Sharyn L Noakes’ Testimony

MY IMPLANTS, MY STORY

Date: Sat, 4 Sep 1999 10:40:27 -0700

From: Sharyn L Noakes

I am so happy to be here to share my story about my 24 year old silicone gel implants. I hope all will read and see what happened to me. I am sure you will find it inspiring.

My reasons for having implants I guess would be mainly for cosmetic reasons although I never developed normally. It began back when I was twenty-eight when a friend of mine told me about implants. After talking, we decided to contact a local plastic surgeon in Hollywood, California. We made a joint appointment to talk to him about the implants. During our talk with him, he told us what a wonderful break through it was with these implants. He told us how safe they were and he even threw one on the floor as hard as he could to show us they would not bust. He told us they would last "forever, a lifetime". We, my friend and I were very impressed and began the process for the surgery. Pictures were taken of our breasts before surgery.

I went from a AAA size to a C size. I did not expect to be that large, but anything more than what God gave me was large to me. Since I had nothing before the implantation it was very painful but I thought it would be worth it to look normal. As I began to heal from the surgery I noticed that my breast were hardening. I was seeing this doctor about once a week because he was concerned about this and this is when I found that the scar tissue forming around the implants was forming thicker than normal. The doctor decided I needed a capsulotomy (where the doctor applies pressure to the breast to break open the scar tissue capsule) which was extremely painful. I could hear and feel the "pop" when he did this. Well to make it short this did not work. About three months after the surgery my right shoulder had froze up. They (military doctors) said it was sever Bursitis from to much strain on my shoulder. What strainÖI had not done anything such as heavy lifting etc. to cause this. Anyway, I was treated with a steroid injection and given anti-inflammatory medication.

It was not long after that, about 8 months later after the original implantation the doctor said I needed more surgery to remove this scar tissue before it got worse. I agreed and went under the knife again. After the surgery, I found a drain in my left breasts. The doctor told me he had to remove the implants and put new ones in. He told me he found the right implant had ruptured and he said he clean me up as well as he could, removed the scar capsules too. He told me I was haemorrhaging on my left side, but stopped it by cauterising and that is why I had the drain. He told me after cutting out the scar tissue he cut a larger cavity in both breast and re-implanted me with smaller implants. He said this would take care of everything and assured me again the implants were safe.

Again, my breasts began to harden. It was then the doctor began injections around my breasts to try to slow the healing process. This seemed to work on my left breast, but my right breast continued to harden. I did feel better after the second surgery. Another capsulotomy was done on my left breast and once again I heard and felt the "pop". A few months later after the doctor had released me I joined my husband at that time in Okinawa Japan.

Although my breasts were firm I felt okay and did not have any problems such as pain or other problems physically for several years.

It was not until 1977, when I began to show problems with my shoulder. I was about 7 months pregnant with my daughter. Again the shoulder froze up and I could not move it. I was given injections again and ultra sound was used to break-up calcium deposits. This seemed to help, but when it came time to deliver my daughter (full term), I had problems there too. The labour was difficult, my daughter's heartbeat has slowed as such, and she was quickly delivered. She was full term, but very small 5 pounds 7 oz. I was thankful she looked and was a healthy baby although her weight was abnormally low for a full term baby. I wanted to note that my breast remained the same size. My own birth defect was I had not developed, not even my glands so was I unable to nurse my baby.

Not to long after that my breast began to hurt and burn and it seemed that during the time from my last surgery they began to harden more. Especially my right breast so I saw the doctor at the military hospital about it. They wanted to do another capsulotomy, but I said no after they told me I could haemorrhage. I also pointed out some unusual brown spots that came up on my legs all of a sudden. I was told they were ageing spotsÖaging spots at the age of thirty? This all took place in Hawaii where my husband was stationed.

In 1980, we were transferred to Lansing Michigan. During our three-year tour there I began to get sick a lot and developed bronchial pneumonia. My joints began hurting and swelling as well as the continued problems with my right shoulder. My left shoulder began to have the same problems. It seemed I was going to the doctor about this every month and the doctors were treating me as if I was a hypochondriac, which I resented. I was in pain and both my breasts hurt. I found myself coping with the pain and not complaining because I was tired of being treated like it was all in my mind.

I tired to tell the doctors about the numbness in my arms, hand and fingers. The joints of my fingers would swell and they would hurt and itch. My husband would rub my hand for hours because I did not have the proper circulation. I thought my pain was due from the cold weather and when my husband was given orders the North Carolina I choose to go to Florida where we bought a home. My father would be close and the weather was warm. The separation was tuff, but nothing new being a mobile military wife. Our daughter was getting ready to start school and she began to have medical problems with her kidneys. This was in 1982 when we made the move.

