Hi Ed,
They 1st had to insert expanders (3 of them) under my skin and I had ports that were used to fill the expanders w/ saline, I went 2x a week for 6-8 weeks to to have them filled to stretch the skin before inserting the implant. I'm an experiment with this type for plastic surgery and I really don't mind. Plastic surgery is minor to me after all the others I have had done. I had 5 surgeries and 3 of them were to repair it because, as the doctor said "we were fighting gravity" Thats why he wants to use the Gortex, its weightless. The surgeries were as easy as going in and lifting my implant back into postion. Its big but not heavy, its not like a breast implant. Its not filled with anything but its sticky and rubbery. I was 17 when my accident happened and my thoughts were, well my arm isn't going to ever work the same again but I can get it to "look" the same again...........
It was well worth it! There are alot of photos of my arm in medical books up at the clinic I go to. Plastic surgery has come along way in 15 years (when is started the plastic surgery part) so I'm confident something now will work.
I hope I helped....Kathleen