Breast Implant Removal: Stories

Hello lovely ladies. I have been looking at this forum for a few months now, it has been absolutely inspiring reading stories and looking at photos.
My story is i was about 29 years old, dreadfull self esteem (at the time), terrible body issues and had had really really small, saggy breasts, with huge areolia. I hated my boobs and i obsessed about them every day. I couldnt find bras to fit, and i always bought bras with padding. I hated the thought of every getting intimate with a male ( i was single at the time), as i just felt repulsed at the state of my boobs. it wasnt so terrible the size if they had been perky, but they were saggy and small, and when i bent over, they hung like spaniel ears. They made me feel very upset inside of myself.

Anyways, i managed to convince the GP to refer me to the hospital and i was very lucky to get implants on the NHS. The first set was put behind the muscle and they went wrong pretty much straight away and they were catching and distorting, so they replaced about 3 weeks after, and placed them over the muscle. My aim was to have implants with the hope that it would fill out the saggy skin and make me look fuller and pert. I was implanted with 500cc Mentor implants. The result was not at all what i thought i wanted to look like, and i have not since ever felt comfortable with them. They are huge, and they are still as saggy as they were before, just huge saggy boobs now instead of small ones. I cant buy nice pretty tops and always struggle to find clothes to fit my boobs (big boobs are never what they are cracked up to be are they when you get them). Anyways, roll on 8 years, i am in a much different place now, i accept my body much more, i am a Mum and i have a loving partner of 8 years (he actually doesnt mind the implants) but i just really dislike these implants. I feel fake and they look huge and i want them out. Thing is i am terrified what i will end up with. As they were so saggy before, they are going to be absolutely terrible after being stretched with 500cc implants.
Is there anyone who has had saggy boobs before, and who had huge implants and had them out that can reassure me that it wont be as bad as what i imagine. I am considering a lift at the same time, but i worry that i will have absolutely no breast tissue at all. Please help, ill upload pictures of these monstrosities when i get a bit more confident.,...they really are awfull looking. Thanks all.xx

Im just going to try and upload some photos, this is me before BA and now, please be gentle but honest...this surely is the worst BA you have ever seen, and can you see why im so worried about the sag before and after. Please excuse the dodgy tummy and bruises, ive just had my gallbladder removed through key hole.xx

Well i've booked a consultation. Going this monday at 2.15pm UK time. Yikes !!!!

Well, had my consultation this Monday the 13th. Ive been feeling a little flat (excuse the pun) ever since :(. The surgeon was really nice, id met him before when i was referred on the NHS, but it ended up someone else who did my BA. Anyway, he had a look at my before pics and how i am now, and he recommended that i have a staged procedure. He feels that i should have them removed first and then see how the skin retracts (he said wait about 3 months), and that will then determine what level of lift i would benefit from.

It was good to see him, but when i left i all of a sudden felt very sad about my situation, my boobs, and that it is likely which ever way i go i probably wont really like the outcome. I certainly dont like silicone in my body, and huge fake boobs, thats not appealling to me, but i also dont like what i had before, and i know that with these removed they are probably going to look a lot worse before they look any better. Then who knows if a lift would make any difference?

What really didnt help, is that i had also asked a question on here to the surgeons and someone has answered saying i probably wont look very good with a lift either and he would recommend getting a lift over my implant, that left me feeling a little down and dispondant.

So, anyway, the surgeon is going to be very good and write a letter to my GP to state that i want removal, and he feels that this may possibly help my chances of having them removed on the NHS. I felt happy that the surgeon did not seem to be in this for profit, as he seemed suportive of me having the removal on the NHS, and didnt seem to encourage anything that would make him any money any time soon. That gave me some confidence in his ethics.

Anyway, outcome of the consultation is i still want these things out of me, but it has left me feeling quite low about the prospects for liking what boobies i will be left with.

Well i went to see the doc's yesterday. It was a lady locum doctor, and i was so nervous about going in and giving them my sob story about my hated implants and why i wanted them out. My nervousness is because im embarrased and worry that doc's will think im a drain on NHS resources (but thats my stuff...lol).

