Breast size may indicate diabetes risk

According to this I have a higher risk of diabetes...grrreeeaat. It also runs in my family I think. And apparently getting a breast reduction isn't really a solution. Darn it all.

1 month

As I type this there are 31 days and 8 hours left to my surgery. It's so surreal. 5 months from conception to reality - I love how fast things can move. I am so excited that the 10 days that I have for reading week will be a time of rest and of change. It's hard to speculate how different I'll feel or look at this point, although those who have gone ahead of me with this surgery say it's going to be awesome. I have been thinking about this surgery so much. I just want for Feb 22nd to be here NOW! Although I know that this time of preparation is important. I feel like the time I have is long enough for me to prepare myself and short enough that I don't go crazy waiting. And it's been great anticipating this event with my dear friend (who will be saying bye bye to her boobies just 3 days before I will). I think this would have been a different experience if i didn't have the kind of support I have now with a buddy.

Speaking of support - my mom is coming to take care of me for 10 days. Although she doesn't really agree with the surgery (the timing mostly, that and she doesn't get why I would want to) she still wants to take care of me. I think I'm starting to appreciate more and more the idea of having her around when I'm recovering. I hope this will be an opportunity for her to really get why I am doing this and also a time for us to bond. We shall see how it goes.

my next appointment is on Feb 4th. And then after that the next time I see my doctor it will be in North York General for my surgery. 1 month. Wow. Wow.Wow. I cannot wait.

More Advice from "C"

Here is some more advice from another friend of a friend. It was fantastic how helpful people were. They were more than willing to help - so thankful!

"I did get OHIP coverage because I was 14! If you talk to your Dr they can tell you if you will qualify for some, or all of your surgery.
I was a "E" cup and I went down to a C cup. I thought at first this was too small, but it is just about adjusting to your new body...just like you did as a teen! I am actually now a D cup. But you have to remember I was 14 when I got my breast reduction. I had and have a lot of muscle underneath my breast. I have very good pectoral muscles and a strong upper body (I was a swimmer at the time and I continue to swim and until recently was a competitive cheerleader). I would suggest starting a fitness regime that includes lots of upper body work, free weights, bench press, pushups etc.

My surgeon was Dr. Mohamed Elmaraghy...he is amazing, a great surgeon and I absolutely recommend him.
I didn't see anyone except Dr. Elmaraghy because he is one of the BEST in all of Ontario. Your Dr has to recommend you to a surgeon but I don't know if you have a choice. If you don't like a specialist, I guess you could wait even longer.

My surgery was actually done within months of me booking an appointment; this is really quickly. It can take almost a year sometimes. I got my surgery within 2.5 months. This may have because of how young I was.

Something you should know about surgery specific questions; I heal abnormally fast and I have high pain tolerance. I was also very young so that might have helped my recovery time. I also take really bad reactions to the drugs they use to put you under.

The surgery is supposed to be day surgery, you are supposed to leave the next morning. I was so sick from going under I couldn't keep down water, I was very illl, but not from the actual surgery. I stayed an extra day, or it could have been two (it's been a long time).

They give you painkillers, I was on morphine. It knocked me out really hard so I tried not to take it as much as possible; same goes for the T3's they gave me afterwards (I didn't actually finish the whole prescription).

I mostly had a dull throbbing pain, and not a sharp stabbing pain. The part that actually hurt the most was the part where they removed the drains. It was only supposed to feel like a tube being removed from your body, it wasn't supposed to hurt again. I heal really quickly so I had actually already started healing to the tubes, which means it REALLY hurt when they took them out. This is unusual.

I had no complications, but I did have 2 (of hundreds) infected stitches, which were cut out of my body (a little uncomfortable, not a big deal).
What they do is they cut all the way around the base of your breasts and they actually remove your nipples. This means you have a lot stitches to look after and one possible problem is that your nipples actually die, they don't graft back. My nipples are fine, I still have feeling. The one thing that did bother me is that my nipples stretched a bit, this is something that I notice. However, my fiance says they look "normal" (not that you need to know that but I just mention that as a second opinion, I am not trying to over share).
One thing that helped my recovery time is that my mom took great care of me. I actually was out of school Monday-Thursday and returned to school on Friday, but took the next Monday off (someone walked into me in a hall....that hurt). You go for two check ups after the surgery but I don't feel like that is enough. I heal really well and do not scar...I have nearly NO scars. But I also think that is because my mom changed my dressings everyday, made sure everything was sterile and we used polysporin. We used q-tips to get the medication where it actually needed to be. I was fully healed within a month.
I have no idea what costs were involved, my parents paid for me to have a private room, I missed some school and there were some medical supplies, polysporin, sterile pads, the prescription for T3's.

I am not sure how people reacted after they saw me, plus I was in highschool and kids in highschool are jerks. I know that people said stuff about me and I know that people with no life still mention it. However, I am not the type of person who cares in the least what randoms think about me.
Besides the rude people who said things or were crude were the same people who were mean and crude before the surgery. I wouldn't worry about what other people think. It is about your body and your health!

One thing to think about, you might not be able to breast feed after the surgery, if you don't bind your chest, they will stretch out again. This isn't a problem for me as I am NOT going to breast feed and probably couldn't do to the amount of tissue that was removed. "

B's advice.

Here is the response from one of the girls that I talked to during this whole things. I have a few more of these, but I'll post them up one by one since it's a long read.

"I was just about 20 when I had my surgery. And I don’t have any regrets. The one thing I would suggest you to do is really think about whether you care about scaring. Because you will have some, mine now is barely noticeable. But I made the choice to go forward, knowing that depending on how your body heals the scaring could be more noticeable. But from the start you can’t see it with a bra or bathing suit on… so it didn’t really matter to me. Really you and a boyfriend will be the only people who will see it…so for myself the scaring was the least of my worries.

