I am a woman who became very ill from "safe" implants when I was 26. I wish someone had warned me about the real risks of breast implants, and I hope this helps other sick women find some answers.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Absolutely Safe sparks this long overdue cultural conversation....
I will be buying this video in November and I hope it sheds some light on women who are sick from breast implants.
Every year more than 250,000 teenagers and women choose breast implants, yet fewer voices than ever seem to be asking “Why?” And fewer still are asking “Are they safe?” Absolutely Safe takes an open-minded, personal approach to the controversy over breast implant safety. Ultimately, Absolutely Safe is the story of everyday women who find themselves and their breasts in the tangled and confusing intersection of beauty and business.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
This is why I do this!
Hi Gretchen,
I wanted to write and commend you on your efforts of educating girls on the risks of implants. I have always wanted implants and after wanting them so long, I set up 3 consultations last week. They went great, I picked a doctor got my finance agreement in order, etc. All i was waiting for was to schedule the date of the surgery. Ever since last week after the consultations I feel anxious, couldn't sleep at night, couldn't stop weighing the pros and cons, and didn't stop bugging my fiance to convince me that implants were not a big deal.. He, however, was uneasy about the whole thing and was actually trying to talk me out of it.
Last night I found your website...after staying up late every night doing research. I found stories on bad experiences but non of them touched me the way your story did. After reading your experiences and others you shared, I made a decision that big boobs were not worth the risk of long term suffering.
Just wanted to thank you and let you know that your suffering wasn't in vein as you are making a difference! I am glad God lead me to your site, there must of been a reason why I felt so insecure about the decision i was about to make.
All the best!
"J"
I wanted to write and commend you on your efforts of educating girls on the risks of implants. I have always wanted implants and after wanting them so long, I set up 3 consultations last week. They went great, I picked a doctor got my finance agreement in order, etc. All i was waiting for was to schedule the date of the surgery. Ever since last week after the consultations I feel anxious, couldn't sleep at night, couldn't stop weighing the pros and cons, and didn't stop bugging my fiance to convince me that implants were not a big deal.. He, however, was uneasy about the whole thing and was actually trying to talk me out of it.
Last night I found your website...after staying up late every night doing research. I found stories on bad experiences but non of them touched me the way your story did. After reading your experiences and others you shared, I made a decision that big boobs were not worth the risk of long term suffering.
Just wanted to thank you and let you know that your suffering wasn't in vein as you are making a difference! I am glad God lead me to your site, there must of been a reason why I felt so insecure about the decision i was about to make.
All the best!
"J"
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Men get sick from silicone too!
Letter I got from a man the other day via my site that I wanted to share. Edited for length. I hope this gives some insight to any doctors who may see this - that silicone IS toxic and can make men sick too. I am praying for this man & I am so glad he wrote to me.
"I was most interested to read your website.
While the vast majority of silicone victims are women, I would like to relate my story to you which is from a male perspective.
I had a prosthetic testicle inserted in 1983 at the age of 21. At the time, I didn't know that it was made of silicone and I probably would not have cared. I was more concerned with the embarrassment of having a girl laugh at me for only having one testicle.
Things went well for me until 5 years later when "the rot set in".
First thing I noticed was my digestive system ground to a halt. Even though I ate plenty of good food, I no longer got the urge to empty my bowels. When I finally did, sometimes after 5 days, the stools were loose and foul smelling. Eating extra fibre made it worse. This was explained by the doctor as being IBS. I never really believed that because I had always had excellent health up until this point.
From that stage (1988) until today I have been increasingly plagued by the following symptoms:
- Bowel/digestive problems
- Extreme sensitivity to light and certain sounds
- Constant runny nose and ear infections
- Sore/swollen joints
- Very bad anxiety and nervousness
- Symptoms similar to yeast disorder
- Acne on face and back
- Unable to eat sugar, grains or dairy without making all of my other symptoms MUCH worse.
Around 1996 I had had enough and decided to cure myself because blood tests had shown that there was nothing wrong with me. At that stage I was convinced that it was just Candida that was the problem. I tried every natural/herbal medicine under the sun and at great expense but my condition did not improve.
