Explant op all done, relief!! Yorkshire, UK

I am due to have my silicone implants removed in 10 days but have to decide whether to have capsulectomies at the same time?? I have a capsular contracture which is uncomfortable on the right side and started at xmas just at the same time when i found breast lumps which have needed investigating with mammograms.

Thankfully these were cysts but on top of the contracture it has all made me feel worse. My boobs have also sagged, I was a 34a pre impalnt and went up to a 34C but they now seem to be DD!

They have been in 7 years. I have a typical pear shape body and struggled since early 20,s with body image problems. Eventually i had implants but if honest i have felt a fake for the last few years and i have spent a lot of time covering them up. I also have had a lot of autoimmune type symptoms but then tried to shrug these off as life been pretty stressful and blamed it all on this. However since the cysts and contracture ,i have felt these implants just need to be removed and i am hoping it will improve my general health?

My big dilemma is whether to have capsulectomies or not??My gut instinct is to have this done but my surgeon says he doesnt routinely do this unless capsule is calcified or infected. I went along with this but have since been following all you brave ladies out there and frantically reading all your reviews and looking at so many photos!! What a support it all is. So now i need help as I have to go back to see the surgeon in 5 days and tell him what I have decided. I am only thin framed on my upper body and he said if i have capsules removed it is much bigger operation and that he will have to remove more of my own breast tissue (and seeing as I havent got a lot...) and that he thinks this will make my breasts even smaller etc. This has scared me , though I cant wait to get implants out and just go back to my small mounds!! but am worried if they are even smaller?? I have logged on to this site and seen what the surgeons say and they have differing opinions though lots support the capsules being removed .I asked my surgeon if all the capsule isnt removed then there is a chance my autoimmune symptoms wont settle down...he doesnt believe the link with autoimmune probs with implants, but i know many of you ladies know what i mean and have similar symptoms.

I am so tired of debating it all in my head and especially when i am renovating my house to try and move asap! its all going on !! I have waffled long enough and dont even know if this will print! However if anyone out there could help me in the next few days I would be SO SO grateful. I am a nurse and and help my patients with decisions but with myself i am struggling!! Whatever happens one way or another these implants are scheduled for removal 9th May!!

Just an update with 2 days to go til my op and to thank you ladies who have sent supportive messages.
I saw the surgeon 2 days ago(for 3rd time!)and this time it was to tell him which op to proceed with ... simple explant or explant with capuletomies. I think he would have preferred to do explant only and continued to remind me of the increased risks with capsulectomies and it being a bigger op and that i would need drains and to stay overnight and increased blood loss etc. But he knows i have read up so much about silicone and would prefer all capsules out and so he said i wouldnt be happy if he didnt remove all the capsules. He knows i have had some autoimmune issues like excessive tiredness,dry eyes,low immunity, joint and tendon probs, etc but he still believes that research has shown it has no correlation with breast implants!! However after discovering this website and reading all your reviews it is a big big coincidence that many of us describe these symptoms even down to no sex drive or low low sex drive etc which i can identify with and having hard uncomfortable fake oversized melons which i keep covered up doesnt ease this situation!! Of course women with no implants will get autoimmune diseases( i already had raynauds) and then as i am in my 40,s it could just be my age!! But then many of you ladies who have described symptoms are a lot lot younger.
The surgeon then went on to discuss tissue loss with capsulectomy and this i suppose is my biggest fear as i was a 30-32a pre implant and desperately didnt want to end up smaller. I discussed the procedure and he does the 'en bloc' type removal which is supposed to be the best way and is when they try to remove all the implant and its capsule intact. They will do this but if it is adherent to the chest wall and becomes difficult then they abandon en bloc and remove what they can etc.I said that if he realized he was going to have to remove a lot of tissue would he stop and just leave rest of capsule and he said he would.So i have to be happy with that and just hope the capsule is easy to remove or at worst i wll end up with at least half of it gone.
Surgeon reminded me of nipple sensation loss is another risk but i already had this after implants but i have also read that this can return after implants out so you never know,fingers crossed.
It was so hard when he showed me pics of me taken just before my implants were put in and my partner saw then too ( i was not with him when i had implants put in) I looked at my pics and felt so mad at myself and sad that i interfered with nature and my small litle boobs just seemed right for my very petite top half. Mind you that was the problem all those years ago i felt my top half didnt match my pear shaped bottom half and i never saw myself as a whole and it led to all sorts of eating problems and body issues.I suppose i still have those fears but i am in a diff place in my life and ready to embrace a new outlook. It is just ironic that i may now end up smaller breasted than i was pre implants. Hard lesson but sure lots of you out there can relate to what i am waffling on about.
Finally the last 2 wobbles i had was when i went to have my back measured and think i may have lost 2inches and so measure a 30 and so the shop assistant said i may have to go to teenage clothing to get a bra so i got to go searching today.At a push she said i could perhaps manage with a 32a. Considering i have a hammock bra on now with DD cup it going to be a hell of a contrast and it really did get to me a bit yesterday, that and pmt just before my op!!
I also read reviews again looking for ladies who have had capsulectomies and the ones i found did seem to have had a few problems post op with fluid build up weeks later or one side different shape than other. So if anyone out there who has had capsules out and recovered fine in end please let me know asap!!! It takes a long time reading the reviews but i dont mind they are all so inspiring and it is all i seem to have done this last week in between working, walking my dogs and renovating my house as estate agent is coming to value it in one week and it needs lots doing yet.!
Bye for now and i best get to the bra shops and see what i can find asap...x

