Thanks Erin! 6 months?!?!? Geez! Okay, I guess I should have a seat and get comfortable. Do you feel the difference in appearance immediately (2-3 weeks post-op) vs. 6 months was minimal or drastic? I'm wondering how much of what I see is the "new me", and how much is swelling.

I had some degree of swelling for over 6 months. The worst of it was before the 12-week mark.

Hi all! I know everyone is different, but I'm curious as to how after surgery did it take for your swelling to go down? I'm 4 weeks post-op (ETT, BL, AL) and still have quite a bit of swelling. Mostly I'm just sick of the compression garments. I appreciate any information you can provide. I need to see some light at the end of the tunnel!

Check with your surgeon on when a mammo is OK...usually I like to wait 4 to 6 months. There can be areas of scar or fat that warrant further workup after any kind of breast surgery, and its never a bad idea to get your PS involved as they may well know what or where that area is (usually at the bottom of the breast.)

yea - that's why I went with someone in Chicago, even though Dr. Zachary is more expensive than some of the other superstars. I'd have to factor in the travel expenses (plane tickets for two, plus a couple of weeks at a hotel), plus I'd only be able to go to maybe two post-op appts, and there's the issue of what do you do if there are complications... Figured in the long run, it was just better for me to stay in the area (Chicago is a couple hours from here, but it's do-able. I made it to four post-op appts after phase 1, and if there was some serious complication, it would be easy enough to drive down there...)