A couple of months ago I was sympathetically reading an article about a woman who was suffering the effects of silicone poisoning due to breast implants and I could not help but notice that nearly all of the symptoms were similar to mine. Then it hit me like a sledge-hammer. I had never in the past 25 years considered that my silicone testicular prosthesis could be the cause of my misery.
That brings me to the current day where I have made an appointment to see a urologist on August 28th 2008 with the aim of having the prosthesis removed as soon as possible.
I hope that this will bring some relief to the nightmare that I have been living for the past 25 years."
"I was most interested to read your website.
While the vast majority of silicone victims are women, I would like to relate my story to you which is from a male perspective.
I had a prosthetic testicle inserted in 1983 at the age of 21. At the time, I didn't know that it was made of silicone and I probably would not have cared. I was more concerned with the embarrassment of having a girl laugh at me for only having one testicle.
Things went well for me until 5 years later when "the rot set in".
First thing I noticed was my digestive system ground to a halt. Even though I ate plenty of good food, I no longer got the urge to empty my bowels. When I finally did, sometimes after 5 days, the stools were loose and foul smelling. Eating extra fibre made it worse. This was explained by the doctor as being IBS. I never really believed that because I had always had excellent health up until this point.
From that stage (1988) until today I have been increasingly plagued by the following symptoms:
- Bowel/digestive problems
- Extreme sensitivity to light and certain sounds
- Constant runny nose and ear infections
- Sore/swollen joints
- Very bad anxiety and nervousness
- Symptoms similar to yeast disorder
- Acne on face and back
- Unable to eat sugar, grains or dairy without making all of my other symptoms MUCH worse.
Around 1996 I had had enough and decided to cure myself because blood tests had shown that there was nothing wrong with me. At that stage I was convinced that it was just Candida that was the problem. I tried every natural/herbal medicine under the sun and at great expense but my condition did not improve.
A couple of months ago I was sympathetically reading an article about a woman who was suffering the effects of silicone poisoning due to breast implants and I could not help but notice that nearly all of the symptoms were similar to mine. Then it hit me like a sledge-hammer. I had never in the past 25 years considered that my silicone testicular prosthesis could be the cause of my misery.
That brings me to the current day where I have made an appointment to see a urologist on August 28th 2008 with the aim of having the prosthesis removed as soon as possible.
I hope that this will bring some relief to the nightmare that I have been living for the past 25 years."
Friday, May 23, 2008
Beauty & The Breast Blog - Torch Hand Off
Beauty and the Breast
May 23, 2008
Greetings!
Mary and I started Beauty and the Breast for many reasons: to share information, to relate our experiences, to create a conversation that tries to make sense of a social environment that drives women - sometimes despite reason or judgment, more often in ignorance - to go under the knife to receive breast implants into their bodies.
Most of all, we started this blog to be the voice of the breast implant community: the women's health advocates, the doctors and other health professionals, and the tens of thousands of implant victims. Frustrated by the failure of news media to educate the public about the dark side of breast implants, a story littered with broken bodies and broken lives, we started this blog to enable the breast implant community to speak out and tell that story ourselves.
And we are. Since we launched the blog in July 2007, blog traffic has grown by leaps and bounds, our community closer and more united with a sense of purpose, and our collective voice louder and more vibrant. We are reaching people in other communities who are hearing us and helping us evaluate the issues of and insure truthful reporting about body image, feminism, parenting and most of all breast implants.
Alas, with the foundations laid, it's time for Mary and me to turn our energies to other fronts in the fight against unsafe and inadequately studied breast implants and for women's health. Though Mary and I will continue to post on occasion, we are stepping back and handing Beauty and the Breast over to Kacey, Krista and Gretchen. These three young women are wise beyond their years and passionately committed to the breast implant issue. We are confident that their stewardship will help the blog's voice continue to grow and reach new generations of breast implant recipients. We hope you will continue to visit, participate and support them.
We will no longer be sending out Beauty and the Breast e-mail newsletters, as we have added Feedburner to the blog. To recieve our updates via email or through a feed, please go to Beauty and the Breast and look in the top right corner.
