Pdoc Said No To My Surgery!!

Oh. Well in that case, we disagree because I find that view sexist.

Some men refuse to see female doctors for similar reasons, that a female doctor can't comment or understand male related issues. I think the assumption here is that just because the Pdoc happens to be a man, suddenly his knowledge and expertise goes out the door and every suggestion he is making becomes that of a man at a club about to pick up the sexiest woman, not of a person trained in medicine and well aware of the various challenges women face in the society. So it becomes: Men like big breasts so that's why he is cautioning against surgery, right?

I actually have not been "professionally measured" but my plastic surgeon looked at them and guessed around a 40/36 DD....could be larger or smaller. The fact about their size is only partially my problems. When I was only 15 I had a serious case of Mastitis, YES Mastitis, and NO I was NOT pregnant or breastfeeding. I had to go to a breast specialist...I was only 15 and at that time my breasts were only about 34 Cs. That being said... a year ago my breasts grew in less than two months from a 34 C to around a 40DD. That being said you can image the stretch marks, hard and soft tissues and the amount of discomfort from their rapid growth. And then I started rapidly losing weight, causing them to loose breast tissues and cause extreme sag and loose skin. I am only 20 and I DONT NOT want to have my breasts sag to my bellybutton when I sit or for them to lay on my sides when I lay on my back. Another reason for the surgery is I have a strong close history of breast cancer. So I like the fact that when the surgeon does surgery he has a chance to find if their is anything wrong on my insides. Another reason for surgery is my constant pain and tenderness and tough lumps of tissues, when I say lumps I don't mean so hard its cancer, but they need to be "cleaned" out and lifted. I am having a reduction and also a lift. I only weigh 134, but I am muscular and active but I cant be as active as I used to be. And another reason for surgery is simply because I hate them, I hate how big they are, and I don't find them sexually appealing to me or anyone who loves them too, I find that a turnoff...its not about having big breasts, or looking sexy and full. Its about me loving my body again, having less issues with my breasts and being able to do a lot more than I felt comfortable doing before. I honestly don't care what size they are or how much they weigh, the fact that they give me problems and aggravate me everyday is enough reason to go under the knife. And also my two insurances approved...and they dont just approve for everyone. I am only 20, and I need to live my life happy and confidently.

Its not unusual for a psychiatrist to have an opinion over a decision like breast reduction surgery. For gender dysmorphia, standard of care is for a psychiatrist to get two other letters of referral from a T and clinical psych.

It sounds like your psychologist perhaps considers that body dysmorphia is involved, and that the surgery is part of a bigger issue for you. He definitely could have put it in a more delicate fashion.

For what its worth though, psychological issues surrounding decisions about surgery are precisely a psychiatrists business. That's something they are almost uniquely qualified to opine about.

I have also had some female friends who are against my surgery too. Not just my Pdoc, but the fact that he is my Psychiatrist and told me his opinion and reasoning was that I wasn't doing it for the right reasons really ticked me off, like he doesn't believe my real reasons are medical that they are purely psychological. I told my T what he did and T was upset at Pdoc!

I get what you're saying. To a Pdoc apparently everything is psychological. That's their specialty so see psych issues behind a lot of things. I also think it was quite disrespectful of him to cut you off, to not hear you out. That reason alone is enough for me to not want to hear what he has to say because frankly does not seem like he would want to hear what you the client have to say in the first place!

I was only reacting to what I felt was disregard of expert opinion only because of his gender. I hope it did not come across as me invalidating your experience. You reaction to this makes sense to me.

I have not read through the whole thread but I don't know if you're in a position to get multiple opinions on this (not just psych but maybe even other surgeons or doctors). At the end of the day it's your body but just to make sure you are getting into this with all the information available to you. Just a thought.

I agree, but if that was what he was thinking, he should have told me. He has never udder the words gender dysmorphia to me. I am only being treated for GAD. When I told him I hate them in my long explanations of reasoning, he also blew that out of proportion. I don't hate breasts, I hate my large problematic ones that get in my way physically and are sore all the time...that's why I hate them not because I wish I had no breasts and or vagina and wished I had a penis. Has nothing to do with me. Sure I am questioning if I am a lesbian, but I would be what they call a "lipstick lesbian" or one who looks straight and couldn't be gay. I love breasts, on me or on any woman.

For me, it is different if I talk about body stuff with women -even if we disagree. Men tend to think women's bodies are for their pleasure/theirs to possess-an object. Women, in my experience, do not tend to think other women have to do or not do something to please other women.

Two of my cousins (a pair of sisters) both had breast reductions in their late teens. They were both a 34DD and had serious back issues. The younger one had scoliosis as well which exacerbated the issue. The doctor said that if their breasts had been that large because they were overweight-- and there was something they could do about it naturally through diet and exercise--- he would not have wanted to operate. But they were thin-- maybe 120 lbs-- so there simply wasn't any weight to lose. The women in our family simply have large breasts which are disproportionate to our body size. So they both had reductions and it has made a significant, positive impact on their lives. If I were any bigger than I am, I would do it also. But I'm slightly smaller than they were-- a 34D-- so I've simply learned to live with them. The size itself isn't what is so large-- it's the size on our bodies. When you're only a size 4/6 in clothes, having D or DD breasts is disproportionate. It can not only cause back pain but restrict activity, make it difficult to buy shirts/jackets, and attract unwanted attention-- especially in professional settings when you want to be taken seriously by colleagues. I think the only issue to consider would be whether the pain/restriction is solely coming from the large breasts, or whether there is a whole body weight issue. If there is a larger weight issue, a breast reduction may not solve the problem. But if a doctor has evaluated the situation and said that a breast reduction will solve the back pain and other issues, then it seems like a good option. I would put no stock in what a male P-doc is saying; sounds rude, sexist, and ignorant to me.

