Breast Implant Removal: Stories

I had implantation at 24 years old when my boyfriend/fiance told me one day how I had a gorgeous body and would be perfect if I had my breasts done. My body truly was nearly perfect and I listened to that piece of work telling me there was something wrong with me. I know.....so sad.

So, I had it done and I told the doctor at the time how I wanted something very modest. I am petite at 5'2 and weighed about 105 at the time. His nurses helped me pick out a size and they pushed and pushed and pushed at me to go bigger. I kept saying I wanted smaller and all they could say was "you'll regret it later". So, much to their dismay I selected 300cc saline.I was already a B cup.

So, the surgery went well and I came out of it with a full D, and although they did look good, I felt like they were way too big. I told my doctor at my first follow up that I didn't like how big they were. He said, give it 6 months and you will feel differently. Well, that feeling never went away. I walked around for 6 years feeling like I was wearing a halloween costume. I finally decided in 2005 to reduce the size or take them out if I could. I went to see one of very few doctors in california who was participating in the gummy bear clinical trial. He said I was qualified to participate as a "reconstructive" case. What we decided was that he would take me in the operating room and reduce my size as much as possible without needing a lift. He said "small enough to make a difference but large enough that i won't have a droop". After the surgery I found out that my supposed 300cc implants from before were actually 370. So, my first doctor totally blew off what I said about wanting a modest size and took it upon himself to ignore the contract i signed that said 300, and just went ahead and put in larger ones at his own discretion. Nice right?

And of course he didn't mention that to me when i went to my follow up literally sobbing about how huge they felt. So, my redo was wonderful. My new doctor reduced my 370s to 230s. It made a huge difference. It was enough to just plump them up a little bit but they didn't look fake anymore at all and they were easily camouflaged under clothing. I had another 6 good years with those ones. I had a pregnancy in late 2009 and early 2010 and had major problems nursing my son. I had to do most of it with a pump because he was in the NICU for quite a while. My right side would barely produce and the pump was positively brutal.

Soon after that my right side started getting tight and I was diagnosed with capsular contracture. We first tried treating it with a capsulotomy but the contracture came back much worse within weeks. Then we tried a capsulectomy on the right side. The contracture came back again within the first 5 weeks and we decided to give it some time and see if the capsule would start to relax. It didn't and then the incision started to open up and fluid was draining out of it. I finally was just so worn out from it physically and financially. My doctor was keeping in touch with me every week, even calling me frequently to check in and see how I was doing. It was ridiculous and he finally said "I think they need to come out. Your body doesn't want them".

So, once we decided to explant, he put me on the schedule the Friday of that same week. I cried at my pre-op. I was so devastated and worried about how I would look. I kept saying I knew I would be deformed. Most of all I was kicking myself for destroying my once lovely body so unnecessarily. So on Friday March 2, 2012 they came out. The procedure was uneventful and I came out of it feeling no pain. I had planned to do it under a local but he said because of the possible infection he wanted me completely out in case there was more work to do in there. The result: I peeked on the drive home after the procedure and was horrified at how empty and wrinkly they looked. That didn't last for very long. Within days they were starting to plump up and look normal. I am now about 8 weeks out and they look pretty darn good considering what they've been through.

The one that had the contracture and the inflamation looks a little less attractive than the other one, but he told me to plan on seeing changes for at least 6 months. I still get tinges of pain in the right side. I really think that it still hasn't healed and there might still be some inflamation in there. The incision is a little tight and feels like it is attached to muscle or tendons because when i lift my right arm, it tucks up a little bit. Because of that there is an asymetry. I pointed that out to my doctor and he told me to just leave it alone for now and we can reassess 6 months down the line and try to correct it if needed. Overall they look good. I found some push up bras at kohls that give me plenty of cleavage when I want it. There is a memory foam bra at Victorias secret that I love but haven't purchased yet because I still seem to be changing. I am now back to being a 34B like God intended. I feel wonderful. My breasts are soft and jiggly and natural and the skin seems to be tightening up well.

I am 4 months post-op now. I still have the asymetry but it's become less obvious. I really think what I have now is the final result because I'm not seeing much of a change anymore. There's some tenderness still from time to time, more so in the CC breast. The incision on the non CC breast has healed up beautifully and is already starting to disappear. The other incision is looking a little more ugly but I have been lazy about massaging or helping it to fade. Overall I am satisfied. Last weekend I wore a bikini for the first time and sat out by a pool at a large resort and i felt completely at ease around all those people. I did notice that I'm much more aware of the other women who are walking around with implants. I wonder to myself how they are feeling and if they are having any of the issues that so many of us on this forum are dealing with. As for the sexy stuff, I was worried about how i would feel when it was time to let my guy see me for the first time but it all turned out okay. I realized that I had to let go of my insecurities and accept that this is my body in it's natural state, and he's going to love it this way or he doesn't really love me. Really from day 1 he was supportive of the explant. I really think normal average men are not as impressed with enhancements and big sizes as we think they are. So yeah, I'm happy with my outcome.