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*Treatment results may vary
Nearly 5 month post-op
Much better! I am able to lift the same amount of weight I was able to pre-op now. I still haven't tried any planks or pushups yet. My incisions are fully closed, I was healing a little slowly with a pin size opening at two months but everything is closed now. So far I don't have any shooting nerve pain as I did when I was two to three months post-op. My scars get a little itchy when I don't wear the silicone strips, so I'm still applying those about 20 hours a day. Overall, I'm very happy with my result and glad I finally explanted.
After reading many of the breast implant reviews...
After reading many of the breast implant reviews here on Realself, I have decided that its my turn to share. I’m not one for putting myself out there but maybe there’s strength in numbers.
At the age of 19 I decided to get a “boob job”. I was already a 34 B so slightly average, but perhaps not based on Southern California standards where fake boobs are likened to fashion accessories. There were many reasons behind the decision, insecurity, boob envy, wanting to look good in a bikini, low self-esteem, etc. I had some money saved up and being 19, I couldn’t hold onto the money for long and decided a boob job would somehow complete me. My mother had hers done with silicone in the 1980’s and I had mine done with saline, under the muscle in 1996 due to the ban on silicone. Saline was considered the safe alternative. My doctor told me he would use a textured implant to reduce the risk of capsular contracture. I had fun with my implants and my newfound “self-esteem” boost in my early twenties. Initially I was about a 36 C which my goal was a full C cup, I can’t remember how many cc’s were used I’m thinking it was in the 300 range. I tried to get my surgical notes from my original implanting surgeon but was told that after 17 years, they probably didn’t have them and had to contact archivists since they’re only bound by law to keep them for seven.
I had a physical at age 24 and found out I had an autoimmune disorder (ITP) that kills my platelets. Years after the ITP diagnosis I had an issue of my hair falling out in little circular patches. I hoped it would go away until one of the patches was about a golfball size in diameter where I part my hair. I was diagnosed with another autoimmune condition, alopecia areata where your immune system attacks the hair follicles. It seemed to get better with local steroid injections, then I got pregnant and discontinued the treatments. Every so often I will have flareups, but the patches of bald spots are around an eraserhead in size and not golfball sized so I chose to leave it alone. Two years ago, I was having some heart palpitations, flushing and a racing pulse. I was diagnosed with Grave’s disease, an autoimmune condition involving the thyroid which I’m still being treated for. Although there may not be enough clinical evidence for the FDA to conclude that autoimmune illnesses are caused by saline implants, I decided to remove my implants around ten years ago in hopes that my health would improve. I didn’t put a plan into action until two months ago when occasional pain turned into a daily reminder that I needed to have these implants removed.
Around ten years ago, a few years after my diagnosis of ITP I found an explantation support forum and read many women’s stories and thought about having mine removed. I went to my original surgeon for a consultation and was told he had never seen such a degree of ptosis (sagging) after 7 years after implants (Thanks!) and that he has never only explanted a patient, he’s only done revisions and implant exchanges. He was willing to only charge me for a lift, in which the price seemed inflated at the time. I sat with the offer, but my gut told me to find someone with experience in explanting if I was going to pay that amount. I found a list of surgeons on the explant list who were out of state and spoke to their office managers and got prices and logistics as far as how long the visit and the recovery should be. I spoke to my boyfriend at the time about having him come to aid in my recovery and was told he wasn’t interested and would send his mom in his place. I didn’t seem to have a good support system at the time and was terrified of complications due to my platelet condition so I placed the idea on hold. I ended that relationship, went back to school, focused on a career, got married, finished school and had a child.
Two months ago my occasional pain under my left muscle near my armpit became a daily occurrence. And while not enough for me to be on pain medications, I decided to research having my implants removed again. My mom, having been a recipient of the 1980’s silicone implants and experiencing illnesses possibly related to her implants implored me to remove mine. I hoped I would find the courage to finally set a date and get it done for real this time. I wanted an explant with the capsules removed plus a lift. I didn’t want to leave the capsules in due to my autoimmune illnesses, so I wanted to ensure that any surgeon I went to would agree to remove as much of the capsule as possible. I went to an old explantation support site and got some names of recommended surgeons, and called and emailed. I narrowed my potentials down to two choices: Dr. Melmed in Texas, and Dr. Jae Chun in Newport Beach. These two surgeons had been names I had frequently read about in explantation blogs over the last few years.
