Re: Hello all, a few brief questions

[Guest guest]

Hi G,

You have asked some very important questions, and are doing the right thing

by looking into the possible dangers of breast implants. If you care about

your health, and it appears that you do, you will weigh this decision very

carefully.

I got saline implants for the very reasons that you are looking at them. I

nursed 4 children, and my breasts just didn't look good anymore.

I'll answer your questions:

> 1.) Did/does anyone here have a success story?

Sorry, I can't say that I did. It was the most tragic thing that has

happened to me.

>

> 2.) Do you believe that anyone can safely have saline inplants?

I do believe that SOME women can safely have implants for a period of time.

I do not believe that ANYONE or EVERYONE can have them. I think some women

are " allegic " in the same way that some people are allergic to penicillin,

or bee stings, or tuna, or certain kinds of jewelry, or any of a number of

things. This is a common medical fact, that different people react to

different things in different ways. The hard part that doctors can't

address is who will get sick, when. Allergies can develop at any time to

anyone.

>

> 3.) What are the worst side-effects?

They are the worst that you can imagine.....if you get sick from your

implants, you will experience devastating fatigue to the point that you can

no longer function normally, you will become depressed, you will find life

not worth living, you will be in pain, you may lose your ability to

concentrate and your brain will feel like it is stuffed with cotton balls or

cobwebs instead of living tissue.

>

> 4.) What side-effects can you live with?

If I had not gotten sick, the only side effects that I could have lived with

was firmer than normal breasts. Mine also were wrinkled, and I could feel

the wrinkles through my skin. I lost nipple sensation and had numbness in a

quadrant of my right breast. That was very hard to live with.

>

> 5.) What is the most common disadvantage of having inplants?

Other than getting sick, (which is much more serious than a disadvantage!) I

felt that my breasts just didn't feel like real breasts. Right now, with

the claims of having to have repeat surgery because the implants WILL leak,

and you WILL have to deal with them at some point in the future, whether

through illness or rupture, they seem more trouble than they are worth.

I would suggest that you have a breast lift (which I had after my implants

were removed) and forget implants. Your breasts will look and feel like

real breasts, and you will never have to go in for another surgery. You

can live happily ever after.

Patty

[Guest guest]

Patty,

Thank-you very much for taking the time to answer my questions.

I have a couple more... Did you lose sensation in your nipple

because that was where you had the incision? Did you have the

implants inserted behind or in front of the muscle tissue? Were you

allergic to the shell? If som how did you know, where you tested?

Can you be tested before-hand (I know that you are right about

allergies developing over time.) What do you mean about " wrinkled "

impants? Where they bunched up??

Well, I am very depressed as it looks as if I will have to deal

with more pain as I grow older! Getting older, for me, is turning

out to be more painful (emotionally) than I ever imagined! A breast

lift would do little for me without implants as my breasts are long

and flat. I have very little fatty tissue in my breasts as I am a

healthy vegetarian who exercises. Either way it looks as if I will

be dealing with severe depression as I age---sometimes, I hate being

a woman. I guess that I need to weigh out which will be worse!

Thanks for any more information you can provide. Do you know about

other cosmetic procedures?

TIA,

~~G

[Guest guest]

Hi G~!

> Patty,

> Thank-you very much for taking the time to answer my questions.

Just want you to be informed as much as possible about this life changing

decision!

> I have a couple more... Did you lose sensation in your nipple

> because that was where you had the incision?

No, my incision was in the crease underneath my breast. Changes in nipple

sensation are very common and listed as one of the side effects of having

implants, no matter where they put them in at. It probably has more to do

with damage to nerves from the procedure itself or nerves being pressed on

by the implant.

Did you have the

> implants inserted behind or in front of the muscle tissue?

Sub-muscular.

Were you allergic to the shell?

I don't know why I reacted to my implants at this point. I do know that

they were textured saline implants, and therefore on a microscopic level, I

was exposed to much more surface area of silicone than if I had smooth

shelled implants. Also, I have to assume that little bits of silicone were

gnawed off by my macrophages, and were carried to various parts of my body,

causing inflammation and other negative consequences. Finally, I have to

assume that there was some sort of leaching effect in my body of the

chemicals and metals involved in the manufacture of my implants. I do know

that I react to metals, and have since I was a teen. I tested high for

mercury and arsenic, and suffer symptoms similar to those who have heavy

metal toxicity, such as from mercury. (The brain fog, muscle twitching,

cognitive dysfunction, etc.)

If so, how did you know, where you tested?

I had an elevated rheumatoid factor, lowered C3 Complement and macrocytosis.

This was frightening enough to me to know that I was having some horrible

reaction that was consistent with the whole controversy surrounding

implants. Prior to having implants I was an amazingly healthy woman.

> Can you be tested before-hand (I know that you are right about

> allergies developing over time.)

That is something that the scientists will have to address. I don't know if

they are currently testing for silicone sensitivity yet or not. Even so,

that would not preclude anyone from developing a sensitivity at any future

time and suffering the tragic consequences anyway.

What do you mean about " wrinkled " implants? Where they bunched up??

Wrinkling is also a very common problem with implants, and is surmised to be

the reason for implant shell failure (rupture or leakage)as these become

stress points. My implants were overfilled, a commonly done practice to

avoid the problem of wrinkling. (They were 450cc, overfilled to 500cc) The

wrinkles would be similar to what you would see in a foil helium balloon

with seams--the air is tight inside the balloon, and yet the seams have

areas where they do not lie flat. I could feel this through my skin. I

think they have tried to address this issue with anatomically shaped

implants, but I don't know if these fare any better or not.

> Well, I am very depressed as it looks as if I will have to deal

> with more pain as I grow older! Getting older, for me, is turning

> out to be more painful (emotionally) than I ever imagined! A breast

> lift would do little for me without implants as my breasts are long

> and flat. I have very little fatty tissue in my breasts as I am a

> healthy vegetarian who exercises. Either way it looks as if I will

> be dealing with severe depression as I age---sometimes, I hate being

> a woman. I guess that I need to weigh out which will be worse!

> Thanks for any more information you can provide. Do you know about

> other cosmetic procedures?

I know how hard it is to accept our breasts after breastfeeding and having

them look so sad! I hated my breasts then. I really wanted to fix them

with the implants. So, I know where you are at, and yes, it is depressing.

It takes a little work to pull ourselves out of that frame of mind. A

breast lift might just do wonders for you. You won't know until you have a

consultation with a plastic surgeon who will respect your concerns about the

safety of implants, and not try to convince you that implants are the only

way to go. There are not too many options for permanent fixes at this

point. I know that several companies are working on alternatives--one is

Reprogenesis in Massachusetts, and they have experimented and successfully

created nipples and are working on whole breasts through tissue cloning. I

also recently posted a story about a woman who received breast tissue from

her twin sister's abdominal fat, and the possibility exists for a new

surgery technique using our own fat. This is not well known yet, and

definately not offered as an option. I encourgage you to read the archives

on the Saline Support site for this report, and if you want more info on

Reprogenesis, I can post that too.

However, for the present moment, your only choices will be to go for a lift,

and if you want more " breast " for your figure, then I would suggest using

breast enhancers. These are very good at creating the figure you want in

certain clothes, and can help tremendously with self confidence.

I hope this helps you!

God bless..

Patty