Re: explantation??

[Guest guest]

i had them explanted in oct. go to http://www.breastimplantsupport.org/..and

they provide u with a list of doctors. hope this helps.

[Guest guest]

Hi ,We do not have any New Mexico doctors on our list, unfortunately. You might want to consider traveling. There are good doctors in Arizona (I saw Dr. Karl Hiatt in Mesa, AZ for proper removal of my implants) and Texas. Anne Stansell is from New Mexico, and she has been very much involved in breast implant support issues for many, many years. You may want to get in touch with her, if you can. She may be able to help find a good doctor in Albuquerque, where she leads a support group.http://www.absolutelysafe.com/characters.html

Anne Stansell

"The doctor says you have breast cancer. You need a mastectomy, you need radiation, you need breast implants. It's like part of the whole treatment. In reality I didn't need the breast implants to get over the cancer. But they make it seem like it was all part of the recovery. It was a terrible thing."

Breast cancer survivor Anne Stansell is one of the most active and inspirational voices speaking out against breast implants today. In addition to sharing her story and testifying at numerous FDA hearings, Anne has also exhibited her powerful and beautiful collection of photographs to FDA panels. Anne's photographs document the bodies of everyday women whose breast implants failed, causing complications, sickness, and disfigurement.

After surviving breast cancer at the age of 39, Anne's doctors told her that along with her mastectomy and radiation therapy, she needed silicone breast implants. Presented as part of the standard treatment and not as a choice to consider, Anne trusted her doctors whom she felt "had just saved her life." At this time, Anne did not know that breast cancer patients with breast implants had not been fully studied.

Five years after getting her implants and recovering from cancer, Anne became very ill. Her symptoms were unrelated to past cancer and presented ailments she'd never experienced before. Diagnosed with Grave's Disease and Fibromyalgia, Anne also suffered a torn retina from severely dry eyes.

After battling her insurance company to help with the expense of implant removal, Anne had her implants removed two years later. Upon ex-plantation, doctors discovered that half of one of Anne's implants was missing. During her FDA testimony, Anne asked "where did the silicone go?" In the coming years, Anne found silicone in her side, where it had eventually migrated. Like many other women, Anne's health improved after her implants were removed from her body.

Today, Anne leads a support group in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for breast cancer patients who have had similar experiences with breast implants. Anne continues to speak out against breast implant use in cancer patients and lobbies the FDA to require more extensive research on breast implant safety for all populations. Anne's voice and creative eye are an inspiration to thousands of women in the breast implant safety debate.Here is an article on her. (I apologize that I don't have her address:)http://www.news-bulletin.com/lavida/38362-02-25-04.htmlPhotos of horses and cancer survivorshttp://www.news-bulletin.com/lavida/71654-05-30-07.html Anne Stansell turns her lens toward subjects that really matter to her T.S. Last News-Bulletin Staff Writer; tslastnews-bulletin Los Chavez Anne

Stansell has a unique perspective. It comes from being an immigrant —

she moved to New Mexico with her family from Holland when she was 14

years old — and it comes

from being a cancer survivor. Click to enlarge Her

view on life is often framed in the viewfinder of her camera. Though

she's worked locally in real estate for 25 years, Stansell is also an

accomplished photographer. Her images have appeared in such

publications as American Parade, Newsweek and Self magazines — not to

mention the Valencia County News-Bulletin and on the cover of the

Valencia and Socorro counties phonebook. "I've always been interested in arts — visual things," says

Stansell, who dabbled in drawing and painting when she was a younger woman. While

her job in real estate helps pay the bills, and she really doesn't make

any money off her photos, Stansell says photography is more than a

hobby. "Hobbies are what you do to get your mind off of things. Photography takes a lot of concentration," she says. Stansell took up photography later in life. "I

took a photography class as part of my recovery from breast cancer,"

says Stansell, who was diagnosed with the disease in 1987. Stansell had her breasts removed to eliminate the spread, and, like countless other women, had implants inserted. "The

implants hurt my health worse than cancer," says Stansell, who suffered

the effects of silicon leakage — chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, vision

problems, skin discoloration and Grave's disease. "All implants are

for cosmetic purposes. They tell you that you need it for your mental

health, but putting foreign objects in your body is not a good

solution." Stansell had the implants removed but says she still feels the effects of the toxins that remain in her body. Stansell

formed a support group of women who have had similar symptoms. It was

about that time she had taken up photography and it was suggested that

she might do a photo project that would help get the word out about the

dangers associated with breast implants. Stansell got the cooperation of dozens of women to pose topless. "I

