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Visitors' Stories -- Ricci - Benelli Lift (pictures)I am 30 years old and have two loving, beautiful children that are 4 ½ and 2 ½ years old. After nursing my second child, there was a dramatic change in the look, consistency, size and feel of my breasts. I was never very large breasted, but I'm not a very big person either. I am 5'4, weigh 115 pounds and am small boned. However, after I nursed my 2nd child, I sagged severely (ptosis 2), had very little breast tissue left but plenty of loose skin, which just hung there when I bent over. I also had stretch marks on my breasts (ugh)! I was embarrassed to take my clothes off and didn't like what I saw when I looked in the mirror. About 2 years ago I met with a plastic surgeon and was only interested at the time in getting a lift (Mastopexy) because I thought that implants were unnatural most men didn't like them. I was scared to have surgery though and didn't want all of the scars associated with a full Mastopexy. I also didn't like the idea of being smaller after the surgery then I was (from cutting away excess skin). Earlier this year (1999), I started to look more into Mastopexy and breast augmentation on the Internet. Luckily, Nicole's site was recommended by a PS and was the most useful website that I found on this subject to date. I spent many hours reading and looking at 'before & after' pictures and began corresponding with a few PS's. I was excited to learn about a less invasive Mastopexy procedure called a "Benelli" lift (also known as a "Donut" lift). This lift is when they cut the skin around the entire nipple then pull it together areola without also cutting vertically down from the nipple. Some PS's didn't recommend getting a lift and implants at the same time. Some did, but didn't recommend going very large to avoid putting too much pressure on the incisions. A few others suggested going really big (over 500 cc's) to avoid a lift all together, however, I did not want to go that big since I did not feel that would fit my body. Through this website, I met with Dr. Silberman and decided while I was his office that I wanted to get the surgery. The instant 'before' pictures he took synched it for me. I became 100% serious about having the surgery and felt comfortable with his style and "before and after" pictures. He said I could get the Benelli lift AND the implants during the same surgery, but he only recommended that I go to a small C. I explained my desire to be a full C / baby D and he said he would see what he could do to achieve my goal. He estimated that I would get 325 to 375 cc's. Even though I liked the way anatomical implants looked, he liked the round implants (Mentor, smooth) and said that's what he usually uses. I do wish I was more assertive with my desires, but I did like his "after" pictures and decided that I should trust him if I was going to pick him as my plastic surgeon. The night before my surgery I was taking a redeye home from California and did not sleep a wink. This was a bad idea but unfortunately I had to get the surgery done on 6/10 due to timing reasons at work. The morning of the surgery I was very nervous and almost wanted to back out (but of course, I didn't). My surgery wasn't until 2 pm and I was starving from not eating or drinking since midnight and had jet lag to boot. After surgery, the first thing I remember was coming out of the anesthesia and sitting up because I felt like I was going to throw up. Then I remember this excruciating pain hit me like a ton of bricks on my chest. Then I felt the nurses holding me down and telling me that they gave me anti-nausea medication and I must have went back sleep (or passed out). When I woke up again, the pain was unbearable. It hurt to breath and I couldn't move my arms. My chest hurt so badly, I never imagined that the pain was going to be so horrible. After I was more awake, they gave me some pain medication, but it gave me little relief. I couldn't imagine getting out of bed and getting in a car to go home. I had a 1 ½ hour ride home and the thought of moving was frightening. On top of the pain, my heart-rate was up to 130-140 beats per minute and the nurses were concerned. I asked if I could stay overnight and they said I could, but it would cost between $600-800. I would have paid over a $1,000 at that point and quickly said "no problem". In my hospital room, they gave me shots of low dose morphine (I think 10 mgs) every 3 hours. It helped me sleep, but the pain was still unbearable. At 4 am in the morning I woke up and it was dark, I was by myself, I couldn't reach the nurse call button because it was too high in the bed and it hurt way too much to move my arms, my back was killing me from the surgery and laying on it so long, and I couldn't yell because it would hurt my chest. I think I had an anxiety attack and was very scared (some of the women on this website were given Valium or something else to help them relax/sleep after the surgery,.. I highly recommend that and wish that I did). I finally reached the button and when the nurses came in I asked them to give me something for the anxiety. They didn't, but turned the light on and said that the next pain shot should help with the anxiety too. I thought to myself "what have I done?". The next day I slept off and on and just flat out didn't want to move or talk. I almost paid for a 2nd night in the hospital, but decided to save the money and suffer at home. In retrospect, I wish I demanded something stronger for the pain. After talking to a lot of women via this web-site, I think I had more pain then some women since I also got the lift. Plus unders are more painful then implants placed over the muscle. Day 3 I wasn't feeling much better and was very depressed. I was very bruised and my incisions were very red and sore looking. My husband was being great watching the kids, but I could tell it was beginning to wear on him. My breasts were rock hard and were very big and high! I needed help getting from a lying position to a sitting position. I also couldn't lift my arms up very high and felt very weak. I was waking up in the middle of the night due to the pain and thus not sleeping well. Day 4 I finally started to feel better. I was still very tired, but not in as much pain. I wasn't allowed to take a shower until after my follow-up appointment and badly desired one. Day 5 I started to get a lump on my lower right breast. I wrote an email to my PS but he said not to worry about it. I was concerned that it was a blood clot, but he didn't seem worried. I was getting good at taking 'half' baths! Day 6 I went for my first follow-up with my PS. He said everything looked great and took my ace bandage off. He told me not to worry about the lump. My first shower felt great. Day 7 - I went back to work. I was really dragging and was still taking my pain meds like clockwork. When I woke up in the morning they felt like bricks! I needed to take my pain meds a ½ hour before I got out of bed before I could move comfortably. Taking care of my 2 young kids was still difficult but getting a little better. (cont'd) (e-mail = redlight@ptd.net) See pictures of Ricci before and after.
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