juice and the extra I.V. bag all told me I had to pee. But apparently my brain would not convey that information along to my bladder. Who knew it would be so hard to get the job done. Three tries back and forth to my bed and we finally accomplished it. It was 9 pm and we were finally able and ready to get the heck out of there. Now you probably notice that I haven’t said anything about how the new girls looked or how I felt after the surgery. Well that’s because I don’t remember either. My husband said that I didn’t act like I was hurting and I didn’t ask for anymore pain medication. The nurse kept putting off giving me anymore pain medication for fear that I’d fall back asleep but I do remember her giving me a couple of darvocet before we left. An hour an a half later we were home (that’s how far we live away from the surgery center) and my husband was waking me up to give me a muscle relaxer and my antibiotic and then I was back off to sleep for the night.
The next morning I woke up, fixed my hair and makeup and instructed my husband to take me shopping. Apparently we visited several stores and even went out to lunch. My husband said I was completely coherent, made perfect sense and was carrying on a pretty good conversation. I kept saying how I couldn’t believe how great I felt and how I was just a little sore and tired. They said I walked a little slow and was a little wobbly on my feet but every time they suggested that we go home I blew them off and insisted I was fine. Now fast forward two days when I am looking into the trunk of my car with my mouth hanging open. There were boxes and boxes of shoes, bags from Wal-Mart with Neosporin and gauze and I don’t remember buying any of it. In fact I don’t remember anything. Not going to eat, or shopping or any of the conversations I had with any of my family. My mother informs me that I was walking around Wal-Mart talking about all the things I needed for after my surgery and at the shoe store I tried on countless pairs of shoes, even modeling them for her. I must say I’m completely impressed with my subconscious because the four pairs of shoes I bought were not only cute but they were the right size. LOL
So basically that’s it. I stopped taking the pain pills and the muscle relaxers two days after the surgery. I wouldn’t say there was pain, just mild discomfort. On Monday, I had to return to my doctor for follow-up and they unwrapped my bandages. The nurse was discussing the scars and such and all of the sudden my lips started quivering and tears started rolling down my face. Apparently she knew exactly what was happening because she yelled at someone to get me a sprite and she put her hands on my neck and leaned me forward on her to rest my head. She ordered my husband to get a wet towel and hand it to her. She said that it happened all the time and that actually seeing the scars and bruises was very emotional. Well truthfully I had already peaked several times at home and I didn’t feel emotional. It’s just that removing that bandages that were so tight was such a release and all of the sudden I just felt faint. Very strange. But ten minutes passed and I was fine. Now when I say fine let me clarify. Fine in a sort of Anna Nicole Smith kind of way (which happens to be my husband’s new nickname for me). For the next week I have felt foggy. I could think but it was really difficult and I couldn’t quite find the words to express what I was thinking. I told the doctor about it at my next appointment later that same week and he said that was perfectly normal.
Fast forward to two weeks post surgery. My breasts are sore to touch and sometimes they ache. The scars look great, hardly noticeable at all. The strap is annoying. They give you that contraption and it just looks completely ridiculous. I get why they want you to wear it but man it’s not comfortable! The doctor still doesn’t want me wearing any type of bra unless absolutely necessary. I’m supposed to be wearing the strap during the day to push the implants down since they’re still a little high. The right one is more swollen than the left and I’m also hoping that changes soon. But I’m trying to be patient. Luckily my stitches are the dissolvable kind so I won’t have to have them removed. Most of them are gone but the “double knot” at the bottom of both breasts is still there.
I’ve had backaches here and there and my right arm has been really throbbing but I’m assured that it’s just part of it and it’ll all stop eventually. So patiently waiting.
I think that’s about everything. If you have any questions please just ask. I swear the scariest part of the whole thing was the not knowing what it was going to be like. I had an image in my head of intolerable pain and days of being laid up. But truthfully my experience was great. I hope it’s like that for the majority of women out there

[tumyumsoup]

wow...ur post was like as if i was watchin an interesting movie...1st time ive ever read so carefully without skimming. u have a skill for writing hhahha. ive never heard that people dont rem stuff or very vaguely for 2 days after surgery?!? but glad ur doing gr8. mine is tommo the 29th and i know when i work out my chest muscles or do chest press after la ong gap my chest muscles hurt like crazy and when im about to get my periods...my boobs have water retention and that too hurts real bad...so I can only imagine it being worse like 5 times more than the regualr pain post surgery. pray for me! and again interesting story!!

[SpecialK]

I loved your story. Congratulations. Glad to know your recovery wasn't terrible at all.

[clara]

BA and BL and no major pain?? WOW! I wish my story read more like yours, I am still taking my vicodin religiously and hurting like crazy, you must have some fantastic genes!

Great story, thank you so much for sharing your wonderful experience with all of us JBI girls, Congratulations!!


How are you starting to look? I know still high, but are you happy with the results? How many CCs did you end up getting?

[spaceyt]

Well I wound up getting 360 cc's in both breasts. Before I was a small B and now I'm closer to a small D.
They're still kind of high but I absolutely love them! And as for the lift well I am SO glad that I got it. My breasts now without a bra or anything look like they did before when I was wearing a heavily padded push up bra. And that's without the benefit of any shaping or structure underneath the clothes. (I hope that made sense)
I know that they still need to round out and I'm looking forward to seeing the changes. But yes I'm very happy and very lucky SO FAR. (the sound of me knocking on wood)

On a side note I forgot to mention that I went to three different consults in Fort Worth before deciding. Two of the three spent over an hour with me. I didn't really think I needed a lift when I originally started this journey. But after the visit with both of those doctors I realized otherwise. They both said that I shouldn't even consider having the ba without a lift because the results would be pointing downwards. And that really wasn't the look I was going for. Honestly that depressed me. All the pictures of ba's that I had been looking at were just straight implants without the lift. And it took me sometime to adjust to what the scars would look like. But between this great website and another I found, I felt much more prepared. I just had to face the reality that I wasn't going to look like the ladies in most of the pictures. It would still be me, but fuller and back where the girls were meant to be.
The third doctor that I went to told me that I didn't need a lift. I should just get the implants and then six months down the line if I wasn't happy then I could get it. He spent about ten minutes with me barely glancing at my body. His office was full of patients and he's been in several publications and one of the "top docs" of the city. The price was so much more attractive as well. I was really confused and torn about what I needed to do. But I wound up going with my gut instinct and I'm really glad that I did. I could've just ignored the first two doctor's advice and gone with the third's opinion that my breasts didn't really sag and I didn't need a lift. It was hard to hear and accept but when I really thought about it I knew what I had to do. It wasn't the easiest and it wasn't the cheapest but I really feel that it was the best decision FOR ME.

I know that my experience has been more of the exception instead of the rule. From all the stories I hear I know that there's a great deal of pain for a lot of people. And my heart goes out to all of you.

[mdl]

Wow! great story! Have a wonderful recovery!

[kpang78]

Great story, congratulations!