LC's Story continued

   Surgery day came around quickly. The week before felt really surreal, to look at my body and realize
that it was going to look different. Surgery morning I got a cab to the hospital, my surgery was at 8.
I had come out in a huge rash all over my stomach, which often happens when I am stressed, and
so the nurse that took my details had another nurse come out to check it was ok to perform surgery.
Luckily she said yes! It felt like I was waiting forever, I was sitting next to this little old lady who asked
me if I was there to have my eyes done like she was! I just said no, but didn't elaborate!

   Dr Levine came out to say hello and asked if I had any questions. I didn't, and then the anesthetist
came and got me. Everyone was so nice and I felt completely at ease. As Dr Levine was making
markings on my chest I told him to do the nipple incision if he thought that was best. After the IV had
been started I felt all woozy, one of the last things I heard was 'your breasts have arrived' and laughed
at how funny that sounded.

   When I woke up I felt extremely groggy, and my mouth was so dry. I didn't feel any immediate pain,
but I did feel really nauseous. The nurse gave me some ice chips to help with the dryness, and a
shot of gravol to help with the nausea. The next few hours I fell in and out of sleep. When I woke I
didn't have any real pain around my chest, but it was very uncomfortable moving around. When it
was time to leave the hospital I kept being sick everytime I tried to move so I was wheelchaired out.

   I ended up staying for a few days at a friends. The night I sat up and watched TV and felt ok as I'm
sure a lot of the drugs were still in my system. I'd say it was day 2 that was the worst for me. I had a
really hard time getting out of bed, it was really uncomfortable and I would have feel a horrible pulling
in my chest. I even felt a few squelches in my chest and was worried thats how it would always feel.
As we had overs and no muscle had been cut the pain would be way less than with unders, but I still
remember thinking 'why did I do this' on that second day.

   I was taking Tylenol 3's all through day 2 and 3 which took any pain away, but they started to make
me nauseous though so I switched to extra strength. I would walk around holding my chest and my back hunched as it hurt to walk upright. By day 3 though I went home and was walking better. And
day 6 went back to work. I would say all week my chest was very tender, but I was functioning fine
and the few people that knew at work said I looked fine.

   We went to see Dr Levine on day 5 and then day 11 to get the stitches out. I was amazed at how
good the scars looked on my areolar. They had a few small scabs but other than that I could barely
see the scar as the skin there is so uneven anyway. We were told to start massaging our breasts
for a few minutes day and night, as well as the scar.

   As the weeks went by the changes in my breasts were amazing. From being rock hard and barely moving in week 1 it was great to see them get softer and softer and more natural looking. I found
in some clothes they did look a little high the first few months, but by about week 8 they had dropped and even started bouncing week 7!!! I also found they would get really itchy at times dring the first 3
months, I assume this was the nerves gaining sensation.

   Today I am 5 months post, and am absolutely thrilled with the results. They look and feel amazing,
and I think people would have a hard time knowing they aren't real. I fit into a 36D bra, and can dress
them up or down depending on what I am wearing. I like this as sometimes I don't want them to look big....like at work. So the size is perfect for me, even though I know something like 80% of people
wish they'd gone bigger after surgery. Even though I fit into a D I would say I look like a large C in
clothes. I think this is because implants are so wide that you need the larger bra, but they don't
project as much as natural breasts. My scars have healed up nicely, I am still numb around the
lower areolar and breast but gradually feelings seem to be coming back.

   Most people I told about my surgery were very positive. My mum didn't like the thought at first but
was ok once she saw them and knew everything was ok. All my friends thought it was very interesting
and supported me, I told a few people at work, and I've heard that other people have noticed and are
talking, but I just ignore it as its no-ones business. I started dating a new guy 3 months ago and
he loves them, and says they look and feel great.

   I get annoyed when I hear people talking about breast augmentation, as many people think women
do it as they are really insecure or to attract men. Well I didn't do it for men to look....in fact I don't
like that. I've always had my fair share of attention, but I have noticed even more now. Sometimes if I
am walking down the street in a tight top I do feel uncomfortable with the attention. I do have to take
more time deciding on what to wear as I cant just wear a little tight top like before as I know it will
bring attention.

   I was never really insecure about my body, but now I love it. I love looking down and seeing how I fill
up a bra. And trying on tops and filling them out. I feel really feminine and sexy. Looking back its
seems like it was a fairly easy procedure and wonder why everyone doesn't do it! But I know I was
lucky to have no complications. I think as time goes on more and more people will be doing this,
and it will stop being thought of in a negative way.

   I finish by saying I am completely satisfied with my results and that I would totally recommend this
procedure, as long as you find a surgeon that you feel comfortable with and feel you can trust. Also,
if you are researching on the internet and joining message boards and forums don't get too swayed
by other peoples opinions, as thats all they are, opinions. There are many different ways of performing
the surgery, and only your surgeon will know what type of implant, size, placement and incision is
best. But it is a little frustrating that each surgeon has a different opininon on what will be best for you,
I wonder how my surgery had turned out if I’d gone with that second surgeon who recommended
crease incision and unders? Looking back over the last year I am so happy I went to that laser clinic, found Dr Levine and went through the surgery, as my 425 cc overs are perfect, my areolar scar is barely visable and I couldn't be happier with the results.