Explant of 421cc Sub-muscular Silicone Gel Implants - Transaxillary incision - After 8 Years

I originally got my 420cc silicone gel implants when I was 24 years old, most likely out of some type of insecurity. After many life changes, and personal growth. I felt that I had outgrown my implants. I also didn't like how they moved around under my skin, and make me feel tight in the chest (sometimes I felt it contributed to not allowing me to fully expand my chest & lungs). At only 5'-3" and 110 lbs, I also felt that the size of them make me look/feel heavier than I actually am. I had them removed two days ago, and I am having mixed feelings about it. I guess it is just a bit of a shock, and I am hoping that My skin will retract adequately. However, overall, I believe I have made the right decision. I can't wait to see the final result after healing.

4 days post-op, and this week has been full of emotional ups and downs, from having feelings that I have made a horrible mistake, to feelings of greater self worth and inner strength. Right now, I am feeling like this was absolutely the right choice. The first time I took off my surgical garnment, I cried at the sight of my bare chest. Now I am feeling really good about it. I really wish I had never decided to get implants in the first place, but I am happy to have them out of my body. Now instead of feeling like a comical cartoon, I feel like a beautiful artist rendering. My breasts are a little smaller than they were before my ba, and not as firm, but I'm hoping that will improve with time. I still feel a little sore, though I have stopped taking the pain meds. And my upper inner right arm, underarm and right breast are still feeling numb. And it feels like I have a pinched or pulled nerve when I straighten my right arm, but I am hoping that is temporary.

1 week post op, and I have to say trying on clothes has been kind of sad. None of my clothes seem to be fitting or looking good on. But I'm hoping that will change once I get out of my compression garnment, and can wear a bra with a little padding. Upside, my chest looks much more symmetrical in a bikini top. I am also looking forward to trying on some new clothes that I could never pull off with big boobs (plunging necklines!)

I elected to have my old implants given back to me. When I saw them, it was hard to believe that these huge things were actually inside of me, between my tiny ribcage and my little pectoral muscles. And they feel so heavy! They are about 2 lbs total, but they feel really heavy to have been sitting in my Little body for 8 years. I am so glad to have them out!

I haven't mentioned this in my previous posts, except for the pinched nerve/pulling feeling. A few days after surgery, I noticed a tight tendon-like thing sticking out of my underarm. It prevented my from raising my right arm up above shoulder height. On my one week appointment with my surgeon, he said that it is scar tissue, and injected my underarm with a steroid that is supposed to dissolve scar tissue. He said that it should go away. I asked for an explanation of what causes it, and he did not really answer my question. So I, of course, turned to google for answers. Every time I put in various search words describing my condition, I consistently got results that described axillary web syndrome (cording). AWS is something that breast cancer patients normally get after having lymph nodes dissected or removed. I then questioned whether my surgeon had accidentally damaged a lymph node or lymph nodes. My surgeon never answered my questions about this and asked me to be patient. In good faith, I took my surgeon's word, and have been waiting for it to go away while stretching and using my arm as normally as possible. It is now 5 weeks later, and my range of motion is better, but I have now developed smaller "cords" extending down my ribs, and across my shoulder blade. I pointed this out to my surgeon at our appointment yesterday, but he offered no real explanation. He offered to surgically remove the cord under my arm, but that made me nervous, since surgery is what caused this to begin with. So he injected more of the steroid again. I am still happy with my decision to remove my implants, but I'm not sure I chose the right surgeon. At this point, I am not really sure what to do. I'm concerned this could have more serious implications.