I weighed the decision. Dr. Melmed has many years of experience with thousands of explantations and seems to perform a very aesthetically pleasing modified Benelli lift with minimal scarring. Dr. Chun also has many years of explantation experience and was local. I thought realistically about my ptosis and wondered if a modified Benelli would really give me the results I wanted, I was so far gone with the sagging, I thought. I emailed Dr. Melmed a few times and still was undecided. I called a few local surgeon’s offices and set an appointment with Dr. Chun before I made my final decision. His office staff was very friendly and scheduled a consult right after the holidays. I printed a list of questions to ask your surgeon from another blog site to bring along. One of the questions I asked was his experience with explantation, in which he answered that he’s performed 600-700 explantations, possibly more with a good portion of them being the older silicone implants. He would perform an anchor lift on me due to my level of ptosis. He seemed very confident in his skill and professionally answered all my questions. I would need a medical clearance from my doctor due to my platelet disorder. Both doctors were highly experienced, one was local and one would involve travel. Two different possible outcomes with different lifts had to be considered along with healing times and scars. I decided that my platelet disorder might put me at risk for complications so I didn’t want to be worried that I would have to travel far or see a consulting surgeon nearby who didn’t perform my operation. I also didn’t know if I would need a more aggressive lift later if I chose to have a modified Benelli now and my result was still a low hanging breast. I knew that I didn’t want to undergo multiple surgeries, no matter how far spaced apart they are. I also had to consider distance and having follow-ups frequently in case I have problems healing. This will be my final elective surgery if I can help it. I decided to have Dr. Chun remove my implants and perform my breast lift due to his proximity and I was impressed with his education, experience and skill.
The most stressful part of the pre-op period was getting my medical clearance. I had a new primary care physician whom I had just seen the month before. She seemed nice. My platelets were not below 100,000 so there shouldn’t be a problem. I wrote a letter asking her for my clearance and explained that I was having some pain from my implants and wanted them removed and needed a letter saying it was ok. No action was taken on her part and I called her office daily with her office assistant pretending it was the first she’d heard of me even though I personally handed the letter to her. I called the medical group to see what was going on and someone in charge of the medical assistants said she had put in an order to have the doctor’s assistant call me. Still no action was taken after a week. If she couldn’t write the letter she could refer me to someone who could, right? I was in tears and frustrated at being ignored. I guessed that someone getting their implants removed wasn’t a high priority to them. I called my old specialist 60 miles away whom I hadn’t seen in over four years and her staff was very sympathetic. I was able to be seen in a week and my medical clearance was in my hand the same day. The next day my primary care doctor’s medical assistant called and said I had to be seen for my letter (this was two weeks after I dropped my request off). That experience was two extremes of how sympathetic and apathetic some people who work around the medical profession can be. Sometimes its not as easy as getting the money together and scheduling a date and you have to find the strength to persevere.
With my medical clearance, I was able to schedule a date. At first we couldn’t find a date that would work with husband’s schedule. Dr. Chun’s assistant in charge of scheduling was able to fit me within two weeks on a day that he normally didn’t perform surgeries with his okay. The surgery went fine. I woke up alive but felt as if I was emerging from a coma because I was under general anesthesia for four hours. The next day was rough, I was in pain and swollen. Even my hands were swollen and I felt like I had carpal tunnel. My chest muscle on my left where I used to have the pain felt like a knot and when I was cold I felt like a Charley Horse was coming on.
