Plastic Surgery- My Journey

So here is a topic I think intrigues many. Whether you have had plastic surgery, want plastic surgery, or are just curious; I believe many at least would like to know about it.

So here's my story:

Growing up I was always super skinny. All the other girls developed before me and I was made fun of for being flat chested. I remember as if it was yesterday. I was in the 7th grade sitting at the lunch table with all my girlfriends and this boy Mike who was a grade above me, came up to our table, tapped me on the shoulder and said, "my friend wanted me to tell you, you're as flat as an ironing board", and walked away. Back then, I wasn't as confrontational as I would be now if something like that happened. I never said two words to the kid, and was just sitting there minding my business, and out of no where there he came. It hurt ... it hurt so bad. I played it off as if I was fine, as to not be any more embarrassed than I already was. I remember saying to my girls, "I'm not that flat ... am I really that flat?!" They looked at one another, then said no ... which of course was a lie because quite frankly, I was flat!

Anyway, some time before the age of 11, I remember being at an amusement park with my grandparents. I was standing on line to go on a water slide and I saw a woman with her daughter. I remember looking at this lady who had absolutely no boobs and thinking, "OMG when I'm older I hope I don't look like that!" Don't ask me why, maybe it was in my genes to want big boobs, lol. And even before that at 6-ish, I remember playing dress up and always stuffing our outfits and using socks to make big boobs. Mine always looked so perfect and symmetrical, my friends' were always lop-sided and different sizes. Who knew later on in life I would be stuffing my bras in high school for real and getting away with it!

The point is, did I get a boob job because of always being made fun of and developing and insecurity about it, or is it in your genes to want to look a certain way? Was all of this a good thing? Did it humble me or hurt me mentally?

I set my mind in junior high that I wanted implants when I was older. At 14, I got my first job at a popular jean store in NY called Havana Jeans. Since then I saved money to put towards a boob job. My family taught me that if you want something in life, you need to work for it, and to always save your money for a rainy day. Finally, when I was 18, I started looking for DRs in my area. I have a rule of 3: always see 3 different doctors, companies, or whatever before making a decision.

October 10th, 2003 - I went under the knife and got my FIRST set of implants. I saved up my entire life and handing over a check never felt so good. I started off a 32AA and went with a 320cc saline implant which brought me to a small C. Many say, when you are considering getting implants, always go a little bit bigger than you think you want, because mentally, once the swelling goes down you'll be disappointed that your boobs are not as big as they were right out of surgery. Its the truth! I was so upset about the size and to top it off, my family thought the same thing but didn't want to say anything to me about it. Not only was I unhappy with the size but I also developed a common complication called Symmastia.

"Symmastia is usually a result of over-dissection of the tissues in the cleavage area. This over-dissection is sometimes done intentionally in hopes of creating or increasing cleavage - other times, its unintentional. Symmastia is commonly referred to as 'breadloafing', or 'kissing implants', or 'uniboob'. With this condition, the implants actually meet in the middle of the chest, giving the appearance of one breast, instead of two."

Mine weren't as bad as the picture but it basically shows what happened. Needless to say, I needed to get them redone.

So five months later, in March 2004, I went and got my boobs redone because of complications with the first. I also increased the size of my implant to from 320cc to a 400cc saline smooth implant placed under the muscle, which made me a true 32C (my back is tiny). My cleavage was fixed (for the moment), my boobs were bigger and I was happy.

I lived with those boobs for almost 6 years and finally at the age of 24, I decided I wanted to switch to silicone and go bigger. The ones I had dropped a lot, also known as "bottoming out" (pictured below). I like high implants. I wanted people to question, "are they real or are they fake?" I didn't want to look too natural.

In August 2009, I used a reconstructive doctor located in San Diego, CA (Dr. Paul Chasan). He took one look and knew exactly what needed to be done. I decided to use the silicone adhesive gel implant, and went from a 400cc implant to 550cc!!! A lot had to go down in the surgery. Stitches were placed internally, below my implants to lift them back to place. Stitches were also placed in the center of my cleavage, to sew the skin and muscle back down to the breast bone, since it wasn't completely sewn down from my second reconstructive surgery in 2004. AT LAST, I was so proud to say I was a 32DD. My boobs were almost in my neck and I was loving it!

When I did my boobs for a 3rd time I decided to simultaneously get the tip of my nose refined. Growing up I had a perfect nose, and then I lost my baby fat and all of a sudden my nose (to me) looked big. I'm Italian so I had a "round tip" and I wanted a more delicate feminine look, so while I was under I did that too.

Fortunately, they didn't have to touch the bone. All they had to do was take away some cartilage around the tip and thin it out. So recovery was not bad at all. Dr. Paul Chasan did an amazing job, and I was super happy with the outcome.

Things didn't stop there though.

A few months after my 3rd breast augmentation my cleavage started to pop up again. Dr. Chasen had warned that this may happen, as my back and ribs are very narrow. There is only so much room to stick two large implants on a small body, without them migrating towards the center and ripping the stitches. But being thick-headed I wanted to go big, so he did it, and hoped for the best.

I realized having 32DD boobs wasn't that great.

I couldn't go to stores and buy 32DD bras. I had to order them, which was annoying, and luxury intimate apparel stores had a limited selection in that size. I went for a check up with Dr. Chasen for my nose and breasts. When he saw my breasts he was really upset. Since in the back of his mind he knew this would happen.  Fortunately Dr. Chasen found a new technique that would solve my problem (my cleavage never staying down) and was ready to preform it.

Shortly after I was booked in with Dr. Chasen for reconstructive surgery (my 4th breast augmentation). He told me I must go smaller because my body can not carry 550cc silicone implants. He brought me down to 500cc implant, performed his new technique on my cleavage and all was fixed! YIPPEEEEE!!!!! SUCCESS AT LAST! I'm now a 32D and couldn't be happier. Its been almost a year since my 4th reconstructive breast augmentation and the cleavage has stayed down, my breast have stayed up and they are the perfect size for me!

Me NOW.. after my 4th surgery. Perfection

As for my lips:

Ive been getting lip injections for years now. I naturally have pretty big lips but I wanted them poutier. I admit, there were times that I have gone over board. I haven't had injections in the last year and I'm liking how things are looking. It can become addictive, but I've grabbed a hold of myself because I think it can age you really fast. I get Juvederm in the outer edges of my upper lip and two spots in my lower to make it very pouty. It's said to last about 6- 12  months.

After all is said and done, I have to say it was a long journey but it was all worth it. I'm for the most part happy, and at the end of the day, that's all that matters.

Before the Lip Injections and Before the Nose Refinement
Here at age 18.






I think for now this is pretty good.

Before I had anything done I would search the web for girls who looked pretty to me and that possibly had work done. I would email them on MySpace back then, to find out what they had done and who they used, but they never responded.  It bothered me so much- I never understood WHY they were so secretive and didnt want to help out someone else in need.  I wish they would've, SO because of it I wanted to share what I could and not be that "secretive" "Iv had nothing done- IM natural" person . If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I'll do my best to answer them.




My husband taught me, "to keep what you have, you give it away." I get it.

I hope you enjoyed this entry, and hope to hear from you soon!

XX
Jennifer