Hi all,

I just want to share with you the past 24 hours of my life. I don't want to scare anyone, but make you all aware that if you have any doubt there is a problem after your ba, then please get it checked out.

I had revision surgery on Sunday 7th (2nd ba due to double bubble). Everything went well. I was in pain yesterday (Monday - 1 day post op) but expected this as the 2nd day is always much worse than the first. Spent all day on the sofa doing absolutely nothing. Last night about 8.30pm I noticed that my right breast had began to swell at the top. Thought this was just because i'd had bigger implants and it was a bit swollen. I showed my friend. She then popped home (over the road from me) and came back half an hour later. I then went to look at my breasts in the mirror and within 30 minutes the swelling had doubled - it was getting bigger by the minute, harder by the minute and hotter by the minute. I knew something was wrong. I phoned the clinic only to be told that the hospital was shut last night as there had been no surgery yesterday. The lady on the phone seemed to think it was normal swelling and told me to come into clinic the next day at 9am if I was worried. I told her I couldn't wait that long and that I knew I had a serious problem. So I went to my local A&E. Breast still swelling by the minute. I was begging to see a doctor, but nobody would take me seriously. Told me I had to take a ticket and get it the queue. I was hysterical by this point so they took me through and booked me in. I was literally begging for a doctor to look at me and begging for pain relief and nobody would help me. The doctor kept swanning past, ignoring me despite the state I was in. He had a bee in his bonnet about the fact that i'd had cosmetic surgery at a private clinic and had come to the NHS to help me. I think he thought I was a silly little girl who had a bit of post op swelling and was making a fuss. But like I said, he refused to look at me. Instead choosing to see to several other patients with sprained ankles and the like. It was two hours before he came to examine me. By this point I was in the most excruciating pain, could barely move and felt like my breast was going to explode. As soon as he examined me he basically sh!t himself and realised how serious it was. He gave me some morphine and sent paged 2 surgeons. I was rushed into theatre to stop the massive internal bleed and remove the blood clots/haematoma. I was very lucky not to lose my implant. In all honesty I didn't even care if they removed the implant. I just wanted to be fixed. They didn't even have time to starve me before the anaesthtic because it was that serious - I asked the surgeons if I was going to be ok and they said 'we will do out best'. The doctors negligence for the first two hours I was in that hospital could have cost me my life.

Although this is a risk of all surgery, if caught early is easily fixed. And the chances of it happening are very slim. I was very unlucky.

I just want all you girls out there to be so so vigilent. If you worried about ANYTHING please see a doctor. I think we all know our own bodies better than anyone else.

Good luck to everyone out there having BA's soon. This thread is not intended to scare anyone or put anyone off. My first BA was a doddle as most people's BA's are. I just want to make sure that no matter how silly you feel for getting a problem checked out, it is better to be safe than sorry.

Thanks for taking the time to read this,

J xxx

Hi i couldn't help but leave a message. This situation that has happened to you is an absolute disgrace. I had a disastrous uplift which i am waiting to get fixed from 5 weeks ago.
The third day i arrived home, i discovered what i now know to be blood blisters, due to an allergy from the steri strips. I telephoned the clinic, only to be told to tear away the strips from the blisters. The blisters started to tear also. Having had the uplift, my chest was so tight, i called a nurse that is a friend and she said "you need to get those off, or you could get an infection in your nipples". Having a fear of necrosis anyway, i ended up having a panic attack so bad that my husband had to call an ambulance because i couldn't breath. My eight year old was crying hysterically for her mother. Although the hospital were great with me, you can't help but feel like your wasting they're time.
The reality of this is that it's not our fault and its not the NHS' fault. When you pay for aftercare as a result of going private, that clinic should provide an out of ours clinic near to you, or whatever is necessary. Goodness sake we pay for it, and they leave the NHS to pick up all of they're mess.
Perhaps it's about time the goverment or any political party take some action against these private partys as we are the innocent victims of negligence. x x

Hi Hales31,

I was a bit surprised to see this thread pop up again! Thank you for your message. I'm really sorry to hear about what you went through. I really hope you are ok now. I am now 3.5 weeks post op and thankfully am absolutely fine (touch wood) and happy with everything now.

