On May 11, 2023, I presented, along with patient advocates Terri McGregor (BIA-ALCL) and Julie Elliott (BII/BIA-ALCL), as a ‘witness’ to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health (HESA) – Oversight of Medical Devices (Breast Implants).
Mr Luc Thériault, Bloc Québécois, Montcalm, Québec, Vice Chair of HESA, called for a study of the oversight of medical devices with focus on the potential creation of a Canadian breast implant registry.
Over decades previous calls for a Canadian breast implant registry through the legislative process have failed. I’m cautiously optimistic that with the benefit of hindsight underscoring the needless harm that’s resulted through failure to take affirmative action back then, this time a breast implant registry might be created.
A registry is the very least they can do. However, I hope their actions will be farther reaching.
Given requirements placed on manufacturers in the conditional re-approval of breast implants in Canada, in 2006, remain unmet I believe all breast implants in Canada are now non-compliant devices. I feel we’re at a time parallel to the 1990’s moratorium on breast implants and I ultimately hope HESA will go a large step further than a registry, and call for a pause on the sale of breast implants in Canada.
Action steps taken by Health Canada (and ALL world regulators for that matter) since 2018, when the ICIJ investigation exposed regulatory failures, appear token and fail to address the safety issues that matter most – the harms breast implants cause. What I refer to as the ‘inconvenient truths’ of breast implants.
Multiple manmade cancers.
Deaths
Silicone migration which is without remedy or recourse, resulting in permanent harm. Injecting silicone is banned in Canada, however silicone migration from breast implants is tolerated. The only difference is the delivery system – the consequence to health is the same.
Impact of chemicals in silicone and used in the production of breast implants. Siloxanes D4 / D5 were deemed toxic substances in Canada, in 2009, and recognized as being environmental hazards yet they are permitted for use in breast implants – devices implanted into the human body which remain in-situ over years (often decades). Devices which release silicone into the body with uptake in the lymph system, vital organs, near and distant tissue / muscles, and cross the blood barrier.
Systemic illnesses
Impact of breast implants on respiratory health
Test for silicone toxicity / allergy.
Test to determine who might be a poorer candidate for breast implants, experiencing greater harm.
It’s unacceptable to continue harming more generations of women without having learned the lessons of what has gone wrong and the implications. It’s unacceptable to allow manufacturers an extended grace period past the 10-year window allowed them, at the expense of the health and mortality of Canadians.
Breast implants are purely cosmetic devices without life-saving qualities and therefore the tolerated threshold for incidence of harm should be low.
It’s my position that until critical safety concerns have been adequately investigated and resolved breast implants should be recalled and manufacturer licenses revoked by Health Canada.
MY OPENING COMMENTS at HESA Meeting 68 – May 11, 2023: Hello Mr Chair and Members of the Committee. Thank you for your interest in the creation of a breast implant registry. I’m a patient advocate with lived experience of unknowingly having recalled implants. Recently long time women’s advocate Anne Rochon Ford, now retired, sent me her files saved over decades. Reading through them I felt disheartened, frustrated, and angry because we’re fighting for the same safety issues today as they were back then, in the 1990’s. The questions and concerns have been present for a long time. The fears of the risk of cancer have come true. We shouldn’t still have to fight so hard for safety and tracking measures for devices that carry Health Canada’s highest risk rating and have known serious issues ranging from device failures, to localized complications, the impact of silicone migration, autoimmune systemic illnesses, and now a known link to cancer, deaths, and recalls. In 2004 a bill to establish a breast implant registry was introduced in the House. How different the situation would be if that had occurred! The result has been wasted decades. Leaving Canadians with having to give consent without a clear understanding of the risks they’re taking on. Health Canada licensed breast implants despite having no long term safety data, without a protocol of care in place and no one keeping track. Over decades we’ve seen that industry claims of safety and incidence of harm have been misrepresented. Implanting Class IV medical devices without keeping track demonstrates disregard for patient safety. Those profiting from breast implants have deflected responsibility for tracking them. Continuing to do nothing simply isn’t an option. It is not fair that the Canadian public continue to be sold devices where concerns are not systematically being tracked, researched and evaluated. I strongly support the establishment of a public mandatory Registry. This will assist in post marketing research and create a system to help contact people if needed. Many implantations are done in private for-profit clinics and increasingly through “medical tourism”. It’s important that physicians are required to register the implantations done in Canada and people who received implants elsewhere can register themselves. CIHR should be funded to undertake this project. Since the 2019 recall of textured implants linked to BIA-ALCL many affected Canadians are still unaware of the recall. This is unacceptable. Implant wearers of previous decades were similarly unaware of recalls. It’s resulted in unnecessary harm and lives lost. Canadians with breast implants bear the consequences of inadequate oversight without device tracking. Nobody should ever be unaware that a device implanted within them has been recalled, or carries a safety warning! A registry is but one part of the solution. We need directed research dollars to answer the myriad of questions peoples’ experiences with silicone have raised. There are many many questions that need answering. This Is not a role for the industry, given their history and their obvious conflict of Interest. We hope this time a registry will be created and public research on breast implants funded. It will save lives and illness. We’re at a time parallel to the 1990s moratorium. If there’s no resolve at this point for creating a breast implant registry then perhaps it’s time to hit the pause button and withdraw breast implants from the Canadian market until a registry is created.
Posted at 4:20 am by motherima, on October 29, 2022
Nine years ago today, October 29, my badly ruptured silicone breast implants were removed. I’ve been celebrating every day since (I know I say that every year, but its true).
That said, I still live with the harm of migrated silicone.
Silicone migration is a key, as yet unresolved issue for me in terms of advocacy, but IF YOU ONLY GET ONE TAKE-AWAY from my 9th Explantaversary blog post, let it be that after 60 years there is STILL NO LONG TERM SAFFEY DATA for BREAST IMPLANTS.
Anyone who has, has had, or ever will have breast implants is a ‘for profit’ human guinea pig. PERIOD.
MAKE NO MISTAKE. It started as an EXPERIMENT and 60 years later it is STILL an EXPERIMENT. Women as human guinea pigs.
SOME CURRENT INDUSTRY CLAIMS:
They don’t know the long term impact of migrated silicone to health. They don’t know what causes BIA-ALCL and other implant caused cancers, or who will develop them. They don’t know who will develop BII, or what causes it. Many plastic surgeons still don’t believe BII is real.
And FYI – Though not FDA approved for use in breasts, and the potential consequences to health are unknown, plastic surgeons have brazenly been using Alloderm and other surgical mesh in breast surgeries, in ‘off label’ use for years. Often without patient awareness or consent. The FDA did nothing to stop them. Note: FDA has just cleared a pathway for the experimental use of the devices in reconstruction surgery.
Source: Yahoo!finance news Oct 13, 2022
BREAST IMPLANTS EVOLUTION – NEW doesn’t mean ‘safer’
Some things have changed, ie. shell thickness, barrier layer, surface textures, gel cohesiveness, and so on. Each ‘tweak’ spun as being a ‘fix’ for a particular problem has often proven to be ineffectual and has created new issues, including cancers. Women have died as a result. Countless women live with the consequence of having ‘new and improved’ breast implants, including having migrated silicone irretrievably within them.
I am in the ‘migrated silicone club’. Most of us in this demographic had no idea that silicone migration was even possible. We weren’t warned it could happen. Even though its now acknowledged as a possible harm from implants the acknowledgment is kind of insulting because what they’re really saying is ‘we know it happens, and we’re now telling you it happens – but we’re going to keep harming women anyway’. To add insult to injury they let us die, without accountability.
