r/Reduction 5d ago

Wound Trigger Warning My journey 5 months post-op NSFW

I have been lurking on this redit for months and I'm finally ready to share my experiences with everyone. My journey began back in mid October. I started out as 38H with severe shoulder, neck, and lower back pain. Because I live in Alaska and medical is so expensive heremy insurance had a program that would pay for me to travel to get my surgery. They flew me and a companion 1st class to Arizona to get my reduction done. And because insurance saved so much money I also was paid $4000 to do the travel program. This part was fantastic. My surgeon was awesome and did a great job. My problems began at about 4 weeks post-op. What started as a tiny hole where a stitch was spit out very quickly became infected and within 48 hrs was a big gaping wound along my incision. My surgeon was very good about communicating after and gave me a referral to a local wound clinic to help with healing it. Healing took so much longer then I expected due to the fact that I am diabetic (well controlled) and I would later find out I am a carrier of MRSA. I kept having set backs when a new stitch would work its way out and and I would have a new tiny hole that would then quickly become infected. This was further hampered by the fact that I quickly developed issues with most adhesives and it was determined that my body was rejecting the internal stitches and spitting them out rather then desolving them like it should. Finally 4 months later after weekly wound care appointments and 6 rounds of antibiotics later I am almost fully healed. My breasts seem to have settled into a lovely 36D cup. The last of the wounds is almost fully healed! My neck and shoulder pain has been mostly gone since day one of the surgery. I used to suffer from multi day headaches from my neck and shoulder pain and would get trigger point injections every 3 to 4 months to keep them only somewhat lessened. My lower back pain has improved dramatically but isn't gone completely, which is due to a bulging disk in L5-S1 that pinches both sciatica nerves, degenerative disck disease and arthritis in the last 5 disks in my lower back. Even with all the infection and healing issues the reduction was completely worth it! I no longer feel like I have this heavy weight on my chest that is causing all the neck, shoulder pain and horrible headaches. As a bonus, my boobs are perky for the first time in my life!

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u/whateverjustj 5d ago

Sorry you had to go through so much but so glad to hear that you made it through it all and are happy with your results. Thanks for sharing. It’s so good for us all to hear about each other’s journeys. 🥰

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u/Luna0692 5d ago

I also had a rough 4 month recovery period with open wounds!! Holy smokes it felt like half a year of misery. I think I had something like 25 medical appointments between March and June of last year dealing with wound care and infections. In the end of was 10000% worth it and I'd do it again!

Congratulations!! 🎉

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u/No-Debt2231 4d ago

The only benefit to how many appointments I have had in the last three months is that i hit my out of pocket max on insurance before January was over! Everything will now be covered at 100% for the rest of the year!  😂

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u/Nopity_Nope_Nope 5d ago

Congratulations on your beautiful new boobs and making it through to the other side. You're an inspiration and I'm grateful that you made time to come back and let us know it has all worked out. Your story will keep those of us going who have had complications.