Breast reduction appointment #1

 I met with Dr Shortt, the plastic surgeon I'd been referred to, today. It was nerve wracking!  We got there a half an hour early, with sufficient time to seriously get me anxious!  All sorts of thoughts were going through my head!

The office is in a posh medical building and they do a whole bunch of cosmetic procedures there.  There's a lot of money that goes in and out of that place!  Even the hand soap and lotion in the bathroom was designer!  The desk staff were humans though and were very friendly!  I don't know what I was expecting, but I was pleasantly surprised!

When we got into the examination room, the doctor let me talk about my reasons for wanting surgery, a thorough history taking, a good discussion on why I'm a good candidate etc..  Then he left the room so I could get into a gown.  He was thorough but respectful, pointing out asymmetry he'd fix, discussed my side boob area, he said theres not much fat there, but if we see the need for it at the time, he'll do lipo in that area to fix that bit.  im not too concerned about the side boob, theyre almost gone now!   he said that i might not even need it with a few more pounds lost!  He examined the lump I drew his attention to on my right breast (I've already had a mammo and its nothing). He wants to have a look at my mammogram results and if he's not happy with what it says, he wants to do another mammo to make sure it's really nothing.  I like that.  Makes me feel like he really cares about the little things.  He seemed like he really loves his job, not that he's all about the money.

He says I'm a great candidate for a breast reduction and he says we'll have no trouble getting it covered by Ontario Health Insurance!

While I was undressed I asked him to look at the loose belly skin, apron etc.  he thinks I'd benefit from a tummy tuck or circumferential body lift.  He's done a lot of research and training in body contouring after significant weight loss and its his area of interest. So I'm really with the right guy!  He says that my loose skin will get worse over the next bit, but a lot will change with another 20 pounds off.  He says I should really think about it, but I should come back after about 6 months at my goal weight.  He wouldn't go into cost of that, saying its based on time in the OR. How much sculpting he needs to do, and the cost would differ depending on if it were a simple tummy tuck or a full body lift.  I know I'll need a full body lift, just based on sag, lol!

Once I was dressed he brought me into his office and went over the surgery, techniques that he uses when someone has sag factor (pretty much a breast lift).  He went over little inns he does to keep the scars minimal without sacrificing shape.  He made a point in saying that he really wanted me happy with the end result.

I have another appointment in 6 weeks where we'll go over what OHIP says, mammo results etc. and book the surgery!  He said they're booking April now, so it'll probably be in May!

I felt like I left with no questions!  Which is rare for me!  Usually I leave a doctors office with more questions than I came in with!