RE: Re: Please explain enbloc explantation

[Guest guest]

HI ,

Thanks so much for sharing your story with us. It certainly sounds to me like your implants have everything to do with your downward spiral in health after you got them the second time. I know Lyme disease can be very debilitating, but I would have thought the antibiotic treatment would have at least made you able to function and hold a job. I am so sorry about your inability to work at this time. We have several girls on this board who are in the same boat. You are not alone.

Here are some names that we have available for surgeons you might want to investigate further to do a proper explant on you. In your case, they are going to have to possibly look for a double set of capsules, I am not sure. Dr. Kolb, can you tell us what would be the case when there have been previous retained scar capsules and implants are replaced?

If you are in DC now, your very best bet is to get on over to Cleveland to see Dr. Lu Feng. This renowned plastic surgeon will do her best to remove every last trace of implant capsule and get you back to pre-implant status, or as close to it as she can. She will also make sure your breasts look good again. Other than Dr. Feng, we have a couple NY plastic surgeons on our list, but I do not have details about them. You will have to go in for a consult armed with all the right questions to ensure that they will do a total capsulectomy, and use drains.

Here they are:

NEW YORK

DR. CHRISTINA AHN, MD, FACS, Plastic SurgeonNYU Medical Center, 550 First Avenue,

NY, NY 100161-212-717-8860 webmaster@...

or this address?

Dr. Ahn150 East 77th StreetNY, NY 100211-212-717-8860

DR. MICHELLE COPELAND, P/S,

Manhattan; New York, NY: Contact Mare: Angelwork8@...

OHIO

LU-JEAN FENG, M.D.

THE LU-JEAN FENG CLINIC 31200 PINETREE ROAD

PEPPER PIKE, OHIO 44124 (CLEVELAND) TEL. 216-831-7007

www.drfeng.com

I hope this will help get you started. Stay positive and hopeful. I am sure once you get your implants removed and let your body take over the healing process, over time you will feel at least like you can function again, and hopefully get back to a normal life.

Hugs,

Patty

----- Original Message -----

From: lisalynh <lisalynh@...>

Sent: Sunday, February 02, 2003 9:00 PM

Subject: Re: Please explain "enbloc" explantation

Thank you so much for your reply. It is so reassuring to have communication with others who understand this issue. First, I want to mention that I read the post about the MTV show last night and wanted to tell you that I saw that program last night and her story about getting so sick from her saline implants forced me to stop ignoring my implants as the source of my illnesses. After seeing the show I did an online search and that is how I found your group. So thank you to the show and thank you to the group. I went to the MTV site to see when/if it would air again because I only caught the last part, but couldn't find any info on air dates or transcript. If anyone finds out, I'd love to know. As for me-- my "story" is quite complicated. I first got saline implants in 1995, at the age of 18. Prior to getting the implants I had been sick with Lyme disease. When my "lyme" resurfaced after getting my implants I never made the connection. Certainly no one suggested a correllation. So I got treated for Lyme, with a ton of antibiotics, but never got much better (or at least when I did it never lasted). Three or four years later (still sick, still being treated for Lyme) I developed an infection in my right breast, which caused a lot of swelling, fluid and pain. Ultimately this got so bad that I got the implants removed... but NOT the capsules! I didn't even know that was an option. That was three years ago. After removal I did not see much of a change in my symptoms. Still felt poorly a lot but not much worse or better. Again, I never made the correllation. THEN, six months ago, still with very precarious health, I once again got saline implants, never thinking they would affect my health. Well, two months after getting the implants the second time I had to quit my job because I was so sick. Ever since, I've been incapacitated (the implants are also very uncomfortable, even painful this time, which I know from experience is not normal). I'm still unemployed because there's no way I could work in such poor health, VERY depressed about my health, unable to do things I want to do or even function normally. I know that most people who have problems after implantation have them years down the road, but as you see, my case is unusal. I am not putting all my eggs in one basket-- the implants may not be the cause or even a factor in my health, but if there's a chance they are I have to do something about it because I am at the end of my rope. So, that's my weird story. I had my surgery in NYC where my family lives, and I live in DC. I was just going to go back to the doc who did the implants to have them removed, because I didn't realize there was so much to it. I would appreciate any recommendations of surgeons-- and also, could you give me some idea of how much this procedure costs?Thank you so much,