Hello! I'm a little nervous about sharing my experience online, but I have been so encouraged by the other reviews I have read on this site that I feel I must do so to help others along in their journey. In less than a month I will be explanting my 20 y/o (wow!) submuscular, saline implants. I am choosing to explant due to the fact that I have been experiencing health issues for approximately 5 years and have been diagnosed with undifferentiated connective tissue disease, which is non-specific autoimmune disease. My surgeon will remove the implants and perform a complete capsulectomy. My insurance company declined coverage of the surgery, so unfortunately I will be paying for the procedure out of pocket. I chose to have augmentation at the age of 25 because of a pretty significant asymmetry. One breast was a full cup size larger than the other. This bothered me at the time because I was a lifeguard in high school and college and spent a lot of time in a bathing suit. I thought that everyone was looking at what I considered to be my deformity. I swore that once I landed my first decent paying job I would buy matching breasts. The surgeon who performed my augmentation suggested that I increase my then A and B cups to a full C with two different sized implants. Initially I was happy with the result, other than the fact that I lost sensitivity in my left breast. However, after having a child and gaining weight over the years my breasts have grown to double D's. I am now very embarrassed by these foreign objects in my body and I am looking forward to regaining my health and returning to a smaller size. I am also looking forward to being able to sleep in any position I want, being able to run without painful bouncing, not feeling like kettle bells are sitting on my chest, not having to go up a size in clothing to accommodate my breasts, not looking like Jayne Mansfield in a bathing suit, ...and the list goes on! I am nervous about the surgery, but I feel that I am in the best hands with my surgeon, Dr. Chang at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland. Updated on 18 Jun 2017: I have about a week and a half to go before my surgery. I wanted to share some of the symptoms I have been experiencing. Over the years I have suffered with periods of crushing fatigue, hair loss, shortness of breath, costochondritis, numbness and tingling in my hands and feet, brain fog, memory & concentration problems, new food intolerances, irregular or absent periods, exercise intolerance, blurry vision that comes & goes, dry eyes & eye twitching, swollen lymph nodes in my armpits, malar rash, a blistering skin condition, positive ANA & SSA/Ro, anxiety, very low vitamin D, and osteopenia. I am so terrified of my declining health that I worry about not being around to see my daughter grow to adulthood. I am hoping that women who are considering getting implants will stumble across some of these explant stories and learn about the truth about breast implant illness. It is real. Updated on 19 Jun 2017: I had my pre-op appointment on June 9th with Dr. Chang. He said the procedure should take about an hour and I will wear drains for approximately a week. I purchased a surgical bra at shop near Dr. Chang's office within the hospital. It has detachable pockets designed to hold the drains. Once the drains are removed I can remove the pockets and just wear the surgical bra. They kept it there at the hospital and said I would wake up from surgery wearing the bra. Dr. Chang does a lot of reconstructive breast surgery which is one of the reasons I chose him. Everyone has been very kind and helpful thus far. Dr. Chang thinks I will end up a cup to a cup and a half smaller than my current size, which sounds great to me. As you can see in my pre op photo, I have some natural breast tissue on top of my implants which seem to be "botttoming out" below the muscle. They are so uncomfortable. Ready to get this show on the road! Updated on 25 Jun 2017: Just a few days to go before my surgery and I am so very appreciative of the support I have received on this site. I'm going into this armed with a lot of information and feeling like I have a support network I can reach out to if I have any questions. It is very reassuring! Last week I had my pre-op physical and bloodwork completed. This needed to be done no more than two weeks before the surgery. The blood work included CBC, CMP, PT, PTT, UA, SERUM HCG, and U/A. My doctor also completed a history and physical sheet from my pre-op packet. The results were all faxed to my doctor. The packet also included two applications of an antiseptic/antimicrobial cleanser. I am to wash with the cleanser and an antibacterial soap the night before and the morning of the surgery. I have filled my prescriptions for an antibiotic and pain med in advance as well. I'm adding profile view photos & realizing just how large and torpedo-like my breasts are. ???? They even look uncomfortable! Definitely ready for Thursday! Updated on 27 Jun 2017: So, the surgeon's office called today. They received the results of my pre-op blood work and it looks as though my hcg level is elevated, which could indicate pregnancy!?! I'm 45 and my husband has a vasectomy. My level was 5.3. She asked me to come to the office for another lab slip to retake the test. This is the last thing I need! My nerves are starting to kick in. I am reading online that elevated hcg levels in a non-pregnant person can indicate a tumor so now I am really worrying. I re-took the hcg test today and will most likely hear back