Puberty at last!

[Val]

My BA went extremely well yesterday and I am already able to survive on extra-strength Tylenol alone. The whole thing was proof positive that it’s never to late to complete one’s puberty – even at age 48 and in perimenopause.

I had a noon appointment to get ready for surgery and I was out by 4:00 PM. It went very quickly. I went through all the usual steps you’ve read about a gazillion times on this forum – met by nurse, changed, met with PS, got scribbled on, met with anesthetist.

The conversation with the anesthetist was extremely useful. He really listened when I explained my past bad reactions to pain meds after orthopedic surgery and my desire to not feel any nausea. He made some modifications to his medication plan for me, and it worked: I haven’t barfed once or felt any nausea whatsoever.

The PS was all business. He brushed off my last minute attempt to negotiate a size increase, stating that “There’s what my patients want, and there’s the reality of what their bodies will take.” So we stuck with the original plan of 245cc – mod profile /255cc full-profile L/R. My frontal lobe hooked onto the factoid that my PS has an extremely low CC rate for his practice – just over 2% - in part because he refuses to do augmentations that are too large. Managed to quell the last minute boobie greed.

The I.V. was easy but I did not like being put under AT ALL. I remember the mask going on and being told to take three deep breaths. By breath two I was panicking. Fortunately by the end of breath three I was out cold. It was my first general anesthesia and the part I feared most.

Before I knew it I was waking up from what felt like a luxurious nap. An angelic recovery room nurse with a voice like liquid honey said, “It’s all over, you’re waking up, the operation went perfectly – textbook.” As I groped under my gown in disbelief that I really had something resembling breasts there, she told me that they looked “absolutely perfect and natural” on the OR table and that I even had “really nice cleavage” for about five minutes. But I took so long waking up that they swelled up and disappeared into my armpits. “You’re going to have to wait a week or two to see just how perfect they are.”

Moments later my synapses also woke up and wasted no time identifying every stretched and sore muscle fibre in my chest wall. Ouch. Even my upper back hurt. I could feel every muscle attachment straining like a dog on a tight leash. The pain was quickly controlled with Tylenol and Percocet though. It was not pleasant, but completely bearable. Not even close to orthopedic surgery or childbirth pain.

Soon the angel/nurse was hustling me out of bed and to the bathroom, something I had not the remotest interest in doing. Before I knew it I was dressed and my husband was taking down last minute instructions. The PS came in and said the operation went great – just under an hour.

What amused me was that both the nurse and the PS started raving about my powder-blue Lululemon sportsbra. I guess every job gets monotonous – even plastic surgery. My PS asks all his BA patients to get a specific style of Lululemon bra, but they all choose white ones. The nurse said my bra was “the highlight of the operation.” Now how weird is that – here I am getting breasts for the first time in 48 years but it’s my bra color that brightens up their boring day!

I got home and had a very sore evening. Took Percocet before bed and managed to sleep – propped up – for about five hours. I took another Percocet when I woke but have managed nicely with ice and XS Tylenol ever since. I really needed my husband last night to do EVERYTHING for me, but am OK today on my own. I would not recommend that anyone do this alone the first night.

Now I can walk up and down the stairs and even bend over and reach for things so I’m feeling good about the recovery so far. My husband and the two close friends I told have been really supportive and say they are proud of me for having the guts to do this. Our social circle is highly critical of plastic surgery as a rule, so it’s nice to have a few confidants around me who really ‘get it.’

I have no idea how this BA is going to turn out at this point. My breasts are swollen up like rocks and hiding in my armpits. I got Inamed Style 410 anatomical cohesive gels – aka ‘gummy bears’ – which are approved in Canada and Europe but not yet in the U.S. They are very popular here in Canada because of the natural slope they give to the breast and were recommended to me because I have so little tissue. I’m hoping I turn out a 34B, but going from nothing to merely small and perky will hopefully satisfy me.

There are some before/after pix on my profile page now. My ‘after’ unfortunately looks a lot like the ‘befores’ of a lot of the forum members, but so be it…

Thanks for all your support my silicone and saline sisters!

Val, Canada

[ArizonaMom1973]

Welcome to Boobville! I hope the rest of your recovery continues to be smooth sailing!

[sleigh]

yay Val...I can't wait to be on the otherside with u tomorrow!
I'll let u know how it went!
Here's to hoping!

Sleigh

[hearsay]

Congratulations! Glad to hear things are going so well. Isn't nice to finally have boobs?!

[jkelsey]

Congratulations and welcome to your new found womanhood!!! It feels great doesn't it! Just give it time and you will notice a lot of changes I hope you have a speedy recovery and great to hear that you have a nice support group- that always helps!! I had friends who cheered me on as well! Not one single friend forgot to text/call me on the day of my surgery, it was nice to have such support when living in a harsh critical world! Best wishes to you!!

[kpang78]

I'm glad to hear it went so smoothly, congratulations!

[missroxy]

Thanks for sharing!! Who's your PS?? And just curious, which Lululemon bra did you buy??

[Alaria]

Congrats!!! I hope you continue to recover well. TY for sharing your story with us.

[ashleycf]

you get a gold star for completing "girlhood"!!!!!
the story about the blue bra cracked me up! I was actually wondering yesterday what color they ordered for me, I didn't get a choice
I would take the "special" bra as a really good sign!
Yay for your boobies!