Patient Stories: Rebekah
Rebekah got a Breast Augmentation by Dr. Mobley and talks about her experience with the procedure and amazing results.
To meet with Dr. Mobley, request a consultation at Sarasota Plastic Surgery Center or call (941) 366-8897.
I initially decided to get my enhancement when the FDA approved the silicone in 2008. I didn’t have the money. On my deployment, I was making a little bit extra. I was able to do some research in all my copious amounts of free time. Not a whole lot. I’m very particular about what I wanted. I had been searching, actually for a couple of years at that point. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to do it in Florida. While I was in Iraq I had to get a job. I was laid off while I was gone. I was unsure. It was either Virginia or Florida.
I had family here, so I figured it was a safe bet to look in this area. I had been looking through a lot of different websites with their photographs. I tried to match a before and after that looked like me before and what I wanted to look like after without being all torpedo tube-ish. I also wanted to be natural.
The first doctor I spoke to was actually in Hawaii, in 2008. I just didn’t feel comfortable with him. He really didn’t put me at ease. I put it off for a while. I wanted it to be as natural looking as possible and not completely obvious. I was really interested in a result that was going to be as little enhanced as possible. I had stumbled on his website online in Iraq. I ended up emailing the nurses and asked them if they would be willing to do a consult by email, initially, to see. I had to go into my little, tiny room and find one of the two other females there to help me take a picture with my cellphone and sneak it into the computer and upload it so that nobody else could find it and then send it out and email it in and see if I was going to be able to get a spot in.
Once I heard back from the nurses, they were very, very helpful. They gave me feedback on the photographs that I sent. Dr. Mobley was able to tell me that he felt really confident he’d be able to achieve the look that I was getting, that I was hoping to get. Then, it was just up to me getting back to the country. It was probably about 4 months, well, 3 or 4 months before I actually got to the doctor’s office, because I was still on my deployment and I had to get back. I had everything scheduled for that date that I would be for sure in Florida. My first visit to the office was, I think about a week before I had my actual surgery, where I met Dr. Mobley and we tried out all the different sizes, because we had to figure out what fit in size. We went with the implants that I had chose. I was very happy.
I ended up looking through many websites. I had been looking at many different websites for a couple of years. I had tried to figure out how to navigate through where the photographs were. Some people had categories by different sizes, from one size to the enhanced size. Some people did it by body weight, age, etc. I basically was looking for someone who had photographs that were described well and categorized easily so that you could go find what you were looking for. I was able to go onto, I don’t really think I went to his site initially by name. It was that I think I found the photographs on his site to be the most helpful. I was able to navigate through and find the results that looked like what I wanted. Then, he also had been certified and proficient with the silicone implants, is what I ended up getting. I wanted to find a doctor that had done a lot of silicone implants, that the results looked natural and non-fake porn star or Hollywood. I didn’t want it to be obvious in clothing. I felt really confident that his…
The photographs. I was really drawn to the photographs. I went back and forth and looked through several different photographs. I ended up going back to his website the most often. I found a patient photograph on the site of a female woman who was near my age who had a before similar to what I was and her after was beautiful. I kind of, I was very worried about that actually. I think that was the biggest thing that paused on my, is that I, you know, from everything I read was that you just enhanced what was already there. The shape that you have is what you end up just making a bigger shape of what shape you have already. In order to get the look that I wanted, I thought there was going to be a little bit of trouble with it. I really honed in on the look that I had before, which isn’t very common. Then, the result after.
There had been several other sites that had women who had a before look that I had. Their after look was, I don’t know, I just didn’t like it. I’m not sure if they liked it. I didn’t want to look like that. Basically, it was the photographs. Then, all of his credentials and education and experience was very helpful. I looked up all the different certifications and boards that he was a part of. I was impressed with all of it.
Interviewer: Perfect. Talk about the consultation. The first time you met and how you got sized. Talk about that initial consultation and then we’ll talk about the surgery.
Interviewer: Initially, I spoke with the nurses. They told me to go into the room where I waited for Dr. Mobley and I met him. He was very nice. I started chatting him up. He was very, very friendly. He seemed very intelligent. I work with a lot of really intelligent people. That was comforting for me, at least. When I expressed the concerns that I had about the shape and placement and the type of size I wanted, I wasn’t going in to just get huge. I wanted to be feminine and I wanted to not be obvious and natural as possible. Not natural as God made me, but natural the way I wanted to look naturally. He was very reassuring. He allowed me to, initially I think I went through maybe 4 or 5 different sizes. I ended up changing my mind a couple of times. He was very patient and explained the differences between the different profiles of the implants. There’s high profile, moderate profile and the base size and how it will look and where it was placed and limitations based on the implants and realistic expectations.
We went through, I think, 3 or 4 different sizes. I settled on the moderate profile because I didn’t want to get the real high, straight out look. He actually told me he was worried that I might look a little matronly. I was like, “Well, I kind of just want to …” I wanted to be as natural as I can be. He said that he had to have what I chosen initially for the size and then a back up. I had to chose a secondary, in case on the day of surgery, that when he went in and was unable to fit in what I had asked for, he had a backup. The silicone come pre-filled.
