How Breast Reduction Surgery Dramatically Improved One Woman's Health

 A few weeks ago, Kerisha Marks walked a charity 5K in 49 minutes — a personal best that prompted her to quip on Facebook, “These breasts are made for walking.” In the past, the same distance would have taken her over an hour and a half to complete. What changed? She had a breast reduction. 

Before the October procedure, Marks, 40, wore a size 36NNN bra. “I’ve always had really large breasts,” she told Yahoo Health. “I was an H cup in high school.”

But in 2007, after Marks had a stillborn baby, her breasts began to grow at an increasingly rapid rate, until she reached her current size. “I wondered if it was something medical, but everybody just said it was genetic,” Marks said. “My cousin had very large breasts. So did my aunt. They opted to have surgery years ago, but I was not mentally prepared for surgery.”

              After                                           Before 

Marks shows off her new look after her breast reduction, a procedure she says improved her quality of life “by 100 percent.

For seven years, Kerisha Marks struggled to find size 36NNN bras. Now, after surgery, she feels “normal” for the first time.  

However, the weight of her breasts was taking an undeniable toll on her both physically and emotionally. There were the hurtful — often inappropriate — comments from strangers, usually men. And, of course, back spasms and migraines from the pain. Once, when Marks took off her bra, the strain of her unsupported breasts caused her to pull a muscle. “I thought I was having a heart attack,” she said.

Not surprisingly, her breasts restricted her ability to exercise. “There was never a sports bra big enough to fit me,” Marks recalled. “I had 15 pounds removed — that’s like an eight-pound baby on one side and seven-pound baby on the other. That slows you down.”

It was an incident this past summer that finally prompted Marks to contact Dr. Franklin Rose, a renowned plastic surgeon in Houston, Texas. She noticed a lump in her armpit, and afraid that it was cancerous, she scheduled a mammogram. “It turned out the lump was breast tissue,” Marks said. “The breast tissue didn’t have anywhere else to go, so it started to go underneath my armpit.” That’s when she knew it was time to take the leap and schedule a surgery. “I was turning 40, and I just started to think about regret,” she said. “I didn’t want to get in my 60s and my breasts be sitting in my lap, and say, ‘I wish I’d done something when I was younger.’”