Re: saline implants are safe?

February 2, 2002

Dr. Feng is one of the best plastic surgeons I have ever seen, but

she also implants women who desire implants. She does, however, tell

them ALL of the RISKS and possible complications.

I know this is seems like a double standard to you, and you have a

right to question this. Maybe it would help if you try to see breast

implants and breast prosthesis needs as other medical products and

devices. NONE are SAFE for all people. I can think of no medication

or product that does not carry contraindications and warnings and

nearly all medicines have side effects. Even antibiotics carry some

risk and some are deadly to certain people.

We often think of breast implants as totally unnecessary evils that

should be outlawed because they seem frivolous or cosmetic. However,

there are so many hurting women out there who have lost breasts to

breast cancer or car accidents, have birth defects or have NO BREASTS

whatsover. These women are often so anguished and embarrassed that

it can be a matter of emotional concern. Some just deserve the

CHOICE to at least TRY. They may not be safe, and they may never be

100% safe, because they are FOREIGN OBJECTS.

The body is designed to FIGHT off foreign invaders. To implant

ANYTHING is going against nature, because our autoimmune systems were

built to surround foreign invaders, fight them, and force them out.

If it can't be accomplishes, it will try to encapsulate it to keep it

from invading the tissues around it. This is not only true for

breast implants, but for artificial joints, heart valves, organ

transplants, etc. Some people have no choice but to risk these

devices, because they will may not be able to live, or walk, or

function in some area.

My father is on kidney dialysis and has been for years. It is NOT a

NATURAL THING, and he has the same issues of silicone victims, but no

one would think of insisting that dialysis machines be outlawed. It

is ALL we have right now, and hopefully one day there will be BETTER

alternatives and tubing that will not slough off silicone.

Remember, most of our cosmetic procedures were developed in WARTIME.

We had maimed and disfigured men on the battlefields who had to be

repaired. Who would say it was a travesty to try and repair our

injured soldiers?

We sometimes forget that our sisters who get breast augmentation are

sometimes just like injured soldiers in this life. Not all

implantees are topless dancers. They are REAL people who feel

inadequate or deformed.

Hopefully, our struggles and our stories will go down in history and

our victimization will be viewed differently. We are the pioneers and

maybe the lawsuits and the brave people who have spoken out will be

the ones who spurred the medical community to search for BETTER

answers to these problems.

Once we are sick, we usually find our priorities are in perspective.

I no longer cared if I had breasts or not. I just wanted to be out of

PAIN. But, once, I thought I would be happy if only I had my saggy

breasts fixed. HOW my experience changed my perspective!

Not all women are where we are, Angelika. Right now, I would NEVER

consider putting implants in my body and neither would you. But the

woman who has just faced cancer, chemotherapy and longs to be whole

may see it as the lessor of 2 evils.

The greed and dishonesty of the manufacturers is QUITE another story

and let us NOT forget who our enemies are right now. They failed us,

because the LIED and did not warn us of the potential risks. Their

motivation is to MAKE MONEY, and this is the case with many plastic

surgeons.

BUT, a good physician is one who tells the truth, weighs the cost,

PROVIDES a service to a patient, respects their wishes and listens to

their needs, and is capable of understanding their pain. Some women

would rather risk death than to be disfigured and they have the right

to chose, just as my father has the right to chose to go to dialysis

3 times a week. One day, he will wake up and say " NO MORE " .

Our job is to INFORM and PROTECT women's rights and do our very best

to find help and support for the ones who are having problems with

this medical device.

One other comment I have. If this is a NEEDED medical

prosthesis/device, and the FDA still allows for it to be available to

the women who chose it, then the government should REQUIRE insurance

companies to COVER it. PERIOD. If women chose to have this device,

and they are so safe (?? and I have my doubts!) then insurance

companies could make money on insuring them. Accurate records would

be available, the REAL NUMBERS of complications and costs would

quickly surface, and I find it hard to believe that one can insure

their contact lenses and cannot be insured when their breast

prosthesis breaks. If they are going to be on the market, this

society needs to make a way for the women with problems to have them

READILY and SAFELY removed. If they can't pass laws to protect our

women, then they need to reconsider their safety.

I do not know Dr. Kolb, and I also considered her to explant me. In

fact, I emailed her for information. In the end, I chose another

surgeon. We all have different personalities and needs, and a Dr. who

is not perfect for one patient, may be perfect for another.

I don't mean to sound compromising, but I think we all need to

realize the pain of the women who feel they need a breast prosthesis.

Many of them will be needing us SOON and will not need to feel

condemnation. They will be suffering enough.

YOu may not agree with me, but I hope you can at least understand why

not all breast implant victims feel that there should be no breast

implants. We really do pray for SAFE ones, because there is a need

for a safe answer to the women who desire them for very good reasons.

We will never reach the people we need to reach and help if we are

not compassionate and understanding of their needs and issues.