from the doctor's office tomorrow. I am praying that everything tests in the normal range and I will be able to have the surgery on Thursday. Updated on 28 Jun 2017: Just spoke with the PA and the result was in the normal range! Looks like I'll be explanting at 10:00 tomorrow! Such a relief! Thank you again ladies for the prayers and support! Updated on 29 Jun 2017: My explant surgery is complete! Dr. Chang met with me before the surgery to answer any remaining questions I had and he made some markings on my breasts with a marker. He reassured me again that he thought I would have an easy recovery and that my breasts would look very simailar to what they looked like with implants, only a smaller size. The surgery itself only took 45 minutes! I was in the recovery room for about an hour and a half before being discharged. I was given a Percocet for moderate pain after the procedure. A nurse taught me how to empty my drains which I will need to do twice a day. Dr. Chang said I will need to wear the drains for a full week. I think they will be the worst part of the whole procedure. I slept for a few hours in the afternoon. Even though the nurse said I could take another pain pill at 3:00 but I didn't feel like I needed one. I do not feel pain only soreness. I will probably take a pain pill before bed tonight so that I can sleep well. I ate some soup and crackers and drank a lot of fluids. The nurse said to get up and move around the house a bit and make sure to drink plenty of fluids to push the anesthesia out of my system. I emptied the drains tonight with the help of my mom and cleaned the area where the drain is inserted in my breast with peroxide as the nurse instructed. This will take a little getting the hang of, but I'm sure I'll be a pro in a few days. I took a peek in the mirror at my breasts and so far it does seem like that look like they did before, just a little smaller. My left breast is bigger than the right, but that was the breast that had the larger implant. I'll post some pics tomorrow! P.S. I told the anesthesiologist that I get nauseous from anesthesia and she put a scopolamine patch behind my ear before the surgery. I was not nauseous at all. I was told I could take it off tomorrow. Updated on 30 Jun 2017: I slept well last night and already emptied my drains and cleaned the entry site with hydrogen peroxide this morning. Not having much pain at all and plan to just take Tylenol today. May attempt a shower later today. So far so good! Updated on 3 Jul 2017: Just thought I'd post an update on my progress since the explant. I drove home 3 days after the surgery. I live about three hours from the hospital where the surgery took place, and had stayed with my parents until I was able to drive. I am still sore and have some itching under the surgical bra. Occasionally I feel the entry point of the drains under my breast which is a little uncomfortable but not painful. It is difficult to get into a comfortable position to sleep at night. I recommend lots of pillows to prop yourself up in different ways. I have not taken any pain meds except Tylenol since the day of the surgery. I have showered each day, but hold the drains in one hand while showering. The drains are difficult to conceal under clothing and I feel uncomfortable going out in public, but it cannot be avoided because I am a mom. I can see that having the surgery in cold weather months when one could wear bulkier clothing to conceal the drains would be a good thing. Thankfully, I am off from work in the summer so I don't have to worry about concealing the drains at work. My post-op appointment is on Monday which is 11 days after the surgery. I'm guessing that's when the drains will come out and I am counting down the days! I was given a starter kit of supplies for cleaning and emptying the drains, but I would recommend stocking up on alcohol pads, gauze pads, cotton swabs and hydrogen peroxide beforehand. My breasts look pretty much the same as they do in the first after picture I posted. I am wondering what my implants looked like after they were removed from my body, and if they were sent to pathology for testing. I wonder if they were moldy or discolored. I should have asked about this before the surgery. I still get tired out pretty easily and have a bit of the blues, probably from the anesthesia. This too shall pass. Updated on 8 Jul 2017: I am still hanging in there on day 9 with the drains. Each time I empty them, in the AM and PM, I am measuring 10 mL of straw colored fluid from each breast. Today there was 15mL from each breast which I haven't seen since immediately after the surgery. I am hoping that I will still be able to have them removed when I go for the follow-up on Monday. I have been pretty reclusive this week because they are difficult to conceal under clothing. I tried to take it easy as far as housework goes, and the most strenuous thing I have done is cut up a watermelon. Ha! I am still wearing the tight compression bra and was told I would have to wear it for two weeks. Not sure if that means two weeks from the surgery date, or two weeks from the time the drains are removed. I'll ask on Monday. If anyone is wondering, I have drains because my implants were submuscular and I had a complete capsulectomy in addition to the implant removal. A capsule forms around an implant over time, and is the body's attempt to "wall off" or protect itself from a foreign object. If you are having any health issues at all you should have the capsule removed at the time of explant. Chemicals from the