5 week Post Op Appt - learnings so far...

Evening lovely ladies!

I haven't been on the site for a while as I've been trying to just ignore the boobies and let them heal in their own time. But having just had my 5 week post op appt with my surgeon, I thought I would update on my Uplift boobie progress. There are few things I've learnt and I hope this will help the PRE-BA ladies out there.

1) The first month of post-op you really do literally need to ignore how horrific the boobies look. There is no getting away from it, they do look mutilated with the stitches and scabs/glue holding your nipple in the right place BUT you need to just accept and IGNORE it, as in just a few weeks time, they will look entirely different, so what you see in the first month is just a recovery phase, your boobs will not look horrific forever, only just for a few weeks (eeek! as long as you are prepared which I wasn't!).

2) I got really upset at week 2, as I thought they looked horrid BUT our skin can be amazing. What looked like deep crevices (on my vertical scar) have now filled out and are smooth! Puckering where the skin looks creased all around the areola, have all smoothed out on their own, this only happened once the scabs falls away though, and for me it's taken til wk 5. Some people are quicker, some will be longer. So don't let the blackened scabs put you off, under those yucky scabs the skin is all fresh and getting ready to look normal again. So you should almost think, more scabs, the more new fresh skin there is, which is a good thing!

3) I thought my areolas looked uneven but they've evened out also, the scabs and glue were holding them in a strange shape but now that these scabs and glue have fallen away, the areolas shape has improved, once I can start massaging (once every bit of scab has fallen away, I still have a few little bits) this should get better. So again, don't panic!!

4) Post op, once out of the surgical bra, make sure you wear a REALLY supportive sports bra that fits your frame COSILY. I'm not saying so tight you stop breathing but it should be tight! I'm quite short and have slopey shoulders, which means most bra's straps are too long for my frame to provide good decent support (there is always excess strap) and it's then also made worse due to my slopey shoulders. My right boob now doesn't look as pert of my left as it wasn't as supported by the straps. My surgeon has advised I wear my right boob on tightest setting possible to help tighten the healing internally and be aware of my posture. (I think I slouch and my right shoulder tends to sit lower). I have now purchased racer back bra's instead of the standard style, as this provides much better support over your shoulders and avoids the slopey shoulders issue too. So if you think you have slopey shoulders, I'd recommend some racer backs bras! (I personally bought the Shock Absorber Active Multi Sports Support 4490 Sports Bra, in every colour!)

That it for now I think, hope you find this post helpful, I'm sure there will be many more learnings on the way!! xxx :-)

So pleased to hear your recovering well and the boobies are behaving themselves! Xx

hi thanks eddy, useful info about the healing and scabs post healing- I'm on day 10 after having a BA and mastopexy 340 cc painful unders ha ha!!... I have those black scabs at the moment- they do make my nipples look a distorted shape- I'm happy to know they come out the other side of healing looking good- and the lollipop scars also- thanks x

Hey Eddy Lovely :)

Great post.  Like you I wish I'd known most of that before I looked at my poor mutilated breasts  

Is your surgeon saying if you wear the more supportive sports bras your righty boobie will pert itself up?

I have the opposite issue to you - I'm fairly tall and have a long body, so straps (especially since uplift) are on their longest setting.  

I'm finding racing back sports bras much more comfortable and practical than Macom for during the day.  Back into Macom at bedtime (as laying on back is more comfortable with the macoms' front fastenings).

So pleased to hear you are now seeing how gorgeous your new breasts are / will be  


Zoe xx

Aww really positive advice Eddy, happy healing hon glad it's going well  xx

Yey eddy! Glad to hear your much happier and healing well!

Hey Eddy - nice to see you back on here - was only thinking about you actually the other day.

