Diseased & Need Advice

[Guest guest]

Hi, everyone. Thanks to ~Patty~ I am here.

I'm ill and beside myself with my new-found realization that my

illness may be due to my saline-filled breast implants. Because I am

in shock, racked with fear and consumed with thoughts of my situation

everyday, I apologize up front if I ramble on and/or ask too many

questions.

I just turned 37 in May and I feel as if I'm 77. I'm a single mother

of one child, a 15-year-old son. We live alone in the San Diego

area. All my family live back East.

I had breast augmentation in October 1993. About six months later I

began feeling dizzy at times and/or in a fog. I had neck and upper

back pain and simply associated it to my career (I'm a court

reporter) I practically live at my chiropractor's office, oftentimes

going in more than once in a day crying saying, " What's wrong with

me? Fix it. " ....etc. To this day I often suffer from severe brain

fog that makes me zombie-like. I get confused, run into things with

my car and I get very forgetful. I'm simply weird.

Last November I became so ill that I ended up in the hospital. I had

apthous ulcers in my mouth and down my esophogus. It was so bad I

could not eat or drink ANYTHING. I also had body pain all over.

Docs put me on morphine. After two grueling weeks in the hospital,

the docs, calling me " The Mystery Woman " since they couldn't diagnose

me, got me well on prednisone and sent me home.

The doc I saw as an outpatient diagnosed me with Crohn's disease

although I did not have Crohn's symptoms. I thought that was so

odd! I beg to differ with him but it fell on deaf ears so I left him

and went elsewhere.

In the meantime, my chiropractor ask me the question one day, " Do you

have breast implants and if so, are they silicone-filled? " When I

told him yes, I have breast implants but they are saline-filled, he

dismissed the possibility that my sickness was cause by them, but I

did not (I am a ruthless truth-seeker!)

After he and I had that discussion, I went to see my rheumatologist

(my new doc) and asked her if the implants could be doing this to

me. She said no. They all say no. All the doctors. I can't help

but think it is the implants since all these weird pains started

right after implantation.

I found Dr. Kolb online and called her up. She and I spoke. She

suggested I call my doctor and ask for a T cell sensitivity test.

So I did. My doc said no, that breast implants and autoimmune

disease is a very controversial subject and she did not want to go

down that path. I thought " What a bitch! " And so I fired her too.

I found a new doc and see her next week.

I have a laundry list of symptoms. To name a few besides what I

already mentioned I have peripheral neuropathy (numbness and tingling

in feet and hands), joint pain, headaches, twitching muscles, loss of

sensation in various areas of the body, night sweats, sleep

disturbance.

I am currently on Imuran, a chemotherapy drug. It seems to help the

symptoms enough so that I can function, work, make money. Some days

are better than others.

I finally got my operative report from my plastic surgeon. I about

lost it when I saw on it that I, in fact, have textured McGhan

implants. I thought they were smooth. Dr. Feng and Dr. Kolb both

told me they see lots of problems with patients who have textured

implants.

It's starting to " add up " and looking more to me that it is, in fact,

my implants that are making me so ill but I still have some questions:

Q. Is it possible to find out for certain that it's the implants

making me ill?

Q. How do I know if I have an infection from the implants or if my

body is simply reacting to the metals in the bag?

Q. What doctors can I trust?

Q. If I do decide to get explanted, (think I should??) how do I

pay for it as I do not have the funds for it right now???

Q. Imuran is poison (chemotherapy). If the

implants are poisoning me AND I'm taking Imuran, what can result?

I just found out today that someone at my firm's office has

implants. Now, I know she has an autoimmune disease (Graves), but

didn't know about her implants. Come to find out her disease came on

shortly after her augmentation surgery. When I spoke to her about

it, she said that right after having a mercury filling removed from a

tooth, the disease came on putting her in the hospital; therefore,

she attributes her disease to the filling. (I too have an excuse for

all my symptoms....are we simply in denial?) She refuses to believe

her implants are causing her illness. Others who work in the office

with her daily say she complains often of fatique, tires easily and

has the infamous " brain fog. "

Q. Isn't there mercury in the implant bags? (Someone told me that

there is.)

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Any input is appreciated

more than you could ever know.

Sincerly, Dee AKA Explant Scaredy-cat.