The morning of, I arrived at the doctor’s office. I was a little bit, I don’t know, I was a little scared just because going under, to me, is a strange experience. I went with my dad actually. He took me and he dropped me off. I’m sure he wanted to go tell his friends about that. He was in there with me. I got to the nurses. They were very, very nice. It was very comfortable. It was an office. It wasn’t like a sterile hospital that was just like unfriendly. It was cozy and warm. They were all very, very nice.
I went in. I changed into my robe. The nurse prepped me for the surgery. To be honest, I don’t even remember going under. That’s good. That’s a good thing. When I woke up my dad was there with me. Dr. Mobley was there as well. He said everything had gone well and he was able to use the implants that I had initially chosen. He didn’t have to use the backup. He said it was successful and I was sent on my way home. I slept really well that night with painkillers.
I had actually compared notes with a couple of girlfriends of mine who had gone through surgeries before me. They had some troublesome recoveries. Being in the military, which I was at the time, we have to be able to workout. I kind of did this a little incognito and relied on everyone’s bad memory, so they wouldn’t notice. I really was interested in recovering fast. My placement was beneath the muscle as well. My recovery was going to be a little bit longer than if I had gone above, but I’m happy that I chose that for sure. The week of my recovery, I know there was a little bit of discomfort. It really wasn’t bad. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected. I never had a major surgery before, so I can’t compare. I’ve had injuries before that have been very painful. In fact, I think the dentist is worse. I had my wisdom teeth removed and that was more traumatic.
I think I watched some videos about the surgery when I had first done my research, 2 years prior to it. I decided after being completely freaked out that I wasn’t going to do that. I was happy. I think some ignorance is bliss. I’m glad I wasn’t awake for it. My recovery was actually very smooth. After the first week, I was able to go back to work. The swelling had gone down, for the most part. I went in for a follow-up check-up to make sure everything was going well. I had some stitches removed. Everything had been progressing really, I was healing well. I was healthy. I never got sick. The only thing I really noticed is when I was opening doors, it felt weird. That was the only thing that was creepy. I was like, “Oh my gosh! This is so strange. Something weird.”
Other than that, I actually do a lot of crossfit. I was able to get right back into my crossfit routine. I think I kind of treated some of my upper body workout with kid gloves. I was back into normal working out within about 3 weeks because I was comfortable. I became extremely comfortable after 4 weeks, then back to complete normal by 6 weeks.
Then, I was saying, I had compared notes with a couple girlfriends I had known who’d done it as well. The had not nearly as successful recovery. They were very shocked that I was able to get back to the routine that I had. One in particular had the same procedure that I had gotten. She had the same type of implants. Her recovery time was about 2 or 3 times as long as mine. She wasn’t as happy. I think she remembered telling me she wished she had gone to Dr. Mobley. I was like, “Hey! You know, if you have to do anything again, I’ll tell you where he’s at.” I’m a huge advertiser, by the way. My mom was like, “You shouldn’t tell everyone that you get this.” I’ve told some people who’ve been interested.
I’ve really heavily been recommending because I may not have emphasized this as much before, but I research a lot. I do for work as well. I had looked a long time. When I was able to be comfortable with Dr. Mobley, with his approach and his results, that was huge for me. I think I researched every single different procedure, under muscle, above the muscle, what kind of implants, where the placement, where the incision was and had thoroughly done my homework. I would do it all again. Same way.
As far as being happy about this, I have not regretted it for one minute. I don’t wish I had gone bigger. I don’t wish I had gone smaller. I think I was able to pick the perfect for me. The reasons for my decision weren’t necessarily that I felt like I was too small or anything. I had been so self-conscious. I’m a fairly tall girl. I was athletic in high school. I never, girls are interested in these things. When you’re little and your friends all get to get their first bras. I was like, “Mom, I think I’m ready.” She was like, “No. You’re not.” It took several years.
Finally, I was like, “This is it?” Being a taller, larger I say, I feel like I’m not petite and small. I had always been self-conscious about the fact that I had very small breasts. Actually, the small was not as worrisome to me as the shape. That was primarily the reason why I chose Dr. Mobley, because I was concerned about the actual shape of my breasts.
I, at the time, I worked for Victoria’s Secret for a couple of years. I couldn’t fit into any of their bras. They didn’t make it in my size. They just skipped right over. They basically assumed if you were a 38A, well, there’s no such thing. They don’t sell it. I actually had to go get bras in European countries. Their sizing is a little bit different. It was a pain. I hated it. I was never able to find anything that was cute like everyone else got. Yes, it’s superficial. I kind of justified it. I was like, “Well, you can work out. You can diet and exercise. You can tone this. You can lose weight here, but you just can’t make yourself grow.” For girls, it’s lucky we have that option.
I had been concerned about the saline and then FDA approved them. Coming around to Dr. Mobley again, I could have gone a lot of different places. At the time, I wasn’t sure where I would even live. I’ve lived all over the United States. I have family and friends everywhere. If I had found Dr. Mobley in Hawaii, I would have used him there. I f I had found him in Colorado, where I had family as well, I would have gone there. The location of the doctor that I chose was less important than the results and the kind of doctor that I was going to be working with. I just lucked out that I live in Tampa. It’s an hour away, and happened to get a job back here. It’s been really great.