I was covered by OHIP, which was awesome. I was 5.7’, 130 lbs, and my size was bigger then a DD, 34’ around. My posture sucked, and I would roll my shoulders forward because I felt it made me look smaller, worst bra strap marks ever…they hurt and I would get indents. And I was very self aware of my chest’s size and how people would comment or stare…

I was bigger then a DD 34’. My doctor suggested a C, and I was perfectly ok with that. He wasn’t comfortable going smaller then that. And the other thing you should know is that they won’t know until they begin to cut what size you will truly be. When I woke up I was told that I had very tough tissue (muscle) and it was very hard to cut. So I ended up coming out as a large C. I was ok with that, he had mentioned to me that, the tissue I had no matter how much weight I had lost my chest would have stayed the same size. So I was completely happy with it. Also, know that your boob’s might be slightly different sizes or shapes… again it just has to do with how hard it is for them to cut and how everything settles. But this is something that I have just noticed; none of my boyfriends or friends have ever noticed.

My doctor was Dr. Jarmuske. I had my surgery in Ottawa. I only met with him. I researched him before, and he came highly recommend by my family doctor and other family friends who were doctors.

I was very lucky, I didn’t have any complications. But be sure to be aware of the risks involve both during surgery, and after… I think the main one, is you might not be able to breast feed, for myself that didn’t bother me to much.

My recovery was good. It’s a little werid… you’re on bed rest for one week… and Seriously I know its your boobs, but do this. Lay on the couch, watch movies, have your friends come over or family… it makes your recovery better and quicker if you do what is recommended. After that you can’t lift anything for at least 6 weeks, or till your scares are closed. Again this is important to follow too, because lifting can re-open the wound or prevent it from closing… and your scaring can be worst the longer it takes to heal. I have one stitch which my body pushed out, and that scare is a bit bigger then the rest. Honestly the recovery is fairly easier, but you just kinda feel useless because you can’t lift anything because of your chest, and that included not going to the gym for a bit. The other this is you really should not wear bras with under wire for the first 6 weeks (make sure you scares are healed) because again it can effect your scaring. For the first couple weeks I wore a sports bra to keep everything tight, and then after that I bought a couple bras with no under wire. Other then that I put vitamin E (liquid form) and Vaseline on my scares (and would put Kleenex over the scares and a sports bar on at night) for like 6-7 months. That was something I decided to do on my own, to minimize the scaring, my doctor said it might help, but it probably would not make a difference.

The only costs I endured were buying new bras, bathing suits and some new tops that fit!!! But this was more fun then anything else.

My friends and Family were very supportive threw the whole thing. All my close friends knew everything, everyone came to visit and ask questions. I was lucky in the sense, that my surgery was right after I finished my second year, so I was home for a couple days and then had my surgery. So I saw my friends at home a bit and they all knew I was going in for surgery, and then after they were awesome. I was really worried how a couple of my guy friends and how they were gonna handle it (at times they could be jack asses!). but they were really awesome with me, a couple pulled me a side and asked how I was doing, and said they didn’t think I needed it but they are glad I am happy. And for friends who I really only saw in the summer, or for my friends at school most people just commented on weight I had lost! Haha honestly it just looks like you lost weight.

I think too just after the surgery, for myself at least, I just had more confidence. I had always been an outgoing person, who was involved in tons of sports or other actives. It was just after I would walk into a room and people would talk to my face and not my chest, I felt taller; the first thing I noticed the first morning I woke up was I could see my tummy when I was laying down. Honestly I am totally for it, as you might be able to tell. The one thing I really recommend is make sure you are one hundred percent confident with your decision. Don’t have any serious questions or concerns going into this. I had thought about getting the surgery for two years before I brought it up to anyone.

Pain afterwards... you are given T3 or codine (normally enough for like 5-7 days). When it came to the actaully pain, its not a painful pain it is more of a sore pain. its kinda werid cause they just took like 2lbs out of your chest. its hard to explain it, because it wasn't really that painful for myself...but the couple times i did noticed more 'pain' within my first couple days of recovery would have been if i was standing for too long (like 3-4 hours walking around). and it was just too much pressure on the wounds, so that why i really recommend that if you do, do it. just plan for at least the first 4-5 days just stay home and stretch out.

But i think if you did it on a reading week, and made sure that you took your T3's and laid down for that week, you would be fine, for sure. I know a friend who after a that week went back to work, and everyhting was great. The important thing for a quick good recovery is that your wounds start to heal quickly, and you really dont want to aggervate or postpone that.

The other thing is... if you have had surgery before that might be an indication on your healing porcess. or just look at how your body normally heals open wounds (quickly?). For myself i dont scare that easily so going into this i was really hoping that would be the case."

The Reward :)

So, I'm going to need new clothes after this surgery. And I have just rewarded myself with a $100 gift card to Joe Fresh with my PC points. I've been collecting my points for years and I have never found anything suitable enough for me to want to spend those points. And this is PERFECT! I am a poor student and this is just amazing. I get my card in 3 - 4 weeks. This will be one of the things to motivate myself until the surgery comes along. WOOHOOO! Other motivations may or may not include buying a C cup bra and hanging it up on my wall ;) hahaha!

74 days to go! :D.

The Date

So, I called Dr. Sean Rice's office and told them that I was going away until Jan 6th and that they would probably not be able to get in touch with me when my OHIP approval comes in and asked if I could go ahead and pick a date right now. And they said yes. So, it's DONE!!!!!

My breast reduction surgery is on February 22nd.

I am SO excited :)!!!

A Video

Here's an example of someone who went through the breast reduction surgery. The process here is laser - I'm not sure if mine is laser and I'm not doing the "bra lift" (whatever that is) but it's a good video I think.