Implants Removed with Fat Transfer - Charlotte, NC

I had silicone implants for over 20 yrs. I'm in my 40's. I had never had any outward symptoms or problems with them. However, I found out that they do have a shelf life. I needed to have them either removed or replaced ASAP as time was ticking. I read how most implants will be ruptured by that age. Well, that completely freaked me out. I started worrying if some of my odd health issues were possibly caused by a silent rupture. It was causing me a lot of anxiety to constantly worry about it.

So I finally decided that I no longer wanted any foreign objects in my body. Even though I really wanted to be implant free, at the same time I didn't want my boobs looking deformed like sunken tiny sacs of stretched skin. 32AA bras were big on me before implants. The implant removal pictures I saw that looked smaller but nice afterwards seemed like only if there was some breast tissue existing before implants. I was having a very hard time making a decision. Then I found this site!

I just want to say a big "THANK YOU!" to all the women here who have posted their implant removal and fat transfer stories, the good and the bad. It was such a huge help to me. At first it sounded to good to be true. I could have the fat sucked out of my saddlebags and love handles and moved to my boobs....what??? I think I read every single review multiple times. Your stories were what led me to finally have the courage to contact Dr. Bednar for a consult. I so much appreciated the detailed experiences of all the ladies, so I will try to give as much info as possible.

I sent a request for a consult through this site. Sylvia called me the next day. What a total sweetheart. She answered all my questions and said Dr. Bednar has done hundreds of these procedures over many years. She made me feel very good about moving forward with a phone consult as I live out of state. She had me email my pictures and history beforehand. I have gained about 15-20 lbs over the last few years over my ideal weight, so the pictures were a little tough to look at. But good that I would probably have plenty good fat to work with. :-) I also want to thank the ladies who posted their before and after photos. It was so helpful. I just do not feel comfortable with putting my pictures on the internet.

I had read reviews for probably every single surgeon who does this procedure on this site and others. The only one I felt really good about was Dr. Bednar. I was so nervous if the consult would go well. I just hoped that I would be a good candidate. Dr. Bednar called as scheduled and talked to me for probably 20-30 minutes. He explained all about how the procedure works, how the fat is processed, why he did not remove the capsules when doing the fat transfer, and any other question I had. I told him my biggest fear is having a rupture and having silicone left in my body. He reassured me that if my implants were ruptured, he would do his best to clean it all out. (I especially appreciated what another patient named Beth had written in her review regarding the capsule issue which helped put my mind at ease about leaving it in as well.
Dr. Bednar was very honest with me as to what was a reasonable outcome for me to expect. He said I may or may not need a second transfer because until he examines me in person it was hard to tell how much "matrix" or breast tissue I had surrounding the implant. This is part of what determines how much fat can be put in. So after talking to Dr. Bednar in depth, I felt so relieved and ready to make this HUGE step. I called Sylvia back after talking to my husband and scheduled my surgery date for about a month later.

I was in contact with Sylvia quite a bit. It amazed me how quick she was to respond to my emails, even with the big time difference. She mailed me an information package including vitamins and suppliments to start taking before and after surgery. I booked my flights and hotel. Sylvia recommended the Hampton Inn which gave a discounted rate for patients. It was very nice and like others mentioned it is in a great area within walking distance to restaurants, markets, etc...

We arrived in Charlotte the day before the pre-op. We found the office no problem. Its within maybe 10 minutes from the hotel. The office is very nice. Sandy in the front office and Sylvia greeted us. They were just a sweet in person as on the phone. My husband and I went right in and met with Dr. Bednar and his nurse, Ashley. Ashley was very professional and made me feel totally comfortable even taking embarrassing photos. He asked me more questions and did a physical exam. He was excited to see that I had enough matrix and said he should be able to get me close in size as with implants. Which lately I was wearing a 34D, but to me I did not look that big. When I first got my implants in my twenties I wore a 34B or sometimes a 32C. So I have definitely gotten bigger in my forties. I guess between pregnancy, gaining weight, and hormonal changes with age, I had grown. We decided to take fat from my outer and inner thighs and my stomach and waist area. I told him I did not want any scars that would be visible on my legs and to hide the scars as much as he could. I realized that there has to be some scars that cannot be totally hidden, but I was most concerned with wearing shorts more then anything. He said that was fine as I was only doing my upper thigh areas.