Regulatory bodies continue licensing breast implants that bleed and can leak silicone, while letting manufacturers get away with claiming the ‘long term’ impact to health remains unknown‘ (which also begs the question ‘what do they believe the ‘short term’ consequences of migrated silicone to be?’).
World regulators must stop turning a blind eye to migrated silicone.
Injecting silicone into the body is BANNED yet, silicone migrating from implants is not. The ONLY difference is the delivery system – a syringe vs leaking breast implant. One, regulators have taken regulatory action on and the other, continue licensing and giving their stamp of approval.
How low is the bar for protecting women’s health?
There is no comparative experiment using MEN as HUMAN GUNEA PIGS on such a large scale, over so many decades!
When is ENOUGH, ENOUGH? IMHO, it’s decades past ENOUGH.
My 9th Explantaversary memes-fest below:
MAKE THEM SAY IT OUT LOUD
I digress – I know I’m repeating myself here, however it’s a critical point that I can’t emphasize strongly enough. For sixty years industry has gotten away with harming women through migrated silicone, still claiming the long term impact of migrated silicone on health is unknown. And regulators turn a blind eye.
Let that sink in .. SIXTY YEARS.
Let that sink in even deeper .. SIXTY YEARS!!
I can’t think of an instance where WE could get away with causing such catastrophic harm, to so many, over six decades and NOT BE IN JAIL.
The very regulatory bodies whose role ‘should be’ to protect consumer safety are ‘throwing consumers under the bus’ to do the bidding of the breast implants industry. Regulators protect the interests of manufacturers vs consumers.
We must demand accountability from regulators for their position of avoidance and inaction on silicone migration. Force their hand, so to speak, through regulatory pressure. I encourage you, in fact I implore you, to keep asking your country’s regulator to explain WHY they’re OK with manufacturers claiming the long term impact of migrated silicone remains unknown, when they KNOW women are being permanently harmed as a result of migrated silicone. And while you’re at it, ask them what they believe the short term impact of migrated silicone is, and why they’re ok with it. Demand to know WHY they continue licensing breast implants while manufacturers have failed to provide imperative safety data that is at the very crux of both silicone and saline filled breast implants.
CLAIMING ‘THE LONGTERM IMPACT OF MIGRATED SILICONE REMAINS UNKNOWN‘ at the expense of human health is NOT ACCEPTABLE.
Qualifying comment: I want to acknowledge that the great Civil Rights Activist, JOHN LEWIS (deceased), who spent his life advancing human rights, coined the phrase “GOOD TROUBLE”.
Posted at 9:03 pm by motherima, on October 4, 2022
DOCTORS must consider how they’ve become so ‘WILLFULLY BLIND‘
Doctors must also consider why they choose medical gaslighting over believing their patients. Why they continue to deny REAL WORLD EVIDENCE over decades when the ‘jig is up’.
During a recent breast surgery conference, which I attended virtually, I watched a plastic surgeon’s presentation which I felt was classic ‘gaslighting’ presented as ‘science’.
The plastic surgeon was introduced as being one of the leaders in breast augmentation surgery. Her ‘conflict of interest’ disclosure reveals she works for a breast implant manufacturing company.
After stating, “theories related to adjuvant disease, it’s been going on for over fifty years” she began unpacking the results of a study she co-created.
She cited that, as per their study, ‘sixty-six percent’ of women with BII are on social media and get their ‘medical information’ from social media. Conversely, only ‘ten percent’ of women that don’t have BII are on social media. Inferring that women with breast implants become convinced after joining social media groups that their breast implants are making them sick. As though they’re not actually sick, at least not from their implants. As though BII isn’t a ‘thing’ outside of social media platforms. OH SERIOUSLY??!
She attempted to ‘debunk’ common issues of concern for women with BII, such as total capsule removal, heavy metals, toxic chemicals and bio-contamination.
Its a bit mind-blowing she doesn’t see her following statements as problematic: “women think their implants are in toxic bags of poison .. and that there is chemicals and toxins leaching into their body, which is possible because no manufacturer ever studied this.” And, that they couldn’t test for silicone “because there’s no methods to test for it”.
The irony that after 60 years manufacturers haven’t tested whether chemicals and toxins are leaching into women’s bodies and they haven’t developed a test to detect silicone in the body, though silicone migration is common, is apparently lost on her.
Without speaking the words outright there was a leading conclusion that BII groups are rife with misinformation and women become convinced they have BII after joining them.
NEWSFLASH .. women have developed the SAME illnesses / symptoms since breast implants were first used in the early 60s, and countless women have DIED.
BEFORE THE INTERNET. The SAME ILLNESSES over six decades.
And the SAME illnesses will be experienced by further generations of women with breast implants.
The unfortunate aspect is that the sentiment expressed by the presenting plastic surgeon embodies the collectively held sentiment of most plastic surgeons. Only a brave few plastic surgeons who have broken from that pack mentality (and faced being discredited by their peers), are standing up for truth based on their experience with their patients.
Too many plastic surgeons who are still denying BII are ‘in the pockets’ of manufacturers. ALWAYS FOLLOW THE MONEY.
What hasn’t changed through six decades is the willful blindnessof plastic surgeons that don’t want to interrupt their cash-cow-gravy-train-$$$$$$$$ business of implanting women with such high risk devices – with KNOWN SERIOUS ISSUES – then telling patients they’re nuts when they become sick.
THIS IS MEDICAL GASLIGHTING
Online BII support groups were created through the UTTER FAILURE of medical professionals … PERIOD!
Many of us would have DIED except for the information and support received through social media groups – information and support which SHOULD HAVE come through our DOCTORS.
Doctors who have FAILED their patients resort to GASLIGHTING them. Those doctors parrot a FALSE NARRATIVE verbatim – a false narrative collectively agreed on by their plastic surgery associations.
It is true that many women ‘connect the dots’ that their undiagnosed illness (which most have been told is in their head) is caused by their implants after joining online BII forums .. HOWEVER .. that is after being left without answers and/or accurate diagnosis from their doctors. They’ve been left to figure out what’s happening to them after being hung out to dry by the medical community. Most women are desperately ill and searching for answers when they join BII groups. Breast implant forums are NOT the problem. Doctors that have failed their patients are the problem.
HOW does someone who has graduated medical school NOT UNDERSTANDthat an implanted medical device which1) elicits a foreign body response from the time of being implanted and 2) actively ‘bleeds’ silicone (chemicals) and/or tainted saline into a woman’s body, and 3) is implanted within close proximity to vital organs and lymph system, and 4) where silicone can cross the blood barrier, and 5) where there can be frank rupture and silicone migration, and 6) biofilms form, and 8) cause chronic inflammation / inflammatory response, and 9) can cause cancer(s) and 10) where women have developed the same symptoms over SIX DECADES, can impact health negatively?
THAT IS A REAL HEAD-SCRATCHER … unless you understand the practice of medical gaslighting and and willful blindness, and ‘hands-in-pockets’ – and then it all makes perfect sense.
I always tell women to ‘trust your body-speak’ NOT someone whose only investment in you is as their cash-cow.
Posted at 5:37 am by motherima, on October 9, 2021
‘Seeing with awareness’ ..
When people see women with breast implants they usually notice the exterior without any awareness of what it might look like within the breasts and chest wall.
There may be nothing visually obvious that would indicate a problem within.
Even women with breast implants are generally quite unaware. They might still be loving their implants, but might be shocked if they knew the truth of it.
Invariably, the inside will be looking very different from the outside.
Photo collage: This woman had a badly ruptured implant and her ribs were concave, sunken in from the weight of her implants, making it difficult to breathe.