Good luck with getting everything sorted,

J xxx

Hi J,

That is an horrific story, i really hope you are feeling better now, that Doctor wants reporting.You,ve had cosmetic surgery, so what, we pay taxes same as everyone else, A&E departments are full of drunks and abusive patients everynight of the week but i bet they get treated better. It makes me so mad, i hope that p***t has got a concious.

Take care chick and take it easy xxxx

Hey there,

Thanks for your message. I have been for a check up today with the surgeon and all appears well with the implants. I have however been advised not to go back to work for a while. In theory that sounds great, in reality i'm thinking i'm going to be climbing the walls with boredom, lol. He said that it actually takes about THREE rows of internal stitches to close up an incision after a BA, to make sure the weight of the implant doesn't put too much pressure on the wound and force it open. He wants me to wait a few weeks until i'm all healed in inside and out. I also have external stiches on my right breast (which suffered the bleed) as an extra precaution. So that scar might not be great but it's a small price to pay.

I feel utterly exhausted today - I think the ridiculously amounts of drugs i've been administered in the past few days are wearing off and I feel like I could sleep for a week.

I have an appointment in the morning at my local hospital for something non BA related (yep, I am in the wars at the minute!) so I am going to see PALS which I am told will help me with my complaint and help me find out the name of the doctor that saw me initially the other night. It didn't occur to me to ask at the time, I didn't really care I just wanted fixing.

Hope you are all well,

J xx

I'm so sorry to hear that (a) this happened to you in the first place and that (b) you were treated like a second-class citizen by the NHS.

I really hope everything goes well for you hun.

Louise xx

Yeah, the stigma still exists, particularly with men.They dont even HAVE those body parts so who the hell are they to make judgements?! AAAArgh! makes me so angry.....
I work in the comp. therapy sector with elderly and it seems a common practice to think that the client/patient doesnt have a clue what is wrong with them....in actual fact they often have the best idea, as did YOU!
So glad it all ended well.....

Ive jus had mine, after 15 yrs of personal battle,its a revelation to now feel whole. I was 34AA with a marked scoliosis to boot!
They very successfully accounted for that, thankfully. Altho, I HAD spent about 4 months researching and speaking to countless different surgeons, trying different sizes, hearing their different suggestions and approaches.
I finally plumped for surgery in Serbia, by this point I knew pretty much everything I needed to, just required someone to do the operation!
They gave me 210cc and 260cc, I am now 34B...its a dream!
I am a fully fledged female, at last!
Im 40, so its not before time really...

Still in recovery here in Serbia, cant wait to try my clothes on, and for life to be normal again, but COMPLETE!

Take care.xx

Thank goodness you got seen to when you did J .... What an absolutely terrible experience that must have been for you ..... Hope you are feeling well again now hun .... You take good care & take it easy for a while ((((hugs))) xx.

just a quick one to say i hope that you're ok. thank god you went to A+E, who knows what could have happened. i know lots of us on here have have enlargements and i think its easy to take for granted that no problems occur. thinking of you, speedy recovery hun x x x

Hi there, just read your thread and just want you to know everyone is thinking about you and hoping things go ok for you fromm now on! what a terrible thing to have to go thru,, my thoughts and best wishes for a speedy recovery are with you chick !!

Lots of love Andrea xx

im really sorry this happened to you...i hope you are feeling better and you recover quickly. i know this is really irrelevant and probably not the time but can i ask what size implant you had?...

thank you

Cali

Hi J

What an ordeal for you. I was shocked at the speed of the event. It's very important that you posted this up but it's a shame that it will disappear in a few days. So pleased that you are now healing and I cross my fingers that this is the end of things and that you have a speedy recovery.

It's so important after a BA that all girls keep a close eye on their boobs for any minor changes, ie swelling, hot patches, shooting pains. I think one of the early signs that something is happening is heat sensation as this is a sign of an infection but your problem is very unexpected and rare as normally there is minimal bleeding with a BA as they seal/burn the blood vessels to prevent such a bleed. I watched on youtube a ba operation with my hands over my eyes.

I went ahead with my BA thinking it was a walk in the part as it is such a common cosmetic procedure now and highly advanced operation. I have no such views now infact I think I was utterly stupid and reckless going/travelling on my own for my BA.

All the best and forgot to ask. Are you happy with your results and are they big enough!!!!!

