I guess I first became interested in getting implants in January of 2000 but it wasn't until April of 2000 that I could even get my husband to consider the idea. He couldn't understand why at 40 yrs old I suddenly thought I needed implants especially when I was already a "B" cup. He was never concerned about the media 'hype' and neither was I as both of us have known several women throughout our lives who had them and had no problems whatsoever,and he isn't one of those men who is jealous or thinks they are icky, he simply couldn't understand why I thought I 'needed' them.
So why did I decide I needed them? For the first time in my life at age 39 I found myself with a weight problem-I went from a size 5 to a size 16 in about a year's time and I was so totally disgusted with myself that I could not stand to look in the mirror. The only good thing I can say about that time in my life is that I did not allow myself to stay that way for very long. I joined a gym and I worked very hard to lose 30 lbs in a little over 6 mos and I hated every minute of it most of the time. But once the weight came off and I started exercising to sculpt instead of lose, it became something that I looked forward to everyday. I am not a bodybuilder by any means but at 40 was in the best shape of my life and I became very body concious.
Well as everyone knows there is really no way to make your boobs grow by exercising--on the contrary, they got smaller and I felt that I worked very hard on my body and I deserved to have it look the way I wanted it to look and finally my husband agreed that indeed I did deserve that.
So, in April of 2000, my husband told me I could use our next income tax check to get them. Hooray!!! I was in heaven, I called everyone I knew and told them, but in hindsight I think I would have waited until I had set a date and knew what I was getting etc. But I was excited! Let's just say that not everyone was as excited as me (to put it mildly). But I didn't really care what anyone thought however it was very aggravating to be asked all the time "are you still getting boobs?" or "well why are you getting boobs?" I learned that someone who does not have a body image problem is not likely to get behind you on this surgery if you are doing it for strictly cosmetic reasons-and that was fine by me. But I have to admit it hurt at times. As a point of interest, I just want to add that my daughter, who is a natural 'D' told me to 'go for it' and how much she loved having big boobs!
I knew absolutely nothing about this surgery only that I wanted it-so I simply did a search on breast augmentation and voila, I found Nicole's site implantinfo.com and I immediately became a weekend warrior. That is the best way I can describe it. All day Saturday, I'd sit and read the boards and I even read all the archives. I never imagined there was so much to know or so many decisions to make. The weekend thing went on for a couple of months and eventually I started checking the forum every morning before I went to the gym and very night before I went to bed. It took me months to post anything, I was too chicken. It seems funny now that I felt that way but at the time I was so afraid of feeling stupid that I just 'lurked' as they say. But I read every single post and every single visitor story and looked at tons and tons of pictures. One day I realized I was quite addicted to the forum and I was popping in about 5 times a day-my hubby thought I was crazy but that's another story. :)
In those months I did gather enough information to form some opinions about what would be right for me, I had thought I wanted the crease incision but changed my mind about that to the aerola incision. I was going to go no larger than a full 'C" and I changed my mind about that when my husband said that there would be no redos due to me not being happy with size-it didn't take long for me to decide to go with a full 'D'. The next step was consultations and I had made a list of 5 doctor's in my area that I would consult with. By now it was December 2000 and I was ready to take that next step.I remember when I called for a consult I was shaking so bad I though I was gonna throw up-do not ask me why because I don't know.
The first name on my list was Dr. Louis Strock in Ft Worth, Texas and I just have to say here that although I know this is supposed to be a big no-no he is the one and only doctor I ever consulted with. When I met him I knew immediately he was the one for me-let's just say my angels told me. I could not imagine that I would like anyone better and he does beautiful work. At my consult we discussed size and incision placement-he offered me a choice of 3 incision sites-crease,aerola and trans-ax. Well I had never even thought about the trans-ax incision because it kind of scared me,I hadn't read alot about it but he had been doing most of his augmentations this way for the past 5 yrs and I did like the idea of no scars on my breast,so I chose to have the trans-ax and we settled on size. I scheduled my surgery for 4-5-01. now all I had to do was wait 4 more months! ARGH!!!
All I can say about those next 4 mos is that they were long, but thanks to Nicole's site I learned a little bit more everyday and if I had it to do over again I wouldn't change a thing-even though there were times I thought the waiting would drive me nuts! But alot happened in those months-I can't remember exactly how many times I emailed Dr Strock with questions but I do remember he answered me every time ,and just when I thought I could not get anymore impressed with him, I was watching OPRAH one day and there he was!!! I'd never had a doubt he was the right PS -- and now no one else did either!
In late February we ended up getting our Income tax refund early and I immediately called to try to move my surgery up-I was able to move it up only a week but that was fine with me so my new surgery date was 3-29-01 and I was ready!! It was still a month away but all of a sudden it seemed like it was just around the corner. I started cleaning my house like a madwoman. Every closet every drawer,it got cleaned-I gave all my blouses and tops to GOODWILL and I printed out Nicoles pre-op and post op list and I did every single thing they suggested.
The night before surgery I could not sleep because I had to be at the hospital by 5:30 and I was afraid I would not wake up. So I spent the night touching up the house and doing beauty treatments on myself,I figured it would be awhile before I could do these things again. Finally it was time to go. In all those months I had never been scared or nervous-but when they put the IV in my hand I suddenly got scared and told my husband that maybe I should just go home. LOL. Thankfully he knows me well enough to not listen to me because if he would have taken me home I would have been so mad!!!
I expected to wake up to hideously deformed breasts that were under my chin and bruised,and I prepared myself and my husband for this for months before my surgery. but when I woke up I was amazed! They were gorgeous! I was one of the lucky ones that had pretty boobs from day one, even the recovery nurses were telling me how pretty they were ,but all I could think was GIVE ME SOMETHING TO DRINK! LOL-I have never been so thirsty in my life! And I wanted to go home now! I had to stay for a couple of hours because I got pretty nauseous and I was barely awake,but finally I got to leave and I was home by noon.
The pain was not bad the first day,and I had to go on my first post op the second day which was a Friday. Still I wasn't in a whole lot of pain-so, over the course of Friday night I started really cutting myself back on my pain meds-HUGE mistake! My right side never did have much pain but the left side was totally out of control and by Sunday I was hurting bad! Well Dr Strock saw me immediately because I was in so much pain I thought I had a hematoma-after he looked at my breast he said that there was no hematoma and immediately asked me how much pain medication I was taking?? (smart man) Well I had to confess that I hadn't taken much. I was having severe muscle spasms and he prescribed a stronger pain med and a stronger muscle relaxer and I promised to take them this time,and I did,believe me! after that I started getting alot better-I know some heal within days,for me it didn't happen that way, but on the other hand I didn't go through the awkward looking stage either,so....you can't have it all. LOL
I am now 9 wks post and I feel great,I have been back to the gym since the end of the 3rd week and I have regained my former fitness level almost completely-I still get a little tired at times but then I workout alot harder than I used to,there is something about having these implants that drives me even harder to work on my body and be healthy as well as look good. I am a very full D cup and I am very happy most days-I do wish they were just a teensy bit bigger,but I think I may have a body image problem because my husband thinks they are huge as does just about everyone else. As for Dr Strock when I tell him that ,he just shakes his head and sighs....I think he thinks I am a loon!
Well that's my story and i'm sticking to it-Good Luck to all you ladies doing research,you've come to the right place and if any of you are in the Fort Worth area, call Dr. Strock. You will not be disappointed. :)
- Deidre