I went to my post-op visit and Dr. Chun showed me my implant surgical pics and gave me my implants. I was floored, they were smooth saline, and not textured like my original implanting surgeon told me. I know I’m not crazy. I know the implanting surgeon told me they were textured to reduce the risk of capsular contracture. I know at a post-op visit he scolded me when I asked about massaging my breasts and told me that I didn’t need to because I have textured implants. I looked at all my old pre-op paper work and nowhere did it say textured or smooth, only saline. So, get it in writing as the old adage goes. I’m still in shock as to why someone would tell me something was going in my body and they put in something different. But in the end it was good I guess because I didn’t have 17 year-old degrading texture possibly flaking off in my capsules. I’m glad I didn’t have my original surgeon explant or lift me ten years ago but wish I had consulted with Dr. Chun sooner rather than later.
The first week was rough, I had my mom watching my four year-old. My husband took care of me and only once or twice did he complain. I was on an anti-nausea patch and felt a little queasy for a couple days after its removal. The pain meds would help me nod off but I didn’t get any deep sleep as they would wear off and I would be up at 2 a.m. with some pain and have to re-dose. By day five I weaned myself off any pain meds and just dealt with the pain. My chest muscles stopped being so tense and I was gaining mobility in my arms.
Week two I was dealing with my incisions stinging and weeping a little. At my one week post-op visit I was told it was normal to have a little bit of bleeding and weeping and to watch for signs of infection. My temperature would hover above 99 but no serious signs of infection and I scared myself with looking up worst case scenarios of necrosis, open wounds etc. on Realself.
Now it is week three and my incisions have scabbed over and fallen off for the most part. I’m still swollen in my breasts. I can only compare it to an engorged feeling you get when milk is coming in after childbirth. I will have another post-op visit in two weeks to see if I am cleared of any lifting or arm extension movements and we will start my scar management protocols.
My mom is in her 60’s and would like her old 1980’s silicone implants removed but is afraid of complications because she’s not in the best of health. I’m hoping that she will one day explant as I have read about some of the women on here who have had their older silicone implants removed and are enjoying their life now. I spent almost all of my adult life with implants and wish I had the opportunity to enjoy being healthy in the prime of my life. I will never know for sure what role implants had with my auto-immune illnesses but each day so far I wake up with the relief that they are gone from my body. I wish I had done this a decade ago.
At the age of 19 I decided to get a “boob job”. I was already a 34 B so slightly average, but perhaps not based on Southern California standards where fake boobs are likened to fashion accessories. There were many reasons behind the decision, insecurity, boob envy, wanting to look good in a bikini, low self-esteem, etc. I had some money saved up and being 19, I couldn’t hold onto the money for long and decided a boob job would somehow complete me. My mother had hers done with silicone in the 1980’s and I had mine done with saline, under the muscle in 1996 due to the ban on silicone. Saline was considered the safe alternative. My doctor told me he would use a textured implant to reduce the risk of capsular contracture. I had fun with my implants and my newfound “self-esteem” boost in my early twenties. Initially I was about a 36 C which my goal was a full C cup, I can’t remember how many cc’s were used I’m thinking it was in the 300 range. I tried to get my surgical notes from my original implanting surgeon but was told that after 17 years, they probably didn’t have them and had to contact archivists since they’re only bound by law to keep them for seven.
I had a physical at age 24 and found out I had an autoimmune disorder (ITP) that kills my platelets. Years after the ITP diagnosis I had an issue of my hair falling out in little circular patches. I hoped it would go away until one of the patches was about a golfball size in diameter where I part my hair. I was diagnosed with another autoimmune condition, alopecia areata where your immune system attacks the hair follicles. It seemed to get better with local steroid injections, then I got pregnant and discontinued the treatments. Every so often I will have flareups, but the patches of bald spots are around an eraserhead in size and not golfball sized so I chose to leave it alone. Two years ago, I was having some heart palpitations, flushing and a racing pulse. I was diagnosed with Grave’s disease, an autoimmune condition involving the thyroid which I’m still being treated for. Although there may not be enough clinical evidence for the FDA to conclude that autoimmune illnesses are caused by saline implants, I decided to remove my implants around ten years ago in hopes that my health would improve. I didn’t put a plan into action until two months ago when occasional pain turned into a daily reminder that I needed to have these implants removed.