Take care
xx
Vicky

Lol! Well I was happy with them (they are far from perfect but it took weeks for mine to change and settle into themselves the first time so I know it will be the same this time). I had 405cc ultra high profile but at the minute I really can't tell much difference! I'm sure once they settle down and the muscle relaxes and they come together they will look bigger. Here's hoping! Either way that was definately my last BA - no more for me thank you very much lol xx

How are you today? I hope now all doctors NHS and private are falling over themselves to make sure you're ok. Have you got to have any further treatment? Take care xx

Hey there,

I feel a million times better today. Boobs not hurting one bit...which is suprising seeing as i'm only 3 days post op and have had an emergency op as well! I did feel like i'd been hit by a bus when I woke up this morning, every muscle in my body was aching like mad and I couldn't move. I was warned about this, because I was taken to theatre as an emergency and not been starved, they had to use a different drug for the anaesthetic and aching muscles is a side affect of that. I am ok now that I am up and moving about though.

I was sent home from hospital with 625mg antibiotics (to try and make sure my implant doesn't become infected after them opening me up again to drain the clots and stop the bleed etc), 2 boxes of Tramadol, 2 boxes of paracetamol and a box of Dicloflex which I think is a form of anti inflammatory. At the moment I am only taking my antibiotics. I did take some Tramadol and paracetamol this morning to try and ease my muscle pain, but I will not take pain killers unless I need them.

I have an appointment to see a surgeon at my clinic tomorrow to make sure they are happy with everything (the consultant from my NHS hospital called them and explained everything that had been done). I think that is all I need to do now. Rest and get better! My surgeon is in Italy at the moment so I can't see him but he has been informed about everything and was adamant that one of his colleagues see me in the interim until he is back in the UK.

I don't blame anyone for what happened, I accept that is it a risk of surgery and an increased risk with a re-op. I am just happy that I am ok

J xxx

hun, sounds like you had an awful time, I hope you're feeling better babe xxx

what an awful experience to have had, but as everyone else has said, thank you so much for sharing. At least we're now aware what to look for.

Hope you have a speedy recovery from here onwards with no more problems! Happy healing

meriad x

You poor thing, I hope you're feeling better now. That's a horrific story, not just the complication itself but especially your dreadful treatment at the hospital.

Thank you so much for posting this warning, and so soon after your ordeal. You never know how much it might help one of us to notice a similar danger sign, and to know what to say on arrival at the hospital. I agree that you should write a letter of complaint to the hospital - we all pay for NHS treatment and it is your right to be taken seriously and treated with respect and compassion.

All the best, and I hope you're now comfortable and recovering well.

xx

You must have been very scared. Glad you're ok now. Hopefully the A&E doctor won't be such an ar*e next time!

xx

Bloody hell hun that sounds horrific i would have ... myself, its actually really strange cos about 2 nites ago i had a nightmare that sounded exactley like what had happend to you and i woke up for a slight second thinking it was real and got panicky, god that is really weird that it happend to you in real life, i hope you take things further with the hospital what a total prat for leaving you 2 hours god sometimes i hate docs they can be such arseholes, excuse my french, i am so annoyed over how they have treated my nanna now past away that is a diff story all together but there is no need for negligance like that. well i do hope that you are feeling ok now and your healing well, take care hinny xx

Thanks for all your replies girls - your support and best wishes really means a lot to me.

In all honesty I was in two minds about whether or not to post this as as I said, it is such a small risk and I really didn't want to put anyone off as I myself had a very sucessful first BA. I just decided it's better to make others aware should they find themselves in the same situation.

Finally, I would like to say a HUGE thank you to all of the ladies on this forum. Although I am a 'quiet' member for the majority of the time, I read the threads daily and have done since Feb this year. One of you ladies hit the nail on the head - it is due to this forum that I have such an extensive knowledge of BA's, the risks, complications and warning signs. It's just a pity that despite me telling the triage nurse upon arrival that I was almost certain I had an internal bleed, it took two hours for a doctor to even look at me and confirm this, due to what I can only describe as 'politics' gone barmy. People in the medical profession are there to help anyone in need. This doctor let his personal frustrations get in the way of good practice and unfortunately I suffered as a result. I actually had to point out to him that I understood his frustrations, but the reality of the situation was that nobody at the private clinic was available, and at that moment in time I really needed his help. And I pay my taxes along with the next person!

So THANK YOU LADIES. I hope we all continue to learn from one another on here, and help educate the newbies that appear on here in the future.

Jaimie xxx