51 y/o Explant and Lift, Best Decision! No Regrets!

Hello Realself Sisters,
First I want to thank all of you for sharing your experiences and personal journeys. I cannot begin to tell you how much you have meant to me these past few months. Your stories have helped me think through my options and more than anything, you have given me the courage to do what I have been wanting to do for 15 years but have been too insecure and afraid to do--remove my implants and NOT replace them :-)
In a nutshell:
--51 years old, active and healthy
--Breast fed one child
--Mastopexy (just cut around the nipple, nothing extensive) and saline implants 20 years ago
--Was around a B cup before implants, now I'm a 32 D
--Implants have always felt too big for my preferences
--They are heavy and they have always hurt and been uncomfortable
--They have ripples all over the edges and feel terrible
--I lost most of the sensation in my nipples after the BA
--I've been wearing minimizer bras ever since getting the implants! Lol! Kind of defeats the purpose :-)

I want them out because they are uncomfortable. I cannot go without a good support bra or I have pulling and stretching pain. I want to be rid of the chronic pain they cause. I think I have become acclimated to the pain and just live with it. I have a feeling that I will be surprised by how much pain I have been living with and didn't realize how much it was a part of my life. If I don't have that revelation, that's ok! I still want them out.

I have two appointments today--one with Dr. Matthew Carty and Brigham and Women's in Boston and one with Dr. Paul Costas in Concord, MA.

I've seen Dr. Carty once already (a few weeks ago) and was planning to have new and smaller implants put in. He said he would do an anchor lift and put in silicone (under the muscle, like my current ones are). Then I started reading your stories about removing them and not replacing them, and I knew that was what I wanted! The only reason I had hesitated with this option was because I was afraid of the outcome, and I didn't know what to expect or if this was a common thing. I truly thought I was the only one to want them out and never replace them. I hadn't even considered Googling the idea. What was I thinking?? Thank heavens for all of you! I know I am not alone. I now know that by doing this I am not giving up on myself, which is what I thought I was doing by wanting to get rid of them. I care about my body and want to be beautiful. Getting these removed isn't moving me away from being beautiful; it's bringing me closer to my real beauty and my real self -- Realself :-)

I am probably going to go with Dr. Carty because he is a brilliant surgeon, he was recommended by a good friend, and I trust him. I think Dr. Costas is probably also brilliant, but I don't know anyone who has been to him, and I already feel comfortable with Dr. Carty. I am simply getting another opinion because it's a good idea. I'm excited to hear what they both have to say.

I will write about my appointments later today or tomorrow, and I will post more pictures when I can.

Thank you all for being the beautiful women you are. xo

So I'm scheduled for implant removal and anchor breast lift on Tuesday (9/11)! I can't wait! I went to both surgeons today and they had vastly different approaches. I decided to go with Dr. Carty because he has extensive experience and expertise in breast reconstruction.
Dr. Costas was really wonderful and I think he is probably a good surgeon, but he said that I would likely not have any fullness above the nipple if I did not get new implants. He thought that I would be very unhappy with the result. He said that he would want to put an implant in to ensure that I wouldn't end up with a sloped breast. Dr. Carty offered a very different assessment.
Dr. Carty will be removing my old implants (can't wait!) and doing an anchor lift. I told him that I wasn't worried about having small breasts but was more concerned that they would not have any fullness above the nipple and would slope downward. He alleviated my concerns by saying that he would reconstruct the breasts so that there would be breast tissue nicely distributed and that I wouldn't have flatness above the nipple or sloping. He said that I would actually have more projection than I do now because they will be perkier :-)
He thinks that I will have a B cup (approx) and that I will have a very nice outcome. He seemed really pleased that I decided to simply have the implants removed without replacing them. Both he and Costas mentioned that I am fairly petite and that a B cup would be a good size for my figure. I actually don't mind if I end up with an A cup. I just want to get these implants out and have my own natural breast tissue again. I'm tired of the pain and heaviness. I'm also tired of having large breasts.
My husband has been so supportive. I had been a little worried about how he would react to my decision to go natural and much smaller, but he has been amazing. He thinks it's a great decision :-)
I'll post updates along the way. Wish me luck, ladies!
xo