Until we meet again, be happy and healthy!
Sybil and Mary
May 23, 2008
Greetings!
Mary and I started Beauty and the Breast for many reasons: to share information, to relate our experiences, to create a conversation that tries to make sense of a social environment that drives women - sometimes despite reason or judgment, more often in ignorance - to go under the knife to receive breast implants into their bodies.
Most of all, we started this blog to be the voice of the breast implant community: the women's health advocates, the doctors and other health professionals, and the tens of thousands of implant victims. Frustrated by the failure of news media to educate the public about the dark side of breast implants, a story littered with broken bodies and broken lives, we started this blog to enable the breast implant community to speak out and tell that story ourselves.
And we are. Since we launched the blog in July 2007, blog traffic has grown by leaps and bounds, our community closer and more united with a sense of purpose, and our collective voice louder and more vibrant. We are reaching people in other communities who are hearing us and helping us evaluate the issues of and insure truthful reporting about body image, feminism, parenting and most of all breast implants.
Alas, with the foundations laid, it's time for Mary and me to turn our energies to other fronts in the fight against unsafe and inadequately studied breast implants and for women's health. Though Mary and I will continue to post on occasion, we are stepping back and handing Beauty and the Breast over to Kacey, Krista and Gretchen. These three young women are wise beyond their years and passionately committed to the breast implant issue. We are confident that their stewardship will help the blog's voice continue to grow and reach new generations of breast implant recipients. We hope you will continue to visit, participate and support them.
We will no longer be sending out Beauty and the Breast e-mail newsletters, as we have added Feedburner to the blog. To recieve our updates via email or through a feed, please go to Beauty and the Breast and look in the top right corner.
Until we meet again, be happy and healthy!
Sybil and Mary
Monday, May 5, 2008
Inamed Ingredients, etc. - Scary!
Here is a link to the implants I had and the fda safety and ingredients, etc. I will put this on my site on the links page soon. Makes our bodies sound like a toxic waste site! Thanks Rogene & Dede!
http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/pdf2/p020056b.pdf
http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/pdf2/p020056b.pdf
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Palm Beach, Florida Newspaper Article Mentions Me & My Site
Palm Beach, Florida Newspaper Article Mentions Me & My Site:
Click here
Towards the bottom, the lady talks about problems and then talks about things we chatted about when she interviewed me.
"Like others, they say they were shocked and saddened by Kuleba's death. But, they say, it does not reflect on the safety of the surgery. The teen simply had a bad reaction to anesthesia, they believe.
"It could have happened when she was having her wisdom teeth out," Jessica Angst said.
As for women who report severe health problems, Jessica Angst says it is likely they had unrealistic expectations about the surgery and then blame the implants for a host of unrelated ills.
Women who have devoted their lives to trying to convince others that the surgery is not safe are accustomed to such reactions.
Gretchen Cannon blames her implants for debilitating health problems she suffered almost immediately after she had silicone implants to get back the breasts she lost when intense exercising transformed her from a 34C to AA.
She couldn't concentrate at work. She had no short-term memory. She was constantly tired. Her vision was blurry. She started exhibiting symptoms of lupus and multiple sclerosis.
Nearly a year and three operations later, the 27-year-old California woman said she is almost back to full strength. Ironically, although the implants are out, Cannon's breasts have returned to their pre-exercise size.
She has created a Web site - myimplantstory.com - to warn other women about breast implants."
Click here
Towards the bottom, the lady talks about problems and then talks about things we chatted about when she interviewed me.
"Like others, they say they were shocked and saddened by Kuleba's death. But, they say, it does not reflect on the safety of the surgery. The teen simply had a bad reaction to anesthesia, they believe.
"It could have happened when she was having her wisdom teeth out," Jessica Angst said.
As for women who report severe health problems, Jessica Angst says it is likely they had unrealistic expectations about the surgery and then blame the implants for a host of unrelated ills.
Women who have devoted their lives to trying to convince others that the surgery is not safe are accustomed to such reactions.