Around ten years ago, a few years after my diagnosis of ITP I found an explantation support forum and read many women’s stories and thought about having mine removed. I went to my original surgeon for a consultation and was told he had never seen such a degree of ptosis (sagging) after 7 years after implants (Thanks!) and that he has never only explanted a patient, he’s only done revisions and implant exchanges. He was willing to only charge me for a lift, in which the price seemed inflated at the time. I sat with the offer, but my gut told me to find someone with experience in explanting if I was going to pay that amount. I found a list of surgeons on the explant list who were out of state and spoke to their office managers and got prices and logistics as far as how long the visit and the recovery should be. I spoke to my boyfriend at the time about having him come to aid in my recovery and was told he wasn’t interested and would send his mom in his place. I didn’t seem to have a good support system at the time and was terrified of complications due to my platelet condition so I placed the idea on hold. I ended that relationship, went back to school, focused on a career, got married, finished school and had a child.
Two months ago my occasional pain under my left muscle near my armpit became a daily occurrence. And while not enough for me to be on pain medications, I decided to research having my implants removed again. My mom, having been a recipient of the 1980’s silicone implants and experiencing illnesses possibly related to her implants implored me to remove mine. I hoped I would find the courage to finally set a date and get it done for real this time. I wanted an explant with the capsules removed plus a lift. I didn’t want to leave the capsules in due to my autoimmune illnesses, so I wanted to ensure that any surgeon I went to would agree to remove as much of the capsule as possible. I went to an old explantation support site and got some names of recommended surgeons, and called and emailed. I narrowed my potentials down to two choices: Dr. Melmed in Texas, and Dr. Jae Chun in Newport Beach. These two surgeons had been names I had frequently read about in explantation blogs over the last few years.
I weighed the decision. Dr. Melmed has many years of experience with thousands of explantations and seems to perform a very aesthetically pleasing modified Benelli lift with minimal scarring. Dr. Chun also has many years of explantation experience and was local. I thought realistically about my ptosis and wondered if a modified Benelli would really give me the results I wanted, I was so far gone with the sagging, I thought. I emailed Dr. Melmed a few times and still was undecided. I called a few local surgeon’s offices and set an appointment with Dr. Chun before I made my final decision. His office staff was very friendly and scheduled a consult right after the holidays. I printed a list of questions to ask your surgeon from another blog site to bring along. One of the questions I asked was his experience with explantation, in which he answered that he’s performed 600-700 explantations, possibly more with a good portion of them being the older silicone implants. He would perform an anchor lift on me due to my level of ptosis. He seemed very confident in his skill and professionally answered all my questions. I would need a medical clearance from my doctor due to my platelet disorder. Both doctors were highly experienced, one was local and one would involve travel. Two different possible outcomes with different lifts had to be considered along with healing times and scars. I decided that my platelet disorder might put me at risk for complications so I didn’t want to be worried that I would have to travel far or see a consulting surgeon nearby who didn’t perform my operation. I also didn’t know if I would need a more aggressive lift later if I chose to have a modified Benelli now and my result was still a low hanging breast. I knew that I didn’t want to undergo multiple surgeries, no matter how far spaced apart they are. I also had to consider distance and having follow-ups frequently in case I have problems healing. This will be my final elective surgery if I can help it. I decided to have Dr. Chun remove my implants and perform my breast lift due to his proximity and I was impressed with his education, experience and skill.
