Did you tell colleagues and friends about breast reduction surgery?

[oldfatmoomin]

Hello - I'm due to have breast reduction surgery in about seven weeks time. I've wanted to have this done for a while - I'm having it done privately (I've saved up) at a well respected clinic.

This is a stupid question - but for anyone who has had breast reduction surgery, did you need to tell people what you had done? Obviously close family or friends would probably know - but did you tell other people? I'm thinking of colleagues / friends you only see occassionally? I mean i guess after the op it will be pretty obvious that your boobs are smaller, but I don't tend to wear close fitting clothing - so maybe not?? I'd be really keen to hear experiences from anybody else who has had this surgery.

I've hardly told anyone about the surgery. I don't really know why, but I feel quite self-conscious about it. I have large boobs (34F bra) but I'm aware that's not as big as many people who get reductions, so I'm worried people will think I'm being silly or vain! But I have terrible shoulder / neck pain much of the time from wearing bras and I would just like to try and relieve that a bit.

any thoughts welcome!

I don’t think many people will notice tbh, unless you are close friends with them in work. I wonder what your recovery time is though? As I assume they will wonder what procedure you’ve had done and how long you’ll need off?
I’d like breast reduction at some point too, would you mind sharing the approximate cost please?

My office manager knew, my immediate colleague and my boss (funnily enough), then only immediate family and my best friends. Most people didn´t realise, they thought I had lost weight hehe. Yeah, you bet. 1.5 kilos. Went from 34G to 34C.

I only told close friends. Def not work...
Tbh people tend to see it more as weight loss more than smaller boobs. Cue lots of rather awkward conversations around diets etc 😳

Thanks for the replies - @Leeds157 Its going to cost around £8,500.

I've been told by the surgeon that he will give me a sick note for 2 weeks off work - and I've let my manager know that I need a fortnight off for surgery, though not what the surgery is for. I just told him it wasn't serious, and there wouldn't be any other treatment needed. I didn't know if the surgeon would give me a sick note tbh - I had wondered if I might be told that i'd need to take holiday leave, but the surgeon said that he felt it was appropriate as i was having the surgery to try and relieve shoulder / neck pain.

I manage a team and the one person I have told is my colleague (female) who will have to cover a bit of my role while I'm away. I've worked with the team for years, several of them are women my age (in my 50s) and I am on friendly terms with them, so I don't mind any of them knowing. It's more that I don't want people to think there is something serious or dramatic going on with my health - I'm very fortunate in that i'm very rarely off sick. Literally only taken a handful of days in over 20 years of work. I'll just play it by ear.

@Boopear and @Katiesaidthat - interesting that most people just thought you'd lost weight. I'm wondering if that might happen for me too. I'd better start thinking of some vague things to say about calorie reduction!

I should maybe add that I honestly don't mind if people know that I've had the reduction, I just don't it to feel akward for anybody.

Not me, but a colleague in my former job had this surgery and told everyone, I didn't really know her other than to pass the time of day waiting for the kettle to boil etc. Everyone was very supportive. It was VERY obvious afterwards (in a good way, she looked amazing and said it made such a difference to her lifestyle, exercise etc), but possibly she was bigger than you to start with. Really, it's a medical procedure needed for medical reasons, you shouldn't need to feel embarrassed.