The surgery was the following morning at 8am. I met the second nurse who is also named Ashley. Both Ashley's are awesome! Ashley did a great job putting in my IV needle as I have had bad experiences with that before. Then I met a second "Sandy". She is the anesthesiologist. She has worked for decades with dr. B. She explained in detail everything that would be happening to me in the OR. She totally put me at ease, as I could tell she was very experienced. The dr. came in and made marks on my body. One of the nurses said before he came in that if I had any questions for him I need to speak up and get his attention because he goes into total focus mode for the surgery and might not hear me. Well even that made me feel good like he really takes each surgery serious and gets into that frame of mind beforehand. Our life and body is in his hands and any good doctor should be completely focused. But he did listen as I told him I had one request. I said that during the pre-op I remembered he talked about maybe leaving a certain area of fat just in case of needing a touch up later. So I asked him, "Can you please just take all this off!" I physically grabbed my stomach and love handles and said , "I don't care about leaving some of this for later. I am only doing this once. So please...this all just needs to go!" He said okay no problem he could do that. :-)

They walked me into the next room which is actually the operating room. I was surprised as it looked like a big hospital OR, but you would never realize it looking at the closed door as it is the same as the other exam rooms if that makes sense. I kissed my dear husband and they laid me down on the bed. Ashley held my hand. The last thing I remember is looking at her pretty face saying, "Thank you for holding my hand". I woke up and it was all over. My husband was there. I was pretty out of it, but I remember Dr. Bednar telling us that everything went great. I think he said he put 640cc in each side. I need to double check on that. The best news was my implants were NOT ruptured! I was so thrilled.

I remembered to ask Sylvia about the "go girl" because I read about it on other reviews. Thank goodness she had one for me. That contraption is a definite must have! Also I cannot stress this enough. VERY IMPORTANT! They tell you to take a stool softener. Well, I got some and started it the day before my surgery and everyday after at the highest doses. I didn't know that it takes several days to work. The pain meds made me so constipated. I think on the 5th days after surgery I started getting really uncomfortable. I had the urge to go, but it was NOT happening. It was pretty much one of the most painful, traumatic experiences I ever gone through. Seriously at that point I was wishing I would have just taken extra strength Tylenol instead of the prescription pain meds. I even got the glycerine suppositories which sort of helped a little. But think about that image for a second. Yeh, Gross! It took me literally all evening and throughout the night, up and down to the toilet until the next morning to go the tiniest bit. Sitting on the hard seat is pain enough, but it was like giving birth and I'm not exaggerating. I knew I could have definitely called Dr. B as he gave me his cell phone # and said to call anytime day or night with problems. I had my follow up appointment that next day, so i wanted to wait and talk to him in the morning if I still had a problem. Thankfully I got through that ordeal alive and it was smooth sailing after that. I know this is "tmi= too much information" but I figure it might save someone else a lot of misery. I'd say start that stool softener at least 4-5 days ahead of surgery, but ask dr. If that's ok first.

