Ilena's mail

[Guest guest]

Note: forwarded message attached.

Subj: 6.19.05 Support Group Messages

Date: 6/19/2005 4:44:30 PM Eastern Standard Time

From: ilena2000@...

Dearest Friends in our Breast Implant Support System,

As I approach my ten year anniversary being deeply involved in the madness

of the breast implant controversy ... I remain ever thankful that love

continues to guide me ... despite everything.

I've had some wonderful conversations recently with actor/activist Sally

Kirkland ... who was recently misquoted in a NY Daily News article. What

this unfortunate comment has created fortunately ... is lots and lots of

media attention on the issue of breast implants and offspring. We both wish

Britney Spears a healthy pregnancy ... and applaud her giving up smoking

(and perhaps giving up implants too). She is a Role Model to millions ...

and we wish her the very best!

Please check the links here ... and very special thanks go again to

Keeling and CANDO for their work on the platinum issue and children. Sally

sends her love and healing energy to all of her sisters in our group:

www.BreastImplantAwareness.org#Sally

There are some excellent new links on our homepage too ... including the NOW

request to the Freedom of Information Act on Mentor data:

www.BreastImplantAwareness.org#NOW

Also, there's a wonderful article from NOW on young women getting implants

in high school.

www.BreastImplantAwareness.org#Sweet16

I want to welcome several new members ... and apologize for not responding

sooner to their support requests. Many of you know that I travel now

frequently as well as become innudated with all types of emails! I am

working right now to catch up ... and thank all of those who can respond to

these important support requests personally.

I do request that all of you change me to: ilena.rose@... in your

address books ... regardless of which address I use to email you. It's

complicated ... and I'm trying to simplify ... and be able to keep track of

all important messages. Please bear with me ...

I noticed that this article by Junk Science Flack, Stossel recently got

circulated.

http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=55775

Stossel:The FDA: bureaucrats who kill people

I wanted to remind all readers that he is 'joined at the hip' with Cato

Institute, CEI, AEI, junkscience.com (sound / industry 'science') purveyors

all the way. Despite of (and probably because of) his "gosh, I'm just a

consumer guy" front ... he is corporate backed all the way. This article

mirrors many of the pro-silicone arguments and arguers, that what is needed

is less government (read MORE corporate) control. I shall ever remember his

ABC program on "Junk Science" with Marcia Angell basically mocking the

illnesses that the vast majority of you share.

(please respond directly to these requests below and feel free to copy me)

With love to all on this Sunday ... may sanity prevail at the FDA!

Ilena Rosenthal

www.BreastImplantAwareness.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: Tara <smig@...>

Subject: my implants(are making me sick)

I have had my implants for approx.2 years....I have two beautiful children

ages 10 and 5..I recently have remarried and we are looking forward to

starting a family,unfortunatley I have suffered two miscarriages in the last

three months.I never had complications with my pregnancies in the past.Since

these miscarriages,I have also woken up each morning(over the last two

weeks) with crippling pain in my joints(from feet to neck,especially my

hands,hips and shoulders).I have been to my primary care,my gynecologist and

spoken to my plastic surgeon..they keep telling me I'm fine..I feel like I

am losing my mind!!!!!!I am not fine!!!Emotionally,and physically I feel

myself falling apart..and no one will listen!!!I don't know what to do...

Please help me,or at least point me in the right direction to get

help!!!!! Thank you

Tara

~~~~~~~~~~~~

XMASBEBA25@...

Dear Ms. Rosenthal,

My name is Yvette. I live in VA with my husband and 3 kids. I have

been a healthy women my whole life and the healthiest right before my

surgery, exercising and eating healthy. I am only 30 years old and had my

surgery 3

months ago with a highly regarded plastic surgeon in Washington, DC area.

Since my surgery my health has been rapidly deteriorating, I have severe

migraine

headaches that nothing has helped, I have aches in my bones and joints, my

right hand hurts so badly I can barely use it, I have blurred vision, I am

extremely tired, can't think straight, and am having problems remembering

things or forming words, and swollen lymph nodes. I had a brain scan at the

ER that

came back normal. My primary care doctor is puzzled. I am starting to think

that

it is my implants. Do you think this can be so? Please help. I feel like

I am going mad.

Yvette

XMASBEBA25@...

~~~~~~~~~~

From: jkw@...

