Jean's Story by Jean Two of my sisters had saline implants, and my mother had silicone injections. My mom used to tell me that she would be glad to pay for me to get implants if I wanted, but I had nice breasts, and didn't want that fake-look. None of my immediate family had much in the way of breasts, but I did, and I was happy with them. In my mid twenties, I was on a high estrogen birth control pill. After going on the mini pill, I realized that my 34C breasts had slowly lost volume and were now spread out and droopy. I easily filled out a 36 B, but without a bra on my breasts appeared to spread out, drop and disappear. Jean's pre-implant photos In 1985, just months shy of my 30th birthday I went in to see a PS about getting a lift. He tried to convince me to get implants, but I told him no, I didn't want larger, I just wanted them up and together again. He then explained to me that I would be miserable with the scars from a lift, and that implants would do the job. I would look better, and he even had me try on some silicone inserts to give me an idea. After trying on a few, he and my sister (who had accompanied me) both agreed that I would look great. He told me, as all PS's did back then, that they would last forever, unless I got in a major front end car wreck. He said I would be so happy with them, and that they would someday bury me with them, and even after my body decomposed, my implants would still be there. Gross as that sounds, he made them sound indestructible and totally safe. I was finally convinced and went ahead with my surgery. I was told at the time that I would get 225 cc saline implants under the muscle inserted under my arms (to avoid scars.) I do not have photos following surgery, but I will say that they were larger than I wanted, but I was satisfied because they were all together. I have never been one to show cleavage or dress in a sexy way, and even with this new novelty, I was concerned about looking appropriate. I hated being gawked at, and at the age of 30 I looked more like a thin 18 year old with all the right curves. Within a few months I met my husband to be. I will never forget having to confess to him that my breasts were not real, but were implants. We had been intimate for a while and it was looking like we would get married, so I wanted to be honest with him. He couldn't tell the difference, and didn't seem to really care. In April 1988 we had our daughter, and my boobs were huge! Immediately following birth, I started having very severe migraines. None of the doctors could figure out what was wrong with me. I was breast feeding my daughter for a few months, and had to stop, because my breasts had blown up to 38FF's, and my right one had hardened badly (CC.) In late 1988 I went to my PS, because my right breast was so hard and hurt, and he did a closed capsulectomy on me. Oh my gosh, that hurt worse than 21 1/2 hours of labor! He said it was no big deal (for him, I guess), and that I was to keep mashing it around to keep it soft. I then returned again in 1990 for a second very painful round with him. I spent years with doctors about my migraines, and finally found a wonderful orthodontist that specialized in TMJ and sleep disorders. Over several years, and another set of braces, we had my migraines down to a few a week. I could no longer tolerate the sun, and spent much time hidden away in my house with the curtains closed. This was not easy, while running a large horse breeding operation, maintaining a large ranch by myself, and raising our daughter. My husband was working 6 days a week in another town, so I had much to do outside. When venturing out, I would be wearing sun block, long sleeves, pants, gloves, hat, UV sunglasses, and a filtered mask, and this was in Arizona! Life was hell for me, and my husband. I did the best I could, trying to accomplish as much as I could in the evening hours, even doing the tractor work in the fields with the headlights on. Somehow, I was able to keep up with everything. Our lives had changed, and I guess our marriage was not for better or worse, because he threw in the towel. I believe that marriage is a life long commitment, and I dealt with his serious back problems, that kept him laid up for months at a time. He just didn't seem to have the same staying power. Looking back, I try not to blame him, but I now realize that he married the "perfect wife" and I wasn't living up to his expectations. I was so depressed because I had been working hard all my life outside, and now things were taking a toll on me, and I needed help, and there wasn't anyone there with the answers as to why I was so sick. I remember going to doctors, and having them say, maybe it is stress...or you know this is all in your head...right! Prior to the divorce, I had become pretty sick and ended up in the emergency room. They said my blood count was way off, and that I was trying to fight off something, and they were sure that it was my appendix about to rupture. They rushed me into surgery, just to find out that there was nothing wrong, but took my appendix out anyway. They then put me on a large dose of antibiotics, and my blood tests came back OK. $10,000 more down the drain. In 1999, following my divorce, my daughter and I moved to North Carolina to start a new life. Things were better there, and I had given up the horses that had been a part of my life for over 30 years. I no longer worked outside, and was doing much better. I had always been very physical, and couldn't believe it when I woke up one morning with severe back spasms. I couldn't move at all. The doctors said that stress does strange things, and after several months of seeking help, I finally had a specialist tell me that I had pulled some ligaments around my hip joint and that I would have been better off if I had broken something. He said that it would take 2 years to totally heal, as long as I didn't re-injure myself. I was extremely careful, and eventually decided it was time to quit work (I was doing very physical lifting) and go back to school again. I had been back in school for 2 semesters, when I started noticing changes. My back hurt all the time, and now my joints were killing me too. One day it would be my left knee, the next day I couldn't hold a pencil. I couldn't walk around the block without one or both of my knees blowing up, and my back was crippling me. Of course the doctor said that I wasn't getting any younger, and that again stress was probably the issue. I felt like I was going crazy! I prided myself that I was a straight A student and that I worked so hard to accomplish what I was setting out to do. The turning point came in my third semester, Spring