20 years "IN" and now 8 months "OUT" - LOVE IT!

Here's my story: My breasts were always a size AA. I was fine with that. They were shapely and looked bitchin' braless with tight tee shirts. Then I breastfeed 3 babies, and by the end my breasts had disappeared. I could not fit into any bra. One seamstress tried to reduce an AA cup and even that could not fit. I was so sad!!!!!!!!! Even worse, my husband was a pain in the a** about it. He accepted my size, but always wanted me to be naked when we made love. Well, I just wasn't comfortable being naked. I wanted to wear a sexy tight camisole and keep it on. He was having none of that.

So, to keep my sanity during a demanding marriage, I got implants. I become a very full B cup. Saline, submuscular. They felt natural pretty quickly, after I recovered from the pain which I thought was HORRIBLE! For 20 years my breasts felt like my breasts - I completely forgot about the implants. I was lucky and did not have any hardening, lumps, whatever. They stayed soft and pretty natural looking. They DID get in the way when I exercised, because they just would not move an inch!

I assumed I'd be buried as an old lady, and someday my skeleton would be lying there with two plastic bags on my ribs!!!!!!!!!

Then I began to hear about how implants are best replaced after about 20 years. And I got divorced. And I DEVELOPED HUGE SHOULDER/NECK/RIB problems. Pain, terrible pain. Tried pain meds, physical therapy, nothing helped. I was the one - remember that we are often the ones who know best! - I was the one who said "Hey, maybe these submuscular implants have messed up all of these chest muscles and maybe if I have them out it will improve." The PT thought it was a decent theory, but could not officially recommend it since it is unproven.

I WAS RIGHT!

But first let me tell you about my explant process.

I was expecting to spend a ton of money and to undergo a whole lot of pain, just like the implants. At my FIRST SESSION with the plastic surgeon, he said that one possibility was to drain them - right then and there! He said that if he drained them, I could go around like that for a week or two, to see if I would want reconstruction. So he did! It was almost painfree - just a needle - and I was SO RELIEVED to see all clear water draining out. The nurses and I laughed quite a bit at watching my breasts deflate. When I sat up and looked down, I was VERY PLEASANTLY SURPRISED to see that my breasts didn't look terrible. No disaster. And it only cost $350!!!!!!!

So for a week I went about my business... My breasts still seemed okay. I knew that the bags were still in there, so my breasts would end up smaller, but it seemed that a certain amount of body fat had gathered there. And I'm heavier now than I was 20 years ago, which might be part of it.

So I made an appointment for about a week later. This was when he removed the implants. All I needed was a local anesthetic. The dr made about a 3 inch incision underneath each breast. The procedure required a lot of cutting away the tissue that was attached to the implant, but it did not hurt. It felt like he was just "hacking away" at it and I wondered if that was okay. It turned out that it was good.

I walked out of there feeling free! The stitches hurt quite a bit for quite a while - but I'm sensitive that way. And at first my boobs were irregular and hung down in weird ways. But now, 8 months later, I have a lovely full AA cup and am VERY SATISFIED! And over this time, my chest neck and rib pain has slow and surely disappeared! Yay! Every now and then there is a painful twinge near the scars, but it goes away pretty quickly.

I'm 59 years old and dating - and I find I am perfectly comfortable with my new old breasts. Honestly, I wish I'd never had the implants in the first place because it was just to please my husband and he was a jerk.....! But it has all turned out ok.