Gretchen Cannon blames her implants for debilitating health problems she suffered almost immediately after she had silicone implants to get back the breasts she lost when intense exercising transformed her from a 34C to AA.
She couldn't concentrate at work. She had no short-term memory. She was constantly tired. Her vision was blurry. She started exhibiting symptoms of lupus and multiple sclerosis.
Nearly a year and three operations later, the 27-year-old California woman said she is almost back to full strength. Ironically, although the implants are out, Cannon's breasts have returned to their pre-exercise size.
She has created a Web site - myimplantstory.com - to warn other women about breast implants."
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
OC REGISTER
I havent seen the show or Kacey yet, but I am told it is at this link. http://www.mandjshow.com/videos/teenagers-and-plastic-surgery/
She didnt get to mention the blog, so that is too bad, but at least she got to talk. I did a phone interview with a woman from the Florida Post today - I hopefully should be quoted in an article soon and will let you know. I was also quoted in the OC Register today as a blogger but my name wasnt mentioned -
http://innovation.freedomblogging.com/2008/03/25/second-breast-surgery-death-florida-girl-dies/
Another step in the direction to getting the word out!
She didnt get to mention the blog, so that is too bad, but at least she got to talk. I did a phone interview with a woman from the Florida Post today - I hopefully should be quoted in an article soon and will let you know. I was also quoted in the OC Register today as a blogger but my name wasnt mentioned -
http://innovation.freedomblogging.com/2008/03/25/second-breast-surgery-death-florida-girl-dies/
Another step in the direction to getting the word out!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet Tomorrow!
There was some very sad news this morning that you may have heard - an 18-year old girl died from having corrective breast surgeries in Florida.
http://www. abcnews. go. com/GMA/PainManagement/story?id=4520099
they say she had a reaction to the Anesthesia.
I was contacted by Gloria Pan – who runs this blog - http://beautyandthebreast. org/ - which I sometimes post on.
The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet - http://www. mandjshow. com/index. php contacted her looking for young
women who had breast implants and took them out, to be guests on the show tomorrow.
The lady at the show got a hold of Kacey Long before she got to me, who is at the site www. implantsout. org – She was 19 when she got sick from saline implants and has been the face of MTV for us– being featured on a few
shows there talking about how she got sick and driving a lot of traffic to her site over the years.
They are flying Kacey out to NYC tonight to be on the show tomorrow morning, along with other guests – due to what happened to the girl in Florida.
Kacey should be mentioning the beauty and the breast blog if she can –
per Gloria’s request since she recommended her to the show, so Gloria asked me to blog about the Florida story today. This will give people something to read when they get to the site about the story they see on the news or the show.
I wrote a blog on the website here - http://beautyandthebreast. org/ called “Florida Teen Dies After Complications During Breast Surgery”.
If Kacey does get to mention the blog on the show, this will be great because they will
also see my link to my website.
As of today, I have 31,649 hits to my site – www. myimplantstory. com – so I am hoping she gets to mention the blog on the show tomorrow so that more people can go online and become more aware of the bad things associated with breast implants and the number goes up. Even if she doesn’t mention it, I am sure there will be more people googling things in the upcoming weeks.
My goal is just to get the word out. If anything, I am just really happy that Kacey gets to go on the show tomorrow and have that little voice that is so hard to be heard in a world of people not wanting to hear about the dangers of cosmetic surgeries. Her site inspired me to create my site, because it gave me hope when I was so scared and let me know that I was not alone. She has supported me via email ever since the 1st time I wrote her when I got sick – and kept in touch ever since.
So, set your Tivo’s to record Mike & Juliet tomorrow morning on Fox, and hopefully Kacey gets to talk!
Thanks & love,
Gretchen
http://www. abcnews. go. com/GMA/PainManagement/story?id=4520099
they say she had a reaction to the Anesthesia.
I was contacted by Gloria Pan – who runs this blog - http://beautyandthebreast. org/ - which I sometimes post on.
The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet - http://www. mandjshow. com/index. php contacted her looking for young
women who had breast implants and took them out, to be guests on the show tomorrow.
