Breast Implants: Stories

I had silicone gel breast augmentation surgery in 1976. After several manual procedures performed by the physician release contractures, my left implant ruptured in 1979 releasing silicone into the biceps and forearm tissue of my left arm. My physician told me this was impossible. Months later, he removed both gel implants, found both of them to be ruptured, and replaced them with saline implants that were uncomfortable, hard and ripply. He created a pocket on the left side that was so huge that the implant In 1989, a surgeon removed these implants as well and tried to extract the silicon in my biceps. He woke me during surgery to explain that the product has virtually "melted" into my muscle tissue and would be nearly impossible to remove without great risk to my nerves.

Granulomas surrounding the silicone have seemed to increase in size recently and my skin is taught, lumpy and very uncomfortable. I have numbing in the arm. My arm cannot be flattened beyond 15° above the horizon when I lie on my back. The circumference of my left arm is 12.75", while that of my unaffected right is 11". I cannot rotate my arm around my shoulder and I am functionally as well as visually disfigured.