I REGRET EVER HAVING A BOOB JOB - LIANNE
To please
her boyfriend who preferred bigger boobs and even paid for the breast enhancement, 41 year old Lianne Young had her
breast implants replaced. What
happened after? She contracted blood poisoning,
was given just a 50% chance of survival, lost hair, nails and even a tooth. 8
operations and
50,000
Pounds later, she has recovered.
The retired
pornstar was so terrified she wrote heart-wrenching goodbye letters to her two
children and even planned her own funeral.
However
eight operations and £50,000 later, she has made a good recovery - although she
says physical and emotional trauma of her ordeal put her into early menopause at the age of
37.
Lianne was
27 when she first had breast implants. She had already enjoyed a successful
career as a world famous pornstar and had always been happy with her natural
chest. But after having two children, it was not as firm as it used to be.
She said:
‘As well as needing a bit of an uplift, my boyfriend at the time preferred
women with large breasts so he told me to go bigger. He offered to pay for my
boob job and I contributed £500.’
Lianne, a
sex and relationship writer for House of Ardent, went under the knife to take
her from a 34D to a 30FF.
Over the
years she never had a problem with her implants, but in 2013 - ten years after
the initial procedure - she knew they would have to be replaced.
She said: ‘I
was excited because I was going to have my oversized breasts reduced to much
more manageable 30Cs.
Lianne did
her research thoroughly and chose a clinic in Bangkok, Thailand which came
highly recommended.
She said: ‘I
had carefully researched the overseas procedures available in both the UK and
Australia – I was living in Australia at the time – and was told a lot of
Australians and Brits travel to Asia for surgery, so I settled on a clinic
there. The surgery cost £5,000.’
In April
2013, Lianne travelled to Bangkok with her friend Carl and, at first, was
excited about the whole process.
She recalled:
‘The hospital entrance looked more like a luxury hotel, with gold-coloured
pillar surroundings, lots of curtain-walls and long-run escalators.
'But when I
saw my assigned surgeon, he stuck a needle into one of my breasts without
warning and started draining the fluid from my implant.
'I was
quickly left with one full breast and one that looked like that of a
90-year-old woman. When I was sent to the waiting room afterwards I thought,
there’s no backing out now.’ 
Lianne was
then taken to a room where she was given a gown to change into and taken to
surgery. On coming round after the operation, she felt numb and wondered if the
procedure had even taken place.
‘There was
no pain at first but when I saw my bandaged chest I knew the surgery had been
done,’ she said. ‘I was still high on morphine.’
Lianne was taken to her hotel in a tuk tuk, helped into her bed and given a Rohypnol tablet. Seven days after the procedure she returned to the clinic to have a follow-up examination.
‘I removed
my top and lay down,’ she said. ‘The doctor cut through the first layer of
bandage wrap and pulled it away.
Right away I could see blood and a yellowish
substance, which had soaked through and made the dressing stick to my skin. I
asked if I could see my new breasts but I was told to lie still.
'So, when
the doctor looked away, I took the opportunity to take a photo using my phone.
That’s when I felt the blood drain from my face. What I could see in the
picture did not look good at all.
Lianne’s breasts were badly bruised and
infected, with pus oozing from the unhealed wounds. Her left breast was more
badly damaged than her right.
‘I should
have screamed but I couldn’t find my voice, let alone catch a breath,’ she
said. ‘I was hoping to wake up from the nightmare at any moment but of course,
it was all real.
'The
examination room was spotless, but it may as well have been a sleazy and dirty
back street surgery.’
Desperate to
escape, Lianne got on the next flight and flew home in agony. There, she went
straight to the doctors and was seen by a specialist.
‘I asked him
if I was going to survive but he simply couldn’t give me an answer. I couldn’t
believe there was a chance I could die from this botched boob job.’
The
specialist confirmed Lianne had blood poisoning, necrotising fasciitis and a
blood clot from her upper arm to the top of her chest, so she was admitted to
hospital immediately.
Two days
later she was given two operations to save her life, which involved removing
both implants along with breast tissue.
Afterwards I couldn’t bring myself to look at
my chest,’ Lianne said. ‘I was in shock that my life had done a complete
U-turn, I’d gone from someone who had always been concerned with their
appearance and looking good, to a sick patient who was literally falling
apart.’
Lianne was
left with a flat 30A chest, which she found a relief – knowing everything had
been removed.
But over the
next few weeks she lost two stone and a tooth, along with half her hair and
nails: a side effect of blood-thinning medication and a depleted immune system.
Things went from bad to worse when I suffered
an internal bleed,’ she said. ‘My consultant took one look at me and
immediately identified the 800cc interna bleed as one of the biggest he had
ever seen in his long career.
'Then before
my surgery he told me it was official - I was the owner of the worst boob job
he has ever witnessed.’
Lying in her
bed, Lianne refused to let her two children, then 17 and 19, come and visit
her. She spent hours crying, regretting ever having had a boob job in the first
place.
She even
began planning her own funeral, making notes of the songs she wanted, and wrote
goodbye letters to her children.
‘My body
wasn’t coping and nor could I,’ she said. ‘Knowing I only had a 50 per cent
chance of survival sent me into a nervous breakdown. I just had no idea how
things had got so bad.’
Eventually though, Lianne’s health improved and she had reconstructive surgery. However it was unsuccessful as her left breast implant would not stay in place and three months later she had another operation. Again her breasts rejected the implants and so they had to be removed.
‘I was left
with immense scarring and deformed breasts, one with half a nipple,’ she said.
‘I couldn’t live looking like that so I went under the knife again for scar
removal and reconstruction without implants.
'Luckily it
worked. I am now implant free and have had scar removal and tattooing for my
remaining nipple.’
Altogether,
Lianne had eight operations to keep her alive and spent spent a total of
£50,000 to get her breasts looking normal again.
Since then,
she has discovered the surgeon who replaced her implants was not properly
qualified.
‘Unfortunately,
lawyers have told me it’s impossible to sue a clinic once you’ve left Asia and
that the country’s authorities simply won’t cooperate,’ she said.
‘I’ve also
learnt that there’s a difference between cosmetic and plastic surgeons. I’ve
been told that the latter require a minimum of 12 years specific training and
must be registered under a specialist medical board, whereas cosmetic surgeons
don’t and may have received no training at all.’
Now Lianne
has got a new partner and built up enough confidence for him to see her body.
She has also written about her experiences in a biography, which she hopes will
make other women think twice before having cosmetic surgery.
'This whole
ordeal has affected my life in many ways and is ongoing both physically and
mentally,' she said.
'Having the
boob job resulted in me entering premature menopause at 37 and I have recurring
seromas that need draining several times a year.
I regret
ever having my boobs done and hope what I’ve been thr
