(Part 2) Top products from r/Reduction

Good on you for being so considerate!

I just had my surgery on December 16th. Here's what I can recall from the first couple weeks.

1. Ask the doc for a prescription nausea med if one hasn't already been offered, especially if she's prone to nausea/dizziness/vertigo or sensitive to prescription pain meds. Throwing up after surgery puts a lot of pressure on your chest and can pop stitches and be very painful.
   
   
2. Have lots of high protein, easily digestible foods available. I was surprised I was hungry and that the hospital let me eat just a couple hours after I woke up. Simple foods I could eat by the following morning: Yogurt, pudding, jello, mashed potatoes, oatmeal, kefir etc. Protein will help her heal faster and her guts may be wonky because of the antibiotics so Kefir is a good choice.
   
   
3. Pillows! I'm three weeks out of surgery and I still have roughly four billion pillows around me. A wedge pillow is very helpful if she's going to sleep in bed but pillows under her legs and arms, in the arch of her back and smooshed all around the edges of her body (or body pillows) are so helpful. It hurts to support yourself or lift yourself up so the more pillow support the better. If your pillows are very soft and squishy, you can roll up towels or blankets instead. And yes, keep a pillow in the car for trips.
   
   
4. Standing requires using your abs and the muscles over your ribs are sore after surgery so you will probably have to help her to stand from a sitting or laying position for at least a couple of weeks. The same goes for sitting, especially on the toilet. Lowering yourself requires use of your ab muscles so help her to sit and stand so she doesn't pull a muscle or a stitch.
   
   
5. Speaking of the bathroom, reaching to wipe can pull your rib muscles as well or just throw you off balance. It won't be an option for everyone, but I made a point of getting a bidet that attaches to my existing toilet before the surgery and it's been awesome. Also, your gal is likely to be constipated. Stool softeners, fiber and LOTS of water (or cranberry juice to prevent UTI's from the catheter) are her friend.
   
   
6. Bathing: For the first few weeks she can't shower so you'll have to help. Here's how I do it. With my husbands help I strip from the waist down but keep the bra on. I stand in the shower while he sits on a little stool in front of the open shower. I soap up and he rinses me down. I carefully get out of the shower and he helps me dry off well and get new underclothes on. Then we put a towel around my waist and one around my neck and clasp it with a hair claw. I sit on the stool and he sits on a chair behind me and uses a spray bottle of water to wet my hair and then a comb to gently apply soap throughout. Then I stand up and lean over the tub white he sits on the back of the tub and uses a cup to rinse my hair. Then he helps me wrap my wet hair in a towel and we change my bra and bandages. The whole process takes about 20 minutes and is the easiest routine we could fine. We tried other options but they always ended up with water everywhere and usually running down my chest.
   
   
7. Changing the bandages. Your lady's doc will tell her what to do and every doc is different so take this with a grain of salt. I had a keyhole or anchor style incision. One week after surgery, my bandages were getting gross, smelly and frayed so I changed them. I'm very sensitive to glue so the way I do it minimizes tape usage. I remove the bandages slowly. Then I spray a clean cotton bandage with saline lightly and use that to wipe off my entire breast as well as under the breast and close to (but not on) the nipple). Then I inspect the incisions for swelling/redness and other signs of infection. Then I carefully remove any loose glue/scabs etc. Be VERY careful when doing this as it's easy to pull off skin with the surgical glue. The reason you want to snip or pinch off the loose bits is because they catch on the bandages and the bandage pulls it when you move and that stings! Plus, the loose bits poke at you which is uncomfortable. Anyway, after it's all cleaned up, I take the largest bandage I have and open it all the way and then fold it into quarters long ways so I have a thick long band to place from the inner corner of the incision (between the breasts) all the way to the outer corner incision (near the armpit) and I use a small piece of tape to tape each end. Then I take another large bandage and unfold it once and place it over the center of my breast to cover the nipple and about four inches of skin on each side. I use three small pieces of tape to take this bandage, two pieces hold the bottom of it to the strip of bandage under my breast and one goes at the top. Once I put the bra on over the bandages I peel the tape off my skin and fold it over so that the only tape sticking to my skin anymore is the piece under my underarms. The bra does a good job of compressing the bandages to my incisions so I don't need any other tape and it's much more comfortable this way.
   
