get a breast reduction

I’ve been waiting for this year, so certain that I was FINALLY going to get my reduction. I planned for this and even found a way to pay with credit cards and now I have to put this surgery on hold because I have to have sinus surgery in October which means I am going to have to put this on hold. I’m having to give up one of my dreams, just haven’t figured out which one. Maybe if I move the boob job to Spring I can postpone the marathon until 2010…

I went to Bravissimo for a proper fitting today. I had grabbed a sports bra on the fly last month and while it fit okay I knew it still wasn’t the right size. Plus, I was hoping to pick up a black one to wear for the MoonWalk.

The Bravissimo in Glasgow has an amazing staff. They are friendly, helpful, and informed. The only problem is their bras do not go past 40, and the ones that do go to 40 generally do not go past G. Bummer.

I tried a 38-J, but since I have to hook my bra together in front and then turn it around, it was way too tight with giant underwire and IMPOSSIBLE to turn around.

There were pretty bras, and functional bras, and naughty bras. Oh my. Lots of on/offs later I finally settled on a style and got one each of black and natural (because my other natural bra broke yesterday). I’ll have to use the new black one for the MoonWalk, though, because I couldn’t afford to buy something separate. Also, at 36 quid EACH, there is no fucking way I’m going to glue or sew anything to this bra.

I start Fat Class on the 16th—so as soon as drop 50lbs I am going to treat myself to one of those purdy bras. With matching panties, yes I am.

wasn’t too thrilled with the doc this morning. It was really hammered home how much he ignores me. I told him 3 times in this one session that I cannot eat seafood because I am allergic and yet he kept dismissing what I was saying as combative and not willing to do what was necessary to lose weight. Fucker.

He’s referred me to the obesity folks, so we’ll see if they can help me. In the meantime, to show how willing I am to get the weight off, I requested (and received) prescriptions for pain killers (for my back) so I can increase my exercise regime.

I received a reply packet back from the NHS that they won’t even consider me for breast reduction surgery because my BMI is too high and my breasts are not big enough. For those of you who have seen me in person, you are probably choking on your beverage and saying wtf? Just how big must the boobage be? Well, unless I’ve been measured wrong and/or the sizing is different in the UK—you need to be an F to override the BMI factor. And I am “just” a DDD.

Now, according to the folks at NHS, I need to lose nearly 5 stone (65 pounds) before I can reapply to even get to the next qualifying step. They do NOT take into consideration the muscle to fat ratio, nor do they consider the pounds that will be coming off from the actual breasts.

HOW I’m supposed to get to that size is not something they can help me with. Do you know how freakin’ skinny I would be at that weight? I have been instructed by the doctor to “exercise and eat properly”. I already eat properly. The fact that PCOS makes weight loss harder to achieve is not something they can assist me with. He can refer me to a nutritionist, which puts me on yet another wait list. As for exercise, yet again he can’t help me other than to say it is “important” despite my limitations because of my back problems and SIZE OF MY BREASTS.

Also, if I were to seek assistance for my depression, that is listed as another disqualifier.

I can continue to bang my head against this wall or I can flip them all the big bird and figure out a way to get the surgery myself. All I need to do is come up with about £5K. I have one credit card that would cover half the surgery, so if I can work my ass off over the next year, I can manage to purchase the surgery myself. That puts buying a car on the back burner, but there is just no way I can live the rest of my life like this.

yesterday, in between the snot-nosed blubbering about my ears, I managed to seriously talk to my GP about what I needed to do to get a breast reduction.

He agreed to complete the referral, so now I wait for them to send me info about the psyche evaluation. Passing that means I qualify for the surgery, but as of yet I have no idea how long the waitlist is (unlike private health, national health means queuing for surgery).

Guess I better get serious about dropping the weight, because I WANT THIS SURGERY.

looks like I just might qualify…

(from the NHS site)

A breast reduction operation may be necessary if you are suffering from psychological distress and physical discomfort.
Physical problems may include: backache, neck pain, shoulder ache, skin problems, poor posture, excessive sweating, rashes (intertrigo) and infections under the breasts, weals or grooves in shoulders from bra straps, and inability to exercise or take part in sport.

Psychological distress, such as: unwanted attention, harassment, self-consciousness, difficulty in finding clothes that fit; and depression.

Private costs for breast reduction can be in the £3500 – £5500 range. Yowza. But I’ve had these things since I was 8 years old. I have to drop the rest of the weight to my realistic ‘ideal’ body size before I can go ahead with surgery. My goal is to have all this done in time to celebrate my 40th birthday (3.5 years from now).