Breast Implant Removal: Stories

I have to say this site has been a relief and an inspiration. I have only had my implants for three months and have developed mild symmastia. I am horrified at what they currently look like and having a revision is out of the question for me for multiple reasons. I told myself when I got them that if I had complications - they would come out, no other options are even a possibility for me because I do not want to be that woman that has six revisions down the road and spends $$$$ on keeping her breasts looking less normal and more deformed with each surgery. I am hoping that taking them out a short time after implantation will minimize the changes my breasts have gone through and haelp me bounce back to almost what i was. I am a thin 33 year old and was a 34a before with 385 cc implants. I am terrified of what I will look like after removal. i am so frustrated with myself for not considering the possibility of this awful outcome and upset with the surgeon for contributing to development of my problem. I am not willing to go through symmastia repair as they often need further revisions and I cannot tolerate the idea of living for months in a thong bra to keep my implants from colliding over my sternum. The skin in my cleavage is lifted and lifts even more if any outside pressure is applied to the breasts. I cannot wear a tight fitting shirt or anything that pushes them in from the outside. I am terrified of wearing anything that may expose my weird looking cleavage. And now I am so scared of what I would look like after removal. I have not had children and my breasts were very small but perky and now I am dreading that first time I will see what I have done to myself.

I am so ashamed I put myself any my husband through the expense and the pain. The surgeon is removing my implants for free so that is one good thing. He really pushed me to wear the thomg bra and see what happens but I know that symmastia is notmfixed without surgery and am not willing to go down that road. I do not blame anyone but myself for doing this. However, i am so sad at spending our money on something that caused a complication and disfigurement. I am worried about what my husband will think of them. He told me prior to augmentation it was completely my decision and he liked me just the way I was and now I have caused us both headaches and pain.

I would really love to hear from other wonderful women on the site about what you did to emotionally heal after something like this. How do you prepare yourself for your first look at them? I am already making plans to shower in the dark for the next month until things start to hopefully look better. One thing that is making me feel better is that my husband said that if in a year things look bad - he would support me in seeking a lift if needed or some sort of recomstruction. Ugh... I have two weeks until removal - I wish I could keep from obsessing over this. I am going to try to focus on getting out of the house and doing nice things for myself until then.

Last night I felt completely overwhelmed and cried for a few hours and picked a fight with my husband. Now I feel pretty terrible because I know it is not his fault in any way. He is just trying to do the best he can to keep things normal but I am so stressed out about this I feel like my life is on hold until next week. I just want them out NOW. I seriously have to think of occupying myself somehow each night this week so I can make it to the big day. I keep telling myself that I haven't meant for this to turn into a huge mess and these things just happen sometimes...

Three days to go - anxious and excited to be done. I am the first patient of the day so hopefully will be home fairly quickly after the procedure. I ordered some sports bras on line and got them today. Not sure what I will fit in. I want to thank everyone for sharing their explant experiences - this has been a God send to be able to hear about other women's stories and recovery. I am a little more calm. Trying to stay busy. Maybe a nice outing tomorrow with my wonderful husband and then a busy day at work Monday and next thing you know - explant day!! I will get my courage together and take before/after pictures as that is the most helpful thing for others in this situation... Here's hoping the next three days fly by and explant goes well!

So tomorrow is the day... I haven't slept well since two weeks ago when I scheduled my explant... I am anxious, tired, stressed out, I just want them to be gone. I worked up the courage to post pictures as I want others to be able to see what things look like before/after in my case... I cannot believe I thought this was ever a good idea. Hope things go well - only planning on taking three days off work. My mother will stay with me for a few days as my husband needs to work... I hope to have a positive update tomorrow.

I am home after explant and mentally feel like a huge weight is gone!!! The procedure was very short - i was on my way home two hours after we got there. No drains, capsules thin and left in place. They did mention a littlemfluid may build up but just to keep wearing compression bra and come back in one week. Everyone was nice, PS still tried to talk me out of it amd wanted me to wait but that was out of the question. I do have moderatw pain in both incisions. I am bandaged up tight and VERY flat. I peaked and seems like i am definitely flatter than pre-BA but so happy to be done!!! I can shwer tomorrow so will have an idea of how things look then. Thank you for all the support - I cant tell you how much it has meant to me to find this group of amazing women for encouragement, education and emotional help. I will post back when I actually see them.

So I had my mother help me with unwrapping the bandage today and it is better but different from what I imagined! They are flat and small but not droopy or misshaped! They seem smaller than before but thats no wonder as there was a lot of pressure on my tissues. If this is the worst it will look I can definitely live with it and still am happy and relieved with my desicion. I can feel the tissues are soft and swollen and my incisions are big. I will wait a until I shower for pictures but I hope this helps relieve someone's mind - they look FINE :-)

Today is day 4 after surgery. I am still wearing a sports bra and a tightly wrapped bandage on top. I can feel a little fluid in my chest, just like after initial augmentation. The tissue does feel somewhat swollen but that makes sense as I had surgery and trauma to this area. The breasts are not as firm as prior to augmentation and a little like "jello" as some of the other women have described. I hope they will firm up as tissues contract and swelling subsides. My follow up is on 3/19 and I plan on wrapping myself tight until then. I will have to re-assure my PS that this was really the best decision for me to have implants removed and not wait for revision - he seemed upset that this was my intent and really tried to talk me out of it. My pain is mostly gone and I went back to work yesterday, day 3. In fact, I have to remind myself to take it easy as I feel pretty darn good! No one at work had noticed/said anything. I wore my old bra with foam inserts over my bandage and then a tank top over that and I looked just I did before surgery :-) my husband saw my breasts yesterday and I was so worried as he is terrible with blood/incisions/any sort of medical things... He made me feel so much better because he said they look good and much better than he thought! He said they dont look much different from before and will only improve from here on. I am very happy to have them out and cant wait until I can sleep on my side and stomach again.

One week post removal yesterday and had my follow up visit. Everything looking great so far - no pain, no evidence of fluid. I am keeping a sports bra, then the tight wrap on at all times and my PS said to do that for a total of three weeks. The muscles still feel odd - like they are loose, but I guess that makes sense as they were stretched and I am probably more aware of them. I go in for final follow up in 8 weeks for scar re-check. Still incredibly happy with my small breasts and glad to have those bags out!

I am 15 days post implant removal today and feel amazing!!! I feel almost back to normal, the only reminder are my scars. I have no pain, no swelling, no discomfort. My breasts feel more firm and are my previous shape. I am back on the treadmill and no issues at all. Thank goodness that nightmare is behind me - I am happy :-)