Anyway, i went in, and the doc said that she had read the letter from my consultant, and yes that was fine and she is going to refer me for removal on the NHS....OMG....i was shocked, it was so simple, straightforward, no begging, no crying, no soul bearing...just a simple YES!!!.....

But now i am so shit scared. I am absolutely sure that i dont want these awfull bags on my chest anymore but i am seriously terrified that i have no breast tissue, i am seriously all implant, and the skin sags so low even with them in. I am so worried i will look like a monster after. My other half is supportive, and will go with my decision whatever. But there is part of me that thinks that he is intollerant of my obsession with my boobs, and also yet another operation to go through. I think my other half quite likes the big boob look, and he doesnt mind the implants. I so worry that although he loves me i know, he will go running screaming for the hills when he see's the removed look....

I plant to get a lift sometime after, but i just cant help but worry that mine will be beyong repair, and they will look like one of those plastic surgery from hell jobs that you see on celebrity chanel's.....god, i am even dreaming about boobs at the moment...i had a dream that i had them removed, and at first they look full and great, and then all the skin started melting...hanging down...oh help me...lol...

Last Friday (14th Sept) i went to see the NHS consultant breast surgeon (the same one i saw for my private consultation, he works for the NHS as well as the Nuffield here in Brighton). As i had already seen him privately i didnt need to be examined or anything, it was more a formality. He said that he is going to write off to the PCT to request funding for removal (because they are not PIP's), he said he is going to push my case. Now i am worried, because they are not PIP's and i do not have CC, i am worried that the PCT will say no.
Can i ask for those that went through the NHS for removal, how long did it take to get your decision for removal?. Thanks all.

NHS say they wont remove because they are not leaking....:(....completely gutted.

Can any UK ladies help me..im in Brighton..need some reasonably priced surgeons for explant...anyone had local?...heard thats much cheaper...willing to go with that if its cheaper..xx

Grrrrrr!!!!...my phone wont let me reply so doing it here...hi Loubedoo, im in such a quandry..i was counting on NHS for removal as when i had private consult in Sept he said staged proceedure and i cant afford to do them seperate as it costs a fortune. Id have it done all at one but want to try for a baby nxt year and want to breast feed...thats why he recommended staged..ive had quotes for just removal nearby and cheapest ive found is £3005...:(....thats so much...that would be all the lift money gone...i dont know what to do...was it Kent?..someone who had removal under local...cant find her review...think that was reasonable in price...i thought as i was NHS origionally id be looked after...seems they just plan to leave them in me until they rot...:(..xx

Help help help....prices here in uk...cheapest ive found is 2900 for removal only...:(....anyone found any cheaper?.xx

Had the surgery on the 14th, i didnt want to say before just incase for whatever reason it didnt go ahead...well it did and im on the otherside. I am now in the very itty bitty almost non exsistance club...im up and down to the mirror checking them out and keep going in and out of 'can i accept them' head mode. I think surgery went well, they look nothing like i ever remember them, the nipples point up and are much smaller than they ever were before...think of a much tighter version then my origional and you can imagine how small...anyway, im trying to be positive, im on my own recovering in a hotel room and im not with my nearest and dearest....skype is a complete blessing...and ive been able to see my little boy and lovely other half. Im so worried what he will think..i hope he can accept me with my small boobies...im sure he loves me regardless but it doesnt half tap into your insecurities. Surgeon gave me my implants back...OMG....huge and they weigh a ton...im trying not to eat loads of crap food so i can see a lovely number on the scales when i get back from the loss of these...hehe....every little helps eh ladies...
So you can tell im not in my full faculties, the drugs still making me feel pretty wooshy and tired and not that great so ill update more fully when i can...but ill defo be here stalking...and reading...ill see if i can upload a bandage shot..

