Please lighten my load!

When I was 18 I was going to have a breast reduction. My breasts were very large, and very uncomfortable. However once the plastic surgeon said I may not be able to breastfeed if I had children, I decided not to go through with it, as I really hoped to have children, and to breastfeed them if possible. I was not to know it would be another 22 years until I met my husband and started a family! Prior to that I had dedicated myself to working as nurse, mostly with people with mental illnesses.

I had our first daughter at 41, and our second daughter was born when I was 45 - with some special IVF assistance. Being an older mum has it's benefits and drawbacks. One is that after successfully breastfeeding both of them - and loving every moment of nurturing them - I was left with even larger breasts. I have indents in my shoulder bones, and get terrible chafing and infections at times. I find it hard to be as active with my daughters as I would like, and my self-esteem takes a beating at times.

I worked hard and saved $10,000, and was ready to have the surgery 5 years ago. Then I was made redundant. As the breadwinner for our family this was very hard, and my new job was much lower paid. The money I saved had to be used to make ends meet, and our family also faced a number of health crises - both daughters have been in hospital at least twice in that time, and I have had several health scares - luckily under control at this time. I am developing arthritis which may eventually affect my back - having smaller breasts will make an enormous difference in managing this as I get older.

I now feel that if I don't have the breast reduction surgery soon, I will miss the brief opportunity to have active adventures with our girls. I have spent most of my life caring for others as a nurse, but now I would like to take this step for myself and my family. I know this is not a life-threatening crisis, but just hope there may be some who have the means, and the heart, to help me achieve this goal.