Breast implant illness

Well, I have an appt with the chief of plastic surgery at Beaumont for March 6th for a consultation to get my breast implants removed. After joining 3 different fb groups for implant illness and implant illness and breast cancer and one for healing after implants and doing a LOT of research this week, I've decided that I have to get these out. I HAVE to. They are making me sick. Like I said in my previous post, I had no idea there was even such a thing as breast implant illness (BII) until Sunday. I'm so tired of hurting all the time. My back, my legs, my hips, my hands, my forearms, my feet (and not like they are tired). I didn't know what was going on with me. Do I have rheumatoid arthritis? Fibromyalgia? What is going on with me? Just over the last few years so many things have changed about me. I've been to dr's to try to get help and they all tell me, I'm post menopausal, it's my age (57), my weight. It's because I had 2 major surgeries in 3 years and that changes your body and mind. I was so fed up with it last weekend and so down feeling about how little energy I have, how I've gained all this weight and can't get it off no matter what I do (dr: your body is in a battle with itself because of your 2 female hormonal surgeries). My life has changed so much. I can't do a lot of the things I used it just a couple years ago, it's frustrating. To decline that fast. I can hardly go up and down my basement stairs, it hurts so bad.

I don't know why it suddenly popped into my head, could it have anything to do with my implants? I was complaining to Matt, like I often do now, and said, ever since my surgeries I haven't been the same. I've said that a million times to him, starting with the first week after my mastectomy. My back was so bad when I came home. My stomach always bloated and blah feeling and making all kinds of gurgling noises whenever I eat. Still does that. Bloats as soon as I eat. I kept saying, my stomach isn't the same. My body has changed but dr's kept saying that happens with major surgery sometimes. So I decided to google, "Could my breast implants be making me sick?" I don't know if it was divine intervention or what ;) that that popped into my head and I don't know why it took me almost 6 years for it to happen, but you wouldn't believe all the stuff that came up in that search. I clicked on a couple things and learned about BII. They described me to a T. I was floored. I read it to Matt and he said, what the hell?! They had a link to a facebook group so I went and joined the closed group. As soon as I was approved I sat and read. There's over 30,000 women on there all exactly like me. It freaks me out every single day to read their posts about how their arms hurt, how they thought they have RA and some got diagnosed with some of these diseases....the one's who have had implants for many, many years. Someone will say, does anyone get pains under their breast, like a stabbing pain? And all of us say yes. Does anyone have trouble losing weight? Does anyone have trouble breathing? That was today's. I read the thread and almost started crying because I was diagnosed with asthma 3 years ago. Started having a lot of trouble breathing and developed this cough so went to dr. She put me on an inhaler. Started a new dr last year and she wanted to do a breathing test and found nothing wrong with me, no asthma. Yet I can't breathe. Every one was saying the same thing. They all get breathing tests and pass but can't breathe. One woman said, I bend over to pick something up and I can't breathe. I huff and puff for 5 minutes after that. Her dr told her to lose weight but she's 5"7" and weighs 135. It's just so weird to be a part of 3 different groups and we all have the same symptoms, all developed after implants. And they post their before explant pictures and after explant and the difference!! Everyone says when they get their implants out, they lose 5-10lbs that first week from inflammation. Some continue to lose weight. All of them stop hurting within the first week. All their breathing problems go away immediately. One girl woke up from surgery and started crying cause she could take a deep breath and not cough. Everyone says "the heal is real".

I have done a LOT of research this week, a lot of reading. I have a full page of questions. I have to have a procedure called en bloc capsulectomy. It involves very careful, tedious removal of the implants so not to rupture them. They clean out the cavity where they sit and all the scar tissue and possibly some lymph nodes if they are affected. They run tests to see if you have metal poisoning and mold. You get to keep your implants for future possible lawsuits. I don't intend to sue anyone, I just want them out. It's possible they have been leaking. they also sweat and the sweat causes the chemicals (named in another post) to leak out. I also found out that ALL implants are made from silicone. The shell is silicone. No one told me that when I chose to have saline implants. So when they sweat, the silicone and all the metals of the shell leak out into your body and causes all the symptoms I've been having plus more. Left in too long and they can cause lifelong diseases and in some cases, death. I also have valves on mine, used to fill with more saline after they are inserted if you decide you want to be bigger or smaller. I had to have a second minor surgery to get closed up permanently after I decided to stay this size. And now I find out that implants made by Mentor, with a textured shell and with valves, which I have both of, by Mentor, have been failing. The valves leak which lets the saline leak out, lets air in and they turn moldy. Then the mold leaks out into your body, very similar to the mold in your bathroom, black mold. There are lawsuits over the leaky valves and textured shells. It was also discovered around last spring that the textured implants are causing cancer. I asked my breast surgeon about it and she said there was nothing to worry about. I asked her what signs to watch for and she said there isn't any. I have been uncomfortable with them in my body ever since. I found a test on a Dr's website to test for mold so I took it. It says it is certain that I have mold poisoning. I have 11 of the 13 clusters of signs of having black mold in my body...red eyes, breathing problems, metallic taste in your mouth and many more. THAT freaks me out. That's when I decided to make an appt for a consultation.

All of this really freaks me out and it also disappoints me. I thought I was over this. I thought I could put it in my past. the plastic surgeon who put them in said I might have to change them out after 10 yrs but most women have them for life. Even told me I'd have the nicest breasts in the nursing home. Never told me about the dangers. I thought I did my research on them before getting them but I guess I didn't dig deep enough. I'm not happy with the thought of another surgery. I'm scared. I'm scared to be completely flat. Scared of what they'll find. But feel there's no other choice. They are making me sick now and I don't even want to think about what they'll do to me in the future.