implant's silicone shell can leach into the capsule over time. I chose to explant because of significant health problems, and wanted to do everything possible to improve my health. That is why I chose the capsulectomy and a surgeon who is skilled in performing them. Updated on 10 Jul 2017: Today was my first follow-up apppintment 11 days post surgery, and I am so relieved that I was able to have my drains removed! It felt a little strange, but did not hurt at all. The PA cut the stitch which was holding in the drain tube and then gently pulled the drain out. It only good a few seconds on each side. She taped a gauze pad with neosporin at the drain entry site and that's it! She said the holes close quickly on their own. I will need to cover them with the gauze and neosporin for a couple of days. She also said I could now wear tight fitting sports bras instead of the surgical bra and recommended getting zip fronts because they are easier to get into and out of while I am still sore. She said wearing the sports bras for a while longer will help to prevent the formation of seromas. She said if there is a special occasion, like a weding or something, I could wear a regular bra for a few hours. I think I will still wear the surgical bra at night because I am afraid of seromas. I was still draining a 10-20 mL of fluid form each breast before the drains came out. I cannot swim for 4 weeks from my surgery date, and I have another follow-up appointment with my surgeon in 4 weeks. I was given some scar gel to use when the surgical glue has worn away from my incision site. The PA gave me a compliment and said she thought maybe I'd had a reduction instead of implant removal because my breasts look so good! I stopped to look for sports bras at Target, but didn't have luck finding my size. I have no idea what size I am! I will post some new pics tomorrow. Updated on 11 Jul 2017: Drains were removed yesterday. Still have gauze and tape underneath at drain entry site. Left breast is a fuller on top than the right, but not very noticeable. I originally got the implants because of an asymmetry, so I expected they would be a little different after explant. Still a little sore and uncomfortable sleeping even without the drains. Looking forward to showering with the use of both hands today, not having to hold the drains! On a mission to find zip front sports bras today. Not sure what size I am now. I bought some regular bras in a size B before the surgery, but I think they may be too small. There could still be some swelling too for awhile. Updated on 12 Jul 2017: At my appointment on Monday I was told I can now wear zip front sports bras and I found these at Sears. The sports bra is Hanes brand, easy on, zip front, and wire free. It was priced at $28.00, but BOGO (buy one get one) 1/2 half off, so the second bra was $14.00. At two weeks it would still be difficult for me to reach around to fasten a bra in back so the zip front closure is nice. I also purchased a soft, zip front bra which is not tight fitting to wear once I graduate out of the sports bras. That bra is a Sears brand "fundamentals" and was only $12.98. Updated on 20 Jul 2017: Today is 3 weeks post explant. Each week keeps getting better and better! I don't think I mentioned before that my scars are in the crease beneath my breasts. The surgical glue came off last week and the scars are healing nicely. I am wearing a tight sports bra during the day and the surgical bra at night. I am not yet sleeping on my stomach, which is my favorite position. I'll ask my doctor about that when I go for my follow-up on the 11th. I cannot swim until the 4 week mark, which has been challenging for me this summer. I still feel a little soreness in the left breast which had the larger implant. Occasionally there are some weird twinges like the nerves are regenerating themselves. One of my breasts is significantly larger than the other. That was the case before I got implants. It does bother me a bit, but I am wearing the foam cup from another bra inside my sports bra on the smaller side and you cannot tell there is a difference. I feel light and free without the implants and I am still very happy I had the surgery. Updated on 25 Jul 2017: So here I am at the almost 4 week mark. Things are healing nicely, and there's not much I need to do at this point except wear a tight sports bra day and night. Soon I will start using the scar cream on the scars on my creases. The PS gave me bioCorneum scar cream to use on the scars once the surgical glue fell off. The area where the drains entered are still a little raw so I have been waiting to use the cream until those areas heal. I will post a photo of the scar cram box. In the photo where I am bending over you can see the significant size difference. I am wearing a soft cup inside my bra on that side to balance things out. Overall, I think I have a great result and I know things will still change/improve over time. I am at least 20 pounds overweight and having this surgery has motivated me to try to lose weight. I have tried for years without success. I truly believe that the implants had something to do with that. I gained weight almost as soon as I got the implants at age 25, and steadily put on weight as the years went by. Diet and exercise had little if any affect and eventually the fatigue became so bad I gave up on exercising. I am hoping now that the toxic endocrine disrupters have been removed that I will be able to lose some weight! Updated on 25 Jul 2017: Here is the scar cream given to me by the PS.
