1 day post-op w Dr Armstrong, radical breast reduction

Hi folks,

I’m one day post-op from my bilateral breast reduction and liposuction and wanted to give update my timeline and experience. It‘s a long story and a bit of a rollercoaster, but in very unexpected ways!

I submitted my paperwork through Foria back in February 2025. Originally I spoke to NP Andrew Sharpe about a radical breast reduction, after having a breast reduction back in 2020 where I was unhappy with the results and felt that my surgeon didn’t listen to me. He suggested I apply for a mastectomy and have fat transplanted from my stomach to my chest to mimic a smaller breast while removing all the breast tissue.

I ended up having a consultation booked with Dr Natalia Ziolkowski at Gracemed in February 2026, as I was hoping for a sooner surgery. During my consult, I mentioned that I wanted a breast reduction, but it turns out that she only does traditional top surgery (I think she’s a newer surgeon at the clinic).

Instead, she transferred my consultation to Dr Armstrong. I was so surprised, since I know her wait times are super long, but she said once you’re a patient at Gracemed it’s easier to bounce between doctors.

I had my consult with Dr Armstrong a few weeks later in March, and she said that the fat transplant route would be way more expensive, and to just stick with a radical reduction with a tiny bit of breast tissue remaining. She was great, incredibly informative and confident. My surgery got scheduled for May 28. I paid a little over $5k for the liposuction, and the clinic transferred my OHIP funding to cover my breast reduction instead of the full mastectomy.

May 28th rolls around. I was the first surgery of the day, and everything was going smoothly with my pre-op checks, markings done, etc. As I’m walking into the OR, the team tells me to turn back around and go back to the pre-op waiting room. Dr Armstrong comes back in and tells me there’s been a flood in the lobby of the clinic and they have to cancel my surgery so they can address the leak and figure it out. Naturally, I was devastated but Lisa the surgical coordinator said their contingency plan was to try and bring me in the next day.

Dr Armstrong calls me later that afternoon and tells me that the clinic will likely not be ready for the next day, but she managed to find an available OR at the Women’s College Hospital on Tuesday June 2. I live downtown so it’s a much easier journey than the Mississauga clinic, and I was to be the first surgery of the day again, so I was super grateful for her working so hard to find a solution.

Yesterday morning, I’m up and ready at the hospital for 7:45am arrival, gown on, vitals checked, etc. A nurse brings me into a little curtained off bed and tells me to wait. Dr Armstrong comes in and she goes, “I have a funny story for you. There’s another flood.”

The hospital literally had another flood in a room near the OR so they had to delay my surgery another 40 minutes while the hospital was figuring it out. At that point I had to laugh because she was so frazzled and kept being like “this has NEVER happened before EVER” but she was confident that things would be fine so we were able to laugh about it.

Once it was time at around 10:45am (originally it was meant to be 9:45am), the nurse and the anesthesiologist (both lovely women) came to see me and we all laughed about the fact that two floods happened in one week. Dr Armstrong flew back into the room and was cheering “We’re back in business!!!” when she came to do the markings on me.

We were all making jokes in the OR about the floods and how I was just happy to be there right up until the point I was put under. My surgery was an hour and a half long, I woke up and came out of the anesthesia with no nausea, and was back home by 2pm-ish.

My swelling isn’t bad, they wrapped me up in bandages and I have some front-closure bras I bought to prepare for at-home recovery. My swelling isn’t too bad, and I’ve felt pretty comfortable walking around the house in between naps. Pain level is 2/10 for me, I’ve just been taking 2 extra strength Tylenol every 6 hours.

I’m super happy with the results so far, even with the swelling. I went from a 34DD-E to a 34A. Dr Armstrong was so professional with me and very caring, especially considering the unexpected circumstances. The staff at both Gracemed and WCH were both wonderful, and I felt extremely well taken care of at both places. I believe my post-op follow-ups will be done at Gracemed.

TDLR, two floods in one week almost made me miss my surgery, but it happened and I’m so grateful! If anyone has any questions for me, I’m happy to answer.