My Implant Experience, Subsequent Rupture and Replacement.

I had my ba done just over four years ago. I had never had much breast tissue at all and was teased mercilessly as a teenager and found that even as an adult, I was the butt of a number of comments/jokes from friends and co-workers. I am not a small person (175cm or 5'9" and about 140 – 150 pounds) and my lack of breasts always made me look quite out of proportion. My husband never seemed to mind terribly and as my family was the real focus of my life when my kids were small, it wasn't until my kids were older and less dependent on me that I really started to look at what I wanted out of life for myself. After a hysterectomy at 36 (which didn't really bother me, or so I thought), I found that I really felt quite unfeminine and the desire for a ba to boost my self-esteem became almost an obsession.

After much research and questioning, I had saline implants inserted in 1995, boosting me from a small A cup to a standard C cup. I had no desire for large breasts, it was more that I no longer wanted to be noticed for what seemed to me to be a physical 'abnormality' - something that made me different to others. After the surgery, I felt that my body type and shape now fell within a 'normal' range and I no longer felt the need to avoid the beach or to cover up under baggy clothes and jackets. I had never really worn a bra (except while pregnant and breast feeding), certainly not one with underwire or without padding.

After the ba, I found I could do things other women took for granted. I could buy and wear clothes off-the-rack, go shopping for lingerie, wear a two-piece swimsuit and so on. I was at last quite comfortable with my body and I couldn't have been happier. My breasts looked wonderful - there was no hardening or unnatural outline, the scarring was minimal and their size seemed perfect. I couldn't understand why I hadn't done it sooner.

At the time that I had the ba (1995), not many surgeons were doing ba's in Australia. It was the height of the silicon controversy and many ps's were waiting to see the outcome of the various studies that were going on. My doctor referred me to four ps's before I found one that would perform the operation. He too was avoiding the silicon issue and was only inserting saline implants. He had qualifications galore, had written papers for a number of medical journals and had invented many of the tools required to perform underarm incision implantation. He was very quietly spoken and it wasn't easy to get information from him but I was happy with his qualifications and the information that he provided me (once prompted). We decided on 275ml saline implants inserted under the muscle via an incision in the armpit.

On the day of the operation (after I had received a pre-med and while I was being prepared for surgery), my doctor introduced me to another surgeon who he said was going to assist. A second surgeon had not been mentioned prior to this point and it came as quite a surprise. I had never met this other fellow and had no idea about his qualifications or what role in the surgery he would play. As the surgery was just about to take place, and as I had had so much trouble finding a surgeon in the first place, I felt unable to say no to this situation although I felt somewhat confused and uncomfortable. This may not be a big issue but the impression of it has stayed with me and I always felt that it played some part in the outcome of the surgery itself.

The op went ahead and by all accounts went fine. I went home the following day having had the surgical tape replaced with the standard sports bra. Although I returned to work on day 3, I was in considerable pain for many weeks. There also appeared to be a difference in healing rate/pain/scarring between my right and left breasts. I have always suspected that the two sides were operated on by different surgeons but I have never had confirmation of this. One side had minimal bruising, the scar healed beautifully and the implant seemed to fit perfectly in the pocket created. The right side however, was black and blue for weeks and the burning sensation and post-op pain lasted far longer in the right than the left. The scar has always been much more obvious on the right side and the implant always felt a little large for the implant pocket.

To me, the implant could be felt quite noticeably on the right side and rippling under the breast seemed to indicate to me that there was not enough room for the implant to sit comfortably. Despite the pain and the slightly different feel of the right breast to the left, the look(eventually) was exactly what I was after and I had no complaints. A nagging doubt though niggled at the back of my mind - would the rippled surface of the right implant create points of weakness that could lead to a rupture later on? I had been told that a rupture was always a possibility with saline implants but I always hoped that the statistics (1% rupture within 10 years) would be on my side.

A couple of weeks ago and only 4 years since the implants were done, I noticed that my left breast (not the right as I had always feared) appeared somewhat deflated. It was my wedding anniversary and I was looking forward to a wonderful day and I spent the whole day trying to convince myself that it was my imagination. Although it didn't appear any better or worse the next day, I phoned my ps' surgery and asked what to do. (more - click forward arrow)