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Linda's Story
by Linda
Until the age of 22 years I never really paid much attention to my physical appearance. I was flat chested and
big nosed but I was always told I had a great personality! I was actually approached by a beauty pageant director
one day, and she suggested I compete in their local pageant. I was flattered to say the least! Six months later,
with my less than perfect features, I won a second place trophy in the Miss Anaheim/Miss America Beauty Pageant.
That day was the start of a whole new me. I soon discovered the world of plastic surgery and the quest to be physically
perfect.
I started out innocently enough by correcting my slightly oversized nose. It was a successful surgery and a quick
recovery. I could even breathe more freely, so the whole experience was a positive one and continues to be to this
day. But I soon got the notion that breast implants were the key ingredient to the perfect shaped woman. The surgeon
who sculpted my nose showed me fabulous photos of women he had personally transformed. They were on the covers
of Playboy magazine and various athletic advertisements. I was small boned and petite but the idea of changing
my padded "A" cup bra to a healthy "C" cup really got my interest going.
In 1985 I scheduled my breast enhancement surgery. The doctor and I discussed the size and shape of the Mentor
silicone breast implants. We held up the implants and I looked sideways to see how voluptuous I could soon become.
It all seemed so simple. For around $3,000.00 I could be the perfect shaped woman. Wow! No more padded bras, I
could pick out any swimsuit my heart desired. Everything would look great on me. And, most importantly the implants
would last a lifetime, right? Well, I never asked that question and my surgeon never mentioned anything that would
have caused a red light to go off. I do recall after the surgery was over the doctor telling me I should avoid
hot tubs. Hmmm, I wonder if he did have doubts about implants back then? And, a phone call to my doctor about a
year later to tell him I hit the water pretty hard from water skiing, he seemed extremely concerned. Boy, I didn't
think that by having these little gel capsules I would no longer be able to live a normal life. Was I in for a
real shocker….
I remember the day of my breast enhancement surgery as if it were yesterday. My boyfriend accompanied me to the
surgeon's office. It was a different feeling though than getting your nose bobbed. I actually felt like a fish
getting ready to be gutted as I lay there shivering on the steel table. I remember the horror of waking during
the surgery itself. I could not speak but I could certainly feel EVERYTHING the doctor was doing to my breasts.
I sensed a burning and tugging feeling. I lay there paralyzed hearing and feeling everything that was going on.
I managed to wiggle my toes to get the doctors attention. He yelled at the nurse…the next time I awoke the surgery
was over. Thank God. The ride home was a blur. My boyfriend said I passed out a few times in the car and he was
not sure if he should drive me home or back to the surgeon's office.
I cried for the first 3 days following the surgery. It was painful and the pressure around my chest was unbearable.
I called my best girl friend that had the same surgery done 3 weeks prior. I told her my horror story of the surgery
day and how much pain I was in. She started to cry and said, "I know what you went through. I felt the same
way. I did not want to tell you for fear you would not go through with the operation". I reassured her that
I would have had the surgery no matter what. I was determined to have bigger breasts.
Three months later I was trying on new swimsuits and the horror of the surgery was behind me. I thought my breasts
looked great even though they did not appear very natural. I could not help but notice my boyfriend who had always
touched my breasts prior to the surgery was now avoiding my breasts! And, why had those judges from the Miss Hollywood
International Pageant laugh at me during my swimsuit competition? Why did my breasts look like cantaloupes and
feel hard as rocks? Would the breasts finally relax in shape? I waited and waited. I was told; by my surgeon I
had developed scar tissue around the silicone implants. This was a normal occurrence for some women. It's your
own body's way of dealing with something foreign inside of you. But why had my girlfriend's breasts look so normal
after her surgery? We both hired the same doctor and had the same size implants inserted. Why me? "Everyone
reacts differently," the doctor told me. So lucky me, I developed the scar tissue, thus the reason for their
hard and unnatural looking appearance. I decided against the doctors suggestion of "breaking the capsule"
by intense pressure with his hands. I decided to just live with my fake looking breasts. But hey, I looked great
in clothes!
So life went on with me trying to hide my breasts. I made sure no one saw me nude in the women's locker room, and
had to buy bathing suits that covered me well. Otherwise, it was a dead give away that I had implants. Bras did
not fit me properly, and I could not wear low cut tops without looking strange.
I discovered hard lumps in my breasts and became obsessed with the notion of getting cancer. I started getting
annual mammograms at the young age of 26 to help ease my mind. On the 10-year anniversary of my implants (1995)
I no longer only had deformed and hard looking breasts. I was now dealing with other problems. I started getting
a lot of colds and flu's. The lymph nodes under my chin would get as big as golf balls. I was at the doctor's office
constantly. Sinus infections, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Depression, a dull
ache in my right ovary area, indigestion. It was a nightmare to say the least. I did not know what to do. I turned
to antidepressants and read countless medical books trying to cure myself. Doctors told me everything was in my
head. Except for my husband and my family. They kept saying, "We think it's your implants that are causing
all your problems".
