No experience here, but sending good look to you @my2sunz .
I had my reduction 4 years ago this summer. i was having shoulder and back pain; had already had back surgery several years prior, so my insurance paid for the procedure without asking questions. Plastic surgeon wanted a note from my primary care doc but that’s all I had to provide.
I lived alone at the time and my bff from another state came and stayed with me for 3 nights. I was in the hospital overnight following the surgery. Surgeon said it was not medically necessary to have somebody with me when I went home, but she did advise against being alone the first night. BFF was a lifesaver! I was able to drive her to the airport the 4th morning following the surgery.
I was a DDDD and she brought me down to a D, which I am fine with even thought I’d asked for a C. It must be tricky to determine how much to take off in order to accomplish the patient’s size goal…Pt is lying flat on her back and breasts vary greatly!! I had very dense breast tissue with complicated things as well. I understand they weigh how much they’ve taken off in order to get a uniform size. Nipple re-location was done very well and feeling was back almost immediately. I maintain it was the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. Clothing fits so much better and it relieved so much of my back pain!
I don’t remember significant pain but would describe it as discomfort. I was told to get a couple of cheap bras in the smaller size to have on hand and wear them as soon as the big bandaging was removed. No problem with the general anesthesia–I threw up once and had a big headache but both issues go with the territory.
Sounds like one should tell the doctor she wants a size smaller than she actually wants since nearly everyone has said their results were a cup size bigger than they told the surgeon they wanted.
I am a C now only because I am overweight (was barely B most of my life), but my D inherited my MIL’s breasts and I fear she may someday want a reduction. She is currently a 34DD, but clothes that fit her elsewhere are always too tight in the bust.
First of all, if they are regularly off by a cup size, always removing too little, they need to go smaller. Secondly, if they know how big the breast is in volume, and they know how much volume they’ve removed, they should be quite accurate in determining how much is left.
I’m right there with you Cardinal Fang. You only get one shot at this; why do the docs think they know better than the patients what size they want to end up with?
In my case the doc could not take more off because I was more dense than large to begin with.
I was refused the surgery initially because I was only a D. My issues had to do with weight not volume.
I really wanted to be an A and told him that but ended up a B+ and now with 8 years and gaining some weight a C+. Best thing I have ever done for my body!
Doc commented on how heavy my breasts were and how dense–he was surprised and said
he just could not get anymore. (I use to prop my breasts up on a pillow to read at night because
they were so heavy and hot and annoying).
I mentioned above that I did have a second surgery to fix an off nipple–
but still would do this all over again and again.
Also no one here seems to be mentioning that your nipple sensation can take a long time
to feel normal. My GF told me and so I expected the numbness. It honestly it took years
to be the same but it all was still worth the surgery.
Can someone explain to me how this is true? Trans men show up at the plastic surgeon for sex reassignment surgery, and their breasts are reduced from whatever cup size they wore, B, C, DDDD, whatever, from that to nothing. How can it be that there is no middle ground between B+ and nothing, when it comes to breast surgery?
Here’s a partial answer to my question: http://www.drsanders.com/how-small-can-i-go-with-a-breast-reduction/
A surgeon can do a breast reduction including removing and replacing the nipple, or without removing and replacing the nipple.
If the surgeon does not remove the nipple, then enough breast tissue must remain so that the nipple has adequate blood supply. The author of this article, a plastic surgeon, says that as a rough metric, the breasts can be reduced about three cup sizes without nipple removal. More reduction could be done without nipple relocation, but the author says this would result in misshapen breasts.
If the patient wants a bigger reduction, the nipple should be removed and replaced. This surgery will result in reduced sensation in the nipple, and the woman will probably not be able to breastfeed.
For those who have had breast reductions, did the surgeon make clear that the choice to be made: smaller breasts with reduced sensation versus larger breasts with full sensation?
@VeryHappy - yes, I do have an (adult) child, but she lives in Hawaii currently and since I’ve been financially able to afford the surgery she’s lived no less than 3,000 miles away. It’s all good, I just was piping up that it’s been something I’ve thought about a lot for many, many years.
Another update: I had my pre-op appointments this week with both my primary care doc (bloodwork, ekg) and with the surgeon. Another huge batch of papers - release forms (scary) and instructions. He also gave me all my prescriptions to fill in advance. It turns out that I will have drains and he explained how those work and demonstrated how to deal with them at home (are they as bad as I’ve heard from some?). It is getting real! Operation date is two weeks from Monday…I wish it were sooner. The waiting is killing me!
Thanks for the update. How long do you expect the drains to be in?
Yes, the waiting is difficult as is the first week. After that it is better.
Hope you are as happy as many of us here.
Drains are bad, but I’d rather have them than not. I’ve had surgery with and without them, and thought healing progressing more rapidly with them. Just a temporary bump on the road to healing 
@my2sunz I bet you’re anxious to get it over with! Wishing you a speedy recovery!
As my friend wrote to me at the time of my surgery, Congratulations on your loss!
@oregon101 - The plan is for drains to be in for 5 days; surgery is on a Monday and they’ll be removed at my post-op visit on Friday.
12 days to go! I’ll report back after surgery. Thanks for all the words of encouragement!
I am almost 67 and this is a surgery I should have had decades ago, but the thought of voluntarily having surgery terrified me. At this point, however, I just don’t think I can haul this load around anymore.
Am I too old for this surgery?
My guess is the key lies in your overall health with regard to general anesthesia, etc. Back and shoulder pain, etc will play a role in whether Medicare will pay for the elective procedure.
@martharap - when doing my research on this, I looked at a lot of websites with before/after photos where they noted the age, size, etc of the patient and I saw at least a few that were 65+ (I remember one was 72!)
@martharap, I’m vacationing in Prague but just wanted to pop in and say that I worked a breast reduction surgery last week on a 76 year old woman. She’s very active and healthy, so no contraindications. Her only stated regret was that she didn’t do it sooner. Surgery went very well.
@my2sunz I am forwarding this thread to a friend and realize you never reported back. How did it go???