Had a breast lift six years ago. Lift was great, no pain, little down time. Lots of scars! They have faded but they are visible. Dr. Chang recommended implants with the lift but I wanted to see what the lift looked like first. My new breast position was perfect but the nipples were a little high. Six years later the breast have lowered a small amount. The location of the nipples are perfect. I will be having 250cc silicone implants put in next year. So, if the doctor recommends implants along with the lift, take the doctors advice.
I've been thinking about breast augmentation on and off since I was 18 and finally decided to go through with it. I had a consult with Dr. Chang in January. Dr. Chang recommended under the muscle silicone moderate plus, and between 250cc and 350cc based on my body size. I decided on 300cc but spent a lot of time on RealSelf looking at pictures and eventually went back into the office to try on the sizers again with a few different outfits. I am very skinny so was worried about going too big and looking ridiculous but at the same time didn't want to chicken out and go too small. I ended up sticking with my original decision of 300cc. A few days before my originally scheduled surgery date, a cyst in one of my boobs became infected. I have known I had a cyst there but it hadn't bothered me in years. It became very swollen (1cm by 3cm, a large portion of my tiny boob), somewhat painful, and my skin became discolored. Dr. Chang said it looked infected and didn't want my implant to get infected so I had to postpone my surgery three weeks. He gave me an antibiotic and everything was back to normal in less than week. I was very upset to have to postpone, and Dr. Chang was unbelievably nice to me. Updated on 1 May 2015: Here are some before pictures. My surgery didn't last much more than 40 minutes yesterday. I'd never had an IV before and was nervous about it but it was no big deal. I remember about 60 seconds of being in the operating room, and then I woke up in the recovery room feeling fine. I had a few saltines in the recovery room with a pain killer but didn't feel any pain or nausea. I was sent home in an Under Armor sports bra with a zipper in the front. I was told to eat lightly the first day so I had some toast and a sandwich. I slept over 12 hours the night after surgery. I have been taking painkillers every 4 hours, but feel hardly any pain today or yesterday if I don't move. I'm staying with my parents and they have made it so I don't have to move at all except to go to the bathroom. Sitting up and walking feels very, very sore but no stabbing pains. I only tried to put my hands above my head once and it was painful. I have an airplane neck pillow which is very comfortable. The pain is much less than expected so far. Updated on 2 May 2015: The bra they gave me at the hospital is a 34C sports bra. I used to be a 32A so I am surprised the band feels so tight. I switched into another sports bra I bought that is stretchier, but its less supportive of my boobs and the pressure of not having them held up was painful so I switched back. I fell asleep with the looser bra on and it was painful when I woke up. Most of he fullness is on the bottom and outside. I was hoping for more cleavage but I know they will change over the next couple months and will look different in a normal bra. Updated on 6 May 2015: Meds: I took painkillers for 36 hours, then switched to Tylenol for two days, then ibuprofen. On Day 3 post op I took tylenol very early in the morning and nothing again until the nest morning. Day 4 was a Monday and I had planned to work from home, but it was a mistake to stop taking any meds and I only attempted to work for a couple hours, so I switched to ibuprofen. Days 5 and 6 I've been taking 2-3 ibuprofen every 4-8 hours. I've felt almost totally fine (when I'm not using my chest muscles) from the afternoon to late evening from Days 3-6, but the mornings have been rough and I woke up wanting meds in the middle of the night the last two nights. Activity: I didn't move around very much from days 1-5. By Day 3 I was a lot more comfortable getting up out of bed without being nervous. My mom helped me take a shower on Day 2, I showered by myself on Day 3 but needed her help to dry my back, and showered on my own on Day 4. I drove home on Day 5, and drove to and from work on Day 6. Pushing the wheel hurts while pulling is no issue, sharp turns are tough but I only really make those at slow speeds anyway so I have been using the bottom half of the wheel and that is fine. I worked from home for 2 hours on Day 4, 4 hours on Day 5, and went in to the office for 5 hours on day 6. Opening doors at work was tough but I went slowly and used two hands pulling from the center, the angle makes a big difference. Everything is making me more tired than usual, but Day 6 has been much better. I did some online shopping over the weekend and half of my purchases arrived today! I still haven't tried anything on that has to go over my head but hopefully I'll want to soon. I know I am still swollen but I hope