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The
lines round her mouth made her look sad and she grew tired of well-meaning
friends telling her to 'cheer up'.
'You look fine,' I'd reassure
her. And of course, she'd say the
same to me about my boobs.
They'd always been big. But after having Alex I'd gone up from a 34GG to a back-breaking 36J. Dresses were a no-no as my chest was out of proportion on I my size-18 frame.
I
even had difficulty breastfeeding. My boobs were too big for Ale
x to latch onto.
'Please, you've got to do something,' I'd begged
the doctor when Alex had been a few weeks old. Only, I'd been ref
used surgery on the NHS. And there was just no way I could afford a
private breast reduction.
'Don't upset yourself,' Mum had said.
'Maybe they'll shrink back in time.'
But I'd resigned myself to
the fact I'd be stuck with massive boobs for life.
However, no
matter what white lies Mum and I had told each other, thanks to the
christening pictures the truth was now here for all to see. And it
wasn’t pretty.
A few weeks later, Mum and I were chatting. '
I've booked to go to a seminar organised by Linda
Briggs, a cosmetic
surgery adviser,' she announced.
'You're not going on your own, are
you?' I asked, horror stories of 'nip and tucks' filling my head.
'I'll come with you.'
The following week, as we filed into the
room, I was apprehensive. What if they were these bogus doctors you
hear about?
Only, as one
of the surgeons gave a talk,
I began to warm to him. He seemed to really know his stuff. St
ill, it wasn't until he mentioned breast reductions that my ears really
pricked up...
As soon as he'd finished, I dragged Mum over to see
him. 'Do you think you could do anything about these?' I as
ked, thrusting my chest in his face.
'Yes,'
he said. 'Of course,'
He explained that if we flew out to Tunisia,
he could operate on both of us on the same day for a fraction of what we'd
pay here in the UK.
'Let's do it!' Mum squealed, grabbing me
excitedly.
'Why not?' I said. 'We've waited long enough.'
Moments
later we were signing on the dotted line. 'I can't believe we're doing this!' Mum giggled.
She booked in for a face, eye and neck lift with cheek fillers for the grand total of £10,000, while I signed up
for a breast reduction and uplift that would cost me the bargain price of
£5,000.
Even better, for that amount we were both getting full body
liposuction thrown in too. Mum used some of the after losing her
job, while I used my inheritance from my dad.
'He'd have wanted me
to spend it on something that would make me happy,' I said to Mum.
'And
he'd be glad we were doing this together and looking after each other,'
she agreed.
Three months later it was time to say goodbye. I
hated leaving Alex but I knew he'd be in safe hands with his godmother, my
friend Emma.
'Mummy will be back soon,' I promised, kissing him.
He
was too young to know why I was going, but I was sure I was doing the
right thing. If I was happier in myself, he'd benefit too.
Next
I hugged Emma. 'You won't recognise me when I come back!' I joked.
Later,
Mum and I boarded the plane and two and half hours on, we landed in
the exotic Tunisian sunshine. We headed for the clinic,
ready for surgery the next day.
I was excited but scared too. What
if something went wrong?
Mum was wheeled down first. From my
bed, I squeezed her hand. 'Good luck,' I whispered.
'You
too,' she said nervously.
Then I was whisked off.
Five hours
later we emerged together, covered in bandages. 'How are you
?' I croaked. 'I've felt better,' Mum admitted, her face puffy and hidden by deep purple bruises. 'Me too,' I grinned weakly. We looked
like two Egyptian mummies wrapped so tightly in bandages.
I looked
down at my chest. I d already see my breasts were much smaller.
Not only that, for the first time since I was in my teens, they were
sitting pertly under my chin!
'They look tiny' I said to Mum, even
though they were still a sizeable FF-cup.
The next day we felt much
better. The surgeon came to check on us and told us both ops had
been a success.
'Between you, I sucked away almost 10 litres of fat!'
he exclaimed.
'Wow! There'll be nothing left of me at this rat
e! I laughed.
After three days, I got a proper look at my new
boobs. They were a bit battered and bruised, but size-wise they were
just perfect.
Soon we were well enough to hit the sunbeds on the
beach.
We looked ridiculous all black and blue in our body
stockings and bandages, but we couldn't stop grinning at each other.
I
pointed to a bronzed beauty strutting around in her tiny bikini. 'That'll
be us next year!' I said.
'You bet,' Mum grinned.
The
following day we flew back to the UK, two brand-new women.
I
couldn't wait to see Alex. He didn't seem to notice anything different about me, except the huge smile I had plastered on my face. But he definitely clocked the way Mum's face lit up with happiness whenever
she saw him.
As the days passed, our bodies continued to change.
Over the next few weeks, thanks to the liposuction, I shrank from a rounded size
18 to a trim size 14. Mum went down a dress size too..
Two
months after our ops, my cousin was getting .married so we had the perfect
excuse to show off our dramatic transformations. 'You look incredible!'
relatives shrieked as they crowded round me and Mum at the wedding.
'I didn't recognise you!' my cousin said, visibly shocked, as I flounced
around in a perfectly fitting size-14 dress. 'I thought you
were sisters.'' a friend of the bride gasped when we told her
And not
one person told Mum to cheer up!
Afterwards, we couldn't wait to
see the photos. And for the first time ever, they didn't disappoint.
They were the perfect reminder of a great day. We looked glamorous
and gorgeous, just as we'd hoped.
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