Hi girls,

I just wanted to let everyone know about my surgery day and to say that my op went well and I am now the proud owner of boobs
BUT As happy as I am about the surgery, I really was not happy with how yesterday went at all!

My admission time was 11.30am Tuesday 26th June in Highgate Hospital, London, and as I live in Cardiff I travelled up the night before with my mum and we booked a hotel for two nights (which was not cheap!!). We arrived at the hospital for 11am and waited in the reception, as was expected seeing we were early. However, we had to wait in the reception until 12.30 when my room was ready, and there was confusion over whether I was an overnighter or a day case – I was a day case.

The room was lovely with a tv and ensuite so I rested there waiting for the nurse and then the surgeon (Dr Chantarasak) would follow. I had to do an obligatory pregnancy test, which I didn’t mind at all, and was weighed and measured by the nurse. It was now around 1.30pm so I enquired as to when I would be taken down for surgery. “Not too long now”.

6 hours before admission time you can’t eat and can only have water up until 2 hours before admission time, so I hadn’t eaten at all since 8pm Monday night and I had my last drink of water at 9am Tuesday morning. I was dying by this point and just wanted to get my boobs and have something to eat n drink.

Someone came to see me around 2pm, he wasn’t my surgeon and he didn’t introduce himself to me properly but I believe he may have been the anaesthetist, but he asked all the same questions the nurse did about my general health and then he left.

I once again asked the nurse when I would be taken down and what was happening and she, once again, thought I was an overnighter, and when informed I was a day case she said “not long now”. I asked how long did I have to be in hospital for after the op and I was told if I was okay I could leave 4hours after my op at 10PM Tuesday night, or if I felt unwell, not until the next morning.

So I texted my PC to enquire how long you usually wait around before an op as a day case and all the confusion with being an overnighter along with being charged for staying overnight etc. and I was told it wouldn’t be too long now and to relax.

Around 2.30pm Dr C came to see me, I thought this would be the moment to talk to him about what was going to happen as I realised I genuinely did not have a clue (aside from what I’ve read about on this forum) about the surgery, my implants, the size, what happens post op etc. I had enquired to my PC several days ago that if possible I would like to change my implant size and I was told that Dr C emailed her to say it wasn’t possible but I can speak to him before the op as this would be only time I’ll see him (since our first 20min encounter last month).

My surgeon came in, marked my boobs for surgery, and took photos. I asked him when I would be going down for surgery and he said it depends as he still has others to do and he’s going down the list. I told him I’d been there for 3hrs and that I kept getting told “won’t be long now” and he was very blunt with me and said that it wouldn’t be too long. So I said that if the nurse has said I can leave around 10pm doesn’t that mean that my surgery won’t be until around 5pm? And he said he doesn’t know where I’m getting this from as I won’t be long. So again I was left feeling very confused.

My poor mum has a terrible sense of direction so refused to leave my side and actually enjoy some time out in sunny London in case she got lost so waited with me all day, so just before 3pm I told her to go find a cafe and have something to eat as I would be here still for about another hour. The hospital did do food but as we were outside of the lunch times on the menu and my mum wanted to go get some fresh air, she left.

She’d been gone about 15mins when the nurse asked where she had gone and I said out for food and I complained that I didn’t feel too well as I hadn’t eaten or drank in so long so I was told I would need a drip to rehydrate. I was happy with this option, so the nurse went to get me my drip.

She came back a few minutes later and told me that I would be seeing the anaesthetist soon (when? not long now) when Dr C had finished with the girl he was with then. This was around 3.20pm and I thought nothing more of it.

At 3.30 the nurse told me it was time to go down but my mum wasn’t back yet 🙁 so I rang her to tell I was going and that I would see her after. The nurse told me I needed to hurry as it was time to go down, so I hung up the phone and told her I just need to send a group message to my friends as it was finally time, but she told me I couldn’t! She told me that I’d be waiting for this all day and now it was time to go as the anaesthetist was waiting and I didn’t have the time to let my people know that I was FINALLY having my surgery. So I didn’t tell anyone and I went down the hall to the room.

I got there and was greeted by a pleasant lady who ran through the same medical questions, and then we sat there and chatted to each other for 15 whole minutes about my job in a cinema before the anaesthetist actually arrived. I was actually very upset to be going into surgery with NO support system.

The anaesthetist was pleasant too, he fitted a tube in my vein for the general anaesthetic and the nurse held an oxygen mask over my face. It felt just like going to sleep and only lasted about 10seconds!

I woke up quite cold and confused but as soon as I tried to move I realised I was in pain. I was in my hospital bed but in the recovery room I think with an electric blanket underneath me, a blanket over the top of me, and a nice tube of hot air being blown underneath the blanket. That was probably the best part of the day hahaa. I told the nurse I was in pain and she injected me with painkillers, I think it was morphine, and she told me to go back to sleep for a bit.

I woke up as I was being wheeled into my room again around 4.50pm and my mum was there but I was too groggy to speak lol. As I was told I would be there until around 10pm and I was going to try and sleep, my mum went back to the hotel for the night.

Dr C checked in on me and told me the pain I’m feeling is because I had implants under the muscle so to take the pain meds regularly and rest.
I did feel quite queasy though and did not like the thought of eating! But the nurse said I needed to eat something to make me feel better so after taking an hour to eat two pieces of toast, I did feel a bit better so I had dinner from there – leek and potato soup, baked fish in lemon juice with potatoes and veg, and vanilla ice cream. Unfortunately, I had about three bites of each as I was really sleepy! And then I was allowed back to the hotel at 10pm so I got a taxi and my mum met me at the other end.

Sleeping wasn’t too bad, I have a v-pillow so that made things a lot easier!! And I slept right through to this morning. I’m not in too much pain, just keep forgetting to not use my arms as much lol. And I’ve taken off the bandages to put my macom bra on and they’re not looking to bad! I assume they’ll look better once they drop n fluff and obvs heal but for the time being I am happy with my new boobs 😀
They do feel a bit desensitized but that goes away after a week or so apparently but the boobs themselves don’t feel or look fake I was a 32a to start off with and had 300cc under the muscle and I will upload pics shortly.

I don’t mean to rant about the way things went at the hospital, but as I’m sure you all already know how stressful and nerve racking this op can be, so be prepared that you could be doing with a LOT of waiting around. I was in that hospital for 11 hours yesterday which I definitely did not expect and wouldn’t have been able to go home at all if I didn’t force myself to move around and eat etc. so be prepared to let the hotel know you may be late if you’re checking in that day, or make alternate travel arrangements if you have to stay overnight.

Thank you for reading and I hope this helps clear up what happens when it’s your turn 😀