From silicone to saline/silicone ruptured

I currently have a ruptured silicone implant that was put in only 8 years ago. I have researched all the new silicone options, and the IDEAL implant and have decided to go with traditional saline implants.
I want women to know that silicone does rupture and expensive MRI’s are necessary when a rupture is suspected. Revision surgery is also expensive and has more risks for larger incisions, increased bleeding and increased complications. We all read about these risks but always assume it won’t happen to us. Unfortunately the statistics tell the real story that most of us will need repeated surgeries every 10-15 years. I’ve heard of women having good implants for 20 years. I’m not one of them.
My story: SURGERY ONE: my first implants in 1998 (?) were saline behind the muscle. They were my first boobs about a 34C; that got me back to my pre-childbirth and pre-nursing days. Sometimes I could feel the edges but I had no ripples and was very pleased.
SURGERY TWO: In 2011 my left one ruptured and I had a flat boob. I met with a PS and he showed me silicone that did feel nice so that’s what I got. Silicone felt amazing and looked very natural. I felt like I had gotten an upgrade. And my husband said they felt so soft and real.
SURGERY THREE: Only 4 years later one of the implants began to protrude thru the muscle somehow. I could feel like a hard knot on my breast. My PS placed a mesh material in my breast to hold the implant in place.
SURGERY FOUR: Another 4 years later I decide to get a routine mammogram. It showed a possible tear. I began to have weird pains that would come and go in that breast. And it looks bigger to me. I had to have an MRI. That was more painful than the mammogram. It didn’t hurt the boobs- it was like hanging on a cross where all the weight was on my breast bone and arms above my head for 30 minutes. It confirmed an intracapsular rupture. My PS said I needed an en bloc capsulectomy and then remove or replace. I was very disappointed about the enbloc capsulectomy. It would require a much larger incision, bleeding risks, and longer recovery. I met with another PS who could place the IDEAL implants. He is going to take a more conservative approach and take out the ruptured silicone implant and look at the capsule. He plans on just cleaning it out and putting in a new implants. Leaving the option of course if a total capsulectomy is needed- he will do it. I was more comfortable with this plan so I have my surgery scheduled in August. I’m not using silicone anymore because of the silent rupture. There’s no way to know if they rupture unless you have a mammogram or MRI. And then to think I would need total capsulectomy to make sure silicone doesn’t migrate to my lungs or arms is scary. I’m an ER nurse so I’m not uneducated or squeamish. The new silicone isn’t supposed to migrate so why do they have to do capsulectomys to get all traces of silicone? So I’m just not comfortable with silicone anymore. I thought the IDEAL implants were a great product. I have a video of me holding a traditional saline on left and the IDEAL implant on the right. But my Allergan implants were still under warranty and I want to wait a few years to make sure the IDEAL company will survive. So I will update after my surgery in August on how it went.

I had my surgery yesterday. Things I’m glad I had at home beforehand: Aleve, chicken noodle soup, yogurt, soft foods, and my bed set up with 5 pillows. I think it went very well considering. I went in at 5am and surgery was at 7. I went to recovery at 9:30 and woke up at 10:15. The PS said “it was a mess”. That’s always fun to hear. the “mesh” material placed in 2014 to fix a protruding implant was “the mess” I think. He said it almost looked like a sponge was left in from a previous surgery. I’m not exactly sure of the details but will find out and get to see my old implants at my checkup next week. He said he ended up needing to do a capsulectomy on the breast that had ruptured silicone. The first PS opinion I had gotten said I needed an enbloc capsulectomy. Guess he was right but I went with this PS because he was going to try to be conservative and hopefully just clean it out before placing the new implant since the MRI indicated intracapsular not extracapsular rupture. He said it came out in pieces and some was stuck on my ribs. ****The good news is I have no drains, minimal swelling and pain is controlled with hydrocodone (Percocet) every 4 hours. I’m also taking 2 Aleve twice a day. I hope this regimen will only be needed for the first 2 days. I was surprised at how much my throat hurt -but it is because of the intubation and 2 1/2 hour surgery. (Chicken noodle soup and yogurt hit the spot). ****Sleeping on a homemade wedge is wonderful and really decreases pain and swelling. Plus soft pillows under each arm. I asked for same size as before and last night I was thinking for all this pain I should have gone bigger and at least had something to show for it! But this morning I feel much better and I think I am going to like the results considering I initially considered explanting when I found out I had silicone rupture and pain. Will update with pics later.

My left breast looks funky I know but it had a lot of issues. When I have my surgery bra on, they look fine so I’m not overly concerned- at least trying not to be. My left incision is at least an inch more higher than my right. Not sure why that is. Is that because the incision is dictated by where your natural inframammary fold is? Will ask at follow up appointment.