Posted at 5:00 am by motherima, on September 25, 2021
THIS ANNUAL MEMORIAL HONOURS WOMEN GLOBALLY who’ve lost their lives after having Breast Implants. It includes long-time advocates and women whose implants may or may not have definitively, or directly, factored into their death. Just being a silicone sister is enough. If they were part of our community we want to acknowledge them. This year, 2021, marks its fifth observation. September 25th, the date chosen is the actual death date of BETTYE CAROLINE YALLER, but it’s representative of ALL of our fallen sisters.
‘REMEMBERING FALLEN ANGELS OF BREAST IMPLANT ILLNESS‘ was created for the sake of those within the BII / BIA-ALCL communities. Included in this blog post are a small number of personal stories; anecdotal tidbits; various ways Breast Implants can impact mortality.
Bettye Caroline Yaller’s doctors were unfamiliar with BIA-ALCL. By the time Breast Implant Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) was diagnosed it was too late to save her. Her daughter, Vikki Radow, has become a strong advocate for getting her mother’s story out. Vikki Radow: “She had breast cancer 30 years prior — she was a breast cancer survivor. Due to the cancer, she had a mastectomy and implant placed in. She had many implants in and out over the course of 30 years. Her first symptoms were:Rash around her breast with the implant, shortness of breath, pains in the implant, swollen lymph nodes, fluid around the implant and chest cavity, a mass on chest wall. They could not figure out what all these symptoms meant. Test after test after test — she quickly started to die. Was put on a ventilator and was given her first dose of CHOP chemo while on ventilator — she was finally diagnosed with ALCL from the implant. But it was LATE in the game for her. She had 6 rounds of CHOP, the implant was never removed and she died on the operating table while trying to get it out. They resuscitated her but her heart, lungs etc were toast after all the chemo etc. She died within weeks on Sept 25, 2012. In fact, it was 5 years ago today I took her to the hospital and she never returned home. I’m still in shock.”
Vikki Raddow said that when she had heard the F.D.A. reported nine deaths from implant-associated lymphoma, “I said, ‘Oh, my God, my mother was one of those nine.”” Bettye’s story was featured in a New York Times article May 14, 2017, written by: Denise Grady. We are grateful to Denise Grady for creating some awareness around the issue. Link to the New York Times article here.
REMEMBERING LONG TIME ADVOCATES
Adella Matthew, founder of ‘Implant Awareness Society’, was a long-time advocate from British Columbia, Canada. Her husband, Richard Matthew wrote a beautiful tribute to his beloved Adella:
My wife, Adella Matthew, was an exceptional woman. She devoted her life and, in spite of her own health challenges, always found the time to assist other people, whether for implant related problems or for those requesting her help as an energy practitioner. She never received the help or recognition that she deserved. She spent many hours on the telephone and the computer with people and assuring them that their problems were real; many told her, “Adella you saved my life”. She preferred the telephone because typing emails was hard on her arthritic hands.
Adella was one of the founding members of the I.A.S. Implant Awareness Society and served as the president from the society’s inception until she passed away on 2018 December 27 at the age of 88. She worked hard to get the society established as a charity. The society and the website will remain as long as I am alive.
I am sure there are hundreds of people who will miss Adella almost as much as I do. She suffered a lot of pain in the final months of her life but did not give up until the pain became too much to endure; she began to say that she was ready to die. A good friend suggested to me that she was just waiting for my permission to go. On December 27, I confirmed with her that she was ready to depart this world and then I told her that she had my permission to go to her Heavenly Father. This was very difficult for me.
When I left her around 3:45 pm, I kissed her goodnight, told her I loved her, and said I would see her the next day; she nodded her assent. Around 5:00 pm that evening, I received a call from the doctor saying that Adella was failing. I thought he was talking about days or maybe weeks. At 7:00 pm I had another call from the nurse looking after her that night, she said, “I think Adella is passing, I can still feel a pulse but I think she has stopped breathing”. A minute later she said, “oh, she is gone”. This happened only a bit more than three hours after I had left her. In the end, thankfully, she went quickly and peacefully.
In closing, I would just like to paraphrase a line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
I say this with love, admiration, and respect:
Goodnight sweetheart, may bands of angels sing thee to thy rest.
Lynda Roth died June 17, 2010 metastatic breast cancer Lynda Roth Founder and President of Coalition of Silicone Survivors, a Non-Profit Organization. Lynda testified at the FDA numbers times and helped put on conferences in Australia, Europe, Canada, and the U.S.
Rogene Lorene Schorer was a strong advocate for breast implant survivors lobbying in Washington, DC.
In 1982 PJ Brent was implanted with Double Lumen implants, which contained both silicone and saline chambers. After becoming ill from her implants, and believing they also caused the two children she’d breastfed after getting them to become ill, PJ launched a worldwide crusade against implants. She testified at the FDA hearing on saline implants. She also appeared on CNN Headline News, as well as in newspapers, radio, and Redbook magazine. She was so well loved 1,200 people attended her funeral. PJ’s husband, Ed Brent, testified at FDA after his wife’s death.
Cindy Fuchs-Morrissey underwent a bilateral mastectomy at 35 after three silicone-gel sets to correct a deformity. Her first set in 1976, at age 18, were a birthday present from her parents. After being diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic cancer, Cindy wrote: “ .. cancer is NOT the worst thing that can ever happen in life .. being exposed to failed silicone gel breast implants still was far worse for me than dealing with stage 4 cancer. I AM NOT KIDDING. .. the Art of Medicine failed me in my youth and continues to fail, not just me, but humanity and the generations to come.” She passed away in spring 2016.
Lana was an advocate for people injured by Silicone Hypersensitivity. She strived to help as many people as possible suffering from damage caused by allergies to Silicon medical implants and prostheses. She battled pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers, and created videos for YouTube called, ‘Immune Response to Silicone‘ and ‘Silicone Immune Response‘. Misty Davis-Branscum (Lana’s daughter) wrote: “My mother Lana Merriam passed away from illnesses due to her breast implants in 2014. Her life was cut short at just 56 years old. She was very loving, caring, strong, and a no-nonsense type of woman. When she realized she was ill she spent every day trying to understand what was happening to her and why. She wanted so badly to get her story out there to try to educate people, and try to help women who were suffering from the same issues. She did everything she could to fight the things that were happening to her body, unfortunately when they discontinued the only lifesaving inhaler she could use, she lost her long battle.”
Joyce Attis founded Breast Implant Line of Canada, a National support and self-help group for women who have had silicone gel breast implants. Madeline Boscoe and Anne Rochon Ford, of Canadian Women’s Health Network, wrote a great tribute to Joyce: Tribute to a Fighter: S. Joyce Attis “The movement to raise public awareness in Canada about concerns associated with breast implants lost one of its most hard-working and committed advocates recently. Joyce Attis, known to many as the voice for breast implant victims, died in Toronto on November 25, 2010 .. (follow the link to read the full tribute).
“Lori Dobson, one of our original support group leaders in Canada ..” (quote: Joyce Attis, deceased)
QUOTE FROM TRACE: “It’s with a heavy heart that I must post this, but we’ve lost another dear friend Amanda Boudreau on Oct 29. AMANDA was one of the most unselfish women I knew. She was concerned more with the needs of others than her own personal health struggles. She was a giver and a fighter. She had more love and kindness than she let on for others to see. I know many gals in this group had the fortune of knowing her and we will all miss her. She was truly one of a kind.”
