Woman with 38JJ sized boobs waiting years for NHS surgery despite devastating side-effects
A woman says she's been left 'like a shrimp' because she's been waiting so many years to have a breast reduction on the NHS.
28-year-old woman Lacey-Love Kent says she's been left 'crying in the shower wanting to chop her own breasts off' because they've caused her such pain and anguish.
She added that because of their size, 38JJs, they also lose circulation and go 'black and look necrotic' in cold weather, and the medical grade bras she wars leave her with friction burns.
The Hampshire woman said that she sits 'hunched over like a shrimp' so she can rest her breasts on her knees in an attempt to lift the burden and take some of the pain away.
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She first went to her GP for a breast reduction back in 2021 and was told she might have to wait as long as two years, but five years on the woman says she still hasn't been approved.
As such she's turned to GoFundMe to raise the money to have a private reduction, since her health issues mean she is not currently able to work.
She said: "I'm affectionately called a 'shrimp' by my friends.
"I have to sit slightly hunched over. It's really embarrassing and not at all attractive but if I hunch slightly then my breasts can rest on my thighs.
"It's so unattractive, it feels like I'm a caricature and the pain of it is horrible."
As well as the back pain large breasts can cause, Lacey is also suffering from rashes on her breasts and friction burns on her belly, explaining that there was nothing glamourous about her situation as 'it's a really horrible ugly way to live but I've got no other option'.
Her mobility has also suffered as she can only walk a little way before she feels like 'my spine and my hips are going to give out', and has suffered hip and knee injuries in the past from the weight.
At this point 'even walking to the corner shop feels impossible' for her, and it makes it very difficult for her to pursue an active and healthy lifestyle.
If she tries to exercise then the sports bras she wears give her blisters on her shoulders and she's described her situation as a 'nightmare'.
Lacey said: "I went to the NHS and said 'I would like a reduction' and they said it was a cosmetic surgery and that there's a two-year waitlist.
"It got to four years and I said 'I really need this' and they told me I just need to lose weight, which is something I'm trying to do but I've also got PMOS (Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome), which means I'm constantly gaining weight."
Deciding to go private for the surgery instead of being stuck on a waiting list for years, Lacey said she joked with her friends 'all of my problems would be fixed when I get my reduction'.
"There's so much that I want to do, there's so many places that I want to go," she said of the things she wanted to do but couldn't at the moment.
"I want to travel, I want to go back to the gym, I want to be able to run.
"Me and my partner want to get married and I want to look at the photos and not think that I look horrific.
"I want to be able to have a kid and hold my kid and not fear that I'm going to suffocate them.
"There's so much I want to do and so much I keep putting back in life because I think it's just not reasonable, I just can't do it."
A spokesperson for NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB said: "We are sorry to hear of Ms Kent's circumstances and previous experience.
"Due to patient confidentiality, NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight is unable to discuss individual cases.
"However, information on our policies relating to breast reduction surgery is publicly available and can be accessed in full within HIOW-Policy-15-Breast-surgery-v3.0.pdf.
"Breast reduction surgery is not routinely funded on the NHS, as mentioned within the policy."
Joe Harker