I am looking for any contacts for support groups, names of sympathetic

plastic surgeons, or legal firms in the greater Seattle/Tacoma area that you

could share with me. I just got MRI results that my silicone implant is

ruptured. I am struggling with profound fatigue, Fibromyalgia, chronic

brain fog and am unable to do my job. I am going to a “recommended†plastic

surgeon with my MRI results tomorrow, but am convinced I will need to get at

least a second opinion.

Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated! Thanks, JKW.

Joyce

jkw@...

~~~~~~~~

Hi Ilena,

I am emailing from NSW, Australia. I had saline implants about 12 years ago.

I have never really been happy with them and now after reading so much about

the negative health effects, I am really considering having them removed.

I was wondering if you knew of any good plastic surgeons in Australia

experienced with safe removal. I am also looking for some information on

what is involved, what I can expect after removal and how it might affect me

with regards to breastfeeding. I have breastfed my first 2 children and am

trying for another child now. I am just wondering about whether

breastfeeding is safe for my babies.

Thankyou for any advice.

___________________________________

Ben, Maree, Joe & Harley

~~~~~~~~~~

Return-Path: helenwattier@...

As many of you know I have MGUS, was diagnosed about three years ago. I

just found out yesterday that I once again have a spike and the Bence

protein and have to have another bone marrow test. The oncologist that I am

seeing in Des Moines won't do it since Iowa City did it before. I cannot

get in until 6-27, what a crock. It seems like one thing after another. I

watch my health deteoriate daily, my energy is gone, constant pain, it goes

on and on. Thursday I had my pamidernate infusion and on Friday my IVIG

infusion so that I could attend my grandson's graduation. Today I came home

sick with a fever and headache feeling crappy. It seems it just keeps

getting worse, and I have not seen a cent or even heard from my lawyer as to

the pay out.

Kind of depressed and tired.

Helen

helenwattier@...

~~~~~~~~~~

From: marie.mcwilliams@...

Dear Ilena

I am sending you this email to you on behalf of my sister. My sister

development an autoimmune disease four years ago after having saline breast

implants she has since developed and has been diagnosed with Mysenthia

Gravis and also developed a tumour on her thymus gland which has had to be

removed, there is now no doubt in her mind that the implants have caused her

disease, however, her question is if she removes her implants will the

disease cure itself because she has read about many women that have

developed autoimmune diseases through breast implants but not much

information on complications and disfigurement on removal of the implants

Could you please send me any information/photos any disfigurement of the

breast once the implants are removed and peoples stories that have been

through this.

I would appreciate any information you may have to help her

marie.mcwilliams@...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: KamiLei@...

Click here: How to Help Your Thyroid With Virgin Coconut Oil 11/8/03

http://www.mercola.com/fcgi/pf/2003/nov/8/thyroid_health.htm

~~~~~~~~~~

From our Lany's board:

SBIPrayerForum/message/18981

From: sharonb@...

I am looking for a rheumatologist in the KC Metro area that is willing to

complete the paperwork for the disease category for the MDL926 settlement. I

had Surgitek/Bristol Meyers silicone breast implants. My current

rheumatologist

is not very cooperative so I am looking for a new one.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Also: I am looking for a fellow silicone survivor that I used to email.

She was in the Kansas City, Missouri area and her name is

Livojevich. If anyone knows her new email address could you please

let her know that Sharon Beresford is looking for her and give her my

email address.

From: sharonb@...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: Joynerjoni@...

Ilena:

Yesterday I went to the doctor and he said I had arthritis and that my spine

had separated and I had to have a fusion. Is this a symptom from breast

implants or do you know?

Thanks.