The lady at the show got a hold of Kacey Long before she got to me, who is at the site www. implantsout. org – She was 19 when she got sick from saline implants and has been the face of MTV for us– being featured on a few
shows there talking about how she got sick and driving a lot of traffic to her site over the years.
They are flying Kacey out to NYC tonight to be on the show tomorrow morning, along with other guests – due to what happened to the girl in Florida.
Kacey should be mentioning the beauty and the breast blog if she can –
per Gloria’s request since she recommended her to the show, so Gloria asked me to blog about the Florida story today. This will give people something to read when they get to the site about the story they see on the news or the show.
I wrote a blog on the website here - http://beautyandthebreast. org/ called “Florida Teen Dies After Complications During Breast Surgery”.
If Kacey does get to mention the blog on the show, this will be great because they will
also see my link to my website.
As of today, I have 31,649 hits to my site – www. myimplantstory. com – so I am hoping she gets to mention the blog on the show tomorrow so that more people can go online and become more aware of the bad things associated with breast implants and the number goes up. Even if she doesn’t mention it, I am sure there will be more people googling things in the upcoming weeks.
My goal is just to get the word out. If anything, I am just really happy that Kacey gets to go on the show tomorrow and have that little voice that is so hard to be heard in a world of people not wanting to hear about the dangers of cosmetic surgeries. Her site inspired me to create my site, because it gave me hope when I was so scared and let me know that I was not alone. She has supported me via email ever since the 1st time I wrote her when I got sick – and kept in touch ever since.
So, set your Tivo’s to record Mike & Juliet tomorrow morning on Fox, and hopefully Kacey gets to talk!
Thanks & love,
Gretchen
Friday, March 7, 2008
Botox Dangerous Too?
I was just on Public Citizen's website (www.citizen.org) and found this very helpful webpage about botox.
Click on this http://www.citizen.org/pressroo
Botox sounds dangerous too. At least they are starting to tell some truth, however small - about these things. Scary!
20-year old sick from saline implants
i recieved my implants six months ago they are 450cc's and saline with
silicone case. then all of the sudden six months later i started
having siezures in class. i then had a sinus infection which i have
never had before. i have no history of seizures in my family and my
health is declining fast. i now cannot attend college i have had my
license revoked i cannot drive and im only 20!!!!!!! i am constantly
dizzy and i cannot go in public places because i suffer from anxiety
now. I am a healthy girl i cheered for 8 years and now all this is
happening... i have seen my plastic surgeon and had two CAT scans done
with contrast and without... i have become depressed and lost. i am
now on dilantin and my life is at a holt.... is there any way of help??
i am beginning to correspond with her & am thinking about her daily. i hope she can find a good plastic surgeon who will take out her implants for her so she can start regaining her health.
silicone case. then all of the sudden six months later i started
having siezures in class. i then had a sinus infection which i have
never had before. i have no history of seizures in my family and my
health is declining fast. i now cannot attend college i have had my
license revoked i cannot drive and im only 20!!!!!!! i am constantly
dizzy and i cannot go in public places because i suffer from anxiety
now. I am a healthy girl i cheered for 8 years and now all this is
happening... i have seen my plastic surgeon and had two CAT scans done
with contrast and without... i have become depressed and lost. i am
now on dilantin and my life is at a holt.... is there any way of help??
i am beginning to correspond with her & am thinking about her daily. i hope she can find a good plastic surgeon who will take out her implants for her so she can start regaining her health.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Feels so good to change someone's mind!
Here is a letter I got today. :)
Hi Gretchen!
My name is Serena and I am 18 years old. I have visited your site and read your story and would like to thank you for sharing it with others. It is very important for women to be well informed and weigh the benefits with the risks when they take an important decision like having breast implants. I am sorry that you experienced such a terrible thing and I hope you will fully recover soon. I was thinking of having breast implants myself and knew there were risks but never imagined it could get so bad. After reading your story, I decided to give up on this idea and appreciate my breasts for what they are.