The most stressful part of the pre-op period was getting my medical clearance. I had a new primary care physician whom I had just seen the month before. She seemed nice. My platelets were not below 100,000 so there shouldn’t be a problem. I wrote a letter asking her for my clearance and explained that I was having some pain from my implants and wanted them removed and needed a letter saying it was ok. No action was taken on her part and I called her office daily with her office assistant pretending it was the first she’d heard of me even though I personally handed the letter to her. I called the medical group to see what was going on and someone in charge of the medical assistants said she had put in an order to have the doctor’s assistant call me. Still no action was taken after a week. If she couldn’t write the letter she could refer me to someone who could, right? I was in tears and frustrated at being ignored. I guessed that someone getting their implants removed wasn’t a high priority to them. I called my old specialist 60 miles away whom I hadn’t seen in over four years and her staff was very sympathetic. I was able to be seen in a week and my medical clearance was in my hand the same day. The next day my primary care doctor’s medical assistant called and said I had to be seen for my letter (this was two weeks after I dropped my request off). That experience was two extremes of how sympathetic and apathetic some people who work around the medical profession can be. Sometimes its not as easy as getting the money together and scheduling a date and you have to find the strength to persevere.
With my medical clearance, I was able to schedule a date. At first we couldn’t find a date that would work with husband’s schedule. Dr. Chun’s assistant in charge of scheduling was able to fit me within two weeks on a day that he normally didn’t perform surgeries with his okay. The surgery went fine. I woke up alive but felt as if I was emerging from a coma because I was under general anesthesia for four hours. The next day was rough, I was in pain and swollen. Even my hands were swollen and I felt like I had carpal tunnel. My chest muscle on my left where I used to have the pain felt like a knot and when I was cold I felt like a Charley Horse was coming on.
I went to my post-op visit and Dr. Chun showed me my implant surgical pics and gave me my implants. I was floored, they were smooth saline, and not textured like my original implanting surgeon told me. I know I’m not crazy. I know the implanting surgeon told me they were textured to reduce the risk of capsular contracture. I know at a post-op visit he scolded me when I asked about massaging my breasts and told me that I didn’t need to because I have textured implants. I looked at all my old pre-op paper work and nowhere did it say textured or smooth, only saline. So, get it in writing as the old adage goes. I’m still in shock as to why someone would tell me something was going in my body and they put in something different. But in the end it was good I guess because I didn’t have 17 year-old degrading texture possibly flaking off in my capsules. I’m glad I didn’t have my original surgeon explant or lift me ten years ago but wish I had consulted with Dr. Chun sooner rather than later.
The first week was rough, I had my mom watching my four year-old. My husband took care of me and only once or twice did he complain. I was on an anti-nausea patch and felt a little queasy for a couple days after its removal. The pain meds would help me nod off but I didn’t get any deep sleep as they would wear off and I would be up at 2 a.m. with some pain and have to re-dose. By day five I weaned myself off any pain meds and just dealt with the pain. My chest muscles stopped being so tense and I was gaining mobility in my arms.
Week two I was dealing with my incisions stinging and weeping a little. At my one week post-op visit I was told it was normal to have a little bit of bleeding and weeping and to watch for signs of infection. My temperature would hover above 99 but no serious signs of infection and I scared myself with looking up worst case scenarios of necrosis, open wounds etc. on Realself.
Now it is week three and my incisions have scabbed over and fallen off for the most part. I’m still swollen in my breasts. I can only compare it to an engorged feeling you get when milk is coming in after childbirth. I will have another post-op visit in two weeks to see if I am cleared of any lifting or arm extension movements and we will start my scar management protocols.
My mom is in her 60’s and would like her old 1980’s silicone implants removed but is afraid of complications because she’s not in the best of health. I’m hoping that she will one day explant as I have read about some of the women on here who have had their older silicone implants removed and are enjoying their life now. I spent almost all of my adult life with implants and wish I had the opportunity to enjoy being healthy in the prime of my life. I will never know for sure what role implants had with my auto-immune illnesses but each day so far I wake up with the relief that they are gone from my body. I wish I had done this a decade ago.
Provider Review
I found recommendations for Dr. Chun on an older explantation support site. Dr. Chun is highly skilled and very experienced with breast implant removal. I like his shaping and contouring of the breast and his skill with symmetry and stitching. He is very thorough and will answer all questions even when busy. His staff is friendly and I was scheduled with a surgery date within a very agreeable time frame for me. I even recommended him to mom when she is ready for an explant.