ps i will try do do photos when i work out how to do it

Just a quick update. Finally had my op yesterday and home today from hospital. I have to admit i am quite sore and groggy from codeine based tablets but SO SO glad i have been brave like all the other ladies reviews i had previously read before my op!!
My dilemma was whether to have the capsulectomies at same time as explant. I always wanted this doing but the surgeon had explained it being more risky and that i may lose more of my own breast tissue ( which really is very limited already!!) and sensation to nipples though i had this following implants. Anyway we agreed he would try and take as much of the capsules as possible en bloc procedure but if if became likely i would lose too much tissue he would leave some of the capsule. So i left it all to fate. I went to theatre at 2.20pm but as i was so shivery and cold my veins had hidden and the anaethetist struggled to find a vein.I thought to myself is this a bad omen for the whole op but next thing i woke up to a nice nurse reassuring me that i had done the right thing and not to be too worried as i think i was rambling on about the size of my boobs as i came round in the recovery room.!! I got back to the ward around 5.15pm and so the op seemed to have taken longer than i thought and i had drains into both breasts near the axillary areas. I think i was a bit hyper when my partner visited and i looked down to see my small soft breasts and what a difference to a few hours before with my hard contracted implants. A few hours later the pain and immobility became more apparent and my blood pressure was very low but i was still so so proud of myself and the relief that i had got the operation over with was immense. By 11pm i had eaten food and been allowed to walk to toilet but midnight things were sore. My ribs felt so sore and the near my arm pits when i tried to reach for anything or move. I gave in and had more painkillers and did eventually sleep an hour or two. The surgeon warned me that the capsulectomies can be more awkward to remove and indeed one of mine had been. My right breast with the hard capsular contracture was the easiest capsule to remove but the left softer breast had a thin capsule and this is more tricky to excise away without taking your own tissue. I couldnt sleep mainly with excitement and relief the op was over as the emotions you feel in the days leading up to your op really do exhaust you. I did keep asking the nurses if my breasts would improve . They really do look flat and mishaped and the nipples look bit rippled but then i have such a narrow rib cage and liitle fat on my upper half and just had DD,s removed,it no wonder the skin is so saggy. I felt very spaced out this am after the codeine but this feeling went as the nurse informed me she would be removing the drains shortly. Indeed this was a bit of a pull on the sore breast tissue but it is over quickly and this allows you to move more freely. My nipples feel sore and i had to tell my partner to drive home the non bumpy route as every bump in the road you can feel even though my boobs are so much smaller they hurt on movement.
So that is where i am at. I am still very excited and a bit shell shocked at what i have just endured in the last 48hrs. I got up yesterday and painted as many walls as possible as i am in the middle of trying to sell my house and knew i would be out of action for a little while. I manically tidied up and then rushed to the hospital and now here i sit a bit sore a day later, a bit drugged up and spaced out and wearing a very cheap small bra but so so glad those horrible oversized hard implants and capsules are out of my body. I know a few of you are having the same procedure soon and i suppose i just want you to know to go for it but be prepared if you are slim you may feel it a bit more than if just opt for simple explant removal . But as i have said the pain is bearable and already i am doing more and i am just taking paracetamol only. I will keep updating. I realize i may have repeated myself the codeine has made me do this!! For all those about to have operations good luck and it REALLY is the right move.Even if my boobs stay as mishapen as they are i feel so light and free and happier already.!