Month: June 2019

Well, I have officially survived my first 2 weeks of recovery! Now, everyone is different… and this is me sharing my experience. I am by no means saying everyone’s experience has been or will be as easy breezy as mine has been. However, mine has been surprisingly easy compared to what I expected.

I was back to work three days after my surgery. There were definitely things I couldn’t do yet, but I don’t like being stuck at home. I figured if I can’t work on the bar, I can at least work windows right? Each day, I pushed myself a little bit more to see where my limits were. This is something I do in every aspect of my life (insert eye roll here), I push myself to my breaking point way more often than I should. Anyway, I definitely over did it on one of those days when I was trying to put milks away after stock came. My coworkers caught me and scolded me, for good reason. I went home in pain, it was my own fault.

I have this character flaw where I don’t like being told what to do. Especially when it comes from doctors… I know, they are the ones I should actually listen to. Usually when someone tells me I can’t do something my response is, “Watch me.” That mentality paired with my freakish pain tolerance are really something else… One of my coworkers saw me on my day off post surgery and said, “I can’t believe you just had surgery the other day, and here you are like nothing even happened.” My response came with a laugh, “Mama didn’t raise no bitch!”

I had a follow-up appointment last week and I was praying so hard that they would give me some clearance to start exercising a little. Surprise, surprise… that didn’t happen. So here I am… loosing my damn mind. Trying to find things to fill my time. Funny story about my appointment though… I almost passed out. They took the tape off of my stitches, out of no where I felt super light-headed and the room started spinning. I told my nurse and she laid me back. I didn’t know what was happening, she said it happens all the time apparently. I thought it was just because I hadn’t eaten yet. We laughed about it, and I didn’t completely pass out so that was a plus.

If I am being completely honest, I was anxious about having my boobs done. My mind was racing in the waiting room, “What if they are awful?” “What if they’re too big?” “What if I hate them?” It was stressful the more I thought about it, but the end result… I couldn’t be happier. I am borderline obsessed with them… they turned out so much better than I hoped or imagined. My self-confidence has improved, not that it was terrible before, but I was always self-conscious about my boobs. There’s a song that has a verse that resonated with me, “some days you feel so good in your own skin, but it’s okay if you want to change the body that you came in.” All I wanted was to be proportional physically and no amount of exercise was going to help out my boobs. I have wanted to do this for so long and I was finally able to do it! Best money I have ever spent 😉

Yes, I had my boobs done. Let’s just start right there, mainly because it will be pretty obvious to anyone who knows me or follows my social media. There will be no images of my bare breasts, so if that’s why you’re here feel free to move along.

Not that I feel the need to justify my decision, but I’ll share with you why I chose to do this. It’s something I have always wanted to have done. When it comes to my body, I’m pretty happy with everything I’ve worked for. But… no matter how hard you work in the gym it doesn’t exactly do a whole lot for your breasts aside from making them smaller (usually). My personal journey’s (yes plural) with weight gain and weight loss took a toll on my breasts. Mainly when it came to pregnancy and breast-feeding my son.

I would never change my decision to breast feed, I was very fortunate to be able to do so. What it did to my body though… was take my barely “B” boobs all the way up to “DD” boobs and right back down to barely “B”. After the great deflation, as I like to call it, I was extremely self-conscious of my boobs. I hated them. I would have given anything to have them “fixed”. I worked my ass off in the gym to look the way I want to look, but nothing I did there would do anything for my boobs. The decision to have them done was years in the making and not a rash decision by any means. It was what was right for me. I did it for myself and no one else.

I saw Dr. Kathleen Waldorf out in Portland. My experience there was amazing. Walking in there for my consultation as uncomfortable as I was, I was warmly welcomed and made to feel comfortable. They had this amazing machine that took pictures of you they could show you what your after will look like on your actual body. I mean, how cool is that? Dr. Waldorf listened to everything I wanted and made sure to show me options she felt were what I was looking for. We decided on 310cc silicone implants, for those of you wondering. I left that consult excited to make this next step for myself.

Two Days ago, I had my procedure. I bought the most comfy jammies so I could go right to bed when I got home. My friend Meg drove me out there and helped me with my kiddo for the time I was in surgery until his Dad got off work (You the real MVP Meg!!). She dropped me off and I was trying to remain calm, anesthesia and I don’t get along well. So I tend to get a little bit of anxiety knowing I have to go under. The nurse called me back and I continued to play it cool while shaking on the inside. She had me change into this funky hospital gown and hop into bed. Then gave me warm blankets and hooked my gown up to a machine, which explained so much. It was a heated gown… this was some Kardashian level extra stuff guys!!

After about 15 mins of hooking me up to IV’s getting my vitals, they wheeled me on back. That’s where things got a little foggy, obviously. I woke up disoriented and drugged up, but otherwise feeling fine. I was given a muscle relaxer and some apple sauce. Once I was fully awake they allowed Meg and my son to come back and see me. Grayson was very excited to see Mommy, which warmed my heart. I sat up so I could get dressed and started to get nauseous. They quickly gave me some medication in my IV, but it wasn’t soon enough. I threw up and I apologized for it, even though it was in the little blue thing I still apologized. The nurse kept telling me I didn’t have to apologize, but that’s who I am.

I found out after a little bit that they had given me oxy while I was out, which explained the vomiting. Narcotics like that always make me incredibly sick and I ALWAYS throw up.  I asked for extra puke bags for the drive home because I knew it was inevitable. Sure enough we’re almost home and I am yacking again. Thankfully Meg was unfazed by my puking, again the real MVP. We got home and I was in and out of consciousness for the entire day. I took nothing for pain other than extra strength Tylenol, because I was not about to fill my prescription for Oxy. I was beyond over throwing up.

One instance I do remember is my mom coming home to check on me she walked into my room and said, “Well I can still see your face over your chest, so I guess I don’t have to call you Dolly Parton!” Yes ladies and gentleman, my mom is hilarious and also the coolest.

The next morning I was still pretty groggy and sore, but okay for the most part. I hadn’t looked at what I had going on under my shirt yet, so I unbuttoned it and revealed my bandages and wrap. at the top I saw cleavage… I Erika Hopper, have legit cleavage for the first time since breast-feeding! I was shocked that even wrapped up they looked so good!!

I had pretty full mobility by the time I got to my follow-up appointment. We unwrapped everything and I got to see them for the first time, even while still taped up they were exactly what I was hoping for. The nurse said they looked great and I shouldn’t have any issues. We then put on a surgical bra, that I got on Amazon for super cheap, and we were on our way. I went back home even more excited because I was coherent enough to appreciate what I now had going on.

Today I was finally able to get out of the house on my own. Sitting at my usual spot in my favorite coffee shop, I’ve been writing this latest post. This is strictly my experience and it’s different for everyone. If I can give anyone one piece of advice when it comes to making a decision to have this procedure, it would be this… Do it for YOU and no one else. Don’t allow anyone to pressure you into it or feel like you have to. It’s YOUR body, do what YOU want to do.