Question
am set for BA on April 7th. and am really confused and unable to do the measuring myself. I am a 36C and just want to fill it out with more fullness on top without getting that much bigger. Am getting saline Mentor smooth moderates under the muscle, and I will be weighing in around 136 at the time of surgery and am 5'3" and at the tail end of a 100 pound loss. It's so confusing re the size issue when I read all the posts about some people wanting to go bigger or smaller. I realize this is a very individual issue, but after having arm lift last June, I wasn't prepared for how much more difficult it is to work out the details of BA. Thanks for any reassurances anyone may be able to give. maajda


Answer
Maajida,
Take a metal ruler and stand in front of a mirror close up... hold the ruler across your chest right at your nipple height. You only have to measure 1/2 of your chest from the middle to the end of your chest. At this point a close estimate would be better then none.
What is your ribcage measurement measured snugly right at the breast crease and your height and weight?
You are getting saline?


Answer
Miki, thanks for trying to help. Is the measurement from the middle to the outer edge of the breast? and the ribcage measurement - do you mean all the way around? Yes, on the saline (unders), and I am 5'3" and 136 - my muscle tissue is dense and I weigh heavier than I look. Am so confused about the right number of CC's...will try to take those measurements and get back to you. Thanks for all the help you give to people on this board. MaajidaMaajida,
Take a metal ruler and stand in front of a mirror close up... hold the ruler across your chest right at your nipple height. You only have to measure 1/2 of your chest from the middle to the end of your chest. At this point a close estimate would be better then none.
What is your ribcage measurement measured snugly right at the breast crease and your height and weight?
You are getting saline?


Answer
Miki, thanks for trying to help. Is the measurement from the middle to the outer edge of the breast? and the ribcage measurement - do you mean all the way around? Yes, on the saline (unders), and I am 5'3" and 136 - my muscle tissue is dense and I weigh heavier than I look. Am so confused about the right number of CC's...will try to take those measurements and get back to you. Thanks for all the help you give to people on this board. MaajidaMaajida,
Take a metal ruler and stand in front of a mirror close up... hold the ruler across your chest right at your nipple height. You only have to measure 1/2 of your chest from the middle to the end of your chest. At this point a close estimate would be better then none.
What is your ribcage measurement measured snugly right at the breast crease and your height and weight?
Yes, middle of the chest to the edge of your SIDE . Ribcage is always measured all the way around..add no inches..make sure you measure SNUGLY
You are getting saline?


Answer
Miki, if I understood your directions correctly, it is 8" from the middle around the side to the end of my left breast. My ribcage along the breast creaselines all the way around measures 33". Yes, it will be saline unders, and the proposed incision site is vertically from the nipple down to the crease area because I already have little scarlines there from a /mmh/product/breastreduction/index.vm?procid=3" target=_blank>/mmh/product/breastreduction/index.vm?procid=3" target=_blank>/mmh/product/breastreduction/index.vm?procid=3" target=_blank>/mmh/product/breastreduction/index.vm?procid=3" target=_blank>/mmh/product/breastreduction/index.vm?procid=3" target=_blank>breast reduction many years ago. The surgeon said that it will heal up better there than placed horizontally. As I said, I am confused re the amount of cc's nec. to get a full 36C and no more. I am pretty conservative and don't want the BA to be obvious unless I dress specifically to show off the cleavage area. I am approx. 136 and 5'3". My main interest is in just filling out my usual 36C size with more fullness and a nice little bit of properly separated cleavage. My breasts are pretty wide from the inner edge to the outer edge of each breast and that is a stark reminder of the extra 100 pounds and severe breast deformity of my younger years. All this wt. loss and brachioplasty last June and now the BA and tummy areas coming in April represent a whole new life...and I am so anxious, like everyone else here, to have things come out perfectly. I was not prepared for all the sizing issues and decisions of the BA procedure as compared to the arm lift last June. Thankyou so much again for all your help. MaajidaMaajida,
Take a metal ruler and stand in front of a mirror close up... hold the ruler across your chest right at your nipple height. You only have to measure 1/2 of your chest from the middle to the end of your chest. At this point a close estimate would be better then none.
What is your ribcage measurement measured snugly right at the breast crease and your height and weight?
You are getting saline?