Joni Joyner

Joynerjoni@...

~~~~~~~~~~

This is a beautiful piece written by the teenaged son of our , long a

support group member. She has given me permission to share it with you all.

Comirror21@... ()

Dear Ilena,

I thought you might want to read my son's college application essay. He is

an award winning writer and was accepted early decision to NYU's Tisch

School of the Arts for Film and TV. It probably describes many of the sick

womens' childrens' lives:

Personal Statement:

I am home earlier than usual; play rehearsal has been canceled. I ascend

the unpainted wooden steps of my modest home on the outskirts of the

otherwise privileged Clayton School District, open the door, and enter. I

step into the closet-like study on the right and turn on the computer. I

log onto my mom's screen name. "Any other parent would hit the roof," I

think to myself.

In her inbox, I find 18 unread e-mails from her online support group for

women poisoned by ruptured breast implants. She must be really sick today.

I walk into the living room, pausing longer than usual to look at the framed

pictures displayed on the grand piano. There is an old picture of my mother

and me laughing and playing together at a family barbecue and another of my

mom playing piano at a concert hall. They remind me of the energetic person

she was before her health declined to its current state, beyond repair. In

another picture, my father, who has been absent for much of my life, smiles

at me from the bleachers of one of my half-brother's basketball games.

I make my way across the kitchen to my mom's room, tiptoeing in case she's

asleep. I stick my head into her door to find her lying in bed, awake,

looking miserable. She doesn't see me. I've caught her off guard; she

usually makes it a point to be up cooking or tending to something important

when I get home from school, but even something small like talking to a

friend on the phone can exhaust her. "You've got mail!" I mechanically

bellow, stepping into the room. "Oh -- hi, honey," she says, giggling

despite her pain. "You sound just like the AOL guy." "Thank you!," I say

in the same cartoonish voice. I hesitate to ask how her day was (I already

know the answer) but I do anyway. "Not so good," she sighs, almost

apologetically. "I'm sorry," I say, giving her a hug. "Wait just a minute,

Mom." I walk out through the kitchen and into my room, where I open my

discman and pop in a copy of Joni 's Blue. I return to my mom's

room and hand her the CD player. "Here, Mom. This will help." As always,

it does.

As I walk back through the untidy kitchen, I reflect about my mom's struggle

with silicone poisoning. For years it's been a black cloud hanging over me,

a secret I've kept from all but my closest friends. Virtually no one knows

about my turbulent, inconsistent homelife. For as long as I can remember,

my mom has been in and out of hospitals with mysterious health problems,

always leaving doctors puzzled. They did not realize, until it was too

late, that ruptured silicone breast implants were responsible for these

maladies. "If people knew the real truth, what would they think?" I would

always ask myself. "Would they think badly about me or my mother? Would

everything change?" However, on this day I finally understand the absurdity

of my self-doubt. Perhaps it's seeing my mom consumed by pain one time too

many, or perhaps it's seeing all of my mom's unread e-mails, knowing that

behind each one is a woman suffering just like her. Whichever it may be, on

this day, I finally am able to fathom that the circumstances here are not

going to improve. And on this day, I realize that I have an opportunity to

bring positive change to the world. How will I change the world for the

better? I will start by making my mother's story known. I hurry toward the

study room; I have a newspaper article to write.

As Arts Editor for my school newspaper, I am generally concerned with

writing next month's album review. With this personal column, however, I am

taking a risk, exposing a particularly painful part of my life. In fact, I

can safely say that this is the first true risk I have taken in my life.

For the first time, I feel like I'm truly doing something important,

something that may prevent other chemical tragedies from occurring in the

future. I start to type. It feels good typing the article which, in three

weeks, will cause an unexpected sensation among students and faculty, make

many people eager to learn more, and move one girl to tears. Indeed, it is

my first great risk, and I can confidently say it won't be the last.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Much appreciation to Kathy Nye & Carolyn Wolf for getting these to us ...

many feel very close to home here!

The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again asked

readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding,

subtracting, or changing of one letter, and supply a new definition.

Here are this year's {2005} winners:

Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders

the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.

2. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

3. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which

lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people

that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer,

unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the

near future.

6. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the

purpose of getting laid.

7. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

8. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit

and the person who doesn't get it.

9. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are

running late.

10. Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.

11. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got

extra credit.)

12. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off

all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth

explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.

13. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through

the day consuming only things that are good for you.

14. Glibido: All talk and no action.

15. Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem

smarter when they come at you rapidly.

16. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed

just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

17. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that

gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast

out.

18. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding

half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

~~~~~~~~~~~

National Cancer Institute grant is earmarked for the study of the two

alternative remedies, each of which has shown promise in reducing risks for

breast, prostate and colorectal malignancies, and in enhancing cancer

treatment.

Propolis and turmeric are rich in plant polyphenolic compounds that exhibit

potent antitumor activities, the researchers said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(I apologize if anyone gets this twice ... I'm trying to combine all my

lists but there are still some glitches ... )