QUOTE FROM RANDY SHAIN (STACY’S BROTHER), written on the first anniversary of his beloved sister’s passing: “Today is 1 year since you left us. I still can’t believe it’s been a year. I think about you every day and every night. My world has been forever changed without you in it. Keep watching over us Stacy Shain. Until we meet again. Your book is almost finished- once it is, mom and I will get it out to everyone who is suffering from breast implant illness….just like you wanted. Always caring for others more then yourself. Maybe with your book, we can prevent them from going through what you did. Love you, Randy”
The book Stacy was writing before her death was completed posthumously by her Mother and brother. The first paragraph in the book starts out “if you’re reading this that means I didn’t make it.” The book titled, ‘A Mother’s Nightmare’ is in the final stages of publication.
Susan R Scott’s daughter wrote: “By the time this illness killed her, she had suffered from virtually every symptom on the list. I know my Mom would want to use her life to save others.”
My name is Jordana Edwards and I am now the voice for one who’s voice can no longer be heard. My mother. Like many women who got breast implants my mother hated having a flat chest, she felt that she wasn’t a women without large breast, hated that she had to buy clothes from the children’s section, the irony is that as she got sicker she again had to buy clothes from the kids section as she had gotten so tiny. I cannot remember exactly when my mum started to get sick, I do remember it was a gradual thing, back ache here, unusual bruising there. But as it began to progress I began to do more and more for mum. The doctors of course never mentioned that her symptoms could have had anything to do with her implants. Gradually my mum, who would get up at 4am to go to her job of exercising race horses, come home and get my then step brother and myself ready for school, would go to her full time day job, go back to the race horses after that, come home and get us dinner then go to her waitressing job simply couldn’t do it anymore. Somehow mum heard about the problems women were having with their implants and realized that this was happening to her as well. She joined the class action against Dow Corning and Bristol Myers Squid, with thousands of other Australian women. The amount of research my mum did was staggering, and what she found was horrific – the toxic chemicals that made up the silicone that was now coursing through her body was terrifying. The class action was successful but what the Australian women won was nowhere near what American women won, but no amount of money would make up for what mum had no lost. Her independence, her health. She finally got them out, and that in itself was a ordeal in itself as the first doctor cancelled 3 times, mum then rang the hospital that put them in and demanded they take them out. It was closing the stable door after the horse had bolted – both implants had completely ruptured and the silicone was all through her body. Nothing was going to reverse what had happened now. By the time I was 18 I was my mothers full time carer, something that was to continue until I was 38 when I simply had nothing left and couldn’t care for her any more and put her into full time care, the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make. Mum had: rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, lupus, sjogrens disease, fibromyalgia, bruised easily, chronic fatigue, hair loss, weight loss (she was 35 kg) and many other aliments. The hospital had three large folders on mum. In late February 2015 the care facility mum was at rang me to say that she was not well, hard to wake etc. I went there as the doctor was coming to see her and he said the words I’d be dreading her time was coming to an end. Mum had fought so hard and for so long, had stared death in the face so many times and told it to f#%* off. Now, she embraced it. The constant pain, a broken body were just too much. Watching my mother in her final days was beyond heartbreaking, she wasn’t aware and didn’t know we were there. For once my love and strength couldn’t help her. We were told it could take a week and so I went to work, I got the call that it was happening from my aunt and I raced to her, breaking the speed limit. But I was too late. Mum passed away seconds after my aunt called me. Going in and seeing her lying there just about destroyed me. And in the nearly 3 years since I lost her I’m still trying to find myself in a world without my rock; I have no husband, no children (caring for mum meant that never happened). If mum knew of someone who wanted breast implants she’d tell them her story and I don’t know of an instance that it didn’t convince them not to go through with it. I miss my mum more than anything in this world, I was robbed of her my breast implants. It if I can use her story to talk someone out of breast implants I will, and I have.
From Adella Mathew: Ivana had two sets of silicone implants, the first set at 29 years of age. When she died Easter Monday 1996, she was 52 years and 9 months old. Her advice to all women who have implants, or are contemplating getting them, is: “Nobody can be truly well with implants, love yourself for the way you are. Your creator has given you a beautiful body; please don’t you and your doctor try to improve it. Breast implants are very toxic and they are the greatest insult we can give our body.”
From: Adella Matthewhttp://implantawareness.com ‘We will always remember Ivana Buchar; Karen Gates, Cleo Bara, along with Clara Schimpf, our secretary, Ann Gage-Cole our Vice President. None ever reached 60 years of age. Ricky McAndrew was 70 years old when she passed in 1996. These six women will always be remembered. Their suffering and pain are acknowledged; they have not died in vain.’
Alain Matz, Candi’s husband writes: In a word, Candi was selfless. No matter how how terrible she felt, physically or emotionally, her light had never shone brighter than when she helped other people pick themselves up. She didn’t want sympathy, she didn’t want pity. She wanted to help others smile. And she did. Lisa will be remembered for her gentle spirit and loving nature. She was always so positive and used to say, “Never forget how far you’ve come. Everything you have gotten through. All the mornings you just didn’t want to get out of bed, but you did.” (quote: Rita Giorgio-Masson)
Christina Lynn Brajcic was a Canadian mesh advocate but, was also a member of our breast implant illness community.
Stacey Phelan Olson, Ashley Jade’s sister, writes this message: My beautiful sister who battled BII for 25+ years. 💔 It’s been four years since she laid down (because she wasn’t feeling well, again) and never woke up. At 5’7” she was down to a 90lb warrior. I watched her battle like hell year after year after year. She wouldn’t wish that on anyone. I hope reading her obit changes even ONE young woman’s mind. 🦋 I only wish we’d found this group, she would have been totally validated!! And had support other than me, my dear sweet husband, our daughter and a few dear friends. Too many friends and even family abandoned her out of frustration and misunderstanding. She would have gladly donated her body for medical research on implants, had it ever occurred to us. She would have done that for you, and me and every woman who thinks she isn’t perfect just the way she is. 💔🌹🦋 (Note: The group Stacey is referring to is a Facebook group: Breast Implant Illness and Healing by Nicole. It has 50,000+ members.)
From Rosanna Smith (Rosie) Implant~Info~Net: Mary died from an autoimmune disease related to a breast implant she got following mastectomy, in 1998.From Rosanna Smith (Rosie) Implant~Info~Net: Pam worked hard to ensure other women were informed about the risks, pain and suffering of breast reconstruction surgeries.
In 2019, at the time of this memorial event, there were 792 cases, worldwide with 33 deaths.
STATS FOR 2020: FDA’s website reports 733 cases and 36 deaths. ASPS stats in April 2020 reported 903 cases. As of September 2020 the ASPS stat has increased to 953 cases and 36 deaths.
The BIA-ALCL landscape is changing nearly daily. Though BIA-ALCL is said to be a ‘rare’ cancer, now that they’re testing for it, if you chart incidence on a graph it shows a sharp trajectory upward. The term ‘rare’ has been changed to ’emerging’.
It should be noted that it’s suspected BIA-ALCL is under-diagnosed and under-reported, and that there have been many women that have died from BIA-ALCL without having been diagnosed. As more women are being tested there has been a significant spike in cases globally.
Credit:Above stats taken from ‘Webinar – Updated Medical Education on BIA-ALCL – July 7th, 2021‘ (available on YouTube) ** NOTE: The ‘3rd World Consensus Conference on BIA-ALCL‘ will take place on October 8-9th, 2021 and new, updated stats might be provided. If so, I will update to reflect the most current stats. **
Edwidge Ligoneche, of France, died from ruptured PIP implants and BIA-ALCL
From Sherry’s sister, Tina Marie Hedrick: Sister, Daughter, Mother, Wife, Friend. Mcghann Textured Saline implants… BIA-ALCL. Diagnosed with ‘Rare T-Cell non-Hodgkins Lymphoma’ Christmas of 2007. Chemo, Radiation, stem cell transplant with implants STILL IN PLACE. Died Valentine’s Day 2009.
