LA3y and Pickles, I love you guys, all of you. You have totally changed my way of thinking this past week!!! I can't believe the response!! One minute I'm ready to go for it, the next minute I want to wait??!! Don't know what I'm going to do yet, but with the help of a lot of new found friends on this site, I think I am going to at least discuss this with my Dr. I refuse to give up on my pursuit of looking the way I should look!@! I am only 5'2" and weigh 170 pounds and after the trying on the bathing suit incident, it has only made me realize I have the RIGHt to look as good as I FEEL!!! I may be almost 50, but by gosh, I deserve to look the way I want!! Now just trying to check into the insurance issue...Thanks everyone-a million times over!!

Man I can't tell you how this makes me feel. I have never met anyone else with this problem in my entire life and here you all are. I am so .. relieved. Thank you all for sharing. I can't wait to lose weight and get this done myself. Just a side story that is related.. When I was 22 I went to my Dr who told me that my Ins would cover it because it was medically necessary. When I contacted the plastic surgeon I was told that I needed to be under 180. I was only like 200 at the time so I thought .. No problem. Well I ended up putting it off, having a kid and gaining 50+ more lbs. Sooo I go back to the Dr (a new doctor by now) and say that NOW it's 10x worse, I am in a DDD and I have the grooves, the backache, knee pain etc etc. I am told that they will not refer me until I lose weight. THEN I go to have a mammogram last year and the woman was so nice but I could tell she was mortified by the size of my breast.. I mean one took up the ENTIRE glass thingy they squish your boob in and she still had to do it THREE times because she couldn't get it all in one shot SOOO she comes back in a few mins later and says nicely that I should speak to my Dr about it. I tell her the whole story and she says OMG you know that P.S. is full of ****, and he could do it, he just chooses not to because of the added risks during the surgery (complications from being overweight, including choking and loss of oxygen or some crap) Soooo she tells me that my Dr should be able to refer me to another surgeon 150 miles away to the bigger hospital. I ask my Dr, and she maintains that she will not give me a referral until I lose weight and get my cholesterol down. So here I am. Hoping to lose enough weight to get the referral. Otherwise insurance won't cover it. Ok that's my long story lol

Thanks again for your posts and listening to my ramblings.

My insurance will cover it but they said I have to show them that it's not just something I want to do, that it's actually causing problems so I have to go to the nutritionist and a physical therapist to help me out...

PicklesPotter I would keep trying. A women I work with originally had her referal denied, but was approved after she appealed. Also make sure your doctor really documents the problems you are having (backpain, grooves, numbness in fingers, ect.). The fact that my doctor has 3 years of records on problems really helped.

I really wish you luck Brendalee. I know originally my Doctor told me to loose weight, but with my breast size she decided I needed the surgery ASAP. Just make sure they keep documenting your health problems.

I cannot stress enough what a difference this surgery has made for me. For the first time in my life I feel like I look normal and not fat. My back pain is completely gone. A co-worker told me her mother had it at 60 and after surgery she said she wished she has done it 30 years earlier.

1. the dent on your shoulders is one thing they look at.
2. if you keep a rash under your breasts.
3.pain in your neck and shoulders

This is some of the things my doc talked about with me. Also they will need to take pic of you with out your bra. Make sure that they have a good shot of the dents in your shoulders....

Brenda, So glad you found us. I can not believe how unconcerned these drs. are for your well being. Yes it's good they want you to get your cholesterol and weight down, but don't they realize you are working on it?? I can only say I am soooo hoping that you can find the right dr. that will perform this surgery for you. It sounds like it's a long time coming and you really need it. I wish you all the luck in the world. I'll keep you (and everyone) in my prayers who are facing this decision. Whatever you do DON'T GIVE UP!!! Just keep trying until you find another dr. who will. Don't they realize that by doing this surgery, it will enable you to do more to lose the weight. It is painful everytime I do exercises other than my eliptical. It seems the only thing I CAN do that doesn't cause the painful bounce. I wonder what my dr. will say. He does have documentation of the neck, shoulder and back problems, but I don't know b/c of my original injury if they will say no it's from the injury and not from my breasts.

