First Post-op Days (more surgery details)

There were two things that I was absolutely dreading:  drainage tubes and staples.  I was ecstatic to find that I didn't have to deal with either!  I was also surprised that I wasn't in more pain.  I mean, it hurt, but I was really prepared for the worst.  I have NO pain tolerance, but it was manageable.  The doctor sent me home with a very small tube running into each breast attached to a small pain medication pump I could wear around my waist.  The tubes were coiled up and taped to my chest right under my neck.  This will probably be the only picture I will post (if you are looking for before and after pictures, there are many online.  plasticsurgery.org is a good source)

In all the research I have done, I haven't seen this used before.  It looked a lot more scary than it was...all the coils just ensure that I couldn't yank the tubes out by accident.  You can also see some of the bruising that was starting.  The combination of this direct pain medication and oral medication kept me at a very tolerable pain level.  It still hurt to move and my arms were fairly useless.  I didn't feel like I could quite straighten my back, so I felt a bit hunched over.  I basically spent the first week in our recliner, but I had to have someone else raise/lower the lever for me.  My sides were the most painful.  The doctor told me that because of gravity, I would have the most swelling there.

The type of surgery I had is sometimes called "keyhole" incision.  My kids had a ton of questions, so I found this video that does a good job of explaining without being too graphic:  http://video.about.com/womenshealth/Breast-Reduction.htm 
(Though that model sure doesn't have much to remove!)

I had about about 450 grams removed from one side, about 550 from the other...a little over 2 pounds total.  I never really realized one side was much bigger than the other, and now I'm curious how that imbalance of weight affected my back pain.  I have stitches that will dissolve and the wounds are covered with Dermabond, a topical skin adhesive.  I was directed to wear a clean bra daily and change my bandages twice a day.  I was sent home in a comfortable surgical bra/vest with a thick band of elastic that sat low on my torso.  I had some front-close sport bras to change into, but I was too sensitive to have that bra band so close to my incisions.  We ended up using a 6" ace bandage to wrap me up while the surgical bra was getting washed.  After the first week, the surgical bra became too cumbersome and the sport bras were better.  After a few days of clean bandages, I'm now able to wear a sport bra without bandages.  I'm still pretty sensitive...always have been, always will be....so I wear the sport bras inside out so the seams don't bother me as much.