Well!!!!........ I am just back from seeing the surgeon. It was really good to get out and get a bit of air. Went in and the nurse took me into a room layed me down and began to price away all the tape from my boobs...it wasnt really painfull or anything but i was worried about when she got to the nipple bit..couldnt help to think that the nipple had been restitched back on...eeeeeeek!!! and i wondered how it would handel been pulled about.
I took a little peek and my first thought was OMG they are small....just tiny little mounds on my chest...but as the tape came off when i looked again they looked more boob like. She said she needed to take photos of the results so needed to get all the tape off. I told her i didnt want to look in the mirror but could i see the photos instead (i thought photos would give me a more realistic picture and wouldnt be as shocking as looking straight into the mirror). She took a load of photos, front, side, close up etc.....and then she showed me....OMG!!!!!! i was in shock, they were not half bad...in fact they were pretty damn good...i felt like i wanted to burst into tears...these were not the boobs i had EVER known...not ever, these were like teenager boobs (in a very good way). I am happily surprised...:)

Then the surgeon comes in (im laying down again now), she looks great, all made up, dapper and confident. I told her i was too scared to look but i had seen the photos and i was very pleased. The surgeon laughed and just got out her mirror and placed it directly over my boob...she said 'please look'...i looked...wow!!! they are pretty much black and blue but they are right up there...and the scars are amazing and thin..and the nipples...well they are probably a third of the size i had (which were huge saucer nips before).

The surgeon then taped me firmly back up and pulled my boobs close together with a very large plaster on each side (she said it protects the wounds and keeps them still for healing)...hey ive got cleavage!!!!!....i am liking lots and lots and lots.

The surgeon then started to look through the photos and remarked how well she felt they had turned out given what she had to work with..lol...she said that in the opperating theater when she took out the implants she had thought 'oh shit (yes she actually said that..lol..i like her honesty)' as there really was nothing left....gawd knows how she has managed to scuplture what i had left into boobies but she has...

Its given me a real boost..i just hope i dont lose any more volume..because i am sure there is some swelling. It will probably be a little while till i can post any nude pics...but i will as soon as i can. I need to buy a proper surgical bra now (that i can have along side this one). She said she likes bra's that have cups in them to mould the breast...does the macom have cups? ive got a sports bra thats got cups...mabey ill put that one on while the others in the wash..:/

Im home tomorrow, can get to see my little boy and lovely other half....i have the implants in my suitcase to give to him....hahahah...xx

Hello lovelies...im back for a quick update...!!!....thanks Birdie for prompting me to write a little bit more. Ive been here in the background stalking..lol..but im absoutely zapped of energy so I appologise for being a bit quiet with the updates.
Well i am 8 days post op now and everything is going well so far (I hope). I am yet to take the pads and tape off but i do keep looking at my boobs every now and again (mostly to check the nipples are still looking ok...that bit really freaks me out) and everything is looking ok appart from them looking yellow and blue and lumpy etc...but i know that this will change so i need to be patient. One of the nipples is about a few mm higher than the other aswell but so far i am completely accepting of this when i think what i had before, my nipples were in complete different directions...:/..
Ive been back home since Tuesday (as i had the surgery in Prague...ill tell more about that when i feel up to it...but let me say...a character building experience to say the least...i went on my own and came back on me own..lol...mad or brave i'll let you decide...hehe...i like to say brave!!!).
My recovery is up down and all around, as in i feel great when i wake up and then as the day progresses i feel exhausted and sore and it feels like its taking ages to get better....or ages to get those nasty anaesthetic drugs out of my system. Im on my own all day too as other halfs at work and my little one is in nursery ( i paid for him to do a full week...and thank goodness i did...as he keeps accidentally knocking my boobies when he climbs all over me). I find im not doing alot just pottering around the flat...and EATING!!!! that will have to stop...i dont want my stomach to override the boobs...hehe....and it was already big!! Im trying not to be to hard on myself mind and let myself just be....
My little boy keeps wanting me to pick him up and he doesnt understand why i wont...i try to get him to climb on the sofa but he wont, he wants picking...the other half has to pick him up for me. I hope that this improves soon...ill need to be much better by next Thursday which will be the first day ill have sole care of him (without nursery or the other half....eeeeek!!!). On the positive side...he has been flourishing me with huge amounts of cuddles and love and he's been a little star bless him....
I flashed my other half the boobs the other night...just a peek!!!...he was very positive about them and say wow...if they stay like that i can work with them....cheeky bugger...i know he meant it in the most loving of ways!!..he tells me then to put them away and let them heal...bless him..
Hey did i tell you my implants weigh....on the kitchen scales...1kg and 36g....OMG... thats put me off them even more..they discust me when i look at them and look at other before photos that i took just before going out to Prague.
My worst thing at the moment is sleeping on my back, i am finding that i am waking up at 4am in absolute agony where my body has stiffened against the mattress....not liking that one bit...im desperate to cosy up on my side but soooo sooo aware of my little fragile boobies.
Ive still all sorts of strange sensations going on, twinges twanging itching..allsorts...im trying not to give them too much head power and think thats its all part of the healing...id be much more scared if i hadnt of read all your lovely reviews...and others who have been through the experience.
Im going to try and upload some 'teaser' shots...in my marks and sparks sports bra (while my surgical one was in the wash)...hey that was an experience, i almost thought i was going to cut off the supply in my nipples it was so tight...was glad to get out of that and back into the surgical one....ive ordered a Macom...hope its the right size when it arrives.
Ive also uploaded some more before....so you can see how in need i was to have this surgery!!!...
Im alowed my first shower on Sunday, mabey ill treat you to a nude shot then...lol...
lots of love ladies.xxxx hope all that makes sense....feel like ive ranted..