Well here I am over a year later and 5 weeks post op!!! I had it done on Aug. 23rd the day after my 50th birthday. Happy birthday to me!!!! My only regret is that I didn't have it sooner.
Re-reading this thread has made me realize that this surgery is something for a lot of research-both for info and PS. Every person is different in size and metabolism. I knew from years of losing weight and regaining that they don't get any smaller-just bigger and longer LOL!!!!
I researched it for months and talked to people who have had it done-especially people my age and size. My primary dr and gynecologist and chiro all agreed that it would help me immensely with my chronic pain and I would also be able to do more as far as exercising once I am healed. Well the nite of my 6 hour surgery, I sat up in my hospital bed and cried-I have no more back, shoulder or neck pain!!!! I was a little worried about losing sensation, but I have almost full sensation of both breasts and dr says it will improve as time goes on. I did not lose any nipples sensation. I had the "pedical" method which they do not remove the nipple-just cut around it and reattach the breast tissue to it that's left.
I am so excited. They took over a pound from each side. It may not sound like alot, but next time you pick up a pound of butter think about it. Put 2 pounds in a bag and sling it over your shoulders and see if you get the idea of what a reduction could do.
Anyhow, just wanted to update anyone interested in this subject. It worked for me and I am sooooo glad I didn't wait til I got to goal. So many women I've spoke with said that it is ashame more women with this painful problem don't have it done to help relieve the pain they suffer while exercising.
I realize everyone is different in their opinions and I think age is a big factor in deciding when or if to have it done. I feel anyone contemplating should go to their doctor first and then decide if they should research it further.
Keepin' the faith...Dawn

Hey ripples57,

Thanks for the update. I'm so happy for you. I've known other women who had very large breasts and wanted surgery, but for one reason or another were getting discouraged from doing it. When they finally went ahead, they were happy afterwards--and it sounds like you are, too!

Jay

Smart move to wait till you hit goal. Who knows everything might be nicely in proportion then and you will decide against it. There are web sites where you can check out before and after pics. You could see if the scarring would bother you.

I had my reduction 5 yrs ago just after my youngest quit nursing. It was the best thing I ever did. I used to put Dolly Parton to shame! My husband at first was totally against it but after it was done he was very, very happy! I weighed about 242 at the time. I am now right at 200, having lost about 30 lbs in the last 2.5 months. I am now hoping that I didn't get too much cut off!

Good for you Ronda. I just went to PS yesterday for my 6 wk followup and he said everything looks good and I could go back to doing whatever I felt like and I could wear regular bras now. I'm having a hard time wearing sports bras so don't know if a regular one will be less irritating or not. I'll try after I shower this morning.
But I am VERY happy with my results and so is DH. He's still a little afraid of them I think though. I bet it feels great to lose that weight. I'm going to try to get back into my exercise routine this week. I think I will try it every other day and go really easy. I do walk aerobics DVD's by Leslie Sansone and I was doing great up til May when I broke my ankle-hairline fracture only thank God but very painful. Then I had my surgery so I have fallen off the exercise wagon so to speak and am itching to get back on. I lost 8 pounds the week of my surgery-2.5 from my boobs, but I have put it all back on. Maybe it was water I don't know, but I am really anxious to get back to trying to take of these pounds. At least I can see my feet again for the first time in years although that little fat roll under the boobs sticks out more now since my reduction LOL!!
Good luck in your journey. Keepin' the faith...Dawn

congrats ripples! happy birthday present to you!

I sympathise with anyone with a bad back for so long, my mother suffers a similar problem, but from excessive horseriding in her youth.

I'm not sure that having a reduction will ease your pain, because it sounds like its the fall, not your breast size, that causes you pain..I'm a 34DD, but I don't think..I don't know, I'm just not sure it'd give you much pain relief, think its your back in itself, not your breasts... a D cup is not much bigger than average at all!

I didn't mean to sound rude, but surgery..big deal obviously, and not sure it'd be a help?!

Emily
xxx

Thanks to all who responded. I can not believe that my back pain is gone! After suffering for over 10 years, it doesn't seem that having a BR could do this. But I saw my chiropractor yesterday for the first time in 6 weeks and she can already see a huge improvement in my back and neck and shoulder blade area. Not as much to adjust and she also said that it definitely will help with the pain from the fall as there is hardly any weight to support so the bra straps are not constantly pulling on my shoulder/neck area. She is very pleased with my results and feels that it will be very beneficial to my weight loss also.
Thanks again to all who posted.
Keepin' the faith...DAwn

UPDATE--Here I am 9 months since my last post about my reduction surgery. It will be 1 yr next month already. My last post was the beginning of Oct. of '07 and I was looking forward to exercising. I re-joined WW for the fourth time in 20 yrs. at the end of October. I weighed in at 181. Here I am now almost at my goal of 136. I now am happy to say I weigh in at 148!!! My breasts have healed so well. I have all the feeling back in them now. It is soooooo great to exercise and not have them flopping so hard it hurts. My back and neck pain is gone after 10+ yrs of suffering. Without the surgery, I would never have been able to lose the weight as the exercise pain kept me from losing more than 10-15 lbs in the past. I am now a 36B/C depending on the bra. I was a 40DD. I cannot be happier with my results. I am looking forward to my niece's wedding next month in Hawaii. I will finally be wearing a size 10/12 bathing suit instead of and 18/20 and I won't have to cover up!!!! Amazing what losing 3+ lbs from your chest can do:}}

Just thought I'd update anyone who was so kind when I first began this journey and offered me advice. Like the shirt's say--LIFE IS GOOD!!!!!