Why I’m Getting an Explant

Hey there. Today my post is a personal one. This is something I didn’t know if I would talk about however, here I am sharing it all!

After endless hours of hearing other women’s stories, listening to podcasts and reading about explants/BII (breast implant illness), I knew it would be part of my journey. At almost 38, I am in a totally different mindset about my health/wellness and breast implants do not align with it. I have committed to living a non-toxic life and feeling GOOD! This means removing foreign objects from my body.

I have been thinking about getting an explant for years, but couldn’t act on it (or felt like I couldn’t), because I was in the midst of having babies/breast feeding. Now that those days are behind me, I felt like I could make a decision. I found an incredible holistic explant specialist (more about him below) via a podcast. His proprietary approach caters to the entire body and embraces personal uniqueness.

BUT before we get into my current situation, let’s go back in time…..

At 19 I got a breast reduction and lift. I was an active gal and I felt like they were too big. Looking back, I wasn’t fully into my body yet – if that makes sense. I was just coming into my own, and with the benefit of hindsight, it was absolutely a decision I wish I waited on.

At 23 without hesitation I had small implants put in to give me a little volume. There was no conversation about how it could affect breast feeding (thankfully it didn’t), my health or that I needed to continue to get them replaced every 10 years.

I grew up in an environment/culture where a large focus of worth/love/self-esteem came from physical appearance. When I looked a certain way, I would get praise. As a young girl, it’s was hard for me to understand. As a teenager I felt very uncomfortable in my skin and the way I looked. This most likely came from the perfect physical body everyone around me was trying to achieve. Plastic surgery, food restriction and over exercising was the norm. I was on the heavier side as I entered puberty, eating my emotions. At this point I had no true understanding of how to navigate life’s big feelings. In my late 20’s, after an enormous amount of exploration and an endless process of UN-learning, I was able to find a healthy balance of self worth and self love. AND I’m still a work in progress 🙂

I now think about WHY I even did all of this in the first place. To be completely transparent, it was superficial. Perfection. If I looked a certain way I would get the attention, people would like me because I was “pretty”, I was more loveable…you get the point. My environment lacked perspective and guidance; however, I honor that was my experience. But here I am now, with a much different view.

Getting an explant is a NO brainer with where I currently sit in my skin. I don’t associate my physical body with needing validation from the outside world. In the end it only matters how I feel about myself. It’s been 15 years and I’m ready to say buhhhhh bye to them!

I keep thinking to myself, I don’t know what it feels like to not have implants as and adult. It continually goes through my head because if you know anything about implants/BII, they can cause SO many health problems. From inflammation, headaches, nerve pain, vertigo, chest tightness, rashes, autoimmune issues and so much more (common symptoms here). I’ve definitely had some weird health stuff in my 30’s and I’m ready to cleanse my body!

The surgeon I’m going to is Dr. Robert Whitfield. I found him on The Skinny Confidential Podcast. Initially I had listened to other plastic surgeons discuss it, but I knew he was my guy once I heard this episode. He explains his entire approach in the podcast.

I am doing an explant (including capsule) with a lift and fat transfer. I knew I wanted to do a lift after breast feeding to get rid of stretched, excess skin, however I didn’t know that a fat transfer was an option until discussing it with him. Essentially they will be taking healthy fat from other areas of my body and putting it into my breast. Since I have very little breast tissue left and would prefer to not to be completely flat, this is a great option to achieve a little bit of volume/fullness. Dr. Whitfield helped guide me and informed me it will not look the same as an implant, but is a great natural option. I was apprehensive at first because of the longer recovery time, however I’m only doing this ONE more time and I still want a little something something. This is my journey and what feels right for me.

In following his protocol, there are a lot of things I’ve been doing prior to surgery to understand what’s going on in my body and how to support it pre and post explant. First I did numerous labs: GI Map (GI Microbial Assay Plus), food sensitivity (Alcat), toxicity (Vibrant Wellness) and blood panel (hormones and more). Along with this, I am now eating a high protein, anti inflammatory diet and taking supplements. This is getting my body ready to recover quicker, with less inflammation as well as creating healthy fat for the transfer. A few days prior to the explant, I will get a thermography scan that is used to identify areas of inflammation and impaired lymphatic drainage.

Post surgery there is an incredible amount of support as well. My implants will be biopsied for bacteria and cancer, I will re-take my labs mentioned above to see what has changed post explant, continue taking vitamins & supplements, have another thermography scan to see where my inflammation is and take advantage of the in office services to help recovery: HBOT (hyperbaric oxygen therapy), Balancer Pro Lymphatic Suit and lymphatic massage. All of these support the body to heal faster.

Dr. Whitfield will follow me for a year post surgery which I’ve NEVER heard of from a plastic surgeon. It’s truly a holistic approach and I am so grateful I found him and his team. I’m off to Austin, Texas at the end of March and will continue to share my experience.