(See Bettye Caroline Yaller’s Story above)
Paulette Parr – died 10 months after being diagnosed with BIA-ALCL
BREAST IMPLANT ASSOCIATED -SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA
Though BIA-ALCL has received more media attention and has more diagnosed cases there are multiple Breast Implant Associated cancers, including ‘Breast Implant Associated – Squamous Cell Carcinoma’
One can only imagine how many cases and deaths have gone undiagnosed because women weren’t being tested for it.
It should be noted that although BIA-ALCL is associated with textured breast implants with no confirmed cases with smooth implants, BIA-SCC has been dx’d in women with smooth implants.
Though historically women have been implanted and left for years, or even decades, without follow-up we now know that annual follow-up with a plastic surgeon is imperative, no matter what surface implants one has.
If you have breast implants and develop unusual symptoms, including sudden swelling, pain, itching, seroma (fluid), redness, hardness, lumps/masses you should seek medical attention. Symptoms of BIA-SCC can be similar to symptoms of BIA-ALCL.
SUICIDE
THERE IS ANINCREASED RISK OF SUICIDE WITH BREAST IMPLANTS
PJ Brent took her life on Memorial Day, May 29, 2000 .. she was 49 years old. Autopsy showed she had Platinum in every organ in her body. The level in her brain was so high a doctor said, “I don’t know how she was able to function.” Ed Brent, PJ’s widower, shares his wife’s story in hopes that it will prevent other deaths.
PJ’s Obituary dated June 2, 2000:
PJ’s husband, Ed Brent, testified at an FDA hearing. In his testimony he said his wife had committed suicide two months after testifying at a previous hearing on breast implants. She believed that silicone from her implants had seeped into her breast milk and sickened her two children. He said the children she had breastfed before the implants are healthy. “P. J. felt terrible guilt that her two daughters had been so seriously harmed by her decision to get breast implants.” The two children PJ breastfed with implants also had high levels of Platinum. One daughter at age 3 was diagnosed with esophageal motility disorder; the other daughter has Crohn’s Disease. Both are in a wheelchair. Ed Brent, said PJ was a WONDERFUL mother and put her kids above everything else. (Ilena Rosenthal’s Memorial for PJ Brent ..)
2021 – OUR BII COMMUNITY HAS GRIEVED MULTIPLE SUICIDE DEATHS IN RECENT YEARS
MORTALITIES FROM BREAST IMPLANTS
Some women have died from events confirmed as being related to breast implants, such as complications resulting from surgical procedures andBreast Implant Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma. Most women, however, have died without a connection being made. Just as there’s denial within the medical community around Breast Implants making women sick, there’s equally lack of awareness or acceptance around their impact on mortality. Outside of known BIA-ALCL cases it’s fair to say most women that have died from Breast Implant related issues probably slipped away with the role their implants played being undiagnosed.
Even when the cause of death seems perhaps unrelated to Breast Implants, they can play a contributing, yet unrecognized role.
MANY WOMEN WITH IMPLANTS spend years or even decades feeling like they’re dying. If intervention doesn’t come soon enough, they are left clinging to just ‘this side of death’. Some end up dying before receiving the care necessary to save their life. And, for some the endless suffering leads them to take their life. Even when breast implants are removed the impact of residual and migrated silicone impacts health, quality of life, and mortality.
The road to DEATH IS OFTEN A SLOW, PAINFUL, QUALITY-OF-LIFE-ROBBING DECLINE. Often decades of robbed health and vitality as the immune system struggles to fight off the toxic, foreign invaders.
THE IMPACT OF BREAST IMPLANTS ON HEALTH IS STILL LARGELY UNACKNOWLEDGED BY THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY.
If not for the information and support women find in BII (Breast Implant Illness) forums the death toll from implants would surely be much greater.
NICOLE DARUDA (Breast Implant Illness and Healing by Nicole, on Facebook): “If we had listened to our doctors telling us that our illness is not from our breast implants, eventually some of us would have lost our life or much of what was left of it.”
BREAST IMPLANTS – A MASSIVE FAILED EXPERIMENT with WOMEN as HUMAN GUINEA PIGS
“The silicone breast implant fiasco is a sad case of corporate indifference and regulatory mismanagement.” Ted Weiss (D-N. Y.) House Subcommittee Chainnan New York Times, 312019 (Qualifying comment: PLEASE NOTE we are not calling for a ban of all breast implants.)
THE ROLE OF REGULATORY BODIES AND HOW THEY’RE FAILING TO PROTECT WOMEN
BREAST IMPLANTS ARE ASSIGNED THE HIGHEST RISK RATING BY REGULATING BODIES, YET … THERE IS NO STANDARD PROTOCOL IN PLACE FOR DIAGNOSING OR TREATING BREAST IMPLANT RELATED ILLNESS AND DEVICE FAILURE, and RELATIVELY FEW DOCTORS ARE TRAINED TO PROPERLY REMOVE IMPLANTS
From hidden adverse events reports to the refusal to disclose ingredients in breast implants regulators protect manufacturer interests. Regulatory bodies globally have acted as agents of manufacturers vs champions of patient safety. Profit over safety vs safety over profit.
In 2020, despite hopeful progress and recent FDA acknowledgement of symptoms / illness reported by many women with breast implants , there is still for the most-part resistance – even push-back – within the medical community. Women are still frequently hung out to dry medically and must turn to social media platforms for information and support.
SERIOUS AUTOIMMUNE ILLNESSES & TOXICITY THAT CONTRIBUTE TO DEATH
WHEN BREAST IMPLANTS CAN CAUSE A POTENTIALLY FATAL CANCER OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM it’s not a far leap that they can, and DO wreak havoc on the immune system. The truth can no longer be denied. Breast implants have killed women and will continue to do so until, and unless, manufacturers and regulatory bodies start telling the truth and take steps to better protect women undergoing breast augmentation with Breast Implants.
Breast implants contain known carcinogens, endocrine disrupters, neurotoxins and heavy metals. They sit within 2-3 cm of vital organs. Silicone, and the toxic chemicals it contains, often migrate to surrounding and distant tissue, lymph nodes, and organs.
Silicone used in breast implants causes an acute inflammation specific to breast implants.It is a completely man-made inflammation. The role chronic inflammation plays in developing cancer is well documented.
