Implant Removal

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shannonlee66
shannonlee66 Member Posts: 22
edited November 2015 in Breast Reconstruction

Hello all!

I'm wondering if anyone has had their implants removed and gone au naturale or perhaps had a diep after. I had a bi lateral mastectomy lat flap direct to implants two years ago. What a mess. Not only am I malformed, but I have chronic pain. I'm almost 100% sure of taking out my implants, but not about the diep. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. And yes, I have been to physical therapy, but I can't stand the feeling of having balls beneath my chest. Thank you!!

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  • farmerlucy
    farmerlucy Member Posts: 3,985
    edited November 2015

    Shannon - here is a thread about just that https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/82/topics...

    Those balls do feel wierd! I'll be four years out in Feb and just this summer they stopped bugging me and they feel like me now.


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  • macb04
    macb04 Member Posts: 1,433
    edited November 2015

    Hi, well I did things a bit differently to get where I am now, nearly done with reconstruction. Had uni mx, had TE under my pectoral. Was going to get DIEP, but changed my mind, scared off by the long recovery. Instead had 5 sessions of fat grafting, had 2 bad infections, where I lost most of the fat. Had that TE taken out, which caused one of the infections. Then I got a new PS who finally listened to what I wanted and put a new TE OVER my PECTORAL MUSCLE! .. Much much more comfortable. In August I had an implant exchange, with you guessed it, the Anatomic Form Stable Mentor 420cc implant put OVER my PECTORAL muscle. I had a lift of my other breast in September. Going for nipple reconstruction December 3rd.

    I sometimes forget my Implant is there, where as before when I had the TE under my pectoral muscle I was in complete daily misery.

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  • Meadow
    Meadow Member Posts: 2,007
    edited November 2015

    Mac, so you had enough tissue to hold the implant on top of the pectoral muscle....very interesting! I had rads after direct-to-implant recon, and I have shrinkage and encapsulation that I want to have repaired one day. I would love to have implants on top of the pectorals. Had your PS done this before? I am so glad this was a success for you.

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  • macb04
    macb04 Member Posts: 1,433
    edited November 2015

    Hi Meadow

    No he had never done it that way before. I begged him to try it. I told him I understood that it might be a total failure, and not work at all. I was desperate to try it that way because I had the rad fibrosis making everything too, too, too tight. The idea of having an implant under my poor , tortured pectoral muscle, just seemed unbearable and destined to make me miserable every damned day for the rest of my life. NO WAY!!! This is much more comfortable this way. Had a TE under my pectoral before, this is infinitely better over my pectoral. Can't see it at all, no ripples and I have cleavage too. If I can just suceed with making a nipple, then I will be much happier.

    Now here is a study to look up PRE PECTORAL IMPLANTS AND COMPLETE COVERAGE WITH PORCINE ACELLULAR DERMAL MATRIX , A NE

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4494482/

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25455288

    . Just for the record, I did not have any acellular dermal matrix, just my fat grafted fat.

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  • macb04
    macb04 Member Posts: 1,433
    edited November 2015

    Hi rose 50, if you look at the above links they used alloderm type stuff, one used the porcine vrsion, I think it is called Stratice. I only had fat from 5 fat grafting procedures, had 2 bad infections so lost most of the transplanted fat. The old PS who did the fat grafting was not that skilled in it. You loose more grafted fat to reabsorption when you have had rads, because of the damage to your circulation in that area., but despite the poor skill of that PS and the infections I still managed to get to about an A plus cup. The fat just cushions my implant, a Mentor 420cc form stable implant. My new PS who is very skilled and has an open mind did a great job putting in my implant. He had never done it over the pectoral in a reconstruction patient, but was willing to try it because I begged him. I couldn't contemplate having an implant under my pectoral as my chest was so tight from rad fibrosis that it was making me miserable. Having an implant shoved under my muscle would only compound my misery, I was sure. So he just sutured in the implant at my inframammary fold. I think that my implant is also textured so my new PS said it just kind of sticks in place, like velcro.

    If you get fat grafting, it is very important to have someone with a lot of experience. If I had someone with more experience doing my fat grafting, I would have had better sucess and much less fat reabsorption.

    I can't see my implant at all, no motion artifact at all. Soon, December 3rd I go for nipple reconstruction. A bit nervous at going through it all again. Hoping to get a tiny bit of fat grafting at the same time to fix my scar which is a little indented. Cross your fingers for me.


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  • shannonlee66
    shannonlee66 Member Posts: 22
    edited November 2015

    Thank you!!

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