POSTED UNDER Breast Implant Removal Reviews
Removing my 35-year Old Implants! - Fort Lauderdale, FL
UPDATED FROM verana
6 months post
Medicare reimbursement!
veranaDecember 31, 2013
$4,750
Ok girls, for those of us over 65, I finally got a reimbursement check last night, after 6 months. It wasn't a ton, $535, but better than nothing, for sure. Hopefully my supplement will do the other 20%. I got the form 1490S from Medicare.gov, and submitted the bill from my PS, with doctor's notes & the pics he took. They denied me twice, since he wasn't a Medicare doc (a lot of PS's aren't). However, a couple of you posted the codes, which I resubmitted in October, and I got the check yesterday. His total bill was $4750, including everything (hospital fee, anesthesiologist, etc) of which Medicare approved $681, so they sent me 80%. Just FYI, the code for an intact implant is 19328, and for ruptured was 19330. I looked them up on a Medicare code chart I found online. Once I resubmitted with the code, they paid up. A doc told me you could have your arm chopped off, but if there's no Medicare code next to the procedure, the computer can't process it. Anyway, I'm happy I got something! By the way, it's been 6 months now, I'm so very happy I had my 35 year old original implants removed, but I do kind of look saggy-baggy, but it's ok, Am sure I could have a revision to look perfect, or maybe they'll fill in, but small is good and it feels great to have real boobs again. Sports bras work wonders anyway. One of my nipples has yet to peek out, but that is fixable, and the bottom of the other boob still looks a bit odd, because the surgeon had to dig the implant out as it was attaching to tissues...anyway, I didn't have a choice, and it was a wonderful decision! Sorry for this long update, but I know the Medicare thing will interest some of you! Happy New Year!
verana's provider
UPDATED FROM verana
22 days post
Three weeks post op now!
veranaJuly 9, 2013
Feeling much better, scars healing well, I'm still a bit sore - especially after working, having worn the tight sports bra for 5 hours, but soooo happy I did all this! Still massaging with the coconut oil, and next week I can start the ScarGuard. Left side underneath still a bit wonky-looking, but you can see from the 'tail' on one implant that he had to dig a bit to get it untangled from my tissue. Doesn't matter if it's not perfectly rounded, I'm very happy anyway. After having original implants for 35 years, it's so wonderful to have my soft, little boobs back! Good luck to everyone who is going to do this - totally worth it. Never too late...I'm 66 & still in good shape, luckily. Didn't want to live the last third of my life with the old ruptured bags inside me....PS said I didn't have a choice anyway, they had to come out. Happy girl!!
Replies (4)
July 9, 2013
Great news to hear - another success story! Is wonderful you are happy and free of those implants and can now carry on feeling better and better. Feels like I am about to jump off some sorta cliff with this, especially when doctors are like, "You just want them out? With no lift? They are gonna be empty sacks. You will not be happy." But hearing this, and all the other peoples stories, is helping me to feel so much more confident in my decision, and more positive about the outcome, physically and emotionally. I'm thrilled for you Verana! And getting more and more excited to being right where you are, very very soon... :) And, of course, thank you for sharing!!!
July 9, 2013
Funny, my PS didn't say they'd look like sacks (they don't), but he did say he wouldn't re-implant me even if I wanted him to, with the damage the one side had from the leaky implant. Some docs care what YOU want!
July 9, 2013
Mine a very small empty sacks (op was May 28) and no fluffing whatsoever, but the best bit is feeling all my breast bone again and forgetting all about them and no more niggling hard lumps restriction pain!
July 10, 2013
Yay! My sentiments exactly!! Small, but I can stretch without pain & it's so good to be able to know that the bad stuff is all out!
July 28, 2013
Thank you so much for posting those pics....I'm 51 and have had my implants for 20 years and am just now looing into getting them out. It was good (and scary) to see another woman who had them for a long time. I'm very scared, about the surgery and the appearance after....I'm trying to get up the nerve to go to my first consultation.
