30 Y/o, Breast Augmentation W/Silicone Implants and Lift 10 Years Ago - *Removed!* - Newport Beach, CA

First of all, I want to say this site is amazing! I have been reading through the posts over the past 2 months and I want to say thank you to all of you women for your vulnerability and courage in sharing your pictures and experiences. This has helped me to come to my decision to finally have my breast implants removed. I have been contemplating this for a few years, and the time has finally come.

I had my silicone implants put in almost 10 years ago (340cc) due to being uncomfortable with my natural breast size. I was a full C cup in my early teenage years, but had quickly lost a lot of weight and lost a lot of breast tissue. My breasts shrunk down to a small B cup and were saggy. At the time, I felt the "sagginess" was quite dramatic. I was embarrassed and ashamed at their appearance.. not having "perky" boobs, or not being able to wear certain tops or bikini's without feeling like everyone could see how much they "sagged" or felt they were "too small" for my body. I grew up in Orange County and was highly influenced by the need to look "perfect" and didn't feel comfortable in my own body. So at 20 years old, a month before turning 21, I had a breast augmentation with silicone implants and a breast lift. I wanted to be the full C cup I had used to be in my early teenage years. The implants ended up being more like a small D cup, however, they played the role I wanted them to play. I felt much sexier for many years and much more confident in the clothes I wore. It felt great to be able to wear tops and dresses without a bra. However, over the recent years, I've lived outside the influence of Orange County and I started to be uncomfortable with having implants. I didn't like the "fake" feeling or standing out because I had "big boobs". I started to see that physical appearance wasn't "everything" and how much we all tend to be influenced by the culture we live in or society's "standards". I began to recognize the *real* underlying issue that I needed to address.. my lack of confidence and lack of acceptance of myself and my body.

I have since come to recognize the natural beauty of being a woman. I have traveled to a few areas of this world and lived in cultures and society's where beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. What I've learned to be the most beautiful is when a women is confident and authentic in who she is and how she expresses herself. Beauty comes from the inside, and it is absolutely stunning when a woman can embody the beautiful essence of being a natural born goddess. This type of beauty is something that radiates beyond anything physical.

I have now decided that I am ready to be the natural born goddess that I am, to love my breasts no matter what shape or size, and to embrace the natural beauty of the woman I am. This has been quite an expensive lesson in learning how to love and accept my body, but I am finally ready to go forward with this decision!

I have my surgery scheduled for tomorrow. I am having the same surgeon who performed my original surgery to now have the implants removed. I am having general anesthesia with breast implant explantation and capsulectomy. I'm a little anxious.. but it feels a little more like nervous excitement :). Hope my story inspires you! Thanks for reading!

Wow! I LOVE my breasts! I am SO SO Happy with my decision! It feels great to be natural again!

The surgery went well. I went under general anesthesia and I was told the procedure took about an hour and a half. My silicone implants were removed and so were parts of the capsule that had formed around the implants in each breast. I had drains put in because a lot of irrigation was used to clean out the surrounding breast tissue. I had some nausea from the anesthesia and a moderate amount of pain right after the surgery, but the surgery center staff quickly took care of it with medication through the IV. I went home in a post-operative fitted bra and an ace wrap around my chest to help with compression. My pain continued to subside throughout the evening and I took some pain medication to help sleep through the night and slept propped up on pillows.

Today I've had some soreness in the breast tissue and around the incision site, but overall feeling great! I haven't needed to take pain medication today, except for tonight to help me sleep, since I'm sleeping propped up on some pillows again. I had my follow up appointment with Dr. Grover and everything went well! I go back in for followup in two days to have the drains removed.

Overall the experience has been great! Dr. Grover has been great, the surgery center staff has been great, and Dr. Grover's staff has been great!

Feeling pretty exhausted today. I think mostly from my body healing and repairing itself.. along with the lack of sound sleep the past 2 nights is catching up on me. I've been sleeping propped up on pillows due to the drains, which isn't the most comfortable position. Not too much pain.. some soreness around the drain and incision sites, but overall feeling pretty good. Haven't taken any pain medication today. I'm more into allowing my body to heal without the use of prescription meds. Took my wrap and bra off today to let my breasts "free" for a bit. Which felt wonderful :). I took some pictures of what my breasts look like today. Their appearance today reminds me of why I made the decision to have the breasts implants in the first place. The sagginess is quite noticeable. Although I know my breasts will perk up and fill in a bit over time. There was a moment today where I cried feeling ashamed about what I've done to my beautiful breasts. All the "trauma" they have gone through just because I wanted them to "look" a certain way. Now I have permanent scars as a reminder of this journey I went through... lessons in self-love, self-acceptance, and self-forgiveness. I'm still happy with my decision. Just feeling sadness, guilt, and shame coming up.. which I know is all part of the healing process. So I'm learning to be present with these emotions today, and accept what is coming up. Feeling the emotional grief as my physical body is healing