Severe Pain from Capsule Contraction - Fontana, CA

I wish I could hug you and sit and have a nice cup of coffee or tea with you. I'm two weeks post op from a explant and a lift and I'm still very sore even not taking Tylenol and I'm still taking half a pain pill and a benadryl at night (because I react to the pain pill). My surgery was more extreme but I understand the feeling of just wanting to feel better. I say I have moments where it overwhelms me and then sometimes I handle it well. Wishing you quick healing and peace.. Xoxo

Hello! I just wanted to reassure you... I am almost 6 weeks out and it's only been the last week that I feel almost no pain, so I think you're pain is normal and to be expected! I got pretty down about 5 days out because I truly realized it was going to take me longer to feel better, but now... I really can say I am better. I still have tender moments and my right nipple is pretty sensitive, but FINALLY...my breasts feel like mine and I do love them. Flat and all...because you know what? We never have to do this roller coaster again. Get well and know we are taking care of our bodies. Hang in there! Everyone on this board is truly supportive!

How are you feeling now, beautifulmess? I had my implants removed 11 days ago and I'm finally feeling "normal". I'm talking about my pain and comfort level. I was really glad to have my drains removed last Wednesday! I really hated them because they caused me the most discomfort. I didn't have a lot of pain in my breasts, even though I would get tired. I had a hard time finding a bra or something that compressed my breasts enough to feel less vulnerable, I guess is the right word. Finally I found a few that worked for me. What a relief! Other than the hardness and feeling like I had autoimmune issues, I really loved having bigger breasts too! I waited so long for them and obsessed about feeling sexy, I did feel some grief before I had surgery. I felt sad that I was losing what I perceived as my "womanhood". I was very relieved that the surgery wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. I've had good days and bad days since my surgery, with regard to what my breasts look like now. I didn't feel like my breasts looked as good as everyone else's! But, in the last few days I have noticed changes and I'm feeling okay about how I look now. My left breast has fluffed up as much as I think they ever will. Actually though, I think it looks just like it did 23 yrs ago! The right side still is a little sunken in, but hopefully it will fluff up like the left one did. Since it was Easter yesterday, I went to a brunch with my family. I wore one of my compression bras and a button up shirt. I was flat as a pancake, but I decided I didn't care! My hair looked great, it was my first day with make up on my blouse was really pretty and I had earrings on that looked nice. I decided just to go with it and who cares if I didn't have big boobs anymore! It was actually very freeing! Once my breasts heal completely and I can wear a regular bra, I will probably go with a slightly padded bra. But for now, I'm not going to worry about it. I've been going back and reading other women's stories and I saw yours again. I am curious about how you're feeling now. Sending you soft hugs!

I can only see the march update but it says you updated today. I'll check again here in a bit. I hope you are feeling better and not in pain anymore. I had a full lift because of asymmetry and hurt for a few months. Not all the time but on and off.

