I just used this photo in a blog post yesterday and it really made me angry seeing it again because though my explant surgeon in Vancouver, British Columbia ‘GOT’ how ill I was once she opened me up local doctors were still CLUELESS. They believed rupture was of no consequence health-wise. And they believed that once my implants were removed ALL of my health complaints should immediately resolve. I had one doctor say to me a few weeks after explant, “well your implants are out now!” Well, my implants were out, but I still had a LOT of silicone in me, including in my lymph system, that COULD NOT BE REMOVED! And my poor immune system which had fought above and beyond the call of duty was too exhausted to function. After 16 years of undiagnosed rupture my life was hanging on by a thread and post-explant the fight to regain my health was not immediately won. Recovering from a systemic breast implant related fungal infection took two years just in itself, never mind the other implant related issues which includes impaired kidney and respiratory function.

I have silicone filled lesions in my left breast and a lot of free silicone outside of the breast area. Silicone was up to my lungs at the time of explant and it couldn’t be removed. I have silicone filled lymph nodes.

It makes me angry that regulating bodies are licensing high risk devices with NO PROTOCOL for diagnosing and treating device failure and resulting health complications. And that we’re left to the ‘care’ of medical doctors that haven’t got a bloody clue about breast implants!