One month/two months

It's rather awkward, having breasts which are "out of sync" with each other, and I still find it difficult to make allowances for the left breast, who is a month "behind".

However, as you can see, it is doing its best to catch up to the right breast, and the scars are amazingly similar, considering the left one has had twice as much trauma.

Generally, things are going very well. I'm back to all my usual activities, and I no longer wear a bra in bed. However, they still feel mildly uncomfortable if I go bra-less during the day. A dragging feeling, similar to pre-menstrual fullness I guess, as I first mentioned here.
Both breasts are still lacking sensation below the nipple line, although interestingly enough the more traumatised left breast seems to be regaining sensation a little more quickly than the right, especially along the scar line.

In the last week I've had a few more of the rather unpleasant deep-seated shooting pains in the left breast, which may be associated with those areas of fat necrosis which I mentioned in an earlier post.

Even in a bra, my nipples are noticeably out of alignment, but I'm hoping as the left breast catches up in terms of healing and reduced swelling, its nipple will gain a little height. If not, I won't be doing anything about it, so I guess I should just stop worrying.

New bra and unexpected benefit

The surgeon was happy for the 2nd time in a row, when I saw him earlier this week. Bad Boob is now 3 weeks post op, and Good Boob is 7 weeks post op, so the difference is still quite marked, but he feels that BB will settle down a bit more over the next month or so. 

In answer to my question, he didn't think that they would ever be symmetrical, but he did expect them to be about the same size eventually.

So off I went to the specialist bra shop, as I mentioned last time. I was disappointed at the result: 20D

I thought from the look of my breasts that I might have gone down to a C cup, but apparently not. However the D cup was a bit wrinkly, so I think with a different style I might be a C, and if I lose a few more kilos I might make an 18. Something to aim for!

The new bra was also depressingly like the ones I used to wear, with 4 hooks at the back and the look of a supportive rather than an attractive undergarment. Quite a downer, actually, as I had imagined myself free of those matronly constructions.

In better news, some young acquaintances of mine told me today that I looked slimmer and taller (taller???), so I guess the breast reduction also adds to one's stature. LOL

Giving Credit

It's time for me to acknowledge those who have helped me through this unexpectedly rough 6 weeks:

1. My friends (both online and in real life) - deeply appreciated. Thank you.

2. The surgeon - who does not have a website I can link to, or I would. Surgeons have a reputation for being unsympathetic and with a brusque manner, but he has been endlessly supportive and caring, despite my tears and fears.

3. The internet can be a mixed blessing, but I found a number of sites to be particularly helpful, and some of them deserve a second mention here:

• Animated video of the procedure
  
• Simple surgical diagram
  
• Several personal accounts
  

6 weeks/2 weeks

I need to remind myself that BB (on the left) is only 2 weeks post-surgery, whereas GB (on the right) has a month's head start.

But I have to say that BB is doing its best to catch up, and despite double surgery is looking reasonably OK. It is still too early to tell if the 4 weeks of haematoma and the duplicate surgery will prevent it from regaining a normal shape, but I think it's doing its best: 

I have not yet mentioned the special bra which has been my constant support over the last 6 weeks. I went to a specialist bra shop before the operation, as advised by the surgeon, and they measured me for a suitable post-op size. 

The bras are cotton, front-fastening, and a cross between a sports bra and a bandage. Comfortable and supportive, and I have dutifully worn them 24 hours a day.

In fact when I remove the bra I feel distinctly uncomfortable, with the scar/suture line dragging unpleasantly.

I don't know how much of this is physical, and how much is psychological, so I am making myself do without the bra every second night at the moment. Here it is:

After my visit to the surgeon in 2 days' time, I intend to revisit that specialist bra shop and get fitted for a "proper" bra in my new size.  I was previously a 24EE, so I'll be interested to see what I am now.

5 weeks

With poor BB having had repeat surgery only a week ago, I guess it can be forgiven for looking a little droopy compared to GB, which is one month further down the healing track:

I certainly hope that eventually I end up with breasts pointing in roughly the same direction, rather than this "cross-eyed" effect, but I accept that it is early days for BB, which has had a pretty rough time for the last 5 weeks.

The good news is that when I visited the surgeon a few days ago, he looked happier than I'd seen him since the first operation, and he announced that he didn't need to see me for 2 whole weeks (a vast improvement on the twice-weekly reviews I've been having). BB has been a bit tender since that last operation, with occasional sharp pains deep inside the breast, but I think he attributes this to inflammation caused by the repeated trauma. 

The really good news is that there is no sign of the hematoma re-developing, and although the left breast looks rather mis-shapen, it has remained a similar size to the better-behaved (and undeniably perky) breast on the right.

I've taken the precaution of wearing my special supportive bra 24 hours a day since the last operation. It probably isn't providing any extra support for BB, but the psychological effect is beneficial. I feel supported when wearing it, rather than imagining I can feel the blood collecting again.  

In general, I'm taking a lot longer to bounce back from surgery, but I guess I was already rather run down by the physical effect of that huge haematoma over the previous 4 weeks, not to mention the great anxiety about it. I'm hoping the problems are now behind me and that I will start feeling like my old self, albeit with a lot less bosom in front of me!

Starting again on Day 28

Having already started this blog, I was no longer shy about taking photos of myself, so these were taken in hospital the day after BB's haematoma was drained.
The surgeon removed 600mls of old blood from that breast, which is a greater volume than the tissue he removed at the original operation! No wonder it had been so tense and swollen, and no wonder I had been feeling so tired and miserable during the last couple of weeks. That's a lot of blood to "lose" from the circulation, and then to then have to carry around in one poor breast.
So it was definitely worth doing, and you can see how dramatically the swelling has been reduced in comparison to the previous photos.

Of course there is always the risk that the same thing will happen again, so during the operation two drains were inserted, to try to prevent a similar build-up. This photo shows the drains doing their job.

 

Unfortunately they stopped draining during the first day after surgery, and although the surgeon seemed pleased with this, I became very worried that the haematoma would re-develop in the space left behind by the removal.

Adding to my worries, the surgeon explained that when he removed the haematoma he found a couple of areas of fat necrosis, which is yet another uncommon complication of breast reduction.

It seems rather unfair that I should experience not just one but two complications, and I can only hope that the rest of my recovery is uneventful.

Biting the bullet

The following photos were taken just 5 days after the previous ones, and you can see that not only has the swelling not gone down, but BB is looking decidedly the worse for wear. The skin is taut and shiny after nearly 4 weeks of being stretched by the hematoma, and there is an unpleasant pink/purple hue which is partly due to the lighting, but also indicates the build-up of old blood and possible early infection.

Something definitely needed to be done, so I was re-admitted to hospital for another general anaesthetic, 4 weeks to the day after the initial operation.
Having spent the previous 4 weeks in a state of discomfort, uncertainty and anxiety, I felt I was not in nearly such good shape for surgery as I had been the first time, so I was very relieved to learn that it would be a much shorter operation (about one hour rather than almost five). 

Still, it was very hard not to be depressed by the whole repeat experience, which wasn't helped by being given the wrong time to arrive at the hospital, and therefore having to wait 6 hours before being seen.