My photos are not the right way!!...how very dare they..hehe....hang on, ill have a fiddle...think im going to take off some of the befores also...we get the picture!!. xx

Ive managed to get the photos up the right way round!!!....not much to report, yesterday was shower day and i chickened out...lol....im going to have one today...im a bit scared to see whats under the tapes you see...i know that im one of those that can focus on imperfection etc and give myself a hard time...so i thought id hold off for as long as i can.
I hope that i am healing under there...they are getting less sore and im becoming more mobile day by day...i even managed to lift my little lad (and he's not so little) a short distance from the floor to my knee a couple of times yesterday.
My back still hurts from my sleeping position, but i am managing to sleep slightly on my side and thats helping.
I wonder when i can start using lotions on the scars etc...they feel like they need a good old lubricating session!!!....lol....they itch in places..when did others who had a lift start with the oils and massages etc?.
I am still liking the size that they are, i am not seeing any shrinkage yet and we are on day 11, so i am hopefull that i wont lose too much more volume.

Ive uploaded a photo....EEEEEK!!!...took bra off to wash so thought id have a look....overall i am very happy, i am hoping they change and even out...there is a slight 'one higher than the other' issue...but when i think what she had to work with i think she has done an amazing job....i did upload some side shots also but they were not the right way again!!!...how do you upload from your phone peeps...im having to email them to myself and then save them etc...its a bit of on and on. xx

Right, hopefully some side shots.....bloomin taking me ages...is the symetry (one slightly higher' really really noticable..?.xx

Wow...the first shower!!...that was an experience. Felt highly highly vulnerable with my support bra off....like my little boobs were going to break and it was difficult reaching to adjust the shower etc...the water felt lovely though and my boobs on the whole feel so soft and cute...on one side where it is more swollen and more bruised it feels hard at the bottom and a bit square....this is the one with the lower nipple...i am hoping that it evens out, i also know that stitches makes the skin look odd for a while and tethered...i had this after my gallbladder op so i am trying to be patient...i layed down to dry my tape with the hairdryer....i hope that i have dried it well enough...i wonder when i can pull this one off and put fresh on...it feels too vulnerable to tug at it just yet so ill just dry it...
I have gloss door wardrobes and when i way laying down i could see my reflection...wow those boobs are sooooooo up there....i like!!....never had that with implants, they would just hang to the side!!
I have also got loads of dry skin on my torso just under my boobs, where the implant used to sit against my skin and give me sweat rash....thats one thing i WILL NOT MISS!!!!!
I have the support bra back on, it feels so much safer but hey it aches my shoulders so bad.....cant wait for the macom...the macom felt lovely the other day, just a tad to big i think .xx