As far as the healing process, it has been almost three weeks now. I am healing very well. My bruises are pretty much all faded. I'm still very sore, but only when I get up and down or if I touch certain spots. My breasts are the perfect size I hoped for. I fit the same size bra. It is just that now my boobs are a little fuller or wider, but maybe less projection. I think they look very similar to what they did before with the implants. No one will even be able to tell. I think they look even better though because now I have cleavage that I never had before! I am so happy and still in shock at what Dr Bednar was able to accomplish. My body looks so great too. No sagging skin at all. I never got stretch marks when pregnant though, so I think I inherited good skin. Dr hid most of the scars as best as possible just like I requested. I have six scars on the front. 2 in the crease of my upper thigh and 2 on my lower stomach. All four of those are totally covered by my panties and bathing suit bottoms. I have 2 up higher on my stomach and 2 on my lower back that would be visible in a bikini right now, but by the time I would wear one I am sure they would be all healed up and never noticed. I also have two that are in the crease of my butt where it goes into the thigh. Those are hidden by the crease when standing. So ten small incisions all together for the lipo parts. I have scars under the breast fold where the implants were removed and a couple smaller scars where he put in the fat. I am very pleased with all the scar placements. When the swelling goes down, and I get back into an excercise routine, I think I am going to be one hot mama! I only lost maybe 2 or 3 lbs, but I look like I lost 10-15lbs. I am a whole dress size smaller even with swelling. Shopping is so fun now! I have a few small lumps and hard spots still, but they seem to get better and better each day. I got a tighter compression garment because the two they gave me were too loose in the waist, upper torso, and low back areas. I also just tried wrapping the ace type bandage that they originally had put on my breasts around my waist the last couple nights and that made the lumps go away to almost normal now. So I know it is just fluid and will go away. I emailed Silva also about little lumpiness on the breasts when I lift my arms up and she said it is normal and all part of the healing process. But what really impressed me was she said I could call Dr. B right then as he was available to answer my questions now if I wanted to call. It was like 9:00 pm their time! I thought that was above and beyond nice. Dr Bednar is the best. I think he is going to become very busy and will have a long waiting list for this procedure. He seems to have consistent success stories and he is such a down to earth person my husband and I really liked him. His whole staff there are to be commended as everyone played a part in making this experience for me so wonderful. Thank you each one of you so much! I hope that my review will help anyone out there looking to have this procedure to give dr. Bednar a call.

It has been over 4 months now, and I am still VERY happy with my results. My size has stayed the same since about a month or two post-op (after most of the swelling went down). I wore the stretchy genie type bras for first 3 months, but I bought some new bras and am still a 34D in my favorite wacoal brand. My breasts are definately a different shape though now...a much better shape I should add! They look so natural with nice cleavage. When I look at my before picture and compared it to the after, I am amazed at how much better they look now. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am and how grateful I am to have found Dr. Bednar.

Some people asked me questions if I had any lumps or problems? Yes, I have had a few issues. I emailed Sylvia to schedule a phone appt. with Dr. B. I figured it would be scheduled for the following week. However, she set it up right away for him to call me. I really appreciate that. The post op care is exceptional.

Anyways, one issue I had was what looked like a rash or small pin-prick type red dots on my breasts. It would be pretty unnoticeable and mild in the morning but then look a lot worse by the evening. At first I thought maybe it was a reaction to the scar cream. But it was strange because it was no where near where I was applying the cream. Sylvia had me email pictures to Dr.B. He felt it was caused from the procedure where he had to release the scar tissue under the skin. It makes the little dot like marks and he said they will go away in time. The reason it looked worse at night was due to a vascular response. I still have a few dots, but they are getting less and less.

Another issue which was really concerning me was, after the swelling went away, I started to feel some lumps in each breast. They feel very hard, we're kind of sore to the touch, and the largest feels like the size of an egg. They are all surrounding the areola area. My breasts are soft and bouncy overall, but if I press around that area is when I feel the lumps. Dr. B explained to me that this is scar tissue and that he has had a few patients experience this whenever they had their original implants inserted through an areola incision (which is what I had done). I hope I relay this correctly, but I believe he said it is because this area has scar tissue there already from the implant surgery. He has to release this scar tissue to transplant the fat. Then afterwards as it heals, more scar tissue forms again around the old incisions. Sorry if that is unclear, but when he explained it to me, it made total sense to me. He said it may take quite some time for the lumps to go away. He also said that he has been working with a radiologist (?) who is excellent at reading mammogram results for fat transfer patients and I could send my imaging to them. I think I will definately do that when I get a mamogram. I felt so much better after talking to Dr. B. He explains things so you understand, and you can tell he really cares about his patients.

As far as the lipo, I am very happy with this also. My scars are fading well. I love being able to wear pants that before just did not flatter me with the saddlebags on the outsides of my thighs. Even when I was 20- 30 lbs less then I am now, I had those stinking saddlebags! I do have one area on my upper torso that at certain angles I can see a rope-like line maybe about 3 inches across. My husband thinks I'm crazy as he cannot see it. I am sure it will go away as things heal. I feel like because of Dr.B being an artist, he is really good at seeing how he can take what you have, as we are all unique, and then make you look the best you personally can. I feel awesome!

Please feel free to ask me any other questions. I'll try and do better at checking this site to answer. I truely appreciate all who have kept us updated on there progress. I will try to update after a few more months. Best wishes everyone!