Interesting fact: I looked up how much a pair of 40DD breasts weigh, simply because I was curious, and they only weigh 6lbs! My 34Ds apparently only weigh 4lbs. That seems crazy. It seems like more.

I actually have not been "professionally measured" but my plastic surgeon looked at them and guessed around a 40/36 DD....could be larger or smaller. The fact about their size is only partially my problems. When I was only 15 I had a serious case of Mastitis, YES Mastitis, and NO I was NOT pregnant or breastfeeding. I had to go to a breast specialist...I was only 15 and at that time my breasts were only about 34 Cs. That being said... a year ago my breasts grew in less than two months from a 34 C to around a 40DD. That being said you can image the stretch marks, hard and soft tissues and the amount of discomfort from their rapid growth. And then I started rapidly losing weight, causing them to loose breast tissues and cause extreme sag and loose skin. I am only 20 and I DONT NOT want to have my breasts sag to my bellybutton when I sit or for them to lay on my sides when I lay on my back. Another reason for the surgery is I have a strong close history of breast cancer. So I like the fact that when the surgeon does surgery he has a chance to find if their is anything wrong on my insides. Another reason for surgery is my constant pain and tenderness and tough lumps of tissues, when I say lumps I don't mean so hard its cancer, but they need to be "cleaned" out and lifted. I am having a reduction and also a lift. I only weigh 134, but I am muscular and active but I cant be as active as I used to be. And another reason for surgery is simply because I hate them, I hate how big they are, and I don't find them sexually appealing to me or anyone who loves them too, I find that a turnoff...its not about having big breasts, or looking sexy and full. Its about me loving my body again, having less issues with my breasts and being able to do a lot more than I felt comfortable doing before. I honestly don't care what size they are or how much they weigh, the fact that they give me problems and aggravate me everyday is enough reason to go under the knife. And also my two insurances approved...and they dont just approve for everyone. I am only 20, and I need to live my life happy and confidently.

I find the bit I bolded offensive.

My breasts are not 'disproportionate'. I wholeheartedly support other women to change and get a reduction if they want to, but that doesn't mean my similar stats look disproportionate, or that it's harder to take me seriously in a professional context

If other people have a problem with the size of a woman's breasts, then guess what - it's THEIR problem.

Oh. Well in that case, we disagree because I find that view sexist.

Some men refuse to see female doctors for similar reasons, that a female doctor can't comment or understand male related issues. I think the assumption here is that just because the Pdoc happens to be a man, suddenly his knowledge and expertise goes out the door and every suggestion he is making becomes that of a man at a club about to pick up the sexiest woman, not of a person trained in medicine and well aware of the various challenges women face in the society. So it becomes: Men like big breasts so that's why he is cautioning against surgery, right?

I find the bit I bolded offensive.

My breasts are not 'disproportionate'. I wholeheartedly support other women to change and get a reduction if they want to, but that doesn't mean my similar stats look disproportionate, or that it's harder to take me seriously in a professional context

If other people have a problem with the size of a woman's breasts, then guess what - it's THEIR problem.

Two of my cousins (a pair of sisters) both had breast reductions in their late teens. They were both a 34DD and had serious back issues. The younger one had scoliosis as well which exacerbated the issue. The doctor said that if their breasts had been that large because they were overweight-- and there was something they could do about it naturally through diet and exercise--- he would not have wanted to operate. But they were thin-- maybe 120 lbs-- so there simply wasn't any weight to lose. The women in our family simply have large breasts which are disproportionate to our body size. So they both had reductions and it has made a significant, positive impact on their lives. If I were any bigger than I am, I would do it also. But I'm slightly smaller than they were-- a 34D-- so I've simply learned to live with them. The size itself isn't what is so large-- it's the size on our bodies. When you're only a size 4/6 in clothes, having D or DD breasts is disproportionate. It can not only cause back pain but restrict activity, make it difficult to buy shirts/jackets, and attract unwanted attention-- especially in professional settings when you want to be taken seriously by colleagues. I think the only issue to consider would be whether the pain/restriction is solely coming from the large breasts, or whether there is a whole body weight issue. If there is a larger weight issue, a breast reduction may not solve the problem. But if a doctor has evaluated the situation and said that a breast reduction will solve the back pain and other issues, then it seems like a good option. I would put no stock in what a male P-doc is saying; sounds rude, sexist, and ignorant to me.

Interesting fact: I looked up how much a pair of 40DD breasts weigh, simply because I was curious, and they only weigh 6lbs! My 34Ds apparently only weigh 4lbs. That seems crazy. It seems like more.

I was talking about myself in my post. I said that my breasts seem "disproportionate" on my body-- because my proportions deviate from the average. It was not a value judgment and I do not think there is anything wrong with the way I look. It is simply a fact that my proportions (height, clothing size, chest size) deviate from the average-- which is why I have an incredibly difficult time finding shirts that are small enough for my body but large enough for my breasts.

The bit in bold reads like a sweeping statement to me. The language you use does not make it clear that you are solely referring to your own body - which of course, I have no opinion on, and it is none of my business what you look like.

Nor is it clear that you disagree with the ridiculous sexism on the part of neanderthal colleagues who can't see past your breasts. The language is almost apologist, and that irked me rather.

However, I see we had crossed wires and are probably actually on the same page.