Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Finally Approved

On May 26th I spoke with Dr. Cherny, who had been recommended to me by 2 friends at work and my doctor, about getting a breast reduction. My main concern was being able to breast feed my next child. With Gabriel, I struggled to breast feed for the 10 weeks that I did due to many factors including his tied tongue, my breast being so large I couldn't see if he was latched properly, it hurt to hold him in position while he fed, and flat nipples. After many break downs because I could not continue to breast feed and because of the physical pain I was in (my breast grew exponentially during pregnancy and BF from a 36DD to a 34G) I decided to look into getting a breast reduction.

It took me 6 months before I made a consultation appointment with a surgeon and even then I still had doubts. I knew that they would have to remove some of my milk ducts during the surgery which would lower my future milk supply. Was the relief from pain and increased confidence, not to mention the ability to function better in daily life, worth the possibility of depriving my future children of breast milk? Wasn't I being selfish by wanting the reduction? After encouragement from my mom, husband, and doctor, I finally decided it was worth it. They pointed out that with my current breast size I had horrible back and neck pain that literally incapacitated me on some days, caused me to be short tempered and irritable, made it impossible to find bras, and made everything I wore revealing. After the surgery I should be able to engage in more physical activities such as working out, jogging, and wearing my little guy around in the baby harness (which currently causes so much neck/back pain that after 15min of wearing it my back seizes up and I can hardly move).

After the consultation on May 26th I decided to go ahead with the breast reduction and to see if insurance would cover it as medically necessary. After a few mess-ups between the clinic and insurance, I finally got my approval on the 23rd of July! Once I realized that I would soon be relieved of the pain and the self-conciousness that my breast caused I cried tears of joy. Now the full impact of the upcoming surgery has finally hit me and I am so anxious and excited that I can hardly think of anything else.

Though I am still worried about breast feeding my future children I have learned through my doctor and research that it is still possible though I may have to supplement. I don't mind supplementing, my main goal is to provide my children with the very best, natural, nourishment that I can provide. Also, after breast feeding after a reduction in "rebuilds" the damaged or lost milk ducts so that any future children should be able to breast feed as if you never had the reduction. This is very encouraging to me and the main reason that I decided to do it now instead of wait until the next child.

2 comments:

  1. wow!.....i had no idea how much difficulty and pain big knockers could give a woman! i've always been flatchested (until getting pregnant and BF), so thanks for sharing! i hope it goes well! if you don't mind my asking...how long is surgery/recovery and what size do they take you down to?

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  2. Surgery usually takes 3 to 4 hours depending on how much they remove and I have to stay overnight at the surgery clinic. For the first week I can't lift my arms higher than my shoulders and can't bend over or pick things up. Which means my mom and hubby are going to have to take care of Gabriel and the housework which I think is going to be the hardest part for me! By the 2nd week I should be able to ease back into daily things like laundry and giving Gabriel his night time bath. As far as size I'm hoping to go down to a C (which was my size in 8th to 10th grade) but I meet with the Dr. tomorrow for more in-depth info about the expected results and recovery time so I will keep you updated!

    And yeah, I think BF played a role because I was already large (DD cup) but after BF I was ginormous and they've never gone back down.

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