Why am I having a 2nd BA....

Many people are curious to know why I am going for op#2 but basically I have CC - Capsular Contracture around my right implant. (and it's also a golden opportunity to go up a cup size - or two!!)

My boobs (implants) were perfect for many years (11 good years) and it was only after falling pregnant with my first child I began to notice changes. My breasts increased from a 34D to a 34E whilst pregnant and I suppose looking back my right breast did begin to feel a little firmer than the left.

I breastfed for 6 weeks and only stopped because I thought I wasn't producing enough milk (in hindsight I know that my baby was going through a growth spurt and had I stuck it out things would have settled down) it took a couple of months for my breasts to settle down after breastfeeding and they (sadly) went back to their original post op size of a 34D. When my son was about 5 months old I woke up one morning and it felt like I had slept on my arm funny....I had a lot of discomfort in the crease of my armpit and along the side of my breast, my breast also seemed a little swollen...confused I just ignored it and thought it would just go away. Thing's did settle after a week or so.

However a few weeks later !? my hubby commented that my right breast looked a little wonky I can laugh about it now but at the time I freaked! I started researching my symptoms on the net and everything rang true for CC, I read that massaging your breasts can help reduce the effects of CC so I started massaging my boobs everyday (many times a day) in the hope that this would prevent the CC getting any worse.

In all truth my breast did start to look better it wasn't softer but it had almost fallen back into the right position - it certainly didn't look wonky anymore! (what a relief!!) I decided that I could live with this so carried on as per usual.

To our surprise we fell pregnant again when our son was only a year old and again my boobies grew 2 cupsizes, I managed to breastfed for just over 3 months (even with the CC) but it was beginning to get painful in the boobie with the CC so I stopped...took a few weeks for my boobs to settle back down BUT this time the CC was much more obvious as I had lost volume from my own breast tissue.

I went to my GP as I was struggling to sleep on my right side and fair play he did refer me to a breast clinic BUT he said that the chances are they will remove the implant with CC on the NHS but they won't replace it WTF!!! Not an option for me so I started doing some research and phoning a few clinics up.

I made an appointment with Surgicare and MYA and oddly enough 2 weeks before my appointment with MYA I started getting that discomfort again but this time under my left armpit and sure enough my breast was swollen...I massaged like crazy and it went away COMPLETELY!

I met Mr Fallahdar at MYA and he confirmed that it looked like I had Grade 3 CC it said that it was impossible to say whether it would get any worse but the best advice would be to get the implants changed and to reduce my risk of CC to have unders. I asked him about the left implant and he said that there were no signs of abnormal CC.

4 grades for capsular contractor

1. Grade I
   Breast is normally soft and looks natural
   
2. Grade II
   Breast is a little firm but looks normal
   
3. Grade III
   Breast is firm and looks abnormal
   
4. Grade IV
   Breast is hard, painful, and looks abnormal
   

I do have pictures which I am happy to share, not sure if I can PM yet or not but as soon as I can I would be more than happy to PM the password to you. And if you just wanna ask me about the CC I am more than happy to discuss it with you.

I am now booked in for my 2nd BA on the 30th October 2010 with MYA and will be putting my faith in my surgeon and taking his advice on having unders...slightly concerned about how they will look/drop/fluff etc...and I do keep questioning the size as I would like to re-create my pregnancy boobs and have nice full pert 34E's again...hopefully with 460cc's this will be acheived! So you can see CC hasn't put me off having implants, it's just one of those thing's that sadly can happen like all of the risks it could happen but the chance of happening is low....there always has to be an unlucky one and that one is me!! BUT it's worth bearing in mind that my implants are 13 years old and have been through 2 pregnancies and I breastfed they've done well!!!!

Charlene,
Thanks so much for putting this thread up... I found it so interesting. You have a great attitude to your implants!! Good luck with your new boobs!
xx

Really good info hun, and good to know how preganancy can affect boobs. Hope your re op goes well

Hi Charlene,

Thanks for sharing this with us. It's very interesting information.

I agree you have a great attitude to your implants and as you say, Thirteen years and two babies, that's pretty good going!!

Good Luck with your re-op!! x

hi hun, sorry to hear bout your development of cc.

but i echo the others, was so informitive to read, gives the rest of us a clue what to look out for etc.

I admire your positivity, can i ask how much you have to pay for re op? and were you not covered in your aftercare? or did you develop cc after the time frame, best wishes for your 2nd op xx

Thank you everyone. I am really pleased my experience has helped some of you.

fluffy_bunn1e - A re-op is more expensive as it's a longer operation but I have secured a discounted price of £3850 instead of the £4700 I was orginally quoted. And I have a horrible feeling I actually only got 6 months aftercare the first time around...I never did any research and just went with the first clinic I phoned up....just wish there had been sites like these 13 years ago.

Hi Charlene, thanks for writing this thread, I too found it very informitive. I hope everything goes well with your re-ophun. xx

Brilliant thread Charlene, really informative.

Good luck with the re-op xx

Thank you for going so in-depth, very interesting read. I'm 13 weeks pregnant now - eeek hope I don't get CC!! xxx

Thank you so much for posting this information, and good luck with your op in October.