wanted to put a face to the statistics and started taking pictures of

these women," she says. "We're real people with real families." The

images make a powerful impact. They were used in advertisements and in

pamphlets warning of the dangers of implants. Stansell, who has become

an advocate for the cause, has traveled to

Washington, D.C., to share the striking photos with the Food and Drug

Administration and the National Institutes of Health. "I showed them one after another to drive the point that these are their mothers, their aunts, their grandmothers," she says. Those

same images will also appear in an upcoming documentary "Absolutely

Safe?" on the issue by Carol Ciancutti-Leyva of New York. Stansell is

one of several women featured in the film, scheduled for release this

fall. To take portraits, Stansell said she uses a Voightlander camera that uses a larger than normal negative. "The

large format negative makes for excellent pictures. The larger the

negative the bigger the print, so I use a lot of that with portraits,"

she says. Her implant project was done in black and white. "It was more appropriate way of doing that project," she says. "The horses, I do in color." The

horses she refers

to are part of what might be described as a "pet project," but these

ponies are nobody's pets. They're the wild horses involved in the New

Mexico Horse Project, a group headed by LoPopolo. Its aim is to

preserve the bloodlines of wild horses that through DNA analysis have

been identified as being direct descendents of the barbs who were

introduced to the continent by Spanish explorers. They are considered

the first American horse. "It's a wonderful thing that they're out in the wild," says Stansell. After her implant photo series gained notoriety, Stansell says the horse project became her next project. "As the stories came out locally, I was asked by the New Mexico Horse Project to be their photographer," she says. Stansell

was present when the first of the New Mexico Horse Project's horses

were released into the San Pedro Creek Preserve on the east side of the

Sandia Mountains in 2002. It was then and there

that Stansell captured one of her favorite photos — one that was

reprinted in American Parade and made the cover of the Directory Plus

phonebook for Valencia and Socorro counties. Stansell took many photos that day, but "that was the most dynamic," she says. Stansell told the story of how the photo of Sombrio, the lead stallion, was taken. Sombrio

was released along with two mares and their foals. While the others

freely left their trailer and ran up a nearby hill, one foal stayed

put. "He wanted to stay behind and play," Stansell says. The Horse Project volunteers tried to coax the colt to join its mother. "We

chased, pushed and even carried him some, but he would always come back

down the hill," Stansell says. "Then an amazing thing happened." Sombrio,

who was not the father of the young horse, came around from behind and

approached the colt. Stansell, who was standing part way up

the hill, said she watched as the colt nudged and bonded with the

stallion. Sombrio then started walking up the hill toward her with the

colt trailing behind. "I was poised, camera in hand, between Sombrio and the mares — a somewhat dangerous place to be," she says. Noticing her, Sombrio became agitated. He swerved and skittered from side to side. "I stood my ground, thinking, 'This is my shot,'" she says. Stansell

clicked the shutter on her 35 mm camera just as Sombrio began to charge

in her direction. She stepped aside at the last moment, feeling the

horse brush by. Interestingly, the colt is almost totally

obscured in the photo. The only evidence it's there is a portion of its

ear is visible behind the stallion's backside. That photo

of Sombrio is the only one Stansell has for sale. It's only available

at 's Gallery in Madrid, just a few miles down the road from

where the photo was

taken. Stansell says she'll continue to serve as

photographer for the Horse Project, but she keeps one eye open for that

next great shot. Having survived cancer,and still dealing

with the effects caused by her implants, she's eager to share her

perspective of the world with others. "I'm kind of ready for the next project. I'm always looking for another interesting project," she says. , I wish you well...so glad you found us. I'm really sorry to hear of your struggles with your health since getting implants. It's a tragedy, but we know it's possible to get better once the implants are removed. Never give up hope about that!Keep us posted on your explant date.Patty>> Hi everyone... I had saline implants in February of 1999; Mentor "adjustable". I had no problems until 5 years later. I had a positive ANA and high sed rate. From there it was a downward spiral, culminating with a diagnosis of connective tissue disease and chronic ITP. I've seen numerous Hematologists, Rheumatologists, and even more plastic surgeons. Not one doctor ever mentioned my implants possibly being the culprit. I am now very sick and the chronic ITP has totally changed my life. It has only been the last few days that I have begun my search and have decided that it is time to have my saline implants removed. I now know that the surgery must be performed by a competent doctor, one who has experience in explantation, who agrees that it should be done en bloc, total capsulectomy, and does not argue the use of drains. The problem now is, who???? I live in New Mexico and the closest doctor I can find is in Texas. Rave reviews; only two negative. With the diagnosis of chronic ITP, I have had a hysterectomy this past June, so I don't think the surgery itself should pose a problem as long as my platelet levels are up... ugh... this is so overwhelming and I am very, very, very tired. Does anyone out there know of a good doctor in my area? Any help is truly appreciated.> > >