Breast Implant Removal: Stories

On June 1st I had my silicone implants & capsule removed with a lift. I am feeling so much more like myself than I have in 18 years....I never liked & came to hate those implants. Why I did it in the first place remains a mystery to me...probably because it sounded like a good idea at the time. I was a perfectly fine C cup, the lessons we learn sometimes the hard way. Like many other stories you hear I didn't come out with the size I wanted...I came out looking like I had a cartoon set of breasts, they were huge. Although upset & so angry at the surgeon (who told me he thought I could carry off larger so that's what he did, as if I didn't know what I wanted & he knew what was right for me) I decided to live with them and see how it went. Learning to dress around those things was miserable, I had to re-learn how to play golf, a game I love, because it was hard to swing around them. I hated the way they felt & looked, with every passing year I would think more & more about having them removed & going natural. My husband is the best support ever, he wanted me to be comfortable & happy, he was on board with whatever I wanted to do. I had decided that was going to be my 50th BD gift, the thing I wanted most, so I had planned on starting the consultation process this summer as my BD is in the Fall.

Fate stepped in - in April my left breast started getting very hard & high on my chest...very distorted. Yep, I had developed the dreaded capsular contracture. Within weeks it began pressing on a nerve and I would get zinged often, pretty painful. Needless to say I stepped up the consultations, 4 total, & went for the surgeon I liked best & felt most comfortable with. I was in surgery for 4 hours, they had their work cut out for them, that's for sure. There were unexpected pockets of blood all around the bad implant, I cringed when she showed me the pics...pretty ugly. She had only seen this situation once before and it was caused from trauma. I'd had nothing unusual happen so that is a mystery. It required her to put drains in but they came out 3 days later at my post op, so it wasn't an issue. Bottom line is this: how bad do you want them out & to go natural? I couldn't see myself just having the implants removed & no lift, there would simply be too much saggy skin...I would rather deal with the scars & have smaller, perkie breasts. I'd seen a couple of my friends scars, one from breast reduction and the other a lift...the same scar pattern. One looked totally fine & the other you could barely see any scar. She used Lavendar oil for months after her surgery beginning the day all of her surgical tape was removed, about 2.5 weeks. I've seen the results, you can bet I am stocked up on Lavendar oil!! I can't wait for a few months down the road when my scars will look better, but I'm beyond happy I had it done. I took 2 weeks off of work and did everything I was suppossed to, which was nothing at all :) rest, rest & more rest, no lifting and don't bend down...after 2 weeks you can be back to your normal routine but still be careful about the lifting. My only regret is I didn't do it sooner!! But it's done now & I couldn't be happier!