Disabled for Over 25 years: Cindy Reid's Breast Implant Related Illness Story
In preparation for 2019's Breast Implant Awareness month, we asked women on our public Facebook page the question:
What did your doctor tell you that helped you decide to get breast implants?
This is Cindy Reids story....
I was as flat as a wall, truly. I desperately wanted to feel like a normal woman by having breasts like everyone else. I had even managed to breast feed children but still never gained breast tissue.
In 1984 at the age of 25 my mother gave me the gift of implants because she saw how much not having breasts affected me emotionally. The Doctor said it was rare to have any complications and so long as there were not any, I could expect them to last a lifetime.
He said the silicone felt more natural and having no breast tissue, the natural feel would be even better for me.
This was my one chance to feel normal.
I was a poor person who came from a poor family. My mother happened to get just enough money to pay for the surgery from an insurance settlement. It was a dream come true!
Years later (1996) when I was in terrible health I went back to him, he was hostile and 2 weeks away from retirement and said nothing was wrong and I was looking to get in on class action law suits.
I went to 2 more surgeons, again treated unkindly.
Finally, I found one who listened to me, agreed to go in and see if they were ruptured.
I begged to stay awake so I could see with my own two eyes, which I did. He removed both implants that had ruptured.
He cleaned me up the best he could I guess but I believe the old capsules remained*. They were not on the tray.
He put saline implants in at the same time. He said if one did rupture it was just saline and would be absorbed by the body and harmless**.
They are still in me.
I have been on disability for 28 years and been sick longer than that.
Once again, I thought they would last forever barring the low risk of any problems.
Now I'm almost 60 years old, I have lost time, happiness, relationships, my career, and so much more. The things I missed with my children!!!
Once upon a time I had a future full of promise and it was taken from me.
I struggle every day with my health. I live by myself on disability struggling to get by in every way.
To know all of this could have been prevented is very sad indeed. I could list all the ramifications to my health but I would be going on for another hour. You may use anything I have written.
Written by Cindy Reid @ March 5th, 2019 and shared with her permission
Notes
*Many women have found if capsules are NOT removed, they risk ongoing illness. Therefore, it is advised that women work with a surgeon who is familiar with what is called "enbloc" capsulectomy/explant
**The idea that saline implants are safer is a true misnomer. Saline implants are still cased in silicone and it's been shown that valves often result in body fluid going back and forth, resulting in the perfect breeding ground for fungus. In this video Dr. Susan Kolb discusses the risks of saline breast implants. This video shares from Doug Kaufmann, Dawn Strohm and Dr. Melmed on the risks of breast implants.
Follow our PUBLIC Facebook page here and join our private Facebook group for help with healing from breast implant illness.