I have an athletic body due to the many sports I practice and enjoy, like tennis, swimming and horse riding. Although my body is very well proportioned, my breasts are very small and give me the feeling of inferiority when I see other girls my age with normal-sized breasts (not to mention big). I think that one reason they seem so small is because I have a light form of Pectus Excavatum (or hollowed chest) which, with its caved-in form, makes them look smaller than they really are. Your story made me realize what women do in their pursuit for good looks and gave me the courage to accept they way I look and not to have the implants.
I think you are a brave and powerful woman that had a horrible experience and learned from her mistake. I appreciate your wish to prevent other women from experiencing the same thing and I am glad to have read your story and find out about you.
Best wishes,
Serena.
Hi Gretchen!
My name is Serena and I am 18 years old. I have visited your site and read your story and would like to thank you for sharing it with others. It is very important for women to be well informed and weigh the benefits with the risks when they take an important decision like having breast implants. I am sorry that you experienced such a terrible thing and I hope you will fully recover soon. I was thinking of having breast implants myself and knew there were risks but never imagined it could get so bad. After reading your story, I decided to give up on this idea and appreciate my breasts for what they are.
I have an athletic body due to the many sports I practice and enjoy, like tennis, swimming and horse riding. Although my body is very well proportioned, my breasts are very small and give me the feeling of inferiority when I see other girls my age with normal-sized breasts (not to mention big). I think that one reason they seem so small is because I have a light form of Pectus Excavatum (or hollowed chest) which, with its caved-in form, makes them look smaller than they really are. Your story made me realize what women do in their pursuit for good looks and gave me the courage to accept they way I look and not to have the implants.
I think you are a brave and powerful woman that had a horrible experience and learned from her mistake. I appreciate your wish to prevent other women from experiencing the same thing and I am glad to have read your story and find out about you.
Best wishes,
Serena.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Another natural bodybuilder - sick from saline implants
I got a letter today from another woman, sick from saline implants. Another bodybuilder who can relate. I am happy she wrote me and pray for her healing.
"Hi Gretchen,
First I want to thank you for getting your story out there for other women to see! I got saline implants 8 years ago and had I known then what I know now, I never would've gotten them. I've been sick for the past 7 years. Well, actually, I started feeling things immediately after my implant surgery but I found out that I was pregnant (got pregnant right before my surgery) and so I can't really say if what I was feeling that first year was from the implants or the pregnancy.
Prior to my implants I was very healthy and very active. I entered several natural bodybuilding contests and was in awe of the fitness competitors and wanted to get that same look! I also thought since so many competitors had implants that it must be safe! When I reasearched them, I was told the saline implants were completely safe...that the worst that could happen would be CC or rupture but that the saline would just absorbe into my body. So I was convinced and thought that by having implants it would improve my look on stage when competing.
One year after implant surgery I started getting various "mysterious" illnesses. From what used to be an active lifestyle, 8 years later I can now barely climb a flight of stairs or even dry my hair without exhaustion! I've been to so many doctors and specialists and have had so many tests. I've been told I have inflammation in my eyes and numerous neuroligial issue but all of my tests come back normal. A few weeks ago, a family member gave me a website to check out! That has led me to many wonderful sites of women experiencing the same things I am. Wow, what an eye opener! I am now in the process of consulting with a PS to have them removed.
I'm not really sure why I'm emailing you except that I admire you for speaking out. My hope is that once my implants are removed I will feel better again to be able to speak out as well -- the more of us that make our voices heard...then maybe someday the medical community will have to listen to us! I wish you much success. God Bless."
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Today is my 1 year anniversary of explantation!
MY ONE YEAR EXPLANT ANNIVERSARY IS TODAY!
I have come so far from that day.. 1 year ago.
I will be happy today and celebrate that I got my implants out and am regaining my health.
1 year ago today I was a scared little girl in a 26-year old's body. My memory was gone, I was dizzy and tired all the time, had aches and pains.. and had no idea that the 5 months POST explant would be the worst for me.. having a sezuire and being in a coma.. being hospitalized 2x for being so bad and scared.
Things looked up 8 months post explant and have gotten better every day since then.
