Implant Removal with Bilateral Tissue Advancement

This is my background BEFORE finding Dr. Roger Khouri and having implant removal with fat transfer to breast.

I'm 38 years old and have had four children, via natural childbirth (natural, meaning not cesarean).

Just after high school graduation, when I was 17, I surreptitiously had my first set of implants. My dad is a guy; so I knew I could fool him, and my mother was out of town.

I also lied and told [my original] plastic surgeon, Susan Vasko MD, who I naïvely chose solely based on her gender, that I was 18.

Side Bar:
Now that I think of it, I have no idea how I was possibly allowed to have surgery if I wasn't a legal adult. I don't remember, but I wonder, "Did the hospital, where I had the procedure, NOT ask to see a proof of ID?" Geez.

Anyway, before the surgery, I was extremely thin and thus had very little breast tissue. I was approximately a 32A.

I had pretty breasts--yea, for a 12 year old, but no matter what, I couldn't get cleavage, even if I wore the biggest push up bra out there--which wasn't saying much, because this was before the miracle bra, water bra, or all those other off-shoots.

This one and only doctor, which I hastily chose, inanely advised me to get textured implants, placed over the muscle. (Please note that at that time, silicone had been banned.) I blindly agreed, not listening to, or really understanding, any of the possible drawbacks. I was just excited to try on the different sized implants under my shirt, and imagine how great I would look after surgery. I eventually picked 300cc implants.

Post surgery, after the swelling went down, I wore a perfect 34C bra. (Based on what I learned when I worked at Victoria's Secret, a 34C has the same CUP-volume as a 32D--but since that size was very rare then, I wore the next best size--a 34C.)

As I was saying, my new size was perfect and my breasts looked beautiful...

BUT.......as soon as my swelling went down, my boobs looked HORRIBLE.
(Grrrr)

WHAT was my surgeon, Dr. Susan Vasko, thinking??? I looked like I had warped, plastic "Capri Sun" juice bags stuffed under my skin.

I was very self conscious in a bathing suit BEFORE the surgery, but after surgery it was almost worse! The only way to hide their artificial look was to wear an exercise bra-styled bikini top or a modest one-piece bathing suit.

And I was so self conscious of my new protrusions, that I don't think I ever let any boy touch them--not until I was 21 when my first fiancé told me they looked and felt like the "Capri Sun" juice bags. (He didn't intend to be hurtful, but he was right!)

Eventually one of the implants started to drop--not in the
Rock-in-The-Sock way, rather it was sliding down, past the bottom border of the original pocket. So my nipple position became extremely high and the inframamary fold scar was now halfway between the new fold and my nipple. And so it was visible if you looked straight on, at me. I think the term for this is called "bottoming out".

Fast forward a few years, and I was 23. I decided it was time for a change; so I stupidly went back to my original doctor and had a revision. I signed up for the Mentor implant study and became one, of only a select hundred or so, to be allowed to have silicone implants!....I was going to be a Guinea pig.

My doctor, who obviously hadn't learned anything in the 6 years that had past, thought it was logical to put textured silicone implants, above the muscle--AGAIN.

Well, the SAME rippling problem occurred--not as drastic as with saline, but nonetheless, the rippling was both palpable and visible.
(Grrrr x 2)

So less than a month later, my doctor kindly replaced my second pair, with a third, and did it free of charge, though I still had to cover operating room and anesthesia costs...again.

My third pair of implants were smooth-shelled silicone, and were placed under the muscle, ...and I think I went up from 300cc to a 325cc or 350cc, but I can't exactly remember.....

And guess what--when the swelling from my surgery went down, I could STILL see a bit of rippling between my breasts and even a weird bump on my left boob!
(Grrrr^2)

Not too long later, I went skating with a friend, and after doing this super-fast, couple-spin thing, he lost his balance and took me down with him. The impact with the ice caused my left implant to pop out from underneath my muscle. The pain was EXCRUCIATING. And I was terrified that the implant had ruptured; so I rushed to get a mammogram.

Much to my relief, my left implant was, indeed, still intact--but unfortunately, it was now ABOVE the muscle, instead of underneath it. In other words, my implant, placed below-the-muscle, had SLIPPED into the old sub-glandular pocket! [Aren't competent plastic surgeons suppose to do something, I dunno, like throw a few stitches in there to keep this from happening?
(Grrrr x ?)

