Implant questions?

oliver123

Hi All, this is my first post here. I was diagnosed with triple neg BC at 26, had a double mastectomy, 4 months of chemo and then radiation. I will have my exchange to implants at the end of this summer. My doc wants me to have the gummy bear implants to avoid rippling, because I already have that issue with the expanders. I was wondering if people would tell me positive experiences about the gummy bear implants? I made the mistake of joining a face book private group about breast implant illnesses and some breast cancer survivors. I thought it would be a safe place to ask the same question, but I got practically attacked saying I should be flat because I am going to get breast implant illness, and that looks aren't worth it. These women are all claiming they have every autoimmune disease there is and it is ALL because of the implants. So my other question is, are there people out there that don't have any problems with implants? Positive stories? I am all freaked out about it now. Thank you in advance!!

JJOntario

I had breast augmentation just 10 months prior to dx. I went with mentor 590 UHP and for the first time ever I loved my boobs. I'm so angry still about my situation...but..I love the feel and the look of what I have/had and hope to keep it/replace it. I had no rippling ...only a very positive experience (I had done so much research!!!)

DiveCat

I have implant reconstruction. I am almost a year out. While I am going for a revision in a week for cosmetic reasons (I am actually switching to gummies, due to rippling) I have absolutely NO physical complications or discomfortwith my implants. They really feel quite comfortable, feel like they are part of me, and I really forget most of the time I even had surgery.

Remember, people rarely go on the Internet to research for other people who have had positive experiences with X, Y, or X like they have...if you join a group on breast implant issues, you likely will only find people with breast implant issues!

That is not to say no one ever has issues, which in many cases may be related to other than the implants...scar tissue, nerve damage, etc.....but certainly not everyone does.

oliver123

JJontario- I am glad you had a good experience with the implants before, and I hope it stays good when you have your reconstruction!

Divecat- I am also happy to hear you haven't had a terrible experience. I hope to have them feeling like a normal part of me as well good luck with your gummy implants, I would love to hear how you feel about them after its all done! And i know it was kind of silly for me to join a group with that name, i just didn't even realize there was such a problem with implants for some women so I was taken off guard i guess.

Moderators

Hi Oliver-

We want to first welcome you to our community here at BCO. We hope you find this to be a place of support and encouragement, and that you find the information you're after!

You've gotten some good responses from our wonderful community already, but we also wanted to direct to another thread in our reconstruction forum. This one deals with the gummy bear implants specifically, so you might find some helpful advice there: https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/44/topic/....

Again, welcome! Please let us know if we can be of any assistance!

The Mods

B123

I am now 3 years out of having the implants, the radiated side has ripples that I can feel under the skin and pain/numbness under the arm and more to the side (pectoral area), is this normal to have all this time? Will it get better?