Bio Hazards

I got my breast implants back recently. Many of us request our implants back for several reasons. Some of us are keeping our plastic surgeons from profiting on our explant since the implant manufacturers send a free set to the plastic surgeon in exchange for old implants. Some of us hold on to them as evidence in case we ever get the chance to sue for our losses. Some want them back because they have no idea what the doctors put in them, whether because they never received the product cards or because they lost them over the years.

I wanted mine back because I wanted to see for myself what state they were in. Maybe it’s a mixture of curiosity and peace of mind, and part of it was that I had seen so many stories of women who were told they received saline implants, only to find out after explant that they had been given silicone. Thankfully, I did in fact have saline implants and it appears that the valves were in good shape, no mold or other foreign material around them. Of course one of them is busted open, which happened when the doctor was trying to remove the capsule.

The white stuff is calcification from when my body had tried to reject them over the years. Those parts are rough and hard. I also noticed that the fluid in them is yellowed. I took the time to weigh the implant to see just how much liquid may have been lost over the years. A 505cc implant should weigh 1.06lbs and my returned implant was only 1.03lbs and that is with calcification and a plastic bag. Seems odd to me given the number of doctors that say that there is no change in the implant unless it ruptures. Somehow, though, mine has changed colors, the surface is now rough, and the implant weighs less than when it was put in.

I am a bit concerned given how rough the surface is with the calcification that maybe I would be at risk for BIA-ALCL (the type of lymphoma associated with breast implants). Time will tell I suppose.

I count myself lucky as many women are now being denied the ability to get their implants back. As the popularity of explants grows, doctors, surgical centers, and hospitals are clamping down on returning the implants. That’s a shame for many who will never get the peace of mind that comes with getting their implants back. We paid for those, they should be ours to hold on to.