   
8. Some days she will be full of energy and will have little pain and other days she will become exhausted from walking to the bathroom and her boobs will feel like they're badly sunburned and jellyfish are stinging them. There's no rhyme or reason to it, I feel great one day and terrible the next and then great again etc. The first two days after surgery I felt like I could run a marathon, the two days after that I basically didn't get out of my recliner because I was on so much pain and so tired. She'll take a lot of naps and that's good, she needs rest. I would feel so nauseous and like I never wanted food again and then twenty minutes later I'd be ravenous. Just roll with it. Have some comfort foods handy, but try to eat healthy and get lots of water. The last thing you want is an upset stomach, gastro issues or inflammation because Taco Bell seemed like a good idea. I drank a lot of smoothies made of fresh fruits and veg and I really think that eating healthy has helped in my recovery.
   
   
9. She needs at least two or three bras. They send you home in a surgical bra but mine was very uncomfortable and caked in blood and lymph fluid so I wanted out of it asap. I purchased this one and this one and they've been awesome. They're soft, no wires, close in the front and they don't cut into my sides.
   
   
10. Disappointment. When I first saw my new boobs, they seemed really small and I was worried. After a few days I realized they were proportional to my size and only small in comparison to my crazy enormous boobs from before. The shape is all wonky, I have scabby gross incisions, I feel like I'm sweaty and smelly (I'm not), I'm sore, I'm tired, I itch (thank you Percocet), my whole body was swollen for the first week, I felt useless and lazy and restless. It's all normal. Surgery is hard on your body and when you're stuck in a chair (or bed) for days or weeks with nothing else to do you start to dwell on all the negative stuff. Help her stay distracted (video games, movies, magazines, puzzle books, sketch pads etc), remind her that she's just had major surgery and that her body needs calories and rest to heal properly. Tell her how great she's doing, how proud of her you are for being so brave, what a strong bad-ass she is etc. Be really supportive, empathetic and compassionate. She might cry more or be more anxious and that's ok. It's roller coaster of both physical and emotional feelings but she can get through it if you stay supportive.
    
    Good luck and feel free to PM or comment here if you have any questions!

Congratulations! I had one in March and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Do you have any friends or family that could be with you at home the first few days? One thing I didn't even think about is that you cannot use your arms at all to shift your weight, to help push you up out of bed or into a sitting position. I learned to scoot around on my rear end. :) It is also challenging to bathe and wash your hair for the first couple of weeks. It helps to use those muscles but I had to have my husband help me shower the first week or two. Another idea is to have someone stock a cooler to be near where you settle to recover for the day or night so you can access easy to reach food, water & other beverages. You are healthy and that is to your advantage.

Good luck!! I hope you love it as much as I do. Oh, one last piece of advice. Once you have been cleared at your one or two week check, you will want to start using somehing on your scars. Mine still get itchy and uncomfortable if I don't keep them well moisturized. I expect to use it for a year or so based off of a previous surgery. My accupuncturist recommended a belly balm. I love this one (I am terrible at linking): https://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Belly-Balm-8-oz/dp/B0011NK95G/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1_m?ie=UTF8&qid=1483473982&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=Beautiful%2Bbelly%2Bbalm%2Bfor%2Bpregnancy&th=1

I have circulation issues in my legs and have been wearing the Jobst trouser socks for 5 years. I still have the original socks, and I purchased them in 2013, so soon they'll be 6 years old. They no longer look new, but they're still in excellent shape with minimal pilling. My smartwool socks purchased at the same time are about ready to be recycled into something else.

I wear them to work, as they look very nice under slacks, I wear them on flights and road trips... I have relatively large calves and they're super comfortable and incredibly durable. They're thin enough to fit into my nicer work shoes, and I've used them for winter layering when my feet are cold (putting them on as a base layer, then wool socks on top). Cannot recommend them enough. :)

stock up HEAVILY on cotton gauze, paper tape, aquaphor, and steri strips. steri strips are amazing. my surgeon placed inch long pieces all along my incisions, and told me to keep them on until they fell off. as they fell off i replaced them with longer pieces because the swelling made me feel like i was going to pop open. i pulled them off in the shower every few days to replace with clean pieces and i wore them for a few weeks after i had my stitches taken out, really until i felt like my skin had come back together. i liked to put bandaid brand gauze pads over my regular thin gauze for cushioning under clothing and to keep aquaphor on the skin. aquaphor will be really helpful in keeping incisions moist so they don't scab but also will help the gauze not stick to any pus or blood within the incisions.
also a nice fan will help keep you comfy and is great for air drying your skin after showers before reapplying tape and gauze (:

i found this bra to be the absolute comfiest. the fabric is thick and soft and the back is mesh for ventilation.

I'm two weeks post-op.

People here all have fantastic suggestions so far!
I used:

1. Fruit of the Loom bras from Wal-Mart, look like this. They were cheaper at the store vs. Amazon. I specifically like this bra because it's shaped like a tank top -- not a racerback, which means I can wear more clothes with it without straps showing.
   
