Illness/Explant Questions/Erie PA

[Guest guest]

Hi there,

I have been lurking around here for months and have finally decided

to post. I had saline implants placed 6 years ago. They were done

in CA through the belly button under the skin, not the muscle. I

have been happy with them, but was not quite pleased at the beginning

as it seemed that the right implant was not placed properly, it

seemed to be twisted with the seam towards the front. But, since I

have now gained weight :'( I cant really see or feel this anymore. I

have since moved to PA.

For the past year and a half, I have been very sick. I have had

neurological problems, tachycardia, extreme fatigue, numbness and

tingling in my extremities, severe muscle pain and cramps/spasms. I

also have a swelling at the base (right side) of my neck that goes up

and down. At its largest, it is swells to about the size of a half

of a tangerine. I have been to my PCP, a cardiologist (hospitalized

once), neurologist, endocrinologist, gynecologist for hormone

testing, ENT, gastroenterologist, all in the past 8 months. I have

been tested for Hodgkins disease, Multiple Sclerosis, arthritis,

ulcer. I have had countless tests, including MRI's and CT scans.

ALL of my tests ALWAYS come back negative. They have found that I do

have Hashimoto's disease (which my mother also has). They now want

to do an EMG and muscle biopsy for polymyositis. I can barely climb

stairs or even hug my children without these muscle pain/fatigue. I

am taking Neurontin, Celebrex, Effexor, Elavil, Synthroid, and

Baclofen, Vicoden. I am still in misery. All of the docs say I have

Fibromyalgia, which I feel I was labeled with. When I was passed

around specialist to specialist, I feel that they always fell back on

that diagnosis because they did not have any answers for me. I have

read about fibro, and although I do have many of the symptoms, I do

not have pain at ANY of the trigger points for the diagnostic

criteria.

I have so many questions. Only my OB/GYN knows about the implants.

I have not told any of the other docs, because, firstly, I live in

Erie, PA and do not think that many docs around here really know

and/or understand this implant problem. They are behind the times

here. If I still lived in CA, I think it would be different. My

family keeps pushing me to divulge this info, but I feel that once

they find this out, they will just say that that is the problem. I

really don't want to have them removed and then find out that I still

have all of these problems! First of all, I do not think my

insurance will cover the explant and that will be very expensive for

nothing. Secondly, if I have them taken out, this will really ruin

my sex life. I already have enough problems in that area already,

not counting the fact that I am ususlly in so much pain that it is

just physically exhasting.

It seems that so many of you on the board have actually been

DIAGNOSED with different illnesses, but all of my tests always come

back negative.

Am I being a fool?

I am wondering about insurance, is there a way to get this covered?

There are only a handful of surgeons here that do implants. Is there

anyone on the list from the Erie, PA area that can refer me to a good

plastic surgeon? Does the explant usually cost as much as the

implant? And, do you sugest a lift afterwards and how much does that

usually run? I do not want another set of implants.

My concerns really don't center around the financial aspect even

though that is a big concern for me. I have 5 sons and financially

this will strap me, but many are around the psychological aspect as

well. Let's face it, I got the implants in the first place because

of low self esteem. I do know that my health comes first, but I am

one of those moms that always seem to put myself last. My dh says

that he married me without the implants, and if they are gone it will

not be a big deal. But I know how much he likes them, so I really

don't really believe that.

Would you suggest to have the muscle biopsy first?

Any help/advice/suggestions would be so helpful to me. I know about

Dr. Huang in Cleveland and maybe I should make that trip?

Thanks so much for listening, I am just so confused right now.

Hugs,