When Mark Soldin first told me that I had a deformity called a Tuberous Breast, I was relieved that at last the truth was out! I had always kidded myself that my ‘abnormality’ was due to a fairground accident aged 10, resulting my right breast being under developed. I never really wanted to admit that it was a ‘birth defect’ as I was embarrassed and ashamed about the way I looked – I felt like a freak and set about cunningly disguising myself anyway I could – which in the main meant large baggy clothes. This covered up the difference when I was younger, but as I grew older and my shape and weight changed, the difference became far more apparent and I knew that I would have to do something about it!

First of all I tried the ‘chicken breast fillet’ approach which was good for a while but I was very self conscious about the fillet moving in my bra and activities like swimming were totally out of the question. Imagine how embarrassing it would be, me swimming in one direction and my fillet floating away in another! The change came when my friend was diagnosed with breast cancer and she told me about the different prosthesis and bras available – bingo, I thought, I will get myself an external prosthesis plus some mastectomy undies and swimwear, and no-one will ever be the wiser! However, as time went by I realized that this made me feel even worse than before – I felt bulky and weighed down and although my confidence returned for a while, was not a long lasting effect. Eventually I plucked up the courage and at the age of 43 made a firm decision to investigate having a boob job!

I was so fortunate that my GP referred me to Mark Soldin. From my first consultation with Mark I felt totally reassured and confident that he would deliver exactly what he said. It only took one more consultation (this time with my husband) to decide that this was definitely what I wanted to do. Mark explained to us how the Becker Implant would be required in my right breast only and a stent would lead into the implant from my underarm, thus allowing the volume to be increased or decreased according to weight changes in my normal left breast.

I underwent surgery in February 2008 where the implant and stent were inserted. Just one night stay in the hospital and a couple of weeks at home to recuperate. Throughout my recovery, Mark was available for all my random and sometimes neurotic queries - totally professional, courteous and reassuring, he never once made me feel like a nuisance. During the course of the next few weeks, I visited the hospital as an outpatient to be ‘pumped up’ (as my husband so delicately puts it) to over-fill the breast, thus stretching the skin to match that of a 44 year old!

August 2008, having just had a deflation, I now have a pretty perfect matching pair and am utterly delighted with the result. The elation I feel, taking off my bra at night without a dead weight in one side, or actually wandering around bra-less is absolutely wonderful! I feel so much more confident in myself as a woman. My style of clothing has changed, I have lost weight and feel like I have embraced life so much more just in these past few months.

I am so grateful to Mark for his vision and skill. He has quietly and with such respect helped to turn my life around and it is a truly wonderful feeling.

I was a perfectly normal child with a healthy round chubby face until the age of seven when I started to loose the weight from my upper body and face drastically. I was diagnosed with Partial Lipodystrophy which meant I was not able to gain weight above the hip area. I lost all the fat from my face which resulted in an extremely masculine appearance and created dark hollow areas and wrinkles making me look much older than I actually was. I went through most of my life being tormented by horrible names and remarks. I hated going out and would always cover half of my face with my hand because I was so self conscious.

I went to visit Dr Soldin and explained my problem and he suggested taking fat from my lower body and injecting it into the face. Naturally I was nervous but was desperate to try something which would help improve my appearance. After the surgery I waited about one week for the swelling to go down and see the results more realistically. I cannot explain in words the improvement it had made. I looked young and healthy-like the years I had missed out on I was then going to make up for. Which I have. It has completely changed my life; I am confident when I speak to people now and go out all the time. Life is so much more enjoyable now. I am 25 years old now and I get more compliments now than I ever have done!

I have had the procedure done three times now; once each year as each time I have lost some of the fat which was expected but having it done again means building it up and I am having longer lasting results with the third operation so I suppose it is like building the fat up in stages. The result is completely natural looking.

Since the operation I have never looked back. I wish I had had it done sooner. I LOVE life now! - YA