PATTY'S STORY In May of 1997, I made a decision that changed my life completely, one that took me down a road I wish I had never travelled. I would have never gone down this path, had I known the truth about breast implants. But it was in this month and year that I finally realized my dream of getting saline breast implants, which I had longed for for many years. I want others to know what happened to me, so that they can understand that saline breast implants are not without serious risks to your health. The so called "safe" saline implant, manufactured by McGhan, was anything but safe to my body. I had a career in management before being fortunate enough to stay at home with my last two children. However, I was not happy with my figure after breast feeding and began to consider implants as a possible solution to my sagging bustline. I did my research, reading anything I could find about them and when a friend of mine disclosed the fact that she had breast implants, it made the idea of actually getting them all the more realistic. I waited until my last baby was finally done breastfeeding, and then I made an appointment with a very highly regarded plastic surgeon in town. My husband went with me to the doctor's office, where we asked about the risks, and were told that they were very safe, that the chance of having any problems was very very small. We discussed infection, hematoma, capsular contracture, and all the normal surgical risks, but after being told that the implants would "go with me to the grave", my husband and I felt completely comfortable with our decision. We both were looking forward to a very good outcome. We joked about how good I would look even when I was old and in a nursing home. I had the surgery on May 23, 1997, and I did very well. I had no complications whatsoever from the surgery. I went to a full D cup. My husband loved my new figure, as did I, of course! We went shopping for bras together, new clothes, we had a wonderful new sex life, I was the happiest I had ever been in my life. I felt that my life was now finally what I had always dreamed it would be. I was extremely healthy, active, still financially secure, I felt beautiful and was told I was, I felt totally blessed in my life. What more could I ask for? My girlfriend and I became even closer because we shared our implant experience. Then in January 1998 my world crashed, as I suddenly became frighteningly and alarmingly ill. I thought I was getting Multiple Sclerosis or something, because my vision became disturbed. My head felt funny. I couldn't concentrate on simple things, like paying bills, watching TV or reading. I was extremely tired. Mentally, I was laboring, my head was in a fog all the time. I could hardly care for the kids or the house anymore, I was so exhausted, drained and dizzy. I had night sweats and sleep disturbances. My husband asked, "do you think it is the implants?" I blew that off--no, it wasn't the implants! I went to three doctors, something I previously had never had to do except for pregnancy. Blood work was done, and they found nothing. I was told that I was suffering from clinical depression and anxiety. This made absolutely no sense to me. I was happier than I had ever been! Of course, my implanting plastic surgeon reassured me that the implants were the safest on the market, and that I had nothing to worry about. I remember him patting me on the shoulder and saying "Awww, you're okay!" However, getting on the Internet, I found that other women with implants were experiencing the same things as I was. Of course, I didn't want to believe it! I fought against this idea, but as I continued to hear from woman after woman who was suffering like I was, I could no longer deny that the implants could be my problem. With the help of a support group, I went to another highly regarded plastic surgeon in a larger city 2 and a half hours away from my home, and there I was told that I should get the implants out, and that I should see a rheumatologist. This plastic surgeon believed, through his experiences with patients, that implants could definitely be causing some serious problems with women's health. The truth was the implants were hurting me and I had only had them 8 months. I could not believe this was happening to me. I cried out to God to not let this be, to let me keep the implants. But I knew that if I wanted to get better, I had to make this very hard decision of removing them forever. This was the most heart-wrenching experience of my life--my joy since having the implants had turned into my worst nightmare in only a matter of months. I got the implants out on February 27, 1998, and blood tests from a rheumatologist showed that I had an elevated rheumatoid factor, as well as a lowered C3 Complement, and macrocytosis. This was quite a blow to someone like me who never suffered from any illness. Before implants, I had not been sick in over 10 years, not so much as a cold. The rheumatologist also ordered a brain MRI due to my constant brain fog, and the radiologists report indicated "a mild degree of cerebellar atrophy". I was only 37 years old at the time. There is no doubt that the implants were harming me in a terrible, terrible way. As I write this, it has now been 5 years since explant, and I have regained almost all of my former health. It has not been without its trials, however. I have had to work exceedingly hard to detoxify my body, change my diet, my lifestyle, I have lost precious time with my children as I fought to regain my stamina and energy. My rheumatoid factor has now returned to near normal levels, and I feel alive again. I will never forget the feeling of being poisioned that was my constant companion for months and months. In the end, I have been left with an autoimmune condition, called Hashimoto's, for which I will have to be treated with thyroid medication for the rest of my life. The cost of this experience has been enormous. There has been the cost to my family--my children suffering the loss of their healthy, active, caring mother, which brings me the most pain. They witnessed me unable to take care of the house, not having the energy to do things with them, play with them, cook regular meals, even carry on a conversation with them, as words seemed too hard to search for. My husband suffered the loss of his caring, nuturing wife, and instead had to be the emotional strength for a family of 6, besides going to work every day to keep us financially secure. It has been the worst nightmare in my entire life, and I would give anything not to have gone through this. I pray that other women don't have to go through what I did. I was led to believe by my implanting plastic surgeon that my implants would "fix" my post- childbearing figure, that the chances of them causing disease was miniscule, that they would go with me to my grave! He was promising me a lifetime of happiness, empty promises in the end. Instead, I got 8 months of pleasure, and then destroyed health, more surgery, huge medical bills, pain and loss to my children and husband. There was no mention, no discussion, of these risks to make sure that I could have been fully informed. I have also been left with huge red scars underneath my breasts, some loss of nipple sensation, and an area of numbness in one breast. This, too, was a cost not fully counted, which has brought me much sadness and grief. I do not consider the little I was told about implants to indicate "informed consent" in any way. Even today, there is this illusion that saline implants are not suspect in any of the diseases women are presenting with, even though the product inserts (which I never saw) warn of these possible dangers. If I had been told that neurologically I was at risk, there would have been no way that I would have gotten implants. How about the fact that insurance companies deny women with implants coverage? But that is not discussed, and nowhere in my research about implants was any of this indicated. In my opinion, getting implants is a Russian Roulette, and the so called "safe" saline implant is not safe. There is no such thing as a safe breast implant. Every woman should learn to love her body the way God made it. I hope that my story helps even just one woman to avoid the pain and heartache I have gone through because of these deceptive medical devices. E-mail Patty