This is the Body I Should Have Had

Kelly knows that not everyone will understand why she decided to have breast enlargement in San Diego at age 19. But that's not what counts. What matters is that Kelly made a very personal decision about breast augmentation after doing plenty of research for herself and talking things over with her mom.

How it All Started

"I'm 5'8" and kind of athletic," says Kelly. In other words, she's not a tiny, delicate young woman. She says she often felt self-conscious about her 34A size. "I wear size large shirts, but then I was so small on top. My clothes never really fit right." Kelly recalls she always felt out of proportion.

She daydreamed about having bigger breasts but didn't do anything about it until one of her girlfriends got interested in plastic surgery. Along with her friend, the college student started looking for surgeons who perform breast enlargement in San Diego. As it turns out, her girlfriend put her breast augmentation plans on hold, but the more Kelly learned about it, the more intrigued she felt. "As soon as I started looking into it, it kind of clicked that this is something I could actually do," she recalls.

Step 1: Web Research

Kelly visited many plastic surgery Web sites as she started thinking more seriously about the procedure. She learned a great deal through her research. "I started reading testimonials and looking at before and after pictures," she says, and right away she noticed there were many young women who had surgery. "I saw a bunch of girls my own age," Kelly remembers. Through the stories she found and the other information she learned from plastic surgery sites , she also came away thinking that the procedure was not really a drastic move. "I started to realize it wasn't as intense as I once thought."

As a result of her research, Kelly selected three plastic surgeons to visit in person. She made her choices based on two important considerations: the before and after photos and the Web site content. She remembers getting very clear impressions from the photos. "Some of the work I just didn't like," she says. She was equally struck by how professional and thorough some sites were, but not all. In her words a few were "just bad" – not well written and not informative enough. "Some, well, it's hard to put into words. Some Web sites were just more comforting than others."

Step 2: Consultations

At first, Kelly told herself she would arrange consultations—taking her mom along—to gather more information she could consider over time. But as she met with her three plastic surgeon candidates in San Diego, breast enlargement started to seem less like a possibility and more like the right move. She saw Dr. Richard Chaffoo last, and at that appointment all the pieces fell into place. "My mom had suggested I consider waiting a few years, even though she knew I had always wanted to be bigger," Kelly says. After the consultation, Kelly told her mom, "This is the guy and I want to do it." Her mom agreed.

Asked why Dr. Chaffoo was "the guy" for her, Kelly remembers it was a little bit of everything—from the office to the people. She liked the warm atmosphere of the practice and the location right on the Scripps Medical Center campus. It's quite a large office, she explains, with a big surgery room. "He shares his space with two other surgeons, and they have the most nurses." With all those assets, Kelly recalls feeling she would be in good hands.

Every person she met at Dr. Chaffoo's practice made her feel welcome and reassured. About Dr. Chaffoo she remembers, "He gave me so much more than the other doctors. He was more thorough in explaining everything. And he has a ton of experience." Dr. Chaffoo acquainted Kelly with today's silicone gel implants and told her he could give her full size C breasts that would look and feel very natural. "I felt comfortable with him," Kelly says. "I had the feeling he was there just to make me happy and to work with me to figure out what would be best for me."

Surgery and Recovery

Kelly scheduled her surgery for two months down the road, in May of 2007. Rather than feeling nervous, once everything clicked into place Kelly felt excited. "I was on Cloud 9 that it was really going to happen," she says. Surgery was a breeze for her. "I remember falling asleep with a nurse rubbing my forehead. Everyone was really awesome."

Recovery was also very easy for Kelly. The strongest medication she remembers needing is over-the-counter nighttime pain relievers for two or three nights. "I really didn't have much pain at all," says Kelly, "in fact in about a week I was doing my thing. Surgery was so much easier than I had imagined."

Kelly's New Figure

As Kelly talks about her new figure, two things become very clear. First, she's very pleased to have more generous breasts. "I'm much happier with my body now," she says. She can wear what she wants without worrying about it—tank tops, bathing suits, anything. "I feel more confident too," Kelly remarks.

The other impression you get is that Kelly's breast augmentation was something that was meant to be. "My friends tell me they don't even remember when I was small; my breasts fit me so well. This is the body I should have had all along."

A Year Later

At the ripe age of 20, the college student continues her studies, aiming to be an event planner in the hospitality industry. You don't even have to ask if she would have surgery all over again, you already know the answer. Kelly confides she had a boyfriend last year who was not supportive at all of her breast augmentation. "But I stuck to my guns because I knew I needed to do this for me, and not listen to anyone else. And I'm so glad I decided to do it."

Kelly hopes other young women considering breast augmentation have the same kind of positive experience she has had. She believes in lots of research and in making sure you find a plastic surgeon you can trust, as she did with Dr. Chaffoo. She says that after getting to know him she felt so confident in his judgment that she left some decisions to him. For example, "I told him I wanted to be a size C, and I trusted him to choose the right implants for my frame," she says.

If a woman does her homework and feels everything has fallen into place for her—even if she's young—Kelly says, "Why wait? What are you waiting for?"