POSTHUMOUS TESTING – #STUDYUS
RESIDUAL SILICONE AND MORTALITY
Regulatory bodies and manufacturers refuse to #StudyUs – women adversely affected by breast implants. Women included in manufacturer-funded studies that report complications or illness are dropped from studies. In 2018 it was finally publically revealed that manufacturers have failed to fulfill the conditions placed on them when breast implants were conditionally re-approved in 2006. THERE IS NO LONG-TERM SAFETY DATA. If they want to know the truth we’re right here, willing to participate – but, it seems evident their avoidance of including us is a clever ploy to avoid having to admit the truth. Women harmed through having breast implants should have the option of being followed through studies with NO FINANCIAL TIES to those profiting from implants. We should be followed after our implants have been removed and autopsies performed posthumously (for women who choose this option) to find the truth of where silicone has gone within us, and it’s impact on our health. IF regulating bodies actually wanted to know the TRUTH this would be done routinely. However, they don’t want the truth getting out, so they BURY the truth with us. RESULTS OF A WOMAN’S AUTOPSY: “Annalise (not her real name) decided she would not die in vain. The Dutch resident suffered for years with pain and a host of strange undiagnosed symptoms before contracting the breast cancer that would eventually kill her. Before her death at the age of 56 in 2008, Annalise decided to donate her body to medical science to find out the truth about why she’d developed cancer. Dr Ruth Kappel, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon in Zwolle, The Netherlands, led the pathology team that dissected the body. Through special instrumentation using light and electron microscopy and X-ray analysis of the body’s internal organs and nervous system tissue, the key to Annalise’s suffering stood starkly revealed. She’d had breast implants 17 years before, and the silicone had migrated throughout her body, even to distant organs—her ovaries, her thyroid, her bladder and throughout her spinal cord. In fact, silicone was everywhere in every tissue tested—and in unusually high amounts.” (Excerpt from Boob Jobs Busted, by Lynne McTaggart – June 2016 (Vol. 27 Issue 3)
Silicone was found in virtually every part of her body despite her implants not being ruptured. She was impacted by Gel Bleed, which is particularly significant as all breast implants bleed toxic chemicals into women’s bodies. Despite Breast implants being used since the early 60’s REGULATORY BODIES and MANUFACTURERS say they don’t know the long term effect of migrated silicone in the body. IT DEFIES BELIEF THAT THEY’VE GOTTEN AWAY WITH THIS FOR SO LONG! The NEWSFLASH is that WE KNOW ALL TOO WELL what it does to us – it makes us ill and it kills us! GEL BLEED and RUPTURE OF SILICONE BREAST IMPLANTS investigated by Light
SILICONE in Breast Implants is NOT inert. NOBODY GETS OUT OF HAVING BREAST IMPLANTS UNSCATHED – ITS A MATTER OF DEGREE. TOO MANY WOMEN HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES TO THE HARMS OF BREAST IMPLANTS.
Manufacturers and regulatory bodies that deny the truth and refuse to #StudyUs will cause more needless deaths. They must include Real World Evidence in regulating decisions. Women losing their lives shouldn’t be anecdotal.
WOMEN ARE TOLD TILL THEIR DYING BREATH THEIR IMPLANTS HAVEN’T IMPACTED THEIR HEALTH (with the exception of BIA-ALCL).
Doctors that fail to properly diagnose women ill from Breast Implants may lead them more quickly toward their grave.
There is LACK OF SCREENING FOR POORER CANDIDATESwith pre-existing conditions or genetic pre-disposition to developing serious autoimmune illnesses that may impact health and mortality.
NOTHING HAS CHANGED SINCE THE EARLY DAYS, EXCEPT THAT BREAST IMPLANTS MAY BE EVEN DEADLIER THAN BEFORE
Women in 2020 who have experienced losing their health (and some their life), as a result of Breast Implants are saying the SAME things and have experienced the SAME symptoms as women since the early 60’swhen Breast Implants were introduced.
PJ Brent who later lost her life to suicide attended this rally. The other ladies are still alive. (Photo above)
Prior to the 60’s injectable silicone and other substances were used, with catastrophic consequences to women’s health. In the early 60’s SILICONE BREAST IMPLANTS were created as a way to contain silicone within the breasts. HOWEVER, all Breast Implants have ‘gel bleed’ and ALL eventually FAIL leaving women vulnerable to silicone migrating to lymph nodes, surrounding tissue and distant places, including VITAL ORGANS.
Each new tweak to Breast Implants has been spun to consumers as making implants safer, but has been just one more experiment using women as lab rats. The tweaks invariably presented new complications, some potentially fatal as in the instance of Breast Implant Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma, which is linked to ‘textured’ implants. One can be sure that women have died from cancers caused by chemicals used in implants and migrated silicone throughout the history of breast augmentation.
INJECTING SILICONE DIRECTLY INTO BREASTS IS BANNED because of the known consequence to health and mortality. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE on impact to health and mortality when silicone from Breast Implants ‘bleeds’ or migrates into the lymph system or other parts of the body.
For nearly SEVEN DECADES women who have been used as HUMAN GUINEA PIGS have been swept under the carpet as they’ve become ill, or died.
LINKS TO ONLINE STORIES – Women who died from breast augmentation surgery or complications from having breast implants: (Please note: Many of these sites have annoying pop-ups.)
FOR ALL WOMEN WHO HAVE DIED SINCE BREAST IMPLANTS AND INJECTABLE SUBSTANCES HAVE BEEN USED TO AUGMENT BREAST SIZE …
IN LOVING MEMORY OF OUR FALLEN ANGELS
If there is anyone you would like added to this Memorial please send their name, photo, birth and death date, and a few details of their story via email: breastimplantfailure@gmail.com
Thank you to ALL who shared stories and information. **Special thanks to Gail Hamilton for creating the memorial logo photo** **Special thanks to Dede Graham for all the help and support**
**Special thanks to Ed Brent for sharing his wife, PJ Brent’s, story. Our bii community is grieving the loss of too many of our sisters that took their own life to end their suffering. The issue of suicide with breast implants needs to be openly discussed and not swept under the carpet. It is a risk with breast implants and should be acknowledged**
**Special thanks to Rosanna Smith (Rosie) for generously allowing me to use information from her website, where she had her own wonderful memorial tribute to sister’s that have lost their lives after having breast implants. Rosie, of Florida, worked as a volunteer since 1993-2018 and has supported countless women on their journey toward healing. Rosie is in ill-health so has had to close her website: Implant~Info~Net.**
**We wish to extend remembrance to ALL who have lost their life after having any IMPLANTABLE MEDICAL DEVICE. We stand collectively in solidarity with victims of implantable medical devices and their advocacy movements.**
Months ago we suggested to a regulator that they provide information on their website advising where women can go for help and what they can do when they have migrated silicone.
We knew all too well that there is NOTHING and NOWHERE. Sometimes surgeons will remove a silicone filled lymph node(s), though most surgeons are reluctant to do so. Or surgically excise silicone embedded into a muscle, as in my case where my surgeon removed my pectoralis minor muscle because it was embedded with silicone. She also removed silicone granulomas, a large silicone filled mass, some intercostal muscles, and more. But she couldn’t remove the silicone embedded against my lungs, and now possibly in my lungs. Or, multiple silicone filled lymph nodes scattered throughout my body. Or a lot of other silicone that had migrated deeply within me to places a surgeon’s scalpel cannot reach, or at least safely excise. Once silicone is in the lymph system and has crossed into the blood, it goes viral. I am merely one of millions.
Its my personal belief, btw, that while countless women have been diagnosed with migrated silicone, most women will have micro-droplets of silicone migrated through them, even though it has not yet been diagnosed (because no one is looking for it).
Circling back to our suggestion that the regulator provide information on remedial recourse for women with migrated silicone on their website, our intention was that they be faced with the fact that there is nothing.
Reading our words to them angered me, and became the catalyst for the letter writing campaign.
How do regulatory bodies get away with continuing to license devices causing women permanent harm while allowing manufacturers to escape accountability.
It’s been SIXTY YEARS.
Whatever the reason this has gone on so long .. whether ineptitude .. understaffing .. financial kickbacks .. corruption .. negligence .. indifference .. THIS HAS TO STOP! WE HAVE TO STAND UP AND SAY ‘ENOUGH’.
PLEASE JOIN US IN SAYING ‘ENOUGH’!
Please write your country’s regulatory body to demand manufacturers provide long term safety data, using women already harmed in studies, not through harming new women and waiting 20 years to find out what happens to them. The starting point isn’t now, it was sixty years ago! If you feel so compelled, demand a moratorium on breast implants until the safety of migrated silicone is answered.
