Something I’ve Been Thinking About Doing for Years
Something big is happening tomorrow that I’ve been thinking about for pretty much my whole adult life. You may have seen me share in my social media stories that I’m having a breast reduction. To say that I am nervous is an understatement. Having surgery involves trusting the people who will be taking care of me and that my body is going to know what to do to heal after. As a bit of a type A personality, that’s tough for me.
Despite that, I know this is something that I want to do. It’s happening after a lot of consideration, 3 years of actively trying to find a surgeon and be given a date, lots of treatments with various health professionals to alleviate neck and shoulder discomfort, and my breasts taking up way too much room in my head.
I found out that a date was available just over a month ago, but I’ve been waiting for well over a year, so I’ve had lots of time to make sure this is what I want and to prepare myself as best I can. You or someone you care about may have a surgery coming up, and these tips are helpful to consider for pretty much everyone, so I thought I would share what I’ve been doing leading up to and plan to do after surgery to get my body as healthy as possible and promote healing.
Regular strength training - while strength training has been a somewhat regular part of my life since joining the FASTer Way almost 7 years ago, I have been consistently doing the 3 strength training and 2 muscle building HIIT cardio workouts each week since August. Having more muscle mass provides a storage site for protein, which is essential for healing. It also helps to improve immune function, reduce inflammation, promotes better blood circulation and helps to better mobilize energy for repair and recovery processes.
Prioritize protein - this kind of goes along with #1 - we need the amino acids from protein in order to build muscle. They also help to promote tissue repair and growth, collagen synthesis needed for wound healing, are a building block to make immune cells needed to heal, prevent infection and reduce inflammation. The goal is to eat about 1 gram of protein per gram of ideal body weight.
Supplement with creatine - creatine deserves its own newsletter because it is pretty amazing stuff that I think pretty much everyone over 40 should consider taking! I put a scoop (5g) in my water bottle when I work out to help with building muscle mass and strength, and also because of the strong evidence it has for helping to preserve cognition with aging. It will be even more important post surgery because it’s involved in the production of ATP, the primary source of energy for our cells… and healing requires a significant amount of extra energy. It also has anti-inflammatory and immune enhancing properties, as well as helps to stimulate new blood vessel growth to bring more oxygen and nutrients to the injured area.
Take extra antioxidants- these are helpful to correct damage that happens to our cells increasingly with age, and it can be very helpful to increase them even more post surgery. There are lots of different options to help with this, but I plan to take a combination of vitamin A, C, E, selenium and zinc. These help to protect the tissues from so that they can heal more efficiently. In doing so, they reduce inflammation, enhance immune function, and support important enzymes.
Clear my schedule and give myself the chance to prioritize healing. This is a tough one for me with 4 kids and a tendency to be “doing” most of the day. I know my husband will be amazingly supportive like always, and we have had a discussion with our kids that they are really going to have to pitch in and help for the first week or so after I come home. Hmmm.. that doesn’t sound so bad. :) Rest is essential to give your body a chance to focus its energy on recovery, promote growth hormone which stimulates tissue repair and regeneration, minimize physical stress (that can increase inflammation) and keep your immune system nice and strong.
Unlike many other surgeries, this is one that I have chosen for myself. What ultimately led to my decision was the realization that my chest has taken up way too much physical and mental energy for me since I was a teenager. Life is short, and I have heard nothing but positive outcomes from other women who have decided to have this surgery. If this will allow me to move more freely and comfortably in my life, then it will 100% be worth it.
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