This question has dogged me since I had my mastectomy in 2009 (left side with silicone implant, also a "cosmetic" small implant on the healthy right side). I have been amazed at the silence regarding what happens over time after surgery and recovery is over. I have sought information and it's pretty much a black box. I was 53 when I had the mastectomy, and I know that implants don't last forever, but my surgeon is/was non-informative about the future. I've had three MRIs since surgery 17 years ago, and did meet with my plastic surgeon about 4 years ago after the most recent MRI showed intracapsular rupture in the cosmetic right breast implant.

She said there was no medical reason to worry about the rupture. She provided options (remove implant, replace implant, keep it, monitor it) but had no preference. Some of the options discussed were to update the surgery now that the healthy breast had drooped and the reconstructed one has remained high and in place (this entailed "drooping" the left breast to match the natural one! ) All up to me. I certainly do not want elective surgery but I also want to know how long before the implants require replacement, and is it better to just replace now while I'm still healthy and relatively young (70), or just ignore the whole thing and live out my life with the original implants. I just had a mammogram yesterday on my right breast, and as it was squished and squeezed in the machine I kept envisioning my ruptured implant and what this might be doing to it.

It's shocking to me how little information we patients get for future care and maintenance after our treatment ends. It's a bit discomforting. This discussion has led me to scheduling another MRI just for the information since it's been 4 years. But will the information do any good? Stay tuned...