Implant Removal - Fat Transfer to Breast - Charlotte, NC

First, I want to thank the other women on this site who helped me gather the courage to go through with this procedure. In particular, Colleen3000, Green55, Brigit, Saturn, and JGRealSelfer were all wonderful in answering the many many questions I had.

I had a tuberous breast and when I was 18, I got saline implants. Unfortunately, I ended up having capsular contracture on my left breast pretty badly. About five years ago, I had my saline implants replaced with silicone. I was much happier with the silicone because they felt more natural but I still worried about health risks. I worried about ruptures or leaks and I didn't want to have to think about having them re-done every ten years or so. Also, I just didn't like the idea of having implants in general. I never would have gotten them if I didn't have a tuberous breast and I never felt like they fit my personality. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I dreaded ever having to explain to someone I chose to be intimate with that I had implants.

When I first heard about fat transfer, I literally cried. I couldn't believe that I could actually have a normal looking breast that was MINE...I began looking around at different doctors, different women's stories (many of them here - thank you!:), and trying to figure out how I could afford to do this. I was also SUPER worried about the liposuction. I didn't want lipo at all and I was terrified that it would leave my body looking lumpy or weird or misshapen.

After researching MANY doctors, consulting with a few, and talking with a number of women here on realself, I decided to go with Dr. Bednar in Charlotte, NC. I live in California so this was definitely a trek but I had a feeling it would be worth it and I couldn't have been more right!

I will post a review of Dr. Bednar and his staff below but let me just say here that their whole team is AMAZING!!! From the very first time I contacted the office, through my surgery and recovery, they have exceeded my expectations at every turn. I promise to post before and after pics in the next few days but I want to say that I am SOOOOOO happy that I had this procedure done. I'm happy with my breasts ,with the lipo, with my healing - everything! It has only been a few days since I had my surgery and I can honestly say that it is worth every penny! I went into debt to have this procedure done and I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Again, I promise to post pics soon! Thank you again to all of the women on this site who were brave enough to share their story and open enough to help me make one of the best decisions of my life!!! Thank you!!! I only hope I can return the favor for other women out there!

hey everyone,

here are some initial photos. I'm only six days out and I had implants removed as a part of my surgery so i still have some bruising but you can get a sense of what things look like. You can see in my before photo that I had some asymmetry already (my right breast was much saggier and had a different shape). I also had some areola tattooing on my left breast to try and compensate for the asymmetry...all that to say, there was a lot going on beforehand:-D (it was a mess!)...

in the after photos, you can see that Dr. Bednar was able to get a similar volume to what I had before (which was great because no one even knows i had surgery - i don't have to explain why all of a sudden my breasts are gone:-D). They are still healing, but already, they are soooo much softer and I can tell I'll be able to have cleavage (which I never had before). I'm so happy - if you've ever had implants and had them out or wanted them out, you know what i mean - it's so amazing to realize that these are my own breasts! And given that I had a smaller than an "A" tuberous breast initially (before imlants), I'm so happy with what he was able to do with the shape. I basically had NO breast tissue and now i have soft boobies! hahaha

I'll post more photos as things heal. i'll also post before an after of my lipo sites once the bruising and swelling are gone:)

It's been two weeks since my surgery and I think things are looking good! My bruising and swelling has gone down significantly and I like the way my lipo areas are looking already! There is definitely still a lot of soreness in the lipo areas - especially when i first wake up, it takes me a minute to really get up and get going. The only thing I could really compare it to at this point is like the morning after a really really tough workout - where you've worked all those muscles you didn't know you had? Kind of like that:)

In terms of my breasts, there's no soreness but i just worry about them:-D - I feel very protective of them like i'm trying to protect the fat that's there and make sure it settles in smoothly:-D - that said, i always have on a sports bra or a no-wire bra that feels very supportive and sometimes I still wear my wrap just for extra support. I don't really want them to move around too much. I'm not sure if this is smart or silly but either way, it makes me feel better:)

I'll post some lipo pics when my bruising is gone completely as I know that's a concern for a lot of women as well. I can honestly say that although I know you can't really tell how things will look at two weeks, if I had to judge now, I'd say my shape is better than it was when I went in. I really didn't want lipo - it was just something I had to do for the fat transfer and I was worried that I would lose all my curves. But that's not the case. I feel like the doc took just enough and took it from just the right places so that I actually end up looking more shapely:) - hopefully things stay this way! I'll update again in a couple weeks when I'll be at the one month mark!

Thank you again for all the support I've received here - and also a big thank you to Dr. Bednar's office for continuing to call/email and check up on me - they remain great as well:)