I lost weight Friday. About 3 lbs each!

Well, that was a load off my chest!  Last Friday, I had surgery to remove my saline implants.  With my new ‘thin’ body...I now look like a 12-yr-old again!

For those of you who haven’t heard my story, a brief history: I had a bilateral w/expanders in March 05. The process was fairly uncomplicated, because I had stage 1 ILC, and didn’t have to do radiation or chemo.  I’m not sure if my doctor’s decisions led to some of the problems that I had, but I’ve been struggling to get past the pain for three years.

Three weeks after my bilateral, my PS strongly believed that it was better to fill the expanders quickly, with large amounts of saline.  Unfortunately, it made breathing a problem, pulled my shoulders forward, and made my spine feel like it was out of alignment.  I had my exchange to saline implants Sept 05, a complete hysterectomy Oct 05, and then had emergency surgery April 06 for scar tissue from my hysterectomy blocking my intestines.  Ouch!

Through all my surgeries, the constant pain and muscle tightness from my implants never subsided.  I saw physical therapists, did yoga and had massages, but the muscles down the sides of my neck and upper shoulder areas were straining, causing me to have frequent migraines.  It was especially bad when I tried to do art and gardening projects, which are two passions of my life.

Then, about six months ago my pectoral muscles began contracting around the implants.  I’m not sure if it was the start of capsular contracture, but the muscle spasms made it hard to get to sleep.  I scheduled the surgery, yet I still felt reluctant to ‘deconstruct’.  I told my husband I was afraid he would look at me afterward and find me unattractive.  He wrote me the following message:

“Sally, I believe, as I have said all along, that you are doing exactly the right thing. What I do NOT understand, and can never truly understand completely, is the emotions you are going through in terms of going flat-chested. I am sensitive to the fact that that is the biggest concern of yours and how you will feel afterward. But knowing you, as I hope I do, I truly believe that getting your life back will FAR outweigh any negative emotions. You could be getting back to your college stamina once you’re rid of the neck pains. One thing I am very aware of is that these pains have changed you. Dealing with pain 24/7 is oppressive. You have been fighting through this pain for 3 years now. It’s time you got back to enjoying life again.”

I have been without implants for three days.  My muscles have thanked me!

sally