Im uploading a new photo!!!.....a side shot.....if they stay like this i will be SOOOOOOOOO happy!!!...12 days post op today...xx

13 days post op today, not much to report, i am getting stronger by the day which is good (and ill need to be tomorrow as its the first time ill have sole care of the little one...eeeek!!). My boobs feel the same size every day which i am very pleased about. I keep cupping them day and night to make sure they are not shrinking...hehe...would they still be really swollen after 13 days? i hope not.
I am still very happy with the result. One of my boobs, the right one, the one with the lower nipple is a bit square and distorted at the bottom, i am hoping this is just the stitches pulling in and also that this one was far more bruised and lumpy after...i know i need to be patient with this and hopefully it will round off like the other one. I LOVE how squidgy and warm and soft and bouncy they feel.
I took the car out for the first time yesterday, i still feel foggy and not quite present. I also am very aware of my stitches still and the tightness when i turned the steering wheel.
My tape is still on and i am drying it with the hairdryer when i have a shower...it takes ages. I wonder when i should dare to take it off, i am planning to leave it on until it falls off. I am too scared to tug at it and too scared to look still.

Having a dark day today..:(
Day 20 and ive just took my tape off in the shower. My boobs look scary!!!!...nipples are uneven in size ive got one tiny one and one thats a bit bigger.
One boob looks like its being munched by its underside. Its all square at the bottom and distorted like a packman boob..:(...i am just hoping that it is the stitches just pulling tight at the moment and not the final result. The other boob looks near damn perfect.
Also, looks really wierd like ive been cut twice down one of the vertical incisions???
when i was pulling the tape off round the nipples there were tiny flaps of skin that i could see comming up with the tape where my nipple meets the vertical incision. I didnt like that one bit...made me feel like i wanted to throw up and pass out in the shower!!...oh dear, i can feel an emotional rollercoaster comming....:(...xx
Dont want to put any more pics on as they are not the pretty boobs that you all saw before...:(...the gloss has most certainly wore off!!.xx

Ive uploaded some photos...so you can see the sucked in boob....i do hope that this is temporary!!!...the double cut vertical incision seems to be (on close inspection with the hand mirror) just where the internal stitches are pulled together and pulling the skin taught!!....please please please boob settle down to look like the left one...xx

Well, i am 4 weeks and 1 day post op today, the scars are red but i am healing well and the incisions are neat, there is no signs of any infections in the scars which is a blessing and fingers crossed nothing will develop.
My right boob still has issues with it looking distorted, my PS says from looking at the photos (she's abroad you see...i went to Prague to have it so i cant see her face to face...draw back from having surgery abroad) she thinks maybe scar retraction and i should massage and push on the opperated area, i have been doing this, it bloody hurt so much at first but its not so bad now...my breasts are very maluable now and move up and down and sideways and all over if i cup them and move them...so im not as swollen or as tight. I am not sure if it is scar retraction or not, i certainly have much more hard tissue in the right boob where it was so injured and bruised during surgery so i am hoping that once that dissapates and things soften a bit my boob might drop more???...i think there is some improvement...just a tad mind!!.when does this hard tissue go, im still a tad bruised even after 4 weeks...did others have this?....i think what i am struggling with is my PS cut above the origional BA incisions and i notice my breast tissue falls to meet with them and the anchor horizontal sits above it...well on the distorted boob the origional scar is higher and possibly thats whats stopping the breast tissue from being able to fall....??? its very hard to explain it...also one of my nipples is definately bigger than the others around the circumference...my PS says not possible as they use a template to cut...well it definately is!!!!....i know coz i look at it a 100 times a day!!!...lol.
Anyway, i am going between thinking they look ok one minuet to obsessing about them the next and looking for all the imperfections...thats just me unfortunately, i am one of those that can focus on imperfections...i wish i was one of those look at the positive type peeps as i am sure life would be a hell of a lot more enjoyable and lighter if i were like that...
One thing for certain is they look a hell of a lot better than they did with implants in....my other half said that too....he's saying they look fine and he cant wait to 'get amongst them'...hehe....cheeky bugger!!..i let him have a little feel, i like the way they feel, they are soft squiddy and bouncy....i like them in my clothes and i like them in the support bra....i cant wait to be able to exercise.
My PS said 2 months before i can have a bath, anyway i decided to ignore that advise yday and had a bath...the bath was lovely but by the time it came to get out i realised why she had said it....because i couldnt get out of the bloody thing...without the support bra on my boobies felt very very vulnerable still when i tried to stretch to get out....i wont be doing that for a while, stitches felt like they were pulling....no i didnt like that one bit so ill be a bit more patient i think for a bath...;/.....
The Macom bra is very nice, i have 2 now....there is a code....mybreast...it saved me 15% on line...i got the small 32 even though im usually a 34/36 back, it fits lovely, the 34 was not very snug so i sent it back.
Im putting a photo up...i can make myself look quite good on photos...hope i dont ever lose my phone....its a collage of boobies!!!!....i might get arrested!!!...lol...
Sorry ive been a bit quiet, ive had to retreat for a while and lick my wounds...xxx lots of love to everyone. xxx