August 1, 2013
Wow! Verana!!!!!Thank Goodness you got that s***t out!!!!!! Oh my! I felt kind of woozie looking at your pic's. thank you so much for sharing. It's truly amazing what our bodies put up with because of our lack of knowing better. I'm so happy for you! Congrats on being natural again. Much Love, Birdie
August 1, 2013
Hi Birdie! Hope all is well. I'm 7 weeks post now, & soooo happy I did this, even though I don't look as perfect as most of you seem to! One nipple still hasn't popped out yet, and the other boob is weirdly shaped on the bottom, like a badge of honor - that implant capsule had tangled itself in my tissue & it had to be wrestled out, the PS said.....that's ok, bras are wonderful, & my husband doesn't care either.....benefits of an ancient marriage!! Take care, Birdie - good to see you on the site once in a while!
UPDATED FROM verana
4 days post
This is what came out of me on Monday!
veranaJune 21, 2013
Hope I posted these ok....we'll see! Taken the 17th in the operating room. You can see inside the capsule where the calcium had built up over the implant.....and mine were soft! To think this is what we're ending up with....and the 'tail' on (my) left boob was where the leaky bit started to tangle with my muscle, tissue, implant, etc....my left scar won't be as neat as my right one, but that's due to the tangle...
Replies (5)
June 21, 2013
God that "tangle" looks ghastly. Thanks for those photos however gory! Such a relief for you to be free. Only a coupla weeks and you'll have almost forgotten you had the op - even more the pressure you were getting from the capsules.
June 21, 2013
When I had them implanted in California in '78, I went to a bigwig surgeon who was a great guy & did a lot of friends of mine at the time. We all were happy then, & looked good. He used McGhan implants, which at the time were the best! Guess they were ok, mine lasted 35 years and were still within the capsule, except for the tangle, although both were ruptured from age....you're right about the pressure - it's gone!!!
June 21, 2013
Oh wow, those capsules are AWFUL looking. This should be shown to us before we get implants- would put PSs right out of business! I have a scar that wasn't looking so hot, but time and massage helped a lot. Was the removal through existing scars? It's cool to see a Revis explant, since he's known as the Boob God Master Surgeon, and is well known for XL implant surgeries. :-) Hope you are feeling well, certainly you are better off without that s#@% inside you!
June 21, 2013
I know, right? Great office, great staff. I joked he looks 15, but I'm 66 so what do I know :) So qualified, and I love fact that he's on the Ethics committee & does volunteer work in Senegal & for Interplast. He just seems like such a nice person. ( He repaired a friend of mine's boched implants & she looks wonderful, but unfortunately she got cancer a couple of years later & the chemo & radiation treatments have lessened her viable tissue; she feels the implants are impeding her recovery, so he's going to remove them once & for all. Now she can't wait!). Maybe if people get implants and truly get them replaced every ten years, they don't have the problems some of us had, who have had them for such a long time. He didn't go through the original areola incision, to answer your question...since the tangle was a problem, I preferred they both have incisions on the bottom where they won't (hopefully) show, and besides, he had to wangle it all out. My right boob will be perfectly shaped on the bottom, I think, & we'll have to see about the dodgy one...whatever, doesn't matter, & I don't care, it'll be fine in a sports bra!
