The Best Breast

 By Terrye Tebbetts

I recently learned that an acquaintance of mine, along with her new plastic surgeon , made a very poor decision to try to revise and fix something that probably never needed to be “fixed” in the first place. She ended up with a really bad staph infection and had to remove one implant, 2 operations, a trip to the ER and months of agony. I read stories about it on the forums all the time ~ “I think I will have my ps just tilt this nipple up a little more” or “My right implant is a little lower than the left one, so he is going to fix them” or “I see rippling when I so this at the gym, so I am going to have them fix it” or “I think I’ll change from unders to overs and go up 100 cc’s”. Ladies, we need to come to an understanding. There are no two breasts alike on this planet before surgery and there will be no two alike after surgery!

Patients

Breast implants are not magic. They cannot fix differences in your breasts, make you into a supermodel or fix your troubled marriage. Breast implants simply make you a bigger version of what you already are. You are responsible for what you bring the surgeon to work with – he or she cannot change the number of pregnancies you have had, or the weight you have gained and lost, or certainly your genetic qualities that determine tissue elasticity and the shape and position of the breasts you were born with. As a patient, the sooner you recognize the reality of what you are augmenting to begin with, then the happier you will be with your result. This is why OBJECTIVE measurements – the High Five System of operative planning – are so important. When you and your plastic surgeon measure the 5 critical measurements and review them with your photos, you will be able to see what the surgeon sees and you can gather your expectations and make them realistic. Breast augmentation is an amazing operation, provided that you are not expecting an implant to do something it was never meant to do. You know how you are always surprised when you hear your voice on your voicemail message? Guess what, what you see in the mirror is not what you will see when you can look at your photos objectively with a surgeon and correlate what you see with your measurements.

Surgeons

I know I am taking a troubled road here – but so be it. Plastic surgeons have a responsibility in this whole perfection, revision for” ify” reasons too! If surgeons used measurements and were honest with patients PREOPERATIVELY about what can and cannot be successfully, clinically done, then I don’t think we would see as many revisions and problems post op. If surgeons are not upfront and honest with patients and discuss all the hard issues before surgery, then when the patient comes back and wonders why her left breast is different than her right, he or she is more likely to try to go back in and operate again to “fix” it. When the reality is – it was different from the beginning and no surgical procedure can make them identical! This is reality – think about it – even if a surgeon lifts one nipple to try to match the level of the other nipple – one nipple has a SCAR on it and the other doesn’t – - so they are never the same – - – it all comes back to a different set of differences! And as surgeons, they are supposed to be responsible for patients and provide the best care possible – sometimes that means saying NO. Patients can be just like children and ask you for things that you know will may not be in their best interest. As a parent, if my daughter asks me for something that I know may cause harm to her, I have the responsibility as her Mother to say NO. I think surgeons have that responsibility to patients too. Sometimes the best care your surgeon can take of you will be to just simply tell you NO.

It all comes back to communication and honesty BEFORE surgery – patients and surgeons must take a new look at the responsibility that each have in this procedure. Breast implants have taken the rap for what patients and surgeons do far too long. Remember, implants sit in a box until patients and surgeons put them into action.

Breast augmentation is an amazing operation that can change a woman’s body in a way that she can never change it on her own. The surgical techniques and devices are improving. Now if we could just get the two players – patients and surgeons – in the game to improve their research, education and communication preoperatively, I think we would see a lot more happy patients and fewer revisions and reoperations. Remember, the very first operation is the best chance to get a good, long term result that you will enjoy.