they don't get too much smaller :) I wasn't self conscious at all going back to work, I think between the sports bra and baggy shirt it wasn't noticeable. I'm looking forward to not having to sleep on my back anymore, that is the worst! Updated on 8 May 2015: I felt SO GOOD on Day 6: I was fine for the hours I was at work except for trying to open or close doors, driving was fine, I shaved my legs, tried on a bunch of bathing suits, and made dinner plans for the next day (which I then cancelled because the next day did not go as well). I woke up on Day 7 miserable, and wouldn't have gotten out of bed if I didn't need to get to my post op at 9am. Driving to my appointment in the city was much harder than the highway driving I had been doing. I debated going back home to sleep after the appointment, but was already showered and in my car so figured I would go to work, which was a mistake. I didn't feel very good but I stayed for 3 hours before coming home. I felt worse on Day 7 than I had on Days 4-6. Every time I sat up in bed it hurt, and it felt like every step hurt. Day 8 is better than 7 but no where as good as 6. I didn't go into work and waited until the afternoon to start doing some work from home. At night on Day 8 right now is the first time since Day 6 I don't feel any pain at all when not moving. I'm sure yesterday was worse in my head than it actually was, but I was frustrated not to be making forward progress. At my post op, the PA recommended alternating ibuprofen and tylenol so that is what I have been doing on Days 7-8.
I'm doing a follow-up 15 mos. after the nightmare began. Dr. Chang referred me to his assistant, Courtney Santillo Purnell, for a facial halo laser. He told me she does "wonderful work." She completely destroyed my face. I have a pattern and lines throughout my face, scarring around my mouth and needless to say, after, 15 months, I am still devastated. My face continually burns and I try to cope from day to day, I feel like I am looking at someone else's face in the mirror. After sending me to his Assistant....Courtney Santillo Purnell, and me having to threaten to get an attorney because no one would call back after my ordeal....Dr. Chang could not tell me one single person that she did...a "Wonderful." job on. In fact he admitted that he only knew of one person that she had done the procedure on. He was supposed to be her supervising doctor, she in only a Physician's Assistant, but he knew nothing about laser either. Tell me how you can Supervise Something you know Nothing about! After seeing my face, he said he would try to get my money back, but then told me that was harder to do than he thought and wouldn't be able to do it. He also did not refer me to anyone or tell me to come back in to try and correct anything. I will have to live like this and he just tells me...there's nothing he can do. I just hope this helps Someone from making the same mistake that I did... Trusting a Doctor that was not Truthful from the Beginning.
I had an upper and lower eyelid surgery with Dr. Chang. He did the upper in his office and the lower in outpatient care. I was his first patient of the day. It was early morning and he arrived to both surgeries extremely late looking like he could barely stay awake. The nurses joked with me it was routine for him while I waited getting nervous as hell wondering what was taking him so long. To make a long story short - he messed up my eyes big time. One eye is larger than the other and round; the other eye is slanted and smaller with excess skin on the upper. I am beside myself wondering how I can repair my eyes. My eyes used to be almond shape and my best feature. After they healed, I scheduled an appointment with him to discuss why my eyes were different shapes. His nurse agreed with me. He walked into the room and said he could see immediately the difference. THen, he contributed it to botox, which was done many months before the surgery by his nurse. He told me he would not touch them and to use botox to lower the brow on the eye that looked round!!! I told his nurse after he walked out that I did not want to have to use botox to monitor the shape of my eyes. She agreed. I have been to a few doctors in my area and they looked at me and said one brow is higher than the other and suggested a brow lift. I do not want a brow lift. My brows to me are positioned on my face in a good way. I saw another doctor who told me I do not need a brow lift. It is all confusing to me. I am now looking for someone who can do a revision of them, but I am terrified I will look even work. I do not want to post photos here because the look so bad and it depresses me to even take a photo. The interesting thing is they look even some days and others very bad, however in photos the difference is tremendous. Can someone please advise me how I can locate a doctor who specializes in revision of both the upper and lower. I am very terrified of undergoing this procedure again with bad results. I regret jumping into this trusting the nurse about this doctor rather than doing research.