‘MAKE GOOD TROUBLE’ LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN (Regarding: Migrated Silicone and zero industry accountability): LETTER TEMPLATE
PLEASE NOTE: This template is specific to Canada, but can be changed as needed to address any country’s regulating body.
LETTER TEMPLATE INSTRUCTIONS:
This letter TEMPLATE is intended to make it easier for ladies with migrated silicone to write to their country’s regulatory authority to demand that the issue of migrated silicone cannot be ignored.
It could also be adapted for those not already diagnosed with migrated silicone, but feel this is an important issue and want to call for improved safety / protection for women with breast implants. While this letter deals specifically with migrated silicone, ALL breast implants have the same silicone shells that also bleed chemicals into women’s lymph nodes (and elsewhere).
You must copy/paste the template content to your own personalized document.
PLEASE READ THE TEMPLATE CAREFULLY as there are fields (highlighted with a yellow background) where you’ll have to add your personal information and if needed, change fields that make it pertain to a specific regulatory authority.
Where is says ‘(regulator name)’ please add the name of your country’s regulatory body (FDA / Health Canada / MRHA, etc). Where it says ‘(citizens)’ please change it to refer to the citizens of your country (ie: ‘Canadians’ / ‘Americans’, etc). Where it says ‘(country)’ please add your country’s name. PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE THE ‘BRACKETS’.
Regarding ‘Adverse Events Reporting’ please note there are TWO options. PLEASE CHOOSE ONLY ONE. ‘I have previously filed an Adverse Events Report. ** OR ** ‘I have not yet filed an Adverse Events Report, but plan to do so’.’
Note: If you haven’t already filed an adverse events report we STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO. If you’re from Canada or another country other than the USA, you could report to your country’s regulatory authority and also to FDA.
Link to report medical devices Adverse Events in Canada:
Please feel free to change or add anything you want to include in your letter that isn’t included in this TEMPLATE.
Once you’ve sent a letter(s) we encourage you to leave a comment below indicating that you have done so.
LET’S DO THIS!
In the words of the great civil rights activist John Lewis (now deceased), let’s make ‘GOOD TROUBLE’ in calling for regulatory and industry accountability in regard to migrated silicone.
It is a crime against women to have allowed this to go on so long. Claiming they don’t know the impact of migrated silicone after nearly 60 years is NOT ACCEPTABLE. We must stand up to this injustice.
Women who have been implanted with ‘silicone gel breast implants’ often end up with silicone in their lymph nodes and migrated to other places, including vital organs.
After nearly SIXTY YEARS industry still claims the long term impact of migrated silicone is ‘UNKNOWN’, yet they refuse calls to study women that have migrated silicone. Over decades migrated silicone has been empirically documented. There is plenty of scientific evidence that exposes the harms denied by industry and REAL WORLD EVIDENCE demonstrates that migrated silicone causes illness, pain and death.
Manufacturers, regulatory bodies, and doctors have been telling women that breast implants are ‘SAFE’ while women with migrated silicone are being harmed and discarded. As they get sicker, women with migrated silicone are left without answers and without medical help.
In order for such avoidance of accountability to have continued this long industry, regulators, lawmakers and doctors are, so to speak, ‘in bed with each other’. There can be no other plausible explanation
CLAIMING ‘THE LONGTERM IMPACT OF MIGRATED SILICONE REMAINS UNKNOWN‘ at the expense of human health is NOT ACCEPTABLE.
The ‘BREAST IMPLANTS – MAKE ‘GOOD TROUBLE’ CAMPAIGN‘ calls for accountability and answers.
I encourage those with migrated silicone to WRITE LETTERS to your country’s regulator (‘FDA / HEALTH CANADA / MHRA’, or whichever other is your country’s regulator). Phone them too. Keep writing and phoning until you receive the answers you deserve.
Also write and call your lawmakers and politicians – Regional and Federal.
Ask them ‘WHERE do you go to get help?’. Ask them ‘WHO CAN HELP YOU and WHAT CAN BE DONE?’. Ask them ‘what your LONGTERM PROGNOSIS is‘. Tell them ‘I DON’T KNOW’ is NOT ACCEPTABLE!
If you don’t have migrated silicone, but this is still an important issue to you, please join in writing a letter. A violation against one woman is a violation against all women. A violation against women is a crime against humanity.
The time for accountability and answers is long overdue.
If you’re considering getting silicone breast implants ask the plastic surgeon what can be done if you end up with migrated silicone. Don’t stand for them denying or minimizing the risk or incidence. It happens, and it happens often. ALL BREAST IMPLANTS HAVE GEL BLEED. ALL BREAST IMPLANTS WILL FAIL WITH TIME. Breast implants sit in close proximity to vital organs and lymph system. Silicone and chemicals can cross the blood barrier. Denial and minimizing is NOT an answer. It’s a ‘slight-of-hand’ non-answer from a sales person pitching you a device they’ll profit from implanting in you.
PLEASE JOIN in calling for REGULATORY and INDUSTRY ACCOUNTABILITY.
Qualifying comment: I want to acknowledge that the great Civil Rights Activist, JOHN LEWIS (deceased), who spent his life advancing human rights, coined the phrase “GOOD TROUBLE”.
In calling for regulatory and industry accountability in regard to migrated silicone, and to end this injustice against women let’s now make ‘good trouble’.
Posted at 6:17 pm by motherima, on November 21, 2020
When Michelle Sheets got smooth saline breast implants she never fathomed they would lead to her being diagnosed with a rare, deadly cancer that she’d gotten from her implants. She was never told that breast implants could cause cancer, only that breast implants were ‘safe’.
When she was was 8 months pregnant Michelle was diagnosed with Breast Implant Associated – Squamous Cell Carcinoma (BIA-SCC).
The cancer wasn’t in her breasts, it was in the scar capsules that had formed around her breast implants. Cancer was found in both implant capsules. One capsule had a 4 inch by 2 inch tumour that was stuck to her sternum, ribs and back.
Michelle’s daughter is now 14 months old.
In recent days Michelle reached out for prayers that she would live long enough for her daughter to remember her. Michelle is facing another surgery because she’s experiencing pain in her sternum and ribs, in precise locations where there had been tumour adherence. Michelle is optimistic, but understandably concerned.
Two years is the life expectancy with her cancer and its now been 19 months since Michelle’s diagnosis.
Worldwide there are 7 cases. Four have died. Two Michelle isn’t sure of their outcome.
Breast Implant Associated – Squamous Cell Carcinoma is considered ‘very rare’ at this time with so few known cases, however we suspect such low stats reflect lack of testing vs true incidence. We believe as they begin testing for BIA-SCC diagnosed cases will increase. It’s likely women have died from Breast Implant Associated – Squamous Cell Carcinoma without ever having been diagnosed.
As with Breast Implant Associated – Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma, a few years ago women were being told they’d have a better chance of being struck by lightning – or even a meteor – than get BIA-ALCL. However, once they started testing for it cases began climbing sharply, with new cases now being diagnosed weekly.
Despite what she’s going through, and indeed because of what she’s going through, Michelle Sheets wants to raise awareness about Breast Implant Associated – Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
No matter what type of surface, textured or smooth, breast implants can and do cause cancer. Michelle’s implants had been replaced multiple times, but she only ever had smooth implants.
With Michelle’s cancer, at least so far, there’s a poor prognosis.
If you’ve got breast implants and have concerns, trust your gut. Don’t let a doctor dismiss your concerns. Many women are still being denied proper testing, and in fact many are laughed at by doctors when they express concerns about breast implant associated cancers. Doctors that behave in such a manner are uneducated regarding implant cancers and need to step up their bedside manner.