5 weeks post op today, nothing much to report, I massaging them with bio oil (not sure if it works or not). They are starting to itch like mad around the nips, I am guessing where they are healing and the stitches are starting to dissolve maybe?
I still have bruising under the distorted boob, wonder why that is, its very faded but its there non the less....I think things are starting to feel that bit softer inside and all the hard tissue is starting to break up a bit. I still have a distorted boob and I still have one nip bigger ( I will defo be having a moan up about this when I send my review photos to PS..lol but at the moment I cant really do anything other than be patient and see if they miraculously grow and even out) than the other but on the whole they look a damn site better than with implants...im very very glad I don't have them awful things inside anymore...I have days where I look and think 'do you know what they look quite good' and then I have other days where I think 'why the hell have I got one big and one small nipple and why the hell did she put the scar there' (as they are not fully in my crease) those things I can obsess about....but I figure worst ways I suppose I can always go back and have them redone in a few years if I really cant live with it....im one of those you see, I can get a bit OCD with symmetry etc....prob silly that I had a breast lift you may say if I suffer with symmetry issues...lol....I feel a bit shallow saying all this because I know women have the implants removed because they are ruptured or because they are ill.....I purely had them out because I couldn't stand they way they looked, the way they felt and how I felt about myself with them in...
I'm wearing the compression bra day and night still that's not a problem for me, I quite like it on. I'm feeling like I'll almost be ready for the gym soon, I feel like I could do cardio no probs but weights I might struggle.
I have some numb bits on my boobs still, and no feeling in my nips at all....I wonder if any of this will return?
I know its still early days....so i'm hopeful things will continue to get better and round up and loosen off.
Hey and for some reason they are bigger than ever they were before implants...added bonus eh!!..lol.. i'm uploading a photo but its not massively clear.xx

well, its 7 weeks today, not much to report, ive been back to the gym....hooorah!!!!!....I took it easy and my boobs didn't explode and there were no ill effects the next day...so I am going back again today. Well, I am liking my boobies more and more with each day, I had some awfull rough days where I was blooming really hard on myself and was really in awfull self loathing obsessing about them....but I took some photos and had a bit of a revelation that they actually don't look half bad....its just the scar placement that annoys me (if I let it creep in) I have the anchor and my original BA scars and because my breast tissue falls naturally to the original scars it really bloody annoys me that she didn't just cut there...it makes no sense to me at all.....and she could of saved me an extra scar.....vanity is a very painfull thing sometimes eh...ill see if I can post some pics....I still cant feel anything at all in my nips...and I had a bit of a sore spot on the vertical line that actually look a bit infected, I squeezed it and some blood and fluid came out..ewwwwww...:( .....but ive put alcohol gel on it for the last few day and it looks fine now...no probs...xxx

Photos uploaded lovelies.......peruse at your leisure.....lol...xx

Well I went to the gym again last night and smashed it!!!....no adverse affects and I lifted the same weights that I had managed to before the opp.....so recon im all healed well now. xx