Worst part of your recovery

We get quite a few Pre-op ladies asking about 'pain' after surgery and I thought it would be helpful to tell them about the worst part of our recovery so they know what to expect and could be prepared for the 'worst'

For me, waking up after surgery was surprisingly not that bad! I felt like I had a heavy weight on my chest and I was uncomfortable but I was in no pain at all.

Sickness after recovery wasn't good. I didn't take well to the anaesthetic but was given anti-sickness meds to help that. The codeine also that I was given didn't help either so I had to stop that too and then felt much better.

After I'd settled from the sickness I found morning boob and rib discomfort difficult to deal with. Morning boob feels like blood rushing to your boobs as you sit upright. For women who have had children I can liken the engorged feeling to that of when your milk comes in. For those who haven't had children your boobs feel hard and swollen and you feel like a throbbing sensation. This was eased with ice packs though. It did wake me a few times during the night and I had to constantly keep up with the ice packs to ease the discomfort.

Do note Pre-oppers that at no point did I experience any 'pain' discomfort, yes, but not pain and once the morning boob and rib discomfort settled I think at around 8 weeks post-op I was just fine.

So for me there was no pain. :thumbs: Xx

Thanks cookie, great info. This site is invaluable already! Don't know how I'm gonna wait till feb, I am so excited!!
Mandy

You know, we put all our stories on here to help others or seek reassurance. Pre BA you read those threads and prepare yourself for the worst. I personally think that is a good thing, because actually when you've had your BA you realise that actually it isn't as bad as you imagined.
I created topics on here checking up that what I was experiencing was normal, and when you find out that it is it magically disappears... You stop focusing on it because you know it's ok so it stops 'hurting' so much.

The only actual pain I experienced was in my ribs, and, although it was related to having my BA, I think it was more muscular and not directly related to the implants or incisions. I've also had problems with that side of my ribs before so maybe they're weakened already or something...

Once reassured the discomfort is to be expected I viewed it as a good thing, it was more like a reminder to take things easy than something that is is unmanageable

To say I once asked to go home because I'd trapped my little finger at work in a photo frame and made it bleed I handled my recovery surprisingly well!

For me the worst part was not being able to sleep comfortably, I found for the first 10 days I wasn't sleeping properly because of having to stay propped up so by the end of it I was incredibly exhausted, my back felt like it was made of knots and I wanted nothing more than a great big sleep!

The second was the feeling of "WHAT THE HELL DO I DO NOW?!!" because I wasn't physically up to a lot without getting tired and I couldn't feel nice in anything I wore I felt a bit caged in staring at the walls all day every day. It was such a huge build up and felt like a big loss when I no longer had anything to look forward to. I found myself glued to BJSF because it was the only place I could maintain any kind of concentration!

Everything else was manageable! x

The worst part for me has got to be morning boob! It is such a horrible feeling in the morning, the discomfort, the heaviness, the tightness, the soreness! I hated it! It got a lot better after the 4th week and I slowly started to sleep a lot better. At 6 weeks it's still slightly sore in the morning, but not as bad!

Great post Cookie x

I was also terrified about the pain when I woke up before my BA if I had known what I know now I would have had it done years ago.
I remember waking up in recovery and them asking how much pain I was in on a scale of 1-10 I remember saying 3 or 4. I can say that I was completely honest with that answer because it wasn't even pain just a very heavy feeling. I only took paracetamol for a couple of days. There really is no pain after a BA just uncomfortableness and a very heavy feeling. The worst part of my BA was definitley not being able to sleep flat which I'm now doing easily have been since 2 weeks post op with no morning boob. I also found not being able to lift my arms above my head hard and when I tried it was very uncomfortable so I would recommend a few shirts or blouses that you can put your arms into rather then trying to get tops over your heads.
My friend asked me would I do it again, my reply was I would do it tommorrow, it's honestly fine preop girls so please don't worry xx

Not being able to cuddle my babies that hurt most of all....

Yes i had the same pain as everyone inbetween the boobs, tingling, muscle pain, bloated, constapated, and Morning Boob that was awful, but when your child craves a cuddle from you and you can not pick them upto give effection or lean across to give them a huge hug because it feels uncomfotable that pain was far worse....

I know not the answer your looking for but i felt that pain...

Hugs to all those recovering ladies it gets better and you will feel great xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The worst pain for me was when the nerves were regenerating (around day three for me) and it was sharp shooting pains in my left boob. This was after my 2nd BA, were they'd had a good poke around in there!

First BA (7 months ago) only remember feeling annoyed that I couldn't exercise at 2 weeks post op, lol, I felt great!

The morning boob! I posted on here about being fully stranded on my back and having to ring my sister at 2.30am to come lift me up so I could go to the toilet!
And as that disappeared around 2 weeks post-op the crazy nipple sensitivity that replaced it was soooo intense! Thank god the summer was a write off so I could layer layer layer to save my modesty and other peoples eyes ;) xxx

Morning boob and back ache.

I had unders and these were still my worst bits.

Im also suffering with raw skin at the min bt thats coz i thought my swelling would be worse so bought a bigger band size bra and its rubbed me, nothing to do with my actual BA.

Morning boob iv jjust had mine this morning ha! Also can't wait till my boobs stop feeling tight and as though pressure on my chest and just natural so I don't know they are there! Xx

The car journey home was very uncomfortable! But i would have to say sleeping propped gave me the worst bad back worse than any boobie discomfort. And I would do it all again tomorrow. Bring on the bigger boobies xx

Removal of the drains - not particularly painful just very uncomfortable.
after about 4 days when I thought I was getting better I started to get sore ribs which lasted about 5 days

Having a very numb bottom form sleeping upright, not sleeping well because of having a numb bottom lol. I have had mondors cord which has been very unpleasant but is starting to settle now xx