June 21, 2013
I'm sorry about your friend- I know radiation can really do a number on the skin. I'm sure she'd much rather have 'less attractive' comfortable breasts than 'perfect' painful ones that are just getting in the way! About the 10-year replacement plan- most PSs say 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it', and don't recommend replacement unless there is an issue. Obviously, the scar tissue just continues to build up and calcify, so why aren't they being more upfront about the eventuality of this? I was told mine would last forever and I would be buried with them- I was 21 when I had my op!! That's why sites like these are so valuable. It's much more meaningful to read stories and see photos of people who have actually had implants for a while, rather than just see a catalog of surgically perfected [RS bleep] fresh off the operating table. Thanks for sharing!! I like the idea of calling one boob 'dodgy!' I think I'll adopt that- If I'm ever in a situation where someone sees my dented boob, I'll say "Oh yeah, that's my dodgy one- the prettier one is to the left." lol ;-)
June 21, 2013
Funny, I was told the EXACT same sentence when I got mine at 31. They'll last forever. I'd have to get run over by a Mack truck to have them pop....but nothing was said about disintegration!!! As for my buddy, she can't get replacements/reconstruction as she's not healing very well these days....last note....I'm a dual citizen of Britain & US, so dodgy works for anything that's just not quite right, somehow! :) :) Have a good weekend1
June 22, 2013
I wasn't told they would last forever, but i was too up my arse to evaluate problems down the line back then! What I am annoyed about is because of all the capsule problems first time around where he literally tried to crack them by jumping on me with a firm grasp, a few times, and that was really painful and so disappointing when it didn't work and all my hopes had been raised. He also raised my hopes by saying there's a different brand that is textured and you won't get capsules with these...but once replaced in 1998 these again never felt natural and lo and behold the hard capsules formed again. I guess we can't blame the surgeons 100%, but their promises of "it can be fixed if you have a problem" should not be taken seriously.
June 22, 2013
Hey nervous girl - I just read your review, gosh you sounded so depressed, but like another happy person now. So glad you went ahead and got them out then climbed out of your depression and you and hubby all cool about things now.
June 22, 2013
She DOES sound better....that should give everyone who feels a bit down, hope that it all only gets better & better.....:) Life is good....much better than NOT living, right?
June 22, 2013
I remember, years ago, having friends who had to have their boobs 'squeezed' or something by the PS to break the hard capsules.....awful. Glad I didn't have to do that. I still can't believe mine were so soft, after I see the horrible capsule & calcium buildup within the capsule enclosing the implant.
June 22, 2013
yes those capsule sqeezes were horrific - I had to lay down while he "got the grasp" then litererlly throw himself on me with all his might hoping for a "pop" - he did metion having anesaetic at one point to try again, but I had nobody I could ask to escourt me to and from the clinic! A couple of times it felt partially released. Because of that "half tear" they ended up looking really an odd shape - lights off in bed from then on if ever I "got lucky" with some unlucky guy!
June 22, 2013
LOL ! No - lucky I have a pretty outlook on life, and was busy being a single mum, but I can see why others got real depressed by their implants and the guilt of the expense, health worries and male judgement issues
June 21, 2013
Wow wow wow! Thank you SO much for posting those photos. They speak volumes.
Glad you're so happy to have done this! You have an great attitude.
June 21, 2013
Thanks...and even though the compression wrap isn't comfortable, I know I'm mushing all my tissue back together, which makes me feel good! I thought I posted more pics, but they're basically all the same. The rupture was contained in the capsule, except for the leak one...he had to cut & snip it away from the muscle...I gather it was a tangled mess....I'll probably end up being 32A....and happy!!! Even sore & feeling like mushed bread dough, the boobs feel good - and real, and soft again...yay!!
June 22, 2013
From what I've seen on this site, and other 'explants'...they all look about the same...except the newbie girls, they all look pretty new!
June 21, 2013
Oh my gosh everyone ought to see those pictures! I am so glad you are free of that mess! You will be amazed at how your body will heal. Take care and above all, don't overdo!
June 22, 2013
Wish I didn't have to go to work on Monday, it's been lovely being home playing on my computer & doing nothing! Think I'll have a glass of vino tonight. My old baggies look just like the video that was posted the other day....I saw that video & thought, how awful, and mine were just the same!!
June 21, 2013
Ay yi yi, Verana! Thank goodness those nasty bags are out of your body and can start the healing process!!
Replies (2)