Body Image and Issues after Weight Loss - Breast Reduction

Alright, I have 40D chest size, which I can feel the 40 part shrinking (the excess fat around my back and on the sides of my torso. However my cup size is still too large for me to feel comfortable. I haven't been on my diet long at all and I will wait until I reach my goal weight to make a decision but..

My chest is, and has forever been nowhere near firm and perky. I'm 18. I hate this. I want to get a breast reduction if they are, and most likely will be, still saggy. I don't want to get implants, I just want a lift. I know they will have to cut off excess skin.

I was wondering if anybody has had this done, or knows how the process goes, and if it works. What I've been thinking is that the part that keeps it lifted is the implant, if I'm wrong, pleeease tell me.

I also wanted to know how long the recovery took and how it felt. All details and stories will be very appreciated. :] Thank you.

I had a breast reduction when I was 19. I'm 23 now.

On the one hand, I was soooo incredibly happy to have it done. My boobs are genetically large, mom, sisters and grandma are all crazy big but none is terribly fat (I think grandma is a 34H - has to buy custom!)

My sister also had a breast reduction at 19. I believe I was wearing a 36DDD but totally spilling out of it, and my sister was a 34DD. Back problems, headaches, indents in the shoulders, you name it.

In all my weight loss attempts, my boobs would never change size. The good thing was that if I gained weight, they didn't get bigger, but the bad thing was they never got smaller. The surgeon even said that I had more fibrous tissue than most. Same story with my sister.

Now, here's for the things to consider:
-We went to the same surgeon (even though I vehemently told my sister to find a different one). He claimed he couldn't take more than half the tissue without compromising the nipple area. Ok, fine. Well, problem is: we're both still much larger that we'd like. Don't get me wrong - I at least look proportionate now (before one boob was bigger than my face in pictures) but still. I'd looooove to be a C cup and I'm still a D/DD. Same with my sister.
-I contracted a staph infection in the hospital and ended up on IV antibiotics for 8 weeks with a home nurse and disgusting, ugly scars on both breasts. The surgery is supposed to leave scars that fade naturally, and my sister had no such problems, but I'm now extremely embarrassed to be with a boy, etc. It's gross. Plus, I can never breastfeed. My sister only has a 50% chance of being able to.

Sorry that was so long-winded! Feel free to PM me if you want more details, but I felt I had to get that off my chest (literally!)

PS - I just reread your post, and NO, you do not have to get implants to get a lift. they just cut out the extra skin and pull it all up - like a facelift for your boobs!