To explant or not to explant, that is the question...

[Guest guest]

I just found this group about a week ago. I must say that I am

overwhelmed by the number of women who have experienced what I'm now

going through and very glad to find I'm not alone. I got saline

implants in August of 1999. Of course, I was told that they are not

the " silicone " ones, therefore, they're safe. Mine even had a

lifetime warranty! Woo hoo! Anyway, you all know the rest. So,

here I am sweating the decision of whether or not to have them taken

out. My gynecologist says yes, and soon. My (ex) Rheumatologist

says no, you won't get better anyways. My husband says - listen to

your rheumatologist! The rest of my family says - do whatever you

can to get better. My husband doesn't believe all my aches and

pains. He thinks I go on the internet to find phantom illnesses that

I can say I have. I guess he's partly right. For the last year and

a half, I've been researching all of my symptoms. I first found that

a hormone imbalance could be the culprit and my doctor treated me for

it. I didn't get better. Then hypothyroidism sounded like it fit

most of my symptoms and my doctor treated me for that with no

improvement. Then fibromyalgia seemed to fit the bill even better,

so I was diagnosed with that last fall. Since my gyn was treating me

for all of these " contrived " illnesses and fibromyalgia is normally

treated by a rheumatologist, he suggested I visit one. I did, and

was then diagnosed with " early inflammatory arthritis " (negative

rheumatoid factor) along with carpal tunnel, mild raynaud's, chronic

fatigue and almost all the symptoms of lupus just to mention a few!

I am really struggling now because I want to make the right

decision. I feel like taking the implants out will make me get

better, but what if it doesn't? Is there still a chance that I'll be

like this for the rest of my life? I'm only 38. I can barely walk

up a flight of stairs! I just became a grandma in March and my

little munchkin weighs 22 pounds! I'm not going to be able to pick

him up much longer. My daughter is 17 and they live with me. I need

to help her until she can get out on her own. Then my husband looks

at me like I'm such a failure because I don't vacuum anymore and I

rarely have the energy to make dinner. He says he understands, but

then he ends up taking his frustration out on the kids. He thinks

that if I can get dressed and put makeup on I should be able to clean

the house! I feel like my life is over sometimes. It feels like it

is because this is how you should feel at 98, not 38. My 70 year old

mother has 10 times more energy than me. I just want to get better.

I want to do the right thing. Sorry for rambling. This is the first

time I've ever " posted " a message. I have no idea if I'm supposed to

give my life story or not! Thanks for listening.... Pam