Today I am an informed, strong 27-year old woman - with a new body and a better outlook. I have gone through hell and back and survived. Thanks for supporting me and my website www.myimplantstory.com - and helping inform other women so that they either make the smart choice to not get implants, or to remove them to regain their health.
Happy explant anniversary to me :)
Love,
Gretchen
I have come so far from that day.. 1 year ago.
I will be happy today and celebrate that I got my implants out and am regaining my health.
1 year ago today I was a scared little girl in a 26-year old's body. My memory was gone, I was dizzy and tired all the time, had aches and pains.. and had no idea that the 5 months POST explant would be the worst for me.. having a sezuire and being in a coma.. being hospitalized 2x for being so bad and scared.
Things looked up 8 months post explant and have gotten better every day since then.
Today I am an informed, strong 27-year old woman - with a new body and a better outlook. I have gone through hell and back and survived. Thanks for supporting me and my website www.myimplantstory.com - and helping inform other women so that they either make the smart choice to not get implants, or to remove them to regain their health.
Happy explant anniversary to me :)
Love,
Gretchen
Monday, January 21, 2008
Krista in NY Times
Click the link below to read an article in the NY Times from 01.17.08 - last week. My friend Krista - whom I met on the Saline Support site, is featured in the article. My 2nd explant surgeon, Dr. Susan Kolb, from GA - is also quoted in the article. Thank you!
New York Times Article
New York Times Article
Friday, January 11, 2008
"Breast Implants: From Hell to Healing"
Click the image below to learn about the book I just finished. A book written by another sick woman, Donna Townes & publishes in 1997. Hopefully this is something I can do one day soon - in order to spread the word and also help other sick women find hope & answers. I got chills & tears in my eyes as I read page 57 - it sounded like she was writing about ME...about my memory loss, brain fog, and dream-like trance state that I was in for so long. It felt terrible to know someone else felt so impaired - but gave me a sense of relief that someone else understands. I would like to talk to Donna..There is no contact info for Donna on her book, except for a P.O. Box from '97. I will try writing her - but if you know of her, please let me know. Maybe my website will reach her somehow.
"It is as if I were disembodied. I do not see as me. I do not hear as me. I do not feel as me. I AM NOT REAL ANYMORE.
This body moves, but I am not real. Perhaps the closest thing I can compare this state of being to in my life experience is when I was drugged after surgery and was allergic to the medication. I am somewhere out there, not real, not me; but, in the waves of autonomic dysfunction, I know that it is my body that is trying to die, and I fight to live.
A strange aura envelopes me. Perhaps it is like epilectics experience immediately prior to a grand mal seizure, but mind is unending. My ears ring..I rage against this horror!
To be out of control is unacceptable. I could never be happy drinking alcohol because of the diminished capacity it causes. Perhaps this feeling in my brain is spaced out, or drugged, or high; but not drunk because to be that far out on alcohol would be impossible. I would be unconscious first!!
My months have run together and melted into a nightmare from which there seems to be no waking. Some days it seems that I may shake off the chains of darkness and walk in the light again, but not yet. I sink once more into the abyss."
"It is as if I were disembodied. I do not see as me. I do not hear as me. I do not feel as me. I AM NOT REAL ANYMORE.
This body moves, but I am not real. Perhaps the closest thing I can compare this state of being to in my life experience is when I was drugged after surgery and was allergic to the medication. I am somewhere out there, not real, not me; but, in the waves of autonomic dysfunction, I know that it is my body that is trying to die, and I fight to live.
A strange aura envelopes me. Perhaps it is like epilectics experience immediately prior to a grand mal seizure, but mind is unending. My ears ring..I rage against this horror!
To be out of control is unacceptable. I could never be happy drinking alcohol because of the diminished capacity it causes. Perhaps this feeling in my brain is spaced out, or drugged, or high; but not drunk because to be that far out on alcohol would be impossible. I would be unconscious first!!
My months have run together and melted into a nightmare from which there seems to be no waking. Some days it seems that I may shake off the chains of darkness and walk in the light again, but not yet. I sink once more into the abyss."
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