February 2, 2002

I think choice is important. If women want implants, give them implants, but only after laying out the FACTS first. Not the standard BS given by most PS, but the real issues. Then if women still want them, I don't have a problem with that. For me, implants were a mistake, I think they have little aesthetic value and they look phoney.This is America, Kolb do her implants, choice. But I can see people questioning this issue too....first do no harm.... well this is where choice comes in.

February 2, 2002

I can't answer for Dr. Kolb, but I can tell you what

one plastic surgeon told me . . .

- If a woman really wants implants, she's going to

get them. If one doctor refuses to put them in, she

will find a doctor who will. She may go to a doctor

who will not be as careful as the doctor who

understands the dangers and takes every precaution

possible.

As long as the FDA refuses to take them off the

market, the FDA giving their cautious approval. That

makes many women who have not had our experience think

they are safe. . . While we know better, some people

have to experience it for themselves. The

manufacturers have been employing some very effective

(and expensive) public relations people.

In my opinion, until someone who is both highly

visibility and in authority becomes ill from implants,

this mess is going to continue.

In the meantime, the pro-implant forces continue to

shed responsibility . .. something like the cigarette

people did.

It's becoming an ever colder and crueler world.

All we can do is try to educate people, and support

those who don't get the message until they become ill.

Rogene

--- Angelika <angmattoni@...> wrote:

> I just cannot do this anymore. Everyone continues

> to go on about how this doctor is so great but if

> she is so great why does she continue to implant

> women and why does she continue to keep her

> implants? I don't understand this. I don't mean to

> be negative, I am just trying ask an honest

> question. Don't get me wrong, I have read a lot of

> great literature that she has written on the dangers

> of breast implants. I guess I don't understand it

> and never will accept it. Can anyone please answer

> my question so I may be able to see things from a

> different perspective?

>

__________________________________________________

February 2, 2002

Very well said, Rogene. I was thinking the same thing after I went to

bed (which was quite late). Someone like Dr. Kolb or Dr. Feng would

not be so likely to put implants in a woman that are too large. They

exercise great caution and care because they know and believe the

potential complications. When a women gets her mind set on breast

implants, she believes what she WANTS to believe and goes after them.

Which is why I have never understood why our enemies and the medical

profession have fought so hard to silence those of us who have had

problems. It will hardly make a difference to those who feel they

need them, and they will go to whoever and wherever they can buy them.

Even if they become illegal, the underground market will still be

alive and well.

One thing we DO KNOW, is that the complication and risk rates vary

from one surgeon to another. Another thing we KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE,

we do NOT have to convince a woman who is truly being affected

adversely by her implants. The day comes when SHE KNOWS THAT SHE

KNOWS and NO ONE can tell her otherwise.

The thrust of our mission at this point MUST be to help those who

know and are suffering. At that point, they already have enough

guilt, fears and regrets but it is too late. They do NOT deserve

what the medical community, manufacturers and media have done to

them. We may never convince a BA woman in her " honeymoon " stage with

implants that she is imminent danger, and the ones who ARE in the

crisis already KNOW. Teaching them to negative, bitter and angry

will accomplish nothing and perhaps even worsen their condition.

Perhaps we can start discussing creative and loving alternatives to

educate the public and regain our credibility. Perhaps we can get

enough information with COMPASSION out, that we can PREVENT women who

have LOVELY BODIES to be content and realize implants are NOT WORTH

THE RISK. And those who have TRUE and anguishing breast problems can

then make INFORMED decisions and weight the cost and hopefully have a

prosthesis with strict controls and standards which afford them a

minimum amount of risks.

Sometimes I just want to CRY and SCREAM, when I see before and after

photos on the pro implant sites. The ones that BREAK MY HEART are

the ones that have PERFECT or nearly perfect breasts to begin with

and have been duped into thinking they are SAFE and that

complications are RARE. All I am asking, is that THE TRUE stats are

available and that the surgeons quit LYING and playing down the

horror of complications and let the women decide without the shroud

of ignorance.

Aside from our LEGAL concerns, we must now be WISE as SERPANTS and

HARMLESS as DOVES, and we need to support and not malign those

surgeons who are willing to help us. They are few and far between.

February 2, 2002

I do completely understand and definitely agree with you. Thank you for

explaining everything. From your informative explanation I can now

understand why docs now implant them into women.

I just don't understand why a person who who writes so much about how bad

something is and pratices holistic healing would implant herself with breast

implants. I thought that people that are into these issues okay emotionally

to not have them. At least a lot of acquaintances I have meet through yoga,

the local health food store and on the interent would never have them, even

several breast cancer patients I have met. They are into health so they are

more worried about their health rather than having some breasts.

I just want to thank you again for your response. You have helped me see

things in a different way which I think is an important thing. We need to

look through the eyes of other people to help undertand one another.