of 2005. I had just finished an intensive 4 week Sociology class at the U and had tested out on my Oral Communications/Argumentative Research class. I was on the fast road to getting things done. I had two classes left, Chemistry and Anatomy/Physiology. I was having a tougher and tougher time in my Anatomy class. Shocked that my first test came back with a 90, then my second came back with a 68! I knew I had to make a choice, so I dropped my chemistry class to fully concentrate on the Anatomy. I studied until I was blue, but things got progressively worse. I would have everything down pat, and the next day it was all gone! Looking back, I then remembered the night I was driving home from the U following my late Sociology class. I had taken the same short cut a dozen times before, but I made a mistake and got lost...I could no longer remember how to get home that way. It scared me badly. Now, I wasn't able to retain any information for very long. I could be talking with someone, and forget their name by the end of the conversation. It got so bad, that my daughter no longer yelled at me for asking her the same things over and over, because she realized that I truly could not remember asking her. At this point, I was sure I was going mad! I had to drop out of school, because I was unable to function. I spent hours at the doctor, just to be told, it was my age, or maybe I needed my thyroid checked once again. I went to a doctor that supposedly tested for ADHD, just to have him talk to me for 5 minutes and suggest that maybe I should see a psychiatrist, that I could be bipolar. At this point I would do anything to have some answers. My daughter and I jointly decided to move back to Arizona, where she could finish her senior year, and I could be closer to family for emotional support. We put the house on the market and it sold within days. I decided that since we were returning to Arizona and I was not going to be in summer school, that this would be the perfect time to have my implants redone. My right breast still hurt so much and was so hard, and my left...I could feel a wrinkle in it. I was able to convince my original PS to give me all my records, including notes, so I could take them to the new PS I had chosen. What a shock! When I received my records, I found out that I had silicone, not saline implants (dbl. lumen with 200 cc silicone gel and 25 cc saline mixture liners)!!! The op report indicated that they had been placed over my muscle, not under as I was told. If that wasn't bad enough, there was a note there from 1999, where he had requested my actual x-rays, after reading my mammogram report, and stated that I had lost volume in both of my implants, and that the right was badly distorted! To this day, he has never told me that. It does make me angry that I would have moved on explantation in a minute back in 1999, had I known all of that. Needless to say, I immediately jumped all over the internet for hours and hours, day and night looking for some answers. One night, as we were packing to move, I woke up and had this extreme urge to get online and look for anything related to silicone poisoning. I feel like an angel had awakened me, telling me to look hard now, that there was something I needed to find. That night I stayed up until morning reading everything on the website I had found, Explantation.com. I knew by morning, that I wasn't going to have my implants replaced, and that I was definitely going to get explanted as soon as possible. That morning I called my new PS in Tucson and told him that I was canceling my consultation. I wanted to find someone that had my best interests in mind, and someone that truly believed that implants were not an acceptable option. I wanted the best surgeon that I could find that had done many explantations before, and that I knew would be right for my needs. After much research, and talking to many on the forum, I decided to call Dr. Melmed's office in Texas. I left a message on his answering machine, and I was at a loss for words (for the first time in my life!) when he personally returned my call within 15 minutes! We talked at length and I sent him photos and what information I had. I then waited until we finished our move to Tucson in June, to call and set up my consultation and surgery. Jean prior to her explantation. I flew to Dallas, and had an explantation and lift done early morning on July 21, 2005. My right breast (which had the severe CC and hurt so much) was simple to do. The implant was ruptured, and the capsule was thick and easy to remove. My left breast (which always looked pretty normal and soft, but had that wrinkle in it I could sometimes feel) was also ruptured and my capsule was very thin. He said that the implant had been placed half over/half under the muscle, and he had a difficult time removing the capsule because it was stuck to my ribs and I had a lot of "bleeders." My breasts looked great to me the day I had my drains removed. They were a little swollen, which made them appear a little larger. At 12 days, I removed the "heart-shaped" tapes that Dr. M puts over the nipples, and they had gone down some. After that, wouldn't you know, I started my period and they got larger again. By the 30 day mark my breasts are not as full, but the scars look great. I am sure I will not even notice them in 6 months. Also, I know with the return of exercise and with time I will fluff out much more. Prior to BA, I was 29, thin and was a small 36 B. After BA (with 20 years and 25 lbs. added) I was a very full 36D/38C. Now, at close to 50 (and working on losing that weight) I am now still able to wear my old 36C bras, just not falling out of them all over. :) I expect to be a perky full B or maybe even a small C. Photos of Jean at one week with tapes still on her breasts. Photos of Jean at 12 days with tapes removed. Jean at 30 days post explant Jean 11 weeks post op Today, I am feeling so much better, but still have a long way to go. I feel so much lighter, and my back rarely hurts. I am just starting to walk more again, and no more knee swelling. It has been thirty days, and I am so ready to continue on with my renewed life!!! I so wish I had known that I had this choice available many, many years ago. Each day is a new day, and I am noticing changes in my body everyday. Life is so sweet!!! Thank you, to all you ladies that had previously posted your stories. You all are the ones that are responsible for my new lease on life. I owe you all everything!!! I will submit updated pictures as time goes on. If anyone reading this has any questions or concerns about moving forward with explantation...please do not hesitate to email me :) E-mail Jean