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BIA ALCL

Samcleo2
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Hi.
I came to Cyprus day before yesterday to have replacement implants and uplift. Surgery was yesterday. Out of surgery I was told by my fantastic surgeon that they couldn't replace my implants as they found white liquid in both capsules and one Oc the implants also had white inside it. He's removed both capsules and implants and given me an uplift. It's all been sent to the Lab for diagnosis. But certainly it's BIA ALCL. 
no idea if it's spread. The morning of the surgery a smal lump appeared  under my arm. Hope it's not related. I'm not sure what happens next. My friend is flying out here today as she planned to help me post new breast implant surgery. Now looks like she'll be supporting her friend with Cancer. Her mum died of cancer. This is not fair on her. 
 

  • Hi Samcleo2,

    Welcome to Cancer Chat. I'm sorry to hear of your situation and I hope you're getting on OK. It sounds as if there are some unknowns at the moment so hopefully it won't be long before you get all the information you need, at which point you should get a better idea of next steps.

    It's good to hear that you have your friend supporting you - try not to worry about the fairness of it all, as there's nothing you can do to help this and I'm sure having her with you will be good from a support point of view.

    I hope you're able to find out more soon. We're always here on the forum if you need it at any point and I hope you find it useful.

    Wishing you all the best,

    Ben
    Cancer Chat Moderator

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    Hi Samcleo2,

     

    Sorry to hear you're going through this. I was diagnosed with BIA ALCLnin 2017.  First and foremost, I want to emphasise that's it's impossible to diagnose BIA ALCL by sight. It's also not a common cancer and specifically white liquid is not a symptom I've heard of before. I hope that gives you some comfort that it's far too early to draw a conclusion. Having said that, liquid (although most commonly with a yellow tinge from my own experience and from stories of other diagnosed women) is a common symptom so you're absolutely right to want to go through the proper testing and hopefully rule out BIA ALCL. 

    Do you know if your implants had a smooth or a textured surface? So far, there hve been no reported cases of BIA ALCL in women who hve never had a textured surface implant  

    I encourage you to search for the NCCN Guidelines on BIA ALCL. If you can't find it, there is a link to it on www.BIAALCL.com. There are very specific tests that need to be done to diagnosed (CD30 cells) so you'll need to ensure your current doctor has requested the correct testing. There is also a lot of other helpful info on the website. It's full of great material. If you'd like more info, there's also a great Facebook group called "ALCL in Women with Breast Implant BIA ALCL". There are over 200 women diagnosed with BIA ALCL and it's a great resource to learn more about it. 
     

    I hope you're able to rule it out and move on but in the unlikely situation where that's not the case, it's most often very treatable and there is a ready made network of support and experience from women who have been through the same. You're not alone. 
     

    Please let us know how you get on. I'll be thinking of you.  
     

    Carla

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