Answer
Maajida, I am 5' 4" and 145-150lbs and had 375cc right side and 385cc on the left and my bwd was 15 and ribcage was around 33, anyway I started out a mid 36c and am now at least a 36d and I have not dropped and fluffed yet! I had a lift last year so there really was not any extra skin to fill out, if you have extra skin to fill out then maybe you wouldn't end up as big as I am. Hope this helps.
Lori


Answer
Lori, thanks so much for writing. I've read many of your posts and you always have such valuable stuff to say. I can't remember exactly what the 'bwd' refers to?? Your info really really helps in giving me a better sense of perspective on all this. Did you have saline unders? Was your recovery painful? How much post op are you? Thanks so much, maajidaMaajida, I am 5' 4" and 145-150lbs and had 375cc right side and 385cc on the left and my bwd was 15 and ribcage was around 33, anyway I started out a mid 36c and am now at least a 36d and I have not dropped and fluffed yet! I had a lift last year so there really was not any extra skin to fill out, if you have extra skin to fill out then maybe you wouldn't end up as big as I am. Hope this helps.
Lori


Answer
I do have saline unders and it was not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be, the worst part for me was coming out of the anaesthetic, and then of course it made me sick, my surgery was around 12noon lasted just over 3hrs and we were home by around 5:45 and as soon as we got in the door and up the stairs, well lets just say it was a good thing we had a bucket with us and this lasted until around 6 the next morning, but once I felt better I found that it helped to eat small amounts more frequently. I actually have atasol 30 for pain which is basically tylenol #3 and I have not had to take any at all, the only thing I have taken and I think this was only on day 2 was extra strength tylenol because there was some throbbing and this helped with it! I kept waiting for day 3 and 4 to be worse but for me they were not, and it hasn't really been painful just discomfort. The bwd is the width of your breast(base width diameter). My surgery was on Monday 23rd so I am not even 1 week post op.
In some of the posts on the board Miki has put the link in to measure your bwd.
Lori


Answer
Hi again...I am so grateful for this communication between us and for hearing about your positive experience. It sounds like we have alot in common re our size and having saline unders. Thanks for the explanation of the bwd - I had seen the explanation Miki (is it Miki or Niki?) gave and lost track of how to get to it. What a wonderful lady she is being here for all of us and our questions. I think I just got overwhelmed with trying to measure myself, but as you can see from the above posts, she's talking me through it. My ribcage was 33" as you mentioned yours was, and the measurement from the center of my breasts around to the outside edge of the left one was 8". I feel strongly that I don't want to be bigger than 36C, which is my size now....I just want to fill it out completely and have some well separated fullness on top. Because of previous breast reduction surgery more than 20 years ago, my breasts are very widely set, and I know each of us is different in how many cc's we need to fill up to a certain size. My surgeon had said something about 450cc's but that sounds too large, unless that is what he feels it would take, considering my individual situation. He is very responsive to my concerns, and when I was in his office last Thursday, I had so many hundreds of questions he did answer. I have plenty of time to speak to him about this issue before the April 7th. surgery date, and I am sure we will work out the details. I really appreciate your sharing of your nausea experience after surgery. I too am extremely sensitive that way. Last June, when I had my arm lift and lower lids done, they gave me some pretty heavy duty anti-nausea meds, but I still got sick anyway. Am hoping they can do something else about it this time. This time, I will be in surgery 5 hours, as they are also doing a revision in the tummy area, and procedures to deal with extra /mmh/product/beauty/index.vm?procid=13" target=_blank>/mmh/product/beauty/index.vm?procid=13" target=_blank>/mmh/product/beauty/index.vm?procid=13" target=_blank>/mmh/product/beauty/index.vm?procid=13" target=_blank>/mmh/product/beauty/index.vm?procid=13" target=_blank>/mmh/product/beauty/index.vm?procid=13" target=_blank>/mmh/product/beauty/index.vm?procid=13" target=_blank>/mmh/product/beauty/index.vm?procid=13" target=_blank>/mmh/product/beauty/index.vm?procid=13" target=_blank>skin on the sides of my chest, hips, and thighs. After nearly a 100 pound wt. loss, I am thrilled to think about all these positive changes. Sorry this reply got so wordy and thank you so much again for the sharing of your own experience. I am so glad to hear that your recovery is going well. Take care, Maajida I do have saline unders and it was not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be, the worst part for me was coming out of the anaesthetic, and then of course it made me sick, my surgery was around 12noon lasted just over 3hrs and we were home by around 5:45 and as soon as we got in the door and up the stairs, well lets just say it was a good thing we had a bucket with us and this lasted until around 6 the next morning, but once I felt better I found that it helped to eat small amounts more frequently. I actually have atasol 30 for pain which is basically tylenol #3 and I have not had to take any at all, the only thing I have taken and I think this was only on day 2 was extra strength tylenol because there was some throbbing and this helped with it! I kept waiting for day 3 and 4 to be worse but for me they were not, and it hasn't really been painful just discomfort. The bwd is the width of your breast(base width diameter). My surgery was on Monday 23rd so I am not even 1 week post op.
In some of the posts on the board Miki has put the link in to measure your bwd.
Lori