Then, about four years later, I went on a raft ride and was being towed dangerously fast, behind a boat, when the driver took an overly sharp left turn. I flew off, and I smacked my left breast--again! Yes, AGAIN!

I believe it ruptured then, because since that happened, the implant no longer has had palpable edges.
[(GRRRRR x ?) + 1]

On another note....

As I've said, I have given birth to four children and had MAJOR complications with nursing--probably from having my breast nerves severed three times and having my breast glands messed with more than they should be. Somehow, though, I was able to successfully, though barely, nurse my youngest two--but that's probably because they were constantly attached to one boob or the other. (I'm one of those weird women, who breast fed her her infant while still nursing her toddler--this was not the case with my oldest, however, who needed to be supplemented with formula because of my insufficient milk production. And my second child, never got a chance to nurse, being that he born too premature to do so.)

To top it off, my right breast formed a capsular contracture--a grade IV, nonetheless.

So now...

On the left side, I have a large, very soft, but still mildly ripply, ruptured "rock-in-the-sock" ptotic breast that, because of not having my pectoral muscle to act as an internal bra anymore, sits 1.5" lower than my right, smaller-looking, spherical, grade IV capsule contractured breast--which I just found out is ruptured as well. Ahhhhhh !!!!
[(GRRRRR x ?) + 1] + (GRRRRR x ?) hashtag Hashtag HASHTAG

That means I HAVE HAD IT with these fake, nasty, cold, gross pieces of oozing, plastic sacks.

I have felt utterly HOPELESS--who wouldn't???

One day I sat, dejectedly thinking about my dire, yet hopeless situation, and a memory popped into my head. It was of my father, talking about how doctors are now able to take fat from problem areas and move it to more desirable ones. So I googled "fat transfer to breast"--and came across Dr. Roger Khouri's site!

!!!!!!!EURICA!!!!!!!

My new story begins here...

Just so you know the "(Grrr x ?)" Really should be
"(Grrrr x the infinity symbol)" which this site doesn't recognize. So the joke isn't as funny.
Grrr again. Haha

I went into the surgical center at 11am, got marked with a pen for lipo at about 11:45. Then the staff wheeled me back at 1:30pm, though I was out by then.

Prior to liposuction, Dr. Khouri injected fluid into my inner thighs, belly, and flanks that contained an analgesic and something to shrink my blood vessels.

I got out of surgery about 8:30pm. I only remember waking up at 9:15pm or 9:45, shivering HEAVILY and feeling incredibly nauseous. I was given a cocktail of Dilaudid for pain, Demerol for shaking, and a combination of. Phenergan and Zofran for nausea.

The drug cocktail must have helped, but when I was discharged a little after midnight, and had to stand up, I was in excruciating pain and still felt incredibly sick to my stomach.

Why was I there so long? Remember--my surgery entailed more than the usual patient, undergoing breast augmentation with fat grander. I had a very ptotic (saggy) left, implanted breast that needed to be lifted. Dr. Khouri did this without any incisions, by taking skin from under my inframammary fold, and lifting it up with internal stitches. And he also created a kind of internal bra by putting additional internal stitches above the breast and, I think, around it....I have no doubt in my mind that my original surgeon would NOT be able to perform or even imagine this type of non-invasive reconstruction!

I don't know what he did with my right breast that had a grade IV capsule contracture. I'm assuming that wasn't too difficult.

Oh and, shhh, I even got bit of fat put into my cheeks and on either side of my nose. Unfortunately, my face is now PURPLE. Oh no! What will I tell people? Seriously-- got any ideas?)

About the operation:

I didn't have enough fat to do a butt lift and thank heavens I didn't, because I don't know HOW I would be able to lay on my side, as I can't even lift my arms at all. And how does one lay on her side if she can't move her arms?

I also didn't have enough breast tissue to hold all the fat that I needed to obtain a nice size. And since it is strongly not recommended to use Brava with implants, I could not grow any breast tissue before this surgery. So Dr. Khouri had to put in 130cc implants (to keep me from being too flat), which he will excise in 3 or 4 months, when I return for a touch up. I CAN'T IMAGINE, though, going they this again. Ugh.