Astrid's Corner
by Astrid

Hello Ladies! Ok, this is my first article, actually my first column so please bear with me on this. So lets start out by telling you a bit about myself. My name is Astrid and I am an active member of the BI411 discussion group/forum. In September of last year, I had a lumpectomy to remove a benign mass in my left breast. Had I never done that, I would never have thought about breast augmentation. It was first thought that I would be left slightly disfigured so I started looking into augmentation and meeting with plastic surgeons. After three consults, it was time to decide and schedule the surgery. I found Dr. Michael Ciaravino through BI411 and we finalized our plan. I was going to get a vertical lift (due to severe sagging from weight loss) and breast augmentation on November 21, 2002. Although I have complete trust in my doctor, I had many questions on recovery, personal experiences, complications and feelings. The forum that BI411 provides helped me ask all those questions and get great answers and advice. I often found myself going to my doctor and asking about certain suggestions. In no way am I promoting just this forum BUT it has been a tremendous help. It is a source of unconditional support and I am thankful to have stumbled across it. What ever you decide, please know there are people out there willing to share their experiences.

Now, before I even went through the surgery, I became a "researcher" so to speak. I knew that for my own sake and peace of mind that I would need to find out all the information that I could about this procedure. I started posting questions in the BI411 forum. The questions ranged from how my normal daily activities were going to be affected to what type of change to expect to my breasts. Many wonderful women started answering my questions. I received a range of opinions and advice from women that had gone through the experience.

The forum is a wonderful tool to use to find out any information you may need. Hey, even asking the very "personal" questions are ok because they do need answering, right? The forum is very easy to follow in terms of reading. It is also quite simple to post any questions or responses you want to add. What is even better is that BI411 has just upgraded their Snitz.com program and there are several added features since their beginning. Let me tell you about some of these.

When you would like information on another member or want to email them, you simply go to the top of your screen and click on "Members". From there, you find who it is that you want to contact or find out what their last post was. It even keeps a count of how many posts they have!

If you are looking for specific information on a topic, you can go back up to the top of your page and click on "Search". From there, it is absolutely amazing how you can find the things you are looking for. You can ask about a topic and see if a certain person posted on that. Amazing!

When you are starting a topic or even responding to a thread, you can do this in certain fonts, colors, and even add emoticons to make it more personal. I know it helps me understand more of what that woman is feeling if the type is in red and there are several angry faces in her post.

Best of all, the forum is a group of women that have had breast augmentation, breast lifts, breast reconstruction and many other procedures that are willing to answer any question. I don’t believe I have yet to see a post go unanswered. The women are warm, supportive individuals that have also done research on the topic or just plain experienced the surgery and are willing to share what they went through.

Personally, with all the questions I have had, I don’t know what I would have done without this forum. BI411 has truly given me a home away from the "physical" world with much unconditional support and many new friends. Please, take some time and visit us. We are waiting with arms wide open. We are willing to answer just about any question. If we don’t know the answer, believe you me, we will help find the answer or direct you to someone that can.