2. Curad Non-Stick pads that look like this. That's what my doctor shoved in my post-op bra, so I just got more of them. Now I don't need them anymore. I didn't even finish the one box of 12.
   
3. Husband installed this bidet for me. The dignity of cleaning my own butt after such a challenging surgery was nice.
   
4. Someone else said heating pad -- yep.
   
5. Consider pre-making some food -- something really healthy and easy to eat. I made a diet soup that is meant for a cleanse because it had a ton of fiber (cabbage, lots of other veg) and was easy to heat a little at a time. I can provide the recipe link if you want it. I also took psyllium fiber tablets every day and drank dark coffee each morning, while drinking as much water as I could. And I lost some extra weight with the soup, too. For breakfast, I only ate oatmeal with cinnamon and bananas since that's so easy to digest. I had no problems, uh, getting the job done with all that fiber.
   
6. We installed a handheld shower head. I had my husband around to help me bathe, and it made things easier for both of us. I sat in a shallow bath and he helped me clean with the shower head. In the shallow bath, I used some scented epsom salts to help me relax. The first couple of baths were uncomfortable and awkward and it helped.
   
7. Tylenol. I weaned myself off the drugs after 3-4 days. In the morning, I took half the dose of Tylenol (which is every 3 hours vs. 6) to see how my pain was, then I'd either take another one on time, wait a while, or take half a pain pill. I did this until I was using only Tylenol and eventually nothing or only one dose a day of it.

Hi! We actually just received our first shipment of bras from the manufacturing facility this week, so we don't yet have any before-and-after pictures for you to compare to — hope to in a few months!!! I will just say that the silicone we use in the JellyBra is the exact same stuff you used in regular silicone sheets like here and here, I just know how frustrated I was when I tried those because I had to keep replacing them (like every week!) and because they took time every day to reapply, so that's why I specifically made the JellyBra to be durable and convenient :)

If you would be willing to share before-and-after photos I would love to send you a free JellyBra and share your progress on our website and social media. I’ll provide cute Jelly-branded nipple covers, and your face definitely doesn’t have to be in the frame (but if you’re smiling for the camera I’m here for that too!)

I got one of these things (we lovingly call it, "Steve") to help me really dig into that muscle that kind of tucks behind the shoulder blade...it gets a knot so bad that even an hour long massage with a licensed massage therapist can't get it out. Steve helps a lot. Side to side, slow neck stretches help as well (bend all the way to the side - ear to shoulder - and hold for 30 seconds....repeat on other side...5 sets 5 times). Those things are keeping me sane while I wait to hear if I'm covered. I've been going through this cycle for 10 years, and am finally deciding to do something about it. Don't stop fighting! You will still want this when you're 40!

I'm pre-op, but lanolin cream/ointment and nipple gels are great for chafing and stinging pain (not at the same time). I plan on getting several pairs of gels; they're amazing right out of the refrigerator.

I had vertigo on and off for over a week after surgery even though I didn't have an antinausea patch. I used Sea Bands to help with that and it made a huge difference.

I had my surgery back in January and I swear by bio oil I use it twice a day, every day and my scars are super light now. I'll post updated pics tomorrow

Wet wipes! Getting up to go wash your face is hard so just having those handy was nice as I felt gross and sweaty.

Lots of other great lists on here, but my other thing is, I got one of those pillows with the arm rests - that thing was GOLD

https://www.amazon.com/Brentwood-Originals-Brushed-Twill-Bedrest/dp/B002S0NJNK

I can't comment in relation to the surgery (mine was only a few weeks ago), but I have a nervous system disorder that impacts my blood vessels and how they behave. One of the quirkiest effects of it is that my nipples tend to be hard if I am standing up, because my breasts were so large that the blood would pool in my nipples. It sounds like maybe the surgeon left "too many" blood vessels and your nipples are receiving more blood than they actually need. (just a guess based on my experience with my disorder, I'm not a doctor)

I'm not sure if these will be relevant for you, but there are two things I've done to try to manage it:

• Nipple covers are super helpful. These are the ones I use: https://www.amazon.com/Dimrs-NipStik-Adhesive-Silicone-Nipstik/dp/B0054M5C02
  
• Lay down on my back to let gravity assist getting some of the blood out of my nipple areas

My surgeon’s office recommended the Wanayou post surgical zip front. It’s done the job for me!

Have you tried a bra liner? It’s a little pad that goes under your underwire. It makes a world of difference with chafing for me.

Here is a link. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FM2HCM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_XhS0CbYTT4AV6

Kelo cote scar gel

https://www.amazon.ca/Kelo-cote-Advanced-Formula-Scar-Gel/dp/B004Q1QKGW