Lily reached her goal on April 28, 2008. It took her just over a year to raise $6500. This is a before picture.

1. When was your surgery?
   sept 17 2009
2. How did you bring up MFI with your doctor?
   Actually my doctor was already on the mfi list yay
3. How did your doctor feel about MFI?
   His staff was already open to it.. but I did find out that I am the first gal to actually get boobs through mfi with them. yay
4. Did you doctor have you do anything pre-surgery to help make things easier?
   ummm nope… just no aspirin stuff like that for two weeks before surgery
5. Did you do anything pre-surgery that was recommended on the internet or by other women?
   ummm nope
6. How big are your implants and what kind are they (saline, silicon, profile, etc)?
   My implants are 550 ccs of silicone and are moderate profile silcone implants
7. How were they implanted (over muscle, under, incision type etc)? Why did you choose that method?
   they are over the muscle… incision was half moon on bottom of the areola. I chose under the muscle because i dont want them to sag. Over the muscle would have been bad for me.
8. How did you decide how big to go and what type of implants to get?
   I knew I wanted full D’s when the surgery was done with… and my doctor suggested the ccs size to get me to where I wanted. I also knew I wanted silicone and now saline.
9. How long after surgery were you in pain?
   I was surprised that the pain lasted for as long as it did. I was getting a lil worried that by the end of the second week i was still in pain. The pain started going away at about three and half weeks.
10. Did you need someone to help you with normal tasks after surgery? If so, what did they do?
    Heck ya I needed lots of help the first two weeks. I couldn’t even stand for long periods of time for the first two weeks. I was too weak to do anything.
11. Did your doctor have any post-surgery advice that really seemed to help with your recovery and/or scar reduction?
    umm not really besides wear the bra he recommended 24/7 for six weeks.
12. Did you do anything else post-surgery that really helped with your recovery?
    Not really, I rested a lot the first two weeks. Tried not to over exert myself and pop a stitch or something lol
13. How long before you could resume normal activity?
    It took about three and half weeks before I felt like I could actually take walks again. I was just too sore and weak too before then. The doc said about two weeks… and then I should feel better… but it actually took more like three weeks to feel better. lol
14. What was your biggest surprise post-surgery?
    How fast the surgery was. I was in and out of there. lol I was also surprised at how good they looked! I never dreamed the end result would be this good!! I am loving them!
15. How closely did you follow your doctor’s advice?
    I followed my doctors advice to the T. I was so scared I would have complications I did everything I could to reduce that risk. I was terrified! lol
16. What did you do to get your home ready for your recovery?
    Well my bedroom is downstairs so that was a plus. But I basically bought lots of pre made food for the kids to eat… I knew I wouldn’t be cooking for a while so I bought things that could be thrown in the oven or microwave… my kids are too little to cook! So that was the hardest thing at first.. keeping them fed.
17. Anything you wish you’d done differently?
    Nope not at all. I am sooo thankful I chose the right doctor!! They are so much prettier than I thought they could be.
18. Where there any activities that were surprisingly difficult or painful?
    Everything was painful!! Just holding them up were painful! And showering was especially difficult the first couple times!! Make sure you have help and sit down if you feel dizzy!!!
19. Was there anything you did that turned out to be surprisingly helpful?
    weed was surprisingly way more effective than the pain meds. I waited much too long to smoke and instead used the drugs the doc prescribed.
20. How did your first “public appearance” with your new boobs go?
    Well I haven’t really had too big of an appearance with them yet. lol It’s already cold… so I don’t think anyone will notice till next summer, bathing suit season! lol
21. Any advice for others?
    Definitely go big or bigger than you are thinking. I was kind of scared I had picked too big a size… but after the swelling went down… or I have gotten so used to them already… but already I feel like they have shrunk… and I should have gone bigger. lol So believe them when they say that is the biggest regret… not going big enough. lol apparently it’s true.
22. Did you find any sites with really good advice on any part of the implant process?
    justbreastimplants was pretty cool and helpful… and actually believe it or not..mfi was a good site for information too. Reading the blogs you can get some helpful tips and always some entertaining stories.
23. Have you had any complications?
    I had one lump in my right muscle from straining the muscle… but it healed and went away after about four or five weeks.
24. Anything else you’d like to mention?
    Mostly just make sure you have help after the surgery and make sure you have quickie meals on hand! They are life savers when you are in too much pain to cook! lol And pick a great doctor!
    And Thanks again to MFI and all the benefactors that made my dream come true. yayyyy

And this, of course, is an after.

Read more: Community Interviews.