30 Year Old Breast Implants! - Vancouver, WA

When I was 26 I got saline breast implants. At that time, we were told you could have them for life and that they were safe. I recently found out that nowadays women are told to replace their implants every 8-10 years, and mine were THIRTY! Thanks to the Healing Breast Implant Illness with Nicole Facebook group, I learned everything I needed to know about what to do. I learned that it doesn't matter what is on the inside of implants, they are all covered in silicone, and silicone has 40+ chemicals as well as heavy metals that leech into your body and wreak havoc on it. They cause a myriad of illnesses including many autoimmune diseases. I also learned that not only is it vital to remove the implants, but to also remove the capsule that forms around every implant the minute it's implanted into your body. The capsule absorbs all the toxins from the implants. While in the Facebook group I learned about Dr. Gabriel from another woman who had recently had an explant with him and she raved about him. I had a consultation with Dr Gabriel and right away knew he was the surgeon for me. He made me feel like he had all the time in the world for me, answered every question, and made sure I was totally comfortable. I wanted a total capsulectomy and explant and did not plan on replacing with new implants. Neither he nor his assistant pressured me to replace my implants, they totally respected my requests. This was my 7th surgery, and not that anyone loves surgery, but I get very anxious about it because I don't do well with anesthesia, but I can honestly say, this surgery with Dr Gabriel was 100% the best experience I have ever had. Not only is he kind, thoughtful, understanding, and incredibly qualified and talented, but so is everyone at his office as well as PeaceHealth Hospital. I literally do not even have one remotely bad thing to say about anyone or anything. Dr Gabriel is the BEST!!! To top it all off, I expected to look pretty bad after my explant (not due to Dr Gabriel) because before implants I was a AA (if that) and given my age (56), I didn't have high hopes for looking awesome (which was OK because I wanted the implants to be OUT and I wanted to get well!), BUT, my breasts look amazing! I was so happy when I saw them, I cried, they are so much better than I could have ever hoped for. Whereas another well-known surgeon I had previously consulted with had insisted I needed to have a lift at the same time as the explant, Dr Gabriel insisted otherwise. They told me to give it at least 6 months to see what my breasts do, and they also said they doubted I would need to come back for one. That alone let me know he isn't in his job for the money, he could have easily insisted I needed a lift and I would have done it. So, there's my story. I am on my way to heal from BII (Breast Implant Illness) and am absolutely thrilled with what Dr Gabriel did for me ( and a shout-out to his assistant, Jamie, she's fantastic as well and so sweet). Side note: I had my original plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills place silicone implants in me, it was the only kind we discussed. When I woke up from surgery with Dr Gabriel he told me they were not saline but something called Double Lumens (silicone implant, covered in a saline implant, covered in a silicone shell).