Breast reduction - after care

[bunnyrabbit]

Can anyone give me some info on after care for a Breast Reduction?

How long you were in hospital, how long before you could drive/go to work etc?

Cheers,

BR

I was in hospital for about 3 days I think. I didnt drive for quite a few weeks and had it done in summer hols so work wasn't an issue.

After i had my drains out my boobs got hard and swollen and had to get them checked out again.

Best thing I ever ever ever did (34HH to 36D-7lb breast tissue removed) and soo worth the discomfort- took a few weeks to be up and about.

Good luck.

Cool. Am a 30 H/HH. D sounds like heaven!

7lb! Always said they were the reason I'm overweight!

Did you have it done on the NHS?

BR

oh god i sooooo want this done too, am savin gup frantically, am a 36 HH and would love to be a D ....but am freelance so really need to have shortest time off work as possible , am planning for october time if i cna afford it

would have got it on NHS no bother but 3 year waiting list was going mental so parents paid (was 19) cost about £3800 I think. Worth every penny.

Have you been to your DR?

I have neck and shoulder problems so referred to Physio who kindly wrote a letter saying that there wasn't much she could do as my problems were caused by the weight of my breast tissue!!

Got NHS funding just before I fell with DS2 so now that BFing is finished am picking up where I left off.

I was in hospital for 3 nights I think, I went home the day they removed the second drain anyway.

I was off work for 6 weeks - my GP just wrote "recovering from surgery" on my sick note and nobody ever knew why I was out (working with all men they never commented on my changed appearance either!).

I had it on the NHS - went from a G to a D, and the back/neck pains I'd suffered from for years went away within a couple of months once I'd readjusted to carrying myself without all the extra weight!

Hope I won't have to wait 3 years. Wil lfind out tomorrow.

£3800 doesn't sound much to relieve 30 years of pain, aggro and embarassment.

Loving your parents

As I had them before kids I am worried I may not be able to breastfeed as one nipple now doesnt function properly (can be painful if touched) but will just have to see (currently pregnant with number 1 and keeping fingers crossed after an MMC) but yeah my parents rock!

NbN. 6 weeks! Wow. Do you think you really needed that long or could you have gone back sooner had you wished?

Roll on the demise of the decolletage!!

Hey Thandeka, If you can you can. If you can't you can't. Don't stress too much. Just enjoy your pregnancy and what will be will be.

Some women only manage to feed from one breast anyway and I couldn't BF DS1 which was so depressing considering how huge my boobs are, but he's grown up despite that and is never sick and has the appetite and constitution of an ox!!

my consultant said you can breast feed after reduction but did warn me that boobs may of course grow during pregnancy - pre pregnancy i was a dd ! i am not having any more children so no problem, have met lots of ladies who only had 1-2 weeks off work and am aiming fo rthis myself, i have been quoted £6000 for my op , how long ago was yours thandeka ?

That's interesting Thandeka - I've always thought I would have it done post children as I assumed I wouldn't be able to breastfeed. Good luck with pregnancy and then breastfeeding, will put this on watch and nag you for an update in 9 months time

I'm a 34JJ. Horrendous.

omg claireDL that makes my HH seem small you poor hting

My consultant told me he would do everything he could to enable me to breastfeed but he couldn't guarentee it. At 19 I figured I was going insane and I didn't want kids til I was 29 and I was hoping for advances in technology to enable me.... (am now 27!) so am planning on giving it my very best shot but not beating myself up too much if I can't as I absolutely made the right decision for me at the time and I doubt very much I would ever have been in a place to meet DH and have a normal relationship had it not been for the surgery.

Although mine was in 2001 in fact about 8 years ago exactly! I still think 6000 is a lot for it and still think you can get it for around £4k but havent researched it that hard! I went home for mine Nuffield in Stoke on Trent- and I think prices vary a huge amount. My surgeon actually lives in my village so it was entertaining seeing him go for a run on a sunday when he had seen my norks! I am aware they may go back to what they used to be during and after pregnancy- have decided will cross that bridge when I come to it. In a way I always wonder if I went a tad too small as I have big hips and a bit of a pot belly- so need a padded bra now to make me look in proportion and not pregnant (I mean before I was pregnant!)- I always intended to lose my pot belly.... I did lose a stone but think a pot belly is my natural body shape!

Good luck to all those considering it- is seriously incredible thing to do- MASSIVE self esteem boost and I felt amazing after (and still do- can't hold a pencil under my boobs anymore (used to be able to hold a pencil case underneath without a bra and in a bra- hold two bottles of hooch in my cleavage!)

Regarding the 6 weeks off work - I could probably have returned to do part-time hours before then, but my GP insisted on me taking 4 weeks off at least (she said she classed it as major surgery, unlike an enlargement).

My job required me to sit at my desk using a computer all day with minimal breaks and no excuses to get up and walk around, which I certainly wouldn't have been able to do in the first couple of weeks. Also, raising my arms to typing height was quite painful for the first few weeks, so whilst bearable for short periods wouldn't have been practical work-wise.

Agree with Thandeka that it's been an enormous self esteem boost. Mine was pre-DC - I was able to BF DS until I got a severe kidney infection and was hospitalised and told I had to stop BF as the drugs were incompatible.

Wow JJ!! You poor bunny. Went up to an L when PG but JJ does make my HH seem small. Although I must say that having 30" back makes it very painful as I have no back through which to distribute the weight.

Good news is date is set for 16th September for op

Am absolutely ecstatic!!

Will be in hospital for about 2 days and they reckon two weeks off work if all goes ok. Don't know how DS2 is going to understand that I can't give him cuddles though.

Have to buy sports bras in a 30C/D. So excited. I may never have to wear an underwire again.

BR

Hi I'm due to have a breast reduction in 6 weeks I'm at the moment a 36kk and hopefully be a 36c/d they say you can't lift even a kettle does this still remain the same after 2 weeks as unsure what can do as don't want to cause problems by lifting things like a kettle or general light stuff reccomendations would be helpful many thanks

Hello Yellowrose

I had my second reduction done 3 months ago (first one in 1997).

Firstly, you can lift a kettle (where on earth did you hear that??). You will bandaged afterwards and a dressing change normally 7 days after. Hospital stay is usually one/two days - depends whether you have drains put in to drain post operative fluid. Best thing I ever did!!! Good luck.

Thandeka I was able to breast feed after

I think it varies from person to person. I was in and out the next morning, and asked for permission to return to work earlier than signed off for. By coincidence I knew the woman in having a reduction on the same day as me and it knocked her for six.