That said, panicking unnecessarily isn’t a good plan. Educating yourself about the risks and symptoms is important. Knowledge is power.
If you have breast implants and develop unusual symptoms, including sudden swelling, pain, itching, seroma (fluid), redness, hardness, lumps / masses you should seek medical attention. Symptoms of BIA-SCC can be similar to symptoms of BIA-ALCL.
Pain and swelling led to Michelle having a diagnostic ultrasound, which revealed she had a 6cm tumour in one breast, and 1cm in the other. A biopsy confirmed cancer.
Qualifying comment: ** Based on her personal diagnosis and the life-threatening outcome it presents, Michelle takes a stronger position than what I’ve expressed. She adamantly encourages removing implants BEFORE symptoms occur. With Breast Implant Associated – Squamous Cell Carcinoma once there are symptoms she believes “it’s too late.” Her wish, of course, is that no other women will be faced with her diagnosis. **
I really ‘get’ why Michelle feels as she does. I’m simply gutted for her and for the women who have yet to receive diagnosis of a breast implant related cancer.
Ultimately I respect everyone’s right to make their own choice. I encourage women to research and decide what your own personal comfort level is with removing implants, or not.
A message from Michelle, in her own words: “This may not matter to you now because it does not effect you, but it is coming. Ten, fifteen more years, there will be a surge of rare, aggressive, deadly cancers. Then, maybe people will start paying attention to this bullshit right here. And to be clear, I have replaced my implants as recommended. I have paid top dollar, top surgeons. You will NOT escape this. I even had top dollar saline implants. Explant with an explant specialist This might save your life. Do not wait until you have symptoms. It will be too late then. Love your body. Love yourself.Save yourself. I am not a rare exception to some rule. I am one of the first is all. It is not survivable. It is around 10 grand for these explant specialists.Don’t say you cant afford it. Your life is worth much more. Find a way. You found a way to.put them in.These are facts I learned in my own almost 2 years of diligent reaearch and phone calls. Spread this far and wide. My life matters!!”
Posted at 4:58 am by motherima, on October 29, 2020
Seven years ago today I had my badly ruptured Dow Corning silicone gel breast implants removed.I’d had them for twenty-three years. I woke up from my explant surgery SO RELIEVED that my implants were out. I didn’t want to die with those god-forsaken toxic devices within me. They’d caused so much suffering and took me to deaths’s doorstep.
My explant date is more important to me than my birthday! I know that every year I keep saying that, but it’s as true today as it was 7 years ago. I can’t begin to express the joy I felt immediately upon waking from surgery knowing the implants were out. EVERY SINGLE DAY I feel grateful they’re out of me!
BREAST IMPLANTS ARE A TOXIC ILLUSION. Breast implants don’t make us beautiful or more of a woman, they make us sick.
Spare me the ‘not everyone becomes sick from implants’ spiel. It’sBS. Whether illness or permanent physical changes from surgery and/or having implants NO ONE gets out of having breast implants unscathed.FULL STOP. It’s a matter of what, when and degree .. and IF you’ve yet connected the dots.
Removing my implants saved my life, but longstanding rupture caused irreversible harm. The irreversible harms include (but are not limited to): lung impairment, acute 24/7 pain, silicone filled breast lesions and masses, silicone filled lymph nodes, free-silicone which has escaped my breasts and migrated deeply and extensively within my chest wall (and goodness knows where else).
Even if a woman has extra capsular rupture it’s still so critical to remove the implants. At least the bulk of silicone will be gone. There will be less silicone in you that can migrate. It can prevent getting to death’s doorstep ‘sooner than later’, or save your life if you’re already there.
And so today I CELEBRATE that the toxic mess depicted in pictures included with this post is out of me !!!!!!!!!
FYI #1: DO YOU KNOW that despite silicone breast implants being implanted in women since the early 1960’s there is STILL NO LONG TERM SAFETY DATA!
In 2006, after a 10-year moratorium breast implants were conditionally re-approved, contingent on manufacturers creating studies that would show long term safety.
Given the deadline for manufacturers to prove longterm safety wasn’t met IMHO ALL SILICONE BREAST IMPLANTS ARE NOW NON-COMPLIANT DEVICES.
Despite this, women are still unwittingly being used as HUMAN GUINEA PIGS. Except, in a lab experiment scientists are actually tracking results. In this experiment no one is keeping track. You’re a human guinea pig, but not told you are and till now no one’s really given a proverbial sh*t.
At best, ALL breast implants bleed silicone / chemicals and at worst they fail with an often catastrophic outcome to the wearer. Silicone is NOT INERT.
The industry refuses to study those of us with migrated silicone though WE HOLD THE TRUTH OF SILICONE. Well, more likely they refuse to study us ‘BECAUSE’ we hold the truth of silicone. We represent decades of data. WE ARE SWEPT UNDER THE RUG.
THE TRUTH OF BREAST IMPLANTS IS BURIED WITH US.
HOW IS IT THAT after nearly SIXTY YEARS manufacturers and regulators are getting away with saying the long term impact of migrated silicone remains UNKNOWN, when they have made ZERO EFFORT to study women harmed!
Note: It is my goal to have studies created that include women harmed.
FYI #2: DO YOU KNOW that it’s illegal to inject silicone directly into a human body because of the consequences to health, including death. Breast implants were created to contain silicone gel within an outer shell (shells are also made of silicone). This is an industry ‘slight-of-hand’. The industry KNOWS FULL WELL that at best the shell merely minimizes or slows down silicone migration, but doesn’t stop it. Millions of women have migrated silicone in them despite the false narrative that the ‘new ones’ don’t leak. Free-silicone within a body is free-silicone regardless of delivery approach – whether through being injected or having leaked from breast implants.
Extra capsular rupture with a cohesive gel ‘gummy bear’ silicone breast implant
FYI #3: The Industry has never taken responsibility for the harm silicone causes within a human body.
My dear friend Gail Hamilton wrote a book called, ‘Breast Implants and the D.I.R.T. Committee’. When Dow Corning was facing a class action lawsuit in the 90’s they created a committee whose task it was to FIND AND DESTROY incriminating documents.
When hundreds of thousands of women claimed their implants had made them sick and caused migrated silicone the breast implant industry didn’t take responsibility. They tried to sweep the women, along with the damning documents under the rug. They still sweep us under the rug.
FYI #5: FDA Hid hundreds of thousands of reported Adverse Events
In 2019 an ICIJ investigation and the work of Madris Tomes exposed that FDA had hidden hundreds of thousands of adverse events reports, which included serious harm and death.
Lisa will be remembered for her gentle spirit and loving nature. She was always so positive and used to say, “Never forget how far you’ve come. Everything you have gotten through. All the mornings you just didn’t want to get out of bed, but you did.” (quote: Rita Giorgio-Masson)
Stacey Phelan Olson, Ashley Jade’s sister, writes this message:
From Rosanna Smith (Rosie) Implant~Info~Net: Mary died from an autoimmune disease related to a breast implant she got following mastectomy, in 1998.
From Rosanna Smith (Rosie) Implant~Info~Net: Pam worked hard to ensure other women were informed about the risks, pain and suffering of breast reconstruction surgeries.
Edwidge Ligoneche, of France, died from ruptured PIP implants and BIA-ALCL
“The silicone breast implant fiasco is a sad case of corporate indifference and regulatory mismanagement.” Ted Weiss (D-N. Y.) House Subcommittee Chainnan New York Times, 312019
Breast Implant Failure & Illness 