Hi "Beautiful Mess", hey it will be 13 weeks on Friday, 7/11 since I had my explanation and I haven't taken the time to update recently. I've had a LOT of ups and downs, some of which I've updated along the way, but lately I haven't. I REALLY wanted to remain upbeat and positive about my post-op results, because I AM glad that I no longer have painful, hard foreign objects in my body. I had mine in for 23 years and somehow, some way they never ruptured! I am glad I had my silicone, capsular contractured implants removed because they hurt, it was embarrassing to hug people with hard boobs and I was always worried what damage they may be doing to my body. So, yes, I'm glad they are OUT! But, at this point of my healing, I do get depressed about needing padded bras again. I have one breast that's sunken in on top, so that is harder to camouflage and it makes me upset and discouraged. I miss the normal-looking boobs I felt I had with implants, because they looked sexy in a bra and I felt womanly in my clothes. Mine were the perfect size for my body type. They never felt heavy and they didn't look fake. I still have more pain than I ever expected at this point. But, the pain isn't constant and it's pretty tolerable. I've had an abnormal amount of trouble trying to find ANY bra, sports or otherwise that felt bearable around the band. I attribute that to being overweight, though. The band always rolls up into the crease of my breasts so it irritates my incisions. I still can't find a comfy bra, not even a sports bra. The problem with being overweight, is that every store, online or not seems to think if a woman needs a 44 band size, then she has BIG breasts and that's not the case with me! I need an A/B cup size, especially because the right breast is dipped in. After my explantation, I woke up with nothing binding my breasts even though my PS said he'd put on Ace bandages. Since I didn't have any wrap or some kind of support on after surgery, I always felt like my breasts weren't bound up, so how could the chest wall heal together again? But, nothing wrapped around me felt comfortable at all or not for very long. I still only wear a bra for a few hours, then just go braless when I'm at home. But, I feel as though my breasts should have a chance to knit together and if I can't wear something kind of tight around them most of the time, then they're not going to. If I lift my right arm up to reach for something high, I feel a strange tugging feeling inside as if it's got a pocket in there and it feels like I'm pulling whatever is healing inside apart again. I have no problem with that on the left side. I have twinges in both breasts or a stinging/ burning sensation too. I know a lot of this is the nerve endings hooking back up or just healing. I have a pain on my right side, kind of by my ribs but higher up that feels like a sharp stick poking me. That's been the most irritating part for me. Some days it really hurt a lot and made me very cranky!! Just ask my husband! For about 10 days that pain disappeared and I thought that it was gone, at last. Well, it came back again and it's still with me. I don't know what the heck it is or if it will ever go away. I have read other women's profiles who had surgery before I did and I know it can take at least a year before everything is healed. So, I'm just trying to be patient. At this point, I don't think my breast shape is going to change, nor fluff up any more. The left breast is definitely smaller than the right one. I don't mind that part so much, but the fact that my right breast has a big scooped out look to it does bother me. It's funny, because my left breast was the one that gave me the most pains when I had implants and it was harder than the right side. So, I expected my left breast to be the more "mangled" one! Very strange how that turned out! Maybe I'll just have to go get some kind of mastectomy bra because one side needs to be fuller than the other. I don't really want to have hot, heavy forms or cutlets on my chest, but I'm not having any luck finding bras that are padded enough in my size. I'm like you...I feel as though most ladies on RS had better results, but my natural breasts were always kind of a "triangle", funky shape to begin with! My nipples were always placed low on the breast, so that's how they are now. Yep, a lift plus a fat transfer would have probably fixed everything, but my insurance wouldn't pay for that and I wasn't sure I wanted to put my poor boobs through any more torture. Well, I didn't really want to spend any more money on surgery, either. I hope that my chest wall does find a way to knit itself back together eventually and that my side boob/rib pain goes away for good. IF I can find a padded bra that makes both boobs look even so my blouses look better on me, I'll be happy enough. I still think we all are better off with soft, natural breasts, even if we're not as happy with the post-op results as we hoped to be. At least I know from this point on, I don't have to worry about what may happen to my implants in the future. They are GONE and I don't have to think about them anymore!! That's a very good thing. :-) If you take a look at my pics, you'll see that my breasts are uneven and one is thinner than the other. I think my breasts are much smaller looking in person, especially from the top view. The upper pole area is very flat, even in a bra. Not great looking at all. But they're soft again and they're mine. The hard, painful rocks are gone at last. That's all I can say and I think having the silicone and hard, painful implants out of me is definitely worth it. :-) Good luck on your healing. I know it's not easy and the way our breasts look after surgery may not be the way we want, but at least we are implant-free and that's safer and healthier than the way we were. I know that may be small comfort if you are really unhappy about your results. I understand, because I feel the same way. Some days I feel okay and some days I don't. But, there's a lot of support here for you on RS. You can be honest and open about your feelings. There's NO need to pretend everything is fine if it's not. I know the other ladies will be here to talk to and to be supportive of what you are dealing with, physically and emotionally. That's what's so great about this site. They have been here for me and I don't know what I would have done without them, especially before the surgery. The info and encouragement they provided gave me the strength to get rid of those foreign objects and I'll always be thankful for that. I have no regrets.

A lot of your feeling are resonating with me! I had a couple of people say "you really look flat in that bra!" Ok. Here I am thinking this is a good thing (explant) and I feel good about it then BAM! People are so insensitive. I hope you will find peace with it soon. :) in a da good experience with kaiser but it ended three weeks after my surgery! W change our healthcare. My new GP didn't even know what an "explant" was!! He thought I made up the word. Great!! What a world!!! Lol. Hope you are feeling better :)