Breast Implant Removal After Breast Cancer Reconstruction

I recently decided to have a breast explant procedure with Dr Ellis Choy. I had implants placed in 2012 after having breast cancer in 2011. I was advised to wait to have reconstruction until after my radiation was finished and I had completely healed from my unilateral mastectomy. About two months before my explant surgery, I came across a magazine article about Breast Implant Illness (BII). The article resonated with me because I had been experiencing a lot of strange symptoms since my breast cancer treatment that no doctor had been able to help me with. Were the neck pain, anxiety, brain fog, weight gain, hair loss, caffeine alcohol intolerance I was experiencing a result of my breast implants? I found a BII Facebook group with over 50,000 women who were experiencing similar symptoms. The majority of these women were explanting and feeling much better. I decided it was worth a try.
After meeting with two surgeons, I decided to go ahead with Dr Choy for my explant surgery. He seemed kind and came highly recommended by the Australian BII Facebook group. During the consultation, Dr Choy explained that due to the radiation on my right side, to do the explant en bloc (the implant and capsule removed as one) might not be possible. While I was disappointed, Dr Choy said that he would do his best and I trusted him. My strong preference was to have all of the scar capsule removed during the explant surgery.
My surgery went very well. I stayed overnight in hospital after my operation. Dr Choy came and saw me the morning after the surgery and explained that he was able to remove all the scar capsule. My left side was removed en bloc and my right side was removed almost entirely in one piece, with the remaining piece of capsule being scraped off my rib. I was over the moon. I had virtually no pain after the first 24 hours. The recovery was a lot quicker than my initial mastectomy or reconstruction operations.
I have a very large 7 month old baby at home, so the hardest part of my healing process was not being able to pick her up for 2 weeks. My drains were removed on day 5 and did not cause me any problems while they were in. I am now 5 weeks post explant and I have been doing everything I would normally do for the past 2 weeks. The whole process has been a lot easier than I anticipated.
Some of my symptoms that may have been caused by BII have improved. I no longer have neck pain, I can drink coffee again, I don’t wake up feeling like I have a hangover every day (I very rarely drink too much) and I seem to be clearer headed and have more energy. My anxiety and brain fog still seem to go up and down though and I’m hoping these symptoms improve over time.
My whole surgical experience with Dr Choy has been a positive one.