Back when she was in her 20s, influencer Emily Nolan had breast implant surgery in an attempt to please a boyfriend. But when she had the implants removed in her 30s, the decision was all hers, one made out of strength and empowerment.
Now, she’s opening up about why that decision was so important.
“A narcissistic boyfriend in my early and impressionable 20s told me, ‘real women have boobs,’” Nolan wrote in an October 18 Instagram post, explaining why she got implants in the first place. “I carried the weight of his worthless opinion of my body around for eight years on my chest. It was heavy.”
As she entered her early 30s and had much more life experience under her belt, Nolan decided it was time to get her body back. But it was easier said than done. The removal procedure, known as "explant surgery," came with some significant risks.
Blood clotting both during and after surgery was one major concern. “I hedged my risk by seeing a hematologist and getting expert opinions that put me on blood thinning injections,” Nolan wrote.
The second worry was that damage caused during the procedure could prevent her from breastfeeding, but as you can tell by the photo, that turned out just fine. “I am able to breastfeed. In fact, I’m a milk factory. Milk dripping across the wood floor and waking up to a trail of ants,” she wrote.
Nolan went on to say she’s grateful she made the brave decision to return to her natural self. She feels more comfortable both physically and mentally.
“I can run in one sport bra without my shoulders killing me. I can feed my child with ease. And most importantly, I can radically accept myself for who I am and what I look like in my natural Earth Suit,” she wrote.
It’s normal to want different things from your body as you age. Instead of regretting the decisions you made at an earlier point in life, cut yourself some slack and explore your options for doing things differently going forward. Nolan is very proud she did.