GREAT post by the way - I'm sure it will help all us pre uplift/ba's sweetie.  '

Hope you are 'getting there' babe - think you've been so brave  x

Thanks for sharing this info
Did you get measured for your racer back or did you just guesstimate? I'm very worried about knowing about bra sizes... I've bought belvia style bras for post op as instructed but again no idea re size so have gone for medium which is probably my frame (ribs etc)... As my surgeon won't tell me a size I'm getting quite anxious about all of this
Have a Pre admission appt with a nurse on Monday so I'm going to bring this all up...
Glad you're feeling well.. Happy healing x

Lovely to see you back Eddy  

A great informative post that I'm sure will be very helpful to many babe  

For those thinking about buying a racer back bra for recovery... You won't be able to too girlies... They need to go on overhead and there's no way early post-op that you're going to be able to do that, so do stick with front or back fasteners.

Maybe you'd also benefit from a front faster too Eddy? Xx

Hello lovely ladies, how you all doing today? Hope you all have fun wknd plans!

Thanks for all the well wishes firstly and for reading girls. In answer to q's....

Zoe, yep that's what the surgeon was indicating, he said to help my boobs to internally recover more tightly, make sure I have my right on tightest possible setting to give it maximum support, I can only hope it helps! Me too on the macom, they are really comfy but still give support which is fab. I think I will sleep with a macom on forever more now to make sure the boobies go nowhere while I sleep!! I'm still sleeping on my back against my V pillow fort, boobies still feel too sensitive to sleep any other way. What about you hun?

Bexx, I actually only bought two Macom bras ahead of surgery, no other bras at all as I knew I had no idea what size I'd be. The macoms were all I wore during the first two weeks post op (my boobies were far too sensitive to be wearing anything else!). I ordered a whole batch of sport bras in varying different sizes towards the second week and just tried them all on. I was told by the nurse I was a 30 back when she measured me for a Macom, but I found 32 back in sport bras to be better. With cup size, my surgeon advised I would be smaller with an uplift only, so I guessed C and B cups and just tried them on to see how they all felt and then sent all the ones that didn't work back. Each bra can be different so you may find you are still different sizes dependent on the make/brand. At week two there also might still be swelling so you need to take that into account too. I ordered the Triumph Triaction, Shock Absorbers, the M&S front fasten (super cheap at £14 from M&S outlet) and M&S high impact sports bra. So if you can wait, I would hold off buying them until you are ready post op otherwise you'll end up spending a lot on bras you won't need! The surgeon/nurse won't be able to guarantee what size you'll be I'm afraid hun so it's a case of wait and see, which I know probably isn't the answer you want! Good luck!

Hey Cookie lovely, how you doing? Don't worry the Shock Absorber racer back is a double back fastening only, it doesn't go overhead at all (I wouldn't be able to!) so it's really good (it fastens on the back in the usual place, then a second fasten a little further up). I do have a front fastening M&S purple sports bra (complete bargain!) too which is my second fav in terms of comfort. didn't like the triaction much though, it's my least fav.

Thanks for reading girls! I would add just one more learning, my left boob is healing a lot faster then the right. Leftie is much softer, it feels like my boob was before, even the stitching under my boob crease feels soft and natural and I can stretch on this side much more too. Right however is tight, feels hard in some areas and has some visible bruising still. The boob crease underneath still has a 'stitched up' feeling and there is not much stretch on this side. Surgeon asked if I was right handed (which I am) and whether I was working this arm harder, which I guess I will naturally tend to. So advice is just be aware of this, and try and balance your arm usage out!! :-) xxx

Eddy thanks again so much for your experiences.. And yes I will wait and then do some shopping xxxx

So glad to see you back Eddy, was wondering how your consultation had gone! Really good post as well, I have changed into my shock absorber by day now as didnt feel the macom was tight enough for me, so good advice there!

Hope you are feeling a bit happier about your scars/incisions now?
-x-x-

hi eddy can i see ur pics please? i am going for uplift and unders 7th october already had 2 bas x

Thank you for posting this...I'm 6 days away from op and the more info I get the better :-)

Wow 5 weeks post op already?!
Glad all is well and yes they are grose to look at during the recovery but happy healing and roll on next summer :) xxx