A little about me. I am a single 46-year-old working mom of 3 wonderful kids. My biological son is 12, and my 2 adopted children (biological in my heart) are ages 2 and 4. For now, I work part-time as a social worker but will return to full-time when my son with autism starts kindergarten in the Fall. The money I make is to pay bills and my kid’s needs.
When I was 37, I made the mistake of not accepting myself for who I was and getting breast implants that would ruin my health for years, leaving me wondering what was wrong with me daily until I stumbled across information on BII (breast implant illness). I am a very private person, but I am sharing my story because I am desperate to be healthy again, and I really don’t want to get sicker. I have been sick for years with BII. Despite being sick, I get up every day and push through for my kids and myself. Here is a quick story; when I had my eldest child (age 12), I breastfed him for 2 years, and afterward I didn’t like how my breast looked, I wanted them lifted. The plastic surgeon talked me into implants… fast forward almost 9 years, and I’ve been sick almost all of them from body pain, extreme brain fog, chronic fatigue, and heat, and cold intolerance, to name a few. The brain fog is so bad that when I speak, I often cannot think of the words I want to use to articulate what I want to say. At night I want to fall asleep at 6:30 pm from the fatigue, but I push through until I get my kids to bed. By then I am so tired I cannot even wash my face or put pj’s on and that is embarrassing for me to say because it’s not that I don’t want to my body is exhausted. I used to clean my house before company came and make it spotless but have not in years; my brain won’t go from thought to action mode, which is hard to describe in words. If I eat really clean by having no gluten, dairy, meat, etc, I have a reduction in symptoms since my inflammation reduces in my body. I believe my body wanted the implants out as soon as I got them, within months, my hair starts falling out, and chronic fatigue kicked in. I used to exercise almost daily and loved the energy I felt after a workout, but within a year of implants if I exercised my energy would deplete. This has been hard for me since I suffer from anxiety and exercise used to be my go-to for that. I didn’t realize I had BII until two years ago. I love life and keep pushing through, but I miss my old self that had a zest for life and learning and the energy needed for it. From the first year with implants, I have felt as tired as I did in my first month of pregnancy. The inflammation in my body is affecting everything, I am in pain in my wrist and shoulder, moving the mouse to type this. This is common with BII, luckily, I have a high pain tolerance. Most women with BII start to recover right away after explant surgery, there are 1000’s of incredible stories or recovery. I want this mostly for my kids, I want to be the mom I know I can be again. I feel these things are killing me slowly, after implants, I found out I was allergic to 47 indoor/outdoor allergies and food. I cannot wear silicone earbuds because I feel, within minutes, ants crawling in my ears, they itch so bad, I get same feeling in my chest when I am on allergy overload and will itch them raw, it’s horrible. They say a silicone allergy is rare, but I am allergic to cows and chocolate, which is very rare too! On the physical side, my implants are too big for my small frame, and my back has nerve damage from the weight of them, and it hurts often. I could go on and on about symptoms, if you google BII symptoms, I have 90% of them. If I had known about BII before I adopted my 2 littles from foster care I could have saved and paid to get them out myself. Adding 2 children has made the cost of living more. For example, I had money after taxes, but I need a fence in the backyard because my son with autism wanders and my sensory seeking baby girl takes off…it’s not uncommon to have one going one way and the other another. My son with autism is such a blessing but I have had to make income sacrifices that I really had not planned on. I do work part-time for myself so I can be home when he is home from the special learning center, but the pay cut has me going month to month for now. I am hoping to go back to work full time when he starts Kindergarten in the Fall of 2023, but that would put me out a couple more years to get the implants removed and honestly the pain is getting so bad I can’t imagine going that long. I have been told to go to the Rheumatologist because I likely have Fibromyalgia, but I refuse to go because I know this pain will go away when the implants are out, and inflammation goes back down. So many women have had success with feeling better, I just know I will be one of them.
Now that I have a daughter, I want to teach my little girl that she is beautiful, just as God made her. 
Anyone considering implants, please do your research on BII. I wish I had known of it prior to my surgery. I have an inflammation autoimmune disorder which was diagnosed before implants, and that made me especially prone to BII. Just a side note insurance is yet to cover BII but there is now a black box warning on implants for BII and the risk for those with autoimmune disorders. Thank you for considering helping me. I would love to get these out ASAP and start living again. My hope is to be implant free in the next 3 months; I would get them out tomorrow if I could. I just want to add that I do understand that I did this to me myself, I am painfully aware of that. There are other stories on here that if I had the money I would donate too. I’m desperate so decided to take a chance that maybe a donor knows someone who went through this is or who has themselves had BII and just maybe would want to help me. Thanks for reading my story and considering helping me out.
