Nicole’s Story
by Nicole
January Contest Winner

When I was in high school, a friend of mine (male - of course!) told me that my body just wasn't "proportioned right". He said that my breasts were too small for the rest of my body. And so my obsession began - someday I would get breast implants!

At the time we didn't have the Internet to gather information like we do today. I read whatever I could find on the subject and even sent off for information when I would find something in a magazine about it. About 15 years went by and I never once stopped thinking about it. I tried the "push-up" bras and even considered trying the pills and creams that were being advertised, but thought that sounded too good to be true so I just kept looking for information.

Right before my 30th birthday I found out that a lady I knew had recently had breast augmentation surgery, so I called her up and asked to meet with her to talk. We met the next day and she was more helpful than I ever could have imagined. She got on her computer and pulled up BI411, we looked at before and after photos, read stories other women had sent in, and then she told me her reasons for having it done and gave me her doctor’s information. I went straight home and called the office and set up my consultation appointment!

While I waited for my appointment day to arrive, I visited BI411 on a daily basis! There seemed to be something there everyday that helped me come up with questions to ask the doctor or there were answers there to questions that I already had! I was also receiving information from the doctor’s office explaining everything to me! I was so pumped - I couldn't wait to get to the appointment!

The day arrived for my consultation with the doctor. I was nervous and anxious and full of butterflies. I took my boyfriend with me for support, and his "humor" when we were alone in the room really helped a lot. The doctor and his staff were very helpful and extremely patient while I tried on the bra with different implant sizes. (this is where my boyfriends humor came in.) It was a very hard decision picking my size because I wanted to look natural and be "proportioned just right". I did NOT want my final outcome to say "Hello - Here we are - Perky as can be!" That was definitely not what I was going for.

Before I left the office that day, I made the appointment for the surgery. During the next month while I was waiting for surgery day, I made many visits to BI411. I was nervous, curious about what I would look like, how I would feel after the surgery, etc., etc. There was always a story to read about where someone else had had these same feelings and it was very reassuring.

And then the day came! My boyfriend drove me to the hospital, telling me all the way there that he loved me just the way that I was and that I could still back out if I wanted to. HELL NO!! This was something I had obsessed over for half of my life - for me there was NO turning back. He stayed with me until they took me into surgery and the next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery! The entire process from start to finish took less than 30 minutes! I remember the doctor telling me at my consultation appointment that I would be in a lot of discomfort the first 24 hours - HE WASN'T LYING! I was in so much pain I wanted to die. I begged them not to make me leave the hospital and all of the nurses reassured me that it would all be better in the morning.

When we left the hospital, we went to stay at a hotel for the night because we lived 3 hours away. There again I was treated with kindness and patience. The hotel staff was wonderful to me. They have a lot of my doctor’s patients stay there after surgery and they even had recliners in the rooms for the patients to rest comfortably in. As the day went on I slept a lot. Towards the evening I seemed to be having more pain than I'd had all day, so my boyfriend called my doctor at home (he gave us his home number right before my surgery). This meant a lot to us because usually you would have to call the office or the hospital and have the doctor paged. He told my boyfriend to carefully loosen my bandage just a little bit - I was instantly relieved of my pain! My doctor even called later to see if I was doing better (not his nurse, but my doctor himself!).

The next morning we had to see the doctor at his office before I could go back home. At this time he removed my bandage and applied an ace bandage - the pain just seemed to disappear! When we returned home that day, I hit the recliner and stayed there for a couple of days just to take it easy. Before I knew it I was back to my old self again.

I returned to see my doctor a few more times after the surgery. At the first visit he removed my two stitches (just one in each breast and you can't even see where the incision was made!), then I returned for a check-up where he showed me how to massage the breasts to make the implants feel more natural, a couple more check-ups and he was telling me to go to Victoria's Secret to buy some new bras and to call him if I needed anything at all or had any questions or concerns later.

That was it! I was finally "proportioned just right"! I felt "natural" not fake! My doctor had changed my life - and I thank him everyday when I look in the mirror.

In case you're wondering, I have seen that guy from high school and I'm pretty sure that he noticed! And as for my boyfriend - Well, he tells everyone "I never was a boob guy until I bought my own set!" We both love them!

As for the wonderful doctor mentioned so many times in my story, his name is Dr. Charles Grado and his office is located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Good luck to all of you!!
Nicole