Aussie Implant/Explant Journey
By Keli
My decision to get implants was, unfortunately, a quick and hasty
one. I felt very flat and empty after weaning my baby and thought somehow that I deserved to have a breast augmentation
after having my children, kind of like a gift to my post childbearing and breastfeeding body. I never hated my
breasts, I just thought they needed to be filled back up...if only it were that simple.
I made an appointment with my Doctor for a referral to a Plastic Surgeon. I took along a surgeon's name that I
wanted to consult with, as I had heard from two other ladies that they were very happy with their results. I ended
up with a referral to a different surgeon, my doctor insisted this one was "the best there was"and if
I didn't like him, I could come back and get a second referral to the other surgeon.
I made my appointment and waited a couple of weeks, then headed off on a 3 hour drive for my consultation. It was
fairly uneventful and not much was discussed. He asked me what size I would like to be, I told him about a "C"
cup as that is what I was breast feeding and I felt comfortable with that size. He told me I was tall enough to
carry a "C", chatted a little more about staying overnight in hospital and that was about it. NO measuring,
NO discussion on unders or overs, NO discussion on how many cc's, NO discussion on whether I wanted the new cohesive
gel or salines, (possibly he didn't have access to them but others certainly did) There was NO discussion about
any risks. THAT WAS IT. He sent in his nurse/receptionist to take my details and work through prices, dates, etc.
She told me to call when I wanted to make an appointment for my surgery, and if I had any questions to please call.
After my consultation I started to look into breast augmentations on the net. and e-mailed the relevant people
in Australia for information booklets, etc. When the booklets arrived, I began to realize that there was ALOT MORE
to implants than I realized. My surgeon and I had discussed nothing important and I figured I had better call the
surgeons office and tell her my concerns. I asked her if he would be going under the muscle or over it, how many
cc's I'd be getting and also the risk of capsular contracture. She told me that I could ask him these questions
before my operation and to maybe stop reading so much
about it,
I would only frighten myself. So I decided to go ahead with my arranged date and have a chat before I went 'under'.
I arrived at the hospital about 8.30am, filled out some paperwork, was shown to my shared room, and waited. My
anesthesiologist came along and checked my throat, heart, etc. told me what to expect, keep myself warm, and then
I waited again with nerves on edge. FINALLY at 1 pm I was told to get into my theatre clothes and I was taken to
the recovery section of the operating room, to be prepped. I asked the nurses to please get the surgeon as I was
told that he would have a talk with me before the operation. He came in and asked what the problem was, I told
him that I wanted to know if the implants were going under or over the muscle, because I was fearful of capsular
contracture. He replied that it can happen in both, it's just harder to detect in unders. I got NO answers. The
effects of the medication were taking place, and I foolishly said I would leave it up to him, as he knew what he
was doing. He drew two quick lines on me, one under each breast, and that was it. I was wheeled into the operating
theatre and off to sleep I went.
The operation took 45 minutes and I was awokened, having a tube pulled out of my throat and I heard someone in
the recovery room say "Wow, what a way to wake up"! After I woke up, they took me back to my hospital
bed and gave me something in my IV for the pain . I kept asking if my surgeon was around, because I wanted to know
if I had the implants under or over the muscle. Nobody could help me, and I had to wait until my surgeon came along
MUCH later that day. When I asked him, he replied that he tried them both ways, and the implants looked better
under. I constantly question this and have never heard of a surgeon dissecting two different pockets for the sake
of 'trying them on'.
The first week was pretty much how I expected it to be...PAINFUL! I couldn't take the pain meds because they made
me feel ill, so I stuck to paracetamol only. It seemed to work. It was a fairly uneventful week.
Seven days later I was back at my surgeon's rooms to have my bandages taken off. It was easy, and home I went again.
Week two was when my feelings became totally muddled. I didn't know what was wrong with me. I was sad, depressed
and hated them, telling my best friend that I wished I had never gotten the stupid things. I had wasted so much
money on something that I thought would make me happy, and it wasn't turning out how I expected it to be. I had
a terrible time trying to accept that I had two VERY foreign objects in my body, and I continuously dwelt on it,
made me more depressed each day.
I went back to get my sutures removed the second week, and I noticed that they were not even. My surgeon assured
me that my creases were not even to begin with. I had never noticed this but accepted it. At first, I thought my
breasts looked great, until they dropped and settled into place. The right one was perfect to begin with (did NOT
need to drop at all) but once they began to settle, it seemed to drop into the bottom portion of my breast, leaving
it very full and uncomfortable. It was not really considered to be bottomed
out though, just full. Once the left side settled, I knew
that he put the right side too low to begin with. The tops of my implants were TOTALLY uneven, and my crease was
about an inch lower than the left. I'm not a surgeon, but definately knew that if the implant was placed the same
height as the left, then it would have been more even and more comfortable. I began to develop breast distortion,
mainly in the left breast when using my pec muscles. It was so bad that even when chopping vegetables, I could
feel the implant shoot out to the right. The right hand side wasn't so bad, probably because it was too low to
be affected by the pec too much. I spoke to my surgeon about 4 times, regarding the breast distortion and the low
implant. He told me that it's all normal and wasn't concerned, bu I WAS!
I decided to go for a second opinion, and visited by friend's surgeon. He said that the right hand side was definately
too low, and he could raise it by hitching it up with internal sutures anchored to my rib tissue. I then went to
another consultation, only be to be told that the pec distortion has never bothered anyone else, and it's quite
normal. I could, however, have a re-operation, and go from partial under the muscle, to over. I would have the
new silicone cohesive gel implants, and this would supposedly fix the distortion, and make the right side higher. Both surgeons
thought I was a little crazy, and couldn't believe how lovely and soft my breasts were. Apparently I should have
loved them!
I felt that even if I had the re-do I would still dislike them intensly, and just wished that I had never gotten
them in the first place. I was uncomfortable, hated being stared at, couldn't find a good bra, and dislike my husband
touching them. I didn't feel comfortable working out anymore, so I gave it up, and then gained weight. My life
had totally turned around for the worse. I thought implants were going to make my life better and give me MASSIVE
amounts of self confidence. I was WRONG!
Then, I found http://explantation.com. My life changed. I realized it was quite possible to have my implants removed,
and nearly how I looked, pre- BA. I knew that I was doing the right thing this time and became very excited. I
got all the information I could glean from the girls on the forum, and then made my consultations.
My first consultation was fantastic. The surgeon was extremely happy to help me, and also said she would remove
the capsule, if that's what I wanted. She believed, in the long run, it would be for the best, and the healing
would be better.
The second consultation was disappointing, because I thought (when I made my appointment) I had found 'the one'. But, I was
wrong. I knew I wanted my implants and scar capsules removed, but the surgeon refused to budge on this issue. He
said he would ONLY remove them IF the capsule was extra thick, or looked suspicious. He also said that I would
end up having some breast tissue removed, and perhaps muscle along with the capsules. He also said if he left it
in, this capsular tissue would give me some 'filling', because I was going to be flat. He was concerned about his reputation,
and also about my husband's feelings about my flat breasts. Needless to say, that I was not going to him.
(To be continued...)