My road trip to better my health & regain my life!! November 26th, 2018 the day I found out I had been dealing with Breast Implant Illness for the past 3 years with all the unknowns to why till now has been one hell of a rollercoaster ride, literally living my worst nightmare. Three weeks prior to Christmas 2018, my personal Dr. sent a referral to Dr. Aaron Brown who has his office in Abbotsford B.C. He read my file and instantly knew I was in need of the surgery he specializes in called Explant En bloc/Total Capsulectomy. I received a phone call that my surgery date was on January 30th, 2019. Overwhelmed with excitement but nervous knowing this was a huge surgery and step to finally recovering from an illness that was slowly killing me. It had caused my immune system to become extremely compromised. I marked my calendar and counted each day down, it seemed like an eternity but I was more prepared for this surgery mentally and my body was definitely showing the physical signs & dealing with the overwhelming amount of symptoms. Nothing would stop me from doing what I knew would change my life 100% for the better. Langley B.C. was where my surgery would take place, at the YES Surgical Centre. On January 28th I packed my bags with my two amazing young adult children, my son twenty-three & my daughter twenty-one & our sweet five year old Jack Russell. I was so thankful to have their love & support through this journey, along with so many family & friends, I couldn’t have done it without their help. I was to uncomfortable to drive so my kids took turns on our 3 1/2 hour drive to Langley, where we stayed across the street in a hotel that catered to me amazingly for our entire stay. Arriving in our 4 night suite we got settled and I enjoyed my time with my kids & dog for the next day and a half. I had my first consultation appointment with Dr. Aaron Brown at 3:30pm on January 29th, at his office 30 minutes away from the hotel where we were staying. I saw Dr. Aaron Brown he explained the surgery procedure to me looking at being 2 hours at least. He checked my breasts and explained they are definitely firmer than they should be, he knew then that my capsules were probably thick. I then signed my papers and got my pain prescription & Antibiotics filled at the pharmacy. Had my surgery prep sheets and my time scheduled to arrive at the YES Surgical Centre 11:15am. I got back to the hotel and was not allowed to eat or drink anything after midnight, I drank lots of water up until that time but my appetite was already pretty light. I had lost my appetite completely 3 weeks prior forcing myself to always eat just so my body would stay strong to prepare for surgery. I did my prep wash & scrub the night before and the morning before my surgery. Making sure I was squeaky clean as I knew I wouldn’t be showering for a few days. My nerves kicked into overdrive but I surprisingly stayed calm, smiling and staying positive all the time. I arrived at my scheduled time 11:15am to start preparing for surgery, I first went over the information on my surgery and signed my final papers to get my surgery started. I was then taken to a very tranquil room special for me to relax while waiting, I had a massage/heated comfy recliner to lie back in, once I got my lovely surgery gown that was open at the front, I also had some comfy socks & warm robe to put on along with my beautiful hair cap to hold my hair in while having surgery. I was definitely feeling the nerves more now as I looked the part, dressed for surgery. My Surgeon Dr. Aaron Brown came in shortly after to take photos of my breasts and mark my breasts with a marker to plan his procedure for the incisions and everything he needed to do. So now totally looking the part, ready for surgery to happen any moment as I relaxed in the chair and after a little while of waiting the anesthesiologist came in to talk to me. All was set now, I was fully ready as I relaxed again for a short while a nurse came in to say we're ready for you now and walked me into the huge surgical suite there standing nurses, anesthesiologist and Dr. Aaron Brown. I was asked to remove my robe & lay on the surgical bed, not the most comfortable felt like a surfboard, but shaped like a human figure with a place to lie your legs, arms and body, it was actually quite comfy as I had a heated surgical bed and blankets. I was not really looking around at all the surgical equipment around me but looking up at the big oversized lights above me. I had special compression pads put on my lower legs to prevent clotting, they kept the circulation moving while lying down for the surgical procedure. My arms were put up on the arm rests that went straight out. My anesthesiologist took my left arm and told me I’m going to prep your arm now for the anesthesia, he sterilized the arm and then said you’ll feel a slight prick, it was no big deal quick needle that was numbed to put the bigger needle for the intravenous drip that the anesthetic would be put into. I looked up at the lights again and smiled and said to myself all is going to be ok stay strong, then out loud said lets do this and that’s all I remember I was out. I woke from my recovery and instantly noticed I could breathe normal again, I was able to breathe deep, something I hadn’t done in so long. And I finally had the weight off my chest from the breast implants pushing on my chest wall. I knew my surgery was 100% worth what I was already noticing in my health, already feeling healthier and I know my body will continue to improve throughout my recovery. Just removing my breast implants from my body after knowing how sick they made me and how my body declined so fast from having them. Makes me all that much happier and excited for my future, as I will be healthy finally and can start living my life again being proud of my body and the way I'm meant to look, breast implants don’t define me. My surgery took approx. 2 hours, I was in recovery till almost 5pm when my kids came to pick me up. They drove across the street to pick me up, I was wheelchaired out and was pretty much still sleeping as I was extremely exhausted. My kids took me back to our hotel suite where they had set my bed on the couch as I had to sleep sitting up at a forty-five degree angle, so I had pillows propped up and a leg rest under my legs it was surprisingly quite comfortable. My time after surgery and for the next day were pretty much sleeping and waking up to have my drain’s emptied that were put inside each breast during surgery to remove all the excess blood/fluid that would accumulate. My kids were amazing, they did my drain’s for me as I was to tired & under pain meds to really be able to do it myself. My arms were sore to lift, pull and raise, so I was only really able to do so little. I used the washroom myself, usually just needing a little extra help from my daughter to help put my shirt and pants back to normal as they would be quite awkward for me to position properly. Drinking lots of fluids all the time & having my pain meds & Antibiotics taken at correct times with my kids help. Getting up and walking around was extremely important as I made extra effort to do so, I even went out and walked around the parking lot many times when the kids took our dog out to do his business. My pre-op appointment was at 1:15pm on Friday February 1st, my kids packed up all our stuff and we left our hotel suite to drive 30 minutes to Dr. Aaron Browns Office to find out about everything from my surgery. I arrived and got called into one of the rooms, he told me that my surgery went extremely well and that my capsules were way thicker than they're supposed to be, telling me they should have been removed from my body years ago. My capsules came out perfectly in tacked with the implants which is very important. He said the capsules (scar tissue) had become so thick that it started growing into my armpits so he said he had to remove it all, which is very important not to leave any capsule (scar tissue) behind. He handed me my breast implants as they were cleaned and bagged to be handed to me in their special hazard bag lol. Dr. Aaron Brown removed the drain’s which were so relieving, as they weren’t the most comfortable. After the drain’s were removed he unwrapped my dressing to show my breasts for the first time. Shocked but so happy to know I didn’t have the breast implants poisoning my body any longer was an amazing feeling. He filled my prescription to last for a week, I thanked him so much for all that he did and for doing such an amazing job. I have 8 inch incisions to look at every day now, once had toxic breast implants behind them but I look at them now and smile because these scars saved my life.
*Warning Graphic*
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