I found my symptoms were not getting better. I still had pain in all of my joints, ankles, knees, shoulders, elbows and fingers. My back and neck began hurting at times and allergies to everything began showing up. My periods began to be abnormal and I had another bout of bronchial pneumonia. The stress of separation and illnesses became too much for me. I found myself crying all the time and then I was admitted to a hospital for major depression. For four years, I was under the care of a doctor and different medications were given to me. I never once complained to them about the pain I was in for fearing that they would think I was nuts. My allergies continued to worsen and so did the pain in my joints and breasts.

Four years after moving to Florida I joined my husband who had spent three years in North Carolina and one year in Okinawa Japan (unaccompanied tour) back at his new duty station in New Bern North Carolina. It was good to be a complete family again and I thought that perhaps I would begin to feel better physically. This did not happen. Instead I became worse, but I continued to be silent of my true pain. I began full-blown menopause at the age of 39. Keep in mind that the on set of my menopause actually began at the age of 35. By the time, I was the age of 44; I had completed my menopause, which is rather young for any woman who still has all of her parts.

In 1990, my husband retired from the Marine Corp after thirty years of service and we decided to move to Florida to make our home and be closer to my father who was getting up there in years. It was around that time that I began to worsen. Joints were still swelling and aching and my skin all over my body would hurt. To touch parts of the skin on my body was like someone pinching me. I began to develop sharp pains in both of my breasts. I began to have terrible muscles cramping in the muscles under my breasts. It was so painful that I though I was having a heart attack and it would bring me to my knees. My neck hurt and I was loosing movement of how far I could turn my head. My back began to hurt and I found it difficult to walk without pain, bend over without pain. I began to forget things and while talking would stop in the middle of a sentence only to have someone help me by finishing it. I had developed kidney stones again. I had had them many years ago in 1978, which I had surgery to remove the one that had blocked my left kidney and shut it down.

Unfortunately in 1992, I divorced my husband. He could not understand why I was the way I was and he was as miserable as I was. He was a strong man who would never admit to any pain. I guess it was his way due to his life in the military.

The pain I am in has continued to intensify and finally I was diagnosed with one of my medical illnesses. They call it Fibromyaligia an arthritic condition of the muscles attached to the joints and bones. The doctors have told me I am loosing my hearing at an execrated rate. I have a constant buzzing in my ears; my eye site is going quickly. I have arthritis in my neck and spine. I have numbness in my arms, hands and fingers, 90 percent nerve damage in both of my breasts now, lack of circulation in arms, hand, fingers, legs. I have skin rashes that appear and disappear. My palms are red and peal sometimes. My skin is dry and my right breast has/had begun to deform.

It's been 24 years since I was implanted and it's taken me over six years to finally get doctors to agree I am in pain and there is something wrong with the implants. On July 31, 1999, after I finally got approval form my insurance company I was ex-planted. What they found shocked many medical personnel and had a Plastic Surgeon shaking.

The day of my explantation the PS told me the surgery would be a piece of cake about an hour at the most. Well, approx. 3 and one half hour later the PS finally finished with the removal. First when he open the one side he said it was like an explosion of silicone. Then when he went to cut the scar capsule he found it and the silicone had embedded into the chest muscle. The scar tissue was so hard he could not use his normal method of scissors to cut it out of the chest muscles. He finally was able to remove all of it along with some of the muscles. My PS (Plastic Surgeon) who has been one for 20 years made the statement that he has never seen anything like this before. Oh, since this surgery turned out to be so major they had to rush me to the hospital across the street because the pain was so bad. I can remember that it felt like someone had ripped out my chest. Thank God for morphine which they gave me along with a morphine drip.

The out come of having implants now is a chest that is sunken in and looks like two flat tires. I highly doubt without future surgery that I will ever see my nipples again.

I have told my story to show that the long one keeps their implants the higher chances will be what I was faced with. This is also true of the many health problems I have now. Since the surgery there is no feeling in my chest area at all (I cannot refer to that area as breasts since I have non). I have pains in my left shoulder area and my left arm, hand and fingers are week and numb. My health has continued to decline.

Let us remember however, these implants as I and many thousands of other women were told they would last a life time. I'm only 51. Is that a life time. I don't know what the future is for me, but I do know that coping with pain has been a way of life for me and something that I will have to continue to do until well when ever I die.

I "know" many other women just like me and worse. My advise to anyone who is thinking about getting implants (silicone or saline) is to think twice as to "is it worth it to cut the quality of your health". Also, keep in mind that even saline implants are a problems since the shells are made out of silicone. It's also been known that saline implants have been found to grow neat nasty stuff in them too.

Anyway, this is my story and I am open for help should anyone want it. Do not condemn me for telling my true story either.

By the way, I just found out that these last a lifetime implants were DOW with DOW silicone gel.

Think about it

Sharyn

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