That same year my sister's girlfriend had her silicone implants removed because she had developed Lupus. She was
the only woman I knew that had associated her implants with her medical problems. I was surprised and relieved
to hear her symptoms went away following her removal of the implants. I personally continued to battle strange symptoms but
I did not have any autoimmune type illnesses so I did not believe my implants were to blame. And besides, the scar
tissue surrounding my implants would keep any silicone from going through my body if in fact they were ruptured.
In February 1999 (14 years of silicone implants) I awoke in the middle of the night to see and feel my left thumb
twitching back and forth. It was as if an electrical charge was going off and I could feel the sensation throughout
my entire body. The twitching continued all through the night and I found myself at the hospital the next morning.
Doctor's were baffled, but gave me Valium, wrapped it and sent me home with a diagnosis of a wrenched thumb. Seven
days later as my thumb continued to twitch, I started noticing muscle spasms and twitching in my buttocks, thighs,
calves and back. I FREAKED OUT! I went to my family physician and he referred me to a neurologist. He thought I
either had MS or some type of autoimmune disease. The twitching was keeping me up all night. I could no longer
function and I had my mother fly out to help me. My husband did not know what to do with me. I could not go to
work because I was a basket case. I did not want MS! I did not want any type of autoimmune disease. Please, God
help me!
The MRI scan of my brain came back normal; I tested negative for any autoimmune diseases. The neurologist did not
have an answer as to why I was experiencing my strange symptoms. "These kinds of things can just happen to
people for no apparent reason", he said. I was given a prescription of Klonopin to help relax my body. I learned
to deal with the twitching and found that consuming high quantities of electrolytes helped ease the unusual spasms.
I lived off of bananas and Emergency C packets along with every type of healthy food I could get my hands on.
What was going on with my body? Why was I now developing tingling sensations in my hands and feet? Why was I getting
carpel tunnel syndrome from picking fruit off a tree? And, why 6 months later was I diagnosed with Osteopenia?
I was well on my way of developing full-blown Osteoporosis. A disease that usually affects women in their 60's?
I was only in my 30's. Something was definitely happening to my body. But what was it?
The year 2000 was an awakening for me. I discovered the Internet with its chat rooms and help boards. I found myself
posting on various neurological boards including ones for people with MS. I had a lot of the minor symptoms of
the disease and was not quite convinced that everything was either in my head or was a symptom not to be concerned
with. As my family continued to tell me my problems must be caused from the implants, I continued to research MS.
One fateful day a women saw my post and suggested I check out the "Silicone Poisoning" help board. That
day changed my entire life. I learned so much so quickly about silicone implants from at least 300 women who all
had similar symptoms to mine!
In August 2001, I found myself on a plane flying all the way to Ohio with my mom to have a sonogram done of my
implants by a very reputable radiologist. I discovered that same day that my left implant was completely ruptured
and the right one had so much calcification surrounding it that he could not give an accurate diagnosis. But he
was sure it too was ruptured. Physically looking at my breasts you would never guess in a million years they were
ruptured. They were as big and hard as they were the first day I got them! My annual mammograms never picked up
the ruptures. All the doctors I visited for all my strange symptoms never picked up the ruptures.
Next came my consultation with Dr. Feng in Ohio. She gave me a lot of valuable information. She thought my early
diagnosis of Osteopenia was from the calcification around my implants. My body was probably fighting between the
calcium absorption to my bones versus the calcium absorption into the scar tissue surrounding the implants. And
all those MS type symptoms? It was a common occurrence for women with ruptured implants. Oh, and by the way, my
theory that silicone could not penetrate through my thick scar tissue? Wrong….. it does.
So my biggest question and main fear was, "How was I going to LOOK without implants"? I had discovered
that implants technically only last about 10 years. Would I be willing to risk this all over again? I was told by a few plastic surgeons that I would look deformed if I did not put in new implants.
Could any of these doctors guarantee the implants would last forever?
NO! And, if they ruptured sooner than later would the doctors be responsible for the cost of the follow-up surgery
to replace them again? NO! So between my consultations with Dr. Feng and my 300+ internet guardian angels I made
the decision to have the implants removed and be my old natural "A" cup self again.
Countless women shared their photographs illustrating how wonderful they looked following explant. I was blown
away! The women looked better following explant than they did with their implants fully intact! Could I look as
good too? My explant surgery was in October 2001 with Dr. Feng in Ohio.
Okay, so the surgery was not an easy one for me. I had a painful recovery period and I did have some unusual complications.
My poor mother, bless her heart was there for me during the ordeal. BUT…I love
the final outcome. My Internist cannot believe what an incredible job Dr.
Feng did. Aside from the scars under my breasts, which in time will fade, you never would have known I had these
big fake breasts at one time. My breasts look identical to the way they did 15 years ago! I was lucky I did not
need a breast lift. Today I'm wearing a padded "A" cup again and I also have a small collection of padded
"B"s. (Not that they fit very well, but heck the bras today are so great you can get away with anything)!
So if I was going to offer advice to a really good friend who was considering plastic surgery? I would tell her
to get her nose done and buy a padded bra! Oh, and listen to your family…. they always know what's good for you.
For further questions you can email me at: springermom2001@aol.com
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