Confused after MD consult

[Guest guest]

Thanks to suggestions from this group, I made an appointment for a

consultation with Dr. Ahn in NYC to discuss having my

saline implants and capusles removed. To quickly recap, I had my

second set of implants put in six months ago, after the first set

(put in in 1995) had to be removed (in 1999) because of an infection

in my right breast. I have a history of health problems that manifest

after the first set of implants in 1995, but I never made the

correllation between my poor health and the saline implants. I only

made the correllation when, after getting my second set of implant in

late July of this year, my health took a drastic turn for the worse.

I am so horribly frustrated with how miserable I've been feeling

(very sever chronic fatigue that has caused me to havt to quit my

job, sudden onset allergies, muscle pain, recurrent infections,

depressed immune system) that after going to tons of doctors

(including self-paying for a week at the Mayo clinic to find out what

was going on only to be told eveything looked normal!) and doing some

research on breast implants and visiting this site I decided I should

probably get the things out of my body, even though most doctors and

people say that the saline implants do not cause these kinds of

problems.

So, I went to Dr. Ahn today and she was very nice and listened

patiently to my entire convoluted history and then looked at and felt

my breasts (no infections, feel fine... no capsular contraction, just

minor " normal " rippling) and I was vey surprised at her conclusion...

that since I was not having any problem with the implants like

swelling, infection, hardening, etc. I should assume that they are

fine and are not related to my health issues. Then she proceeded to

tell me that " there is no evidence that saline implants cause

autoimmune disorders " and suggested I probably have chronic fatigue

syndrome and should try to seek out treatment for that (which is what

I've been doing for years!). She said she wouldn't want me to get my

hopes up that taking the implants out would make me feel better

because it was likely that if I got them out I'd still be sick AND

I'd be flat-chested and then be even more depressed and worse off.

She also said (and this may be a very valid point) that the surgery

itself could take more of a toll on my body than leaving in the

implants because to remove submuscular implants and the capusle was a

very intensive procedure.

So now I'm really confused. I don't want to get my implants out if

they're not doing me any harm, because I got them in for a reason-- I

was completely (and I mean completely) flat chested and VERY self

conscious and miserable about how " abnormal " I was. I like how the

implants LOOK, but if they're making me sick, they're definitely not

worth it. On the other hand, if they're not making me sick, I want to

keep them. But I don't know whether they are or not and now I'm just

so confused!!!! Any suggestions/similar experiences? I don't know

what to do.

Thanks,