Maria
xxx

Thanks girls!! x x

Hey charlene thanks for putting this thread up ive read it twice was that interesting :-)

Im so sorry to hear about your situation,hope all goes well with your re-op hun x x

That was a very interesting read charlene. Sounds like you have a really positive attitude to your re-op and hope it all goes well

Hi

I had my first BA in 1997, then had the implants replaced in 2000 as I had the soya filled implants that were withdrawn on health grounds by the Government. In 2004 I had my first child, and had no problems with the implants - they became very hard and lumpy after my daughter was born, but they went back to normal as the hormone levels dropped. I had a second child in 2007, again without problem to my implants. In 2008 I had twins, and since their birth, I have developed both Capsular Contracture and Double Bubble. I could have written your post - I had the same pain at the side of my boob, and my right one has taken on a whole new wonky appearance of it's own!

I saw my GP, and had a scan at the breast clinic to check for anything sinister... but then like you say, had to start looking privately for treatment as the NHS would only remove the affected implant and not replace it. I am now booked in with MYA and Gary Traynor to have the old implants removed, the capsules broken down, new implants, and while he's there, I'm having an uplift! With the uplift, it's cosying me £5500... but hopefully it will be worth it.

I'm still not sure what size i mplants to go for... Mr Traynor advises against going too big withan uplift because of sagging post-operatively. He said he will have a range of sizes available on the day and see what works best.

It's interesting what you say about overs/unders. My current implants are unders, and the double bubble is the problem faced by quite a few women with unders once they have children. The implants remain high on my chest while the natural breast tissue and nipples have dropped...think golf balls in socks LOL.

Mr Traynor has advised me to have overs now. I have been advised that there will be a lot of problems like mine in the future - young girls who have insisted they want unders, subsequently having children and seeing gravity take effect. There are so many different possibilities, it's hard to know what to do for the best isn't it?

Anyway, the point of this post originally was to say that I also had children with no damage to my implants - mine are now 10 years old and may well be just coming to the end of their life span. x

Hey newpair, thanks for sharing your story. This is my BIGGEST fear about having unders with the bottoming out but as we don't plan on having anymore children I am hoping this reduces my risk of this complication greatly....unfortunatley I know that my risk of experiencing CC again is higher than someone who hasn't and as far as I am aware there are less cases of CC with unders. You are so right though it is hard to know what to do for the best!!

I am going for 460cc's this time so bigger than my original implants but I am a little worried this won't be big enough. I want to come out of this op with 32E's at the very least. I am also going with MYA with Mr Fallahdar. I am going to ask if I can keep my old implants I know this might seem a tad bit weird but I paid £3000 for them LOL!!

Whats your stats honey??

Hi again Charlene!

You know - I can't even remember what size bra I wore before I had my first implants, but my boobs were tiny and not pretty. Definitely A Cup material I'd say, but I used to wear vest tops more than bras. My implants now are 290ccs and I go between a C and a D cup, depending on my weight. I wore a C when they were first done, but I'm more a D cup now since I had the kids.
I'm 5'4", 9 st 7lbs, size 12. I would love to be an E Cup too, but I realise that because of the uplift I will have to be realistic and not go too big. I believe that the risk of CC is greater with bigger implants also. When I spoke to Mr Traynor, we discussed 380 or 410 ccs, but I really don't know what I'll end up with - it depends on how much breast tissue I actually have once the current implants are removed. I really need the uplift as my nipples are drooping now, and the areola has become stretched and looks far too big after having my children. Time for a good tidy up! It's less than three weeks now for me! Exciting! I paid the balance yesterday, which was a bit sickening!
Anyway...I'll let you know how I get on and what I end up with! x

That would be awesome - thanks!! Well goodluck with it all, you don't have long to go at all now. Hope to bump into you else where in the forums x x

Hi Charlie, thank you so much for such a useful post, would you mind if I took a look at your pictures? Good luck with your new op I look forward to reading up on how you get on.

Hi Girls,
Thanks for your posts/discussions CC is a big fear for us all i am sure. I know it is for me.
Also now worried about this 'pool ball in a sock' look mentioned above as i have unders (with Gary Traynor, incidently newpair, who i highly recommend) and plan on having a baby hopefully next year

Can I ask you the name of the surgeon who did your BA?

I have had a similar experience with this clinic although my first op was in 2000, I have gone on to unfortunately have a further 3 BA's, all of which would have been unnecessary if the first op was done by a competent surgeon.

The National Centre is now trading as The Hospital Group, Dolan Park amongst other names.

If you are willing to share the surgeons name I will be willing to provide you with some information that you made find helpful if it is the same surgeon.

Thanks girls for sharing it was really interesting to read your stories. I'm sorry you both had CC though.
I am a bit concerned now though as I am having my PIP's (banned implants) removed soon and having them replaced, and hopefully will be trying for a baby next year... I have very little breast tissue so I'm not aloud to go any bigger but I'm worried that after having kids my boobs will go a strange shape! I have severely bottoming out at the moment which will be difficult to fix - I do hope having kids won't effect my breasts too much, I couldn't handle more problems after what I've been through with my PIP's...
x

Really enjoyed reading all your experiences. I 2 had my first BA 17 yrs ago & after breastfeeding 4 babies they have definitely come 2 the end of their rd! I have developed cc ( although not sure what grade will ask surgeon next wk ) thanks 4 the explanation. Also have an intra capsular rupture in left implant. Not sure if all this would have happened without the pregnancies or if they've just reached the end of their lifespan. I'm really nervous as I've been told that the chances are higher or developing cc again if u have had it once b4. I'm sure I've read there is a type of implant with a lower percentage of cc, does anyone know anything about this? Also does going under reduce risk? Please advise!! Xx

The best implants for reduced risk of CC and rupture are Nagor and Natrelle. You have to pay a little extra for them but it's propably well worth it.

If I have that wrong am sure one of the ladies will pop along and correct it for you xxx

Thanks chicksville. X