AL's Story

   I have to be honest here, I never really liked my breasts, I was barely
a cup A and being a tall person (5'10) I felt that my body didn't look
proportional. I hated shopping for bras (and I had to wear one,
otherwise I looked like I was completely flat). Actually on a funny note
...I remember this article in a woman's magazine about what to do
when you feel like your breasts are too small. They had a great advice
(I'm being sarcastic here)...they suggested buying a bra that is a size
too small (!). Great, what is smaller then A cup?

   I started seriously thinking about breast augmentation. On one of the
esthetic seminars I attended I met a girl who had her breasts done (I
can't even remember how we even got on that subject), she was very
happy with the results and even showed me how they looked. I
couldn't believe how natural and good they looked. She told me about
Dr. Levine. I called his office the same day and made appointment for
a consultation. I went with a friend of mine who also was considering
BA. We both liked Dr. Levine and felt comfortable with him. It turned
out that this friend of mine ended up having the surgery and I didn't (for
financial reasons).

   My husband knew how much BA would mean to me, but I think he felt that it wasn't necessary, was risky and expensive. He said he loved
me the way I was....not that really helped, sometimes we don't really
care what other people think, but how WE feel, and I hated the fact I
looked like a teenager. Actually now days some 11 year olds have
bigger breasts than I had at the age of 27! So after few years of talking
about it, I finally made another appointment with Dr. Levine. This time
I was having the surgery for sure. I asked Dr. Levine which size he
would recommend for my frame. I was hoping to be a large B small C.
C sounded so big! I remember that I kept saying to Dr. Levine that I
didn't want to be too big. When I think back I had a fear of ending up
looking like Dolly Parton (not a chance with 325 cc implants!)

   He showed me 325cc and 375cc saline implants. I put them in my
top and wow! They felt huge (and heavy)! We ended up choosing
325cc size implant. Dr. Levine would fill them to 350cc during the
surgery. I would have the implant placed behind the muscle, for the
most natural look for my body. I didn't have enough breast tissue to
cover the implant, if the implant was placed above the muscle,
and behind the breast.

   I scheduled the surgery on the first available day, which was about 2
months away. I was so happy that only then I think my husband
realized how much the BA meant to me. I think a lot of women that
naturally have bigger (or have them at all for that matter) breasts,
take them for granted. I was ecstatic!

   A nice nurse came to check on me few times and brought me some
juice to drink. I was ready to go home by 1pm. My husband had to
dress me; I wasn't able to do anything. He got a wheel chair, so I
didn't have to walk to the car. We went to pick up the medication at
the hospital's pharmacy. I got Tylenol 3, which I really don't think was
enough. It made me sick to my stomach and didn't do much for
the pain.

   At home I spend the rest of the day on the couch, under a blanket. I
was sore, but unless I moved the pain was tolerable. The pain was
coming from the stretched muscles mostly, not from the incisions. Other then bra I didn't have any other bandages, just a small tape
over the incisions. I didn't have almost any bruising, just swelling
from the neck to the lower stomach and on the sides, under my arms.
My cleavage felt swollen and spongy, too. I spent first 3 days on the
couch for most of the day. When I wanted to get up, I had to call my
husband and he would pull me up by my shoulders. In the first few
days I notices a thick lines under my skin, when I was lifting my
breast during massage. That was painful to touch. Later on I found
out that there is a name for it "Mondor's Cord". It's an inflammation
and swelling of blood vessels. It usually goes away on it's own after
couple of weeks and it did. At the end of the first week the swelling
has almost gone down. I still had a hard time sleeping, thought.
Usually I sleep on my side and I couldn't even dream about it. I would
sleep 2-3 hours at a time and wake up from the pain in my back and
in pool of sweat.

   It's unbelievable how much we use our chest muscles and we don't
realize that until surgery like that. Simple things like tying shoes,
zipping my jeans, slamming the car door shut, combing my long
hair was impossible in the first week. I was walking hunched over,
holding onto my breasts. It felt like they were going to fall out.
Continued >