Mammogram with breast implants

I’m in the same situation with my implants and they are saline filled, I was first given silicone but back then the silicone was liquid and it caused so many problems. I lost my breasts after having children and I was only 26, my little breasts looked like deflated balloons and the bras we had weren’t as well made as today. I went through hell with this decision but it’s a long story, I am 74 and due next month for a mammogram but I’m not sure if I will have it, my doctor feels that I should still have one because I’m a cancer patient, I have had ultrasound done on a few occasions but it’s not very thorough because of the density of the implant. I think you’re in a better place because you have the newer silicone that isn’t liquid so even if you have a little opening it won’t leak out into your body, they were specially designed to stop leaks because years ago some women got very sick from the gel going through their body. I have tried years ago to get them removed but they won’t do anything unless I let them put new ones in, I don’t want new implants because it would be absurd, can you imagine an older woman with an older body getting new breasts, it’s like hanging a new chandelier in an old house lol, I don’t think you have anything to worry about with the new ones and good luck with your surgery.

I had my saline breast implants before I got cancer. I never had an issue at all with mammograms and implants. I did have breast tissue thought before I got the implants in. So the technician would just press the implant out of the way and pull the breast tissue forward. However I will never get saline Implants again! They rupture way too soon. Right now my right breast is totally deflated. Not from mamogram, just from the life span of them. I am due to have surgery this Monday. My surgeon said I could replace both of them with silicone or just do an explant. I am leaning towards explant. I should mention my cancer was dcis and caught by the mamogram. I alternate now between mammogram and mri every 6 months. I choose to do lumpectomy plus radiation. I am 47 years old. I think you should be fine with a mamogram. I would not skip anything that could detect cancer. It’s not worth the risk. Good luck !

@frouke hi! Why won’t they let you do an explant?

@christylv, hi, it’s a long story and had a very long and difficult time with infection that wore away parts of my chest, they reconstructed my chest and put in the implants which over many years are trapped under the scar tissue. I now have deformed breasts but it’s not noticeable with a bra, it’s not how I wanted to end up but I’m an old lady now and I’ve had cancer twice so I don’t want to deal with this anymore especially when I was told it would be a big job to repair all the damage and I don’t have the strength to go through it.

@frouke did your saline implants (or the procedure) cause your infection or something else?

@christylv Thank you so much for sharing your experience and encouraging me to proceed. How long did your saline implants last? I got my saline implants for my 40th birthday and they ruptured 15 years later. (I replaced them with the gummy bear silicone, but I wish I would have just removed them).

@hello1234 they lasted about the same 15 years. However both of them started a slow leak prior to that I suspected. I wasn’t happy about. How do the gummy bear implants feel compared to the saline? And did you have radiation? They say once a breast is radiated the implant always feel like funny. Like a tight sort of feeling . Is this true?

@christylv, hi, it’s a long story and had a very long and difficult time with infection that wore away parts of my chest, they reconstructed my chest and put in the implants which over many years are trapped under the scar tissue. I now have deformed breasts but it’s not noticeable with a bra, it’s not how I wanted to end up but I’m an old lady now and I’ve had cancer twice so I don’t want to deal with this anymore especially when I was told it would be a big job to repair all the damage and I don’t have the strength to go through it.

@frouke totally understand that makes sense. Did the cancer come back in the opposite breast? And how many years later? What stage was it?

@christylv I am not happy with my gummy bear implants. They feel too heavy compared to my original saline implants. Also, my surgeon recommended implants that are too large. The gummy bear implants feel funny. I have the sensation that I am wearing a bra that is too tight all of the time., but I never had radiation.
I regret replacing my ruptured saline implants.