Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2000 20:48:23 EST

Dearest Micheline and Tony,

I was very surprised to find my picture and my letter to you on your board. I only wish I had known that you were doing testimonies of our "sisters," as I would have gone into much more detail about my testimony with my implants. Let me give you a shortened version of it now.

I was 4 months past my 21^st birthday when I went to surgery for a double mastectomy. I thought I had done all the right things, I had the biopsies, and mammograms, and I even had 3 different surgeons opinions before going to surgery.

All agreed that a double mastectomy was necessary. My surgery lasted several hours, and when I woke in the recovery room, I immediately put my hands up to the bandages on my chest. I was quite shocked to find that I still had breasts! That was when the surgeon came in and told me that HE had decided (without my permission) that he felt due to my young age, he had put in silicone implants. I had no idea in 1978 what they were, but he reassured me that they would last a lifetime, and not to worry. My lifetime lasted 2 weeks. That was when my first set ruptured. My surgeon was out of town, and by the time he got back, I had developed a massive infection and had to be rushed back to the hospital. This was the pattern for me for the next four years. I had 25 surgeries by that time, and with each surgery he would tell me that he needed to take me back to surgery to remove infected scar tissue, most of which had become necrotic(dead). I would agree, and back to surgery I would go.

What I did not know at that time was that he was taking me to surgery to remove ruptured implants, and would then replace them with new ones. This was always done without my knowing why, or without cleaning out the old silicone that had leaked out. He was a cruel man, who believed that women did not need pain medications. During one of my hospitalizations I had developed what appeared to be gangrene, there were no operating suites available at the time, so he had 2 nurses tie my hands to the bedrails, one nurse hold my legs down, and he climbed in the bed, straddled me, and with 2 hemostats he grabbed the edge of the implants and yanked them out as hard as he could. Tissue and implants came out together. Silicone had leaked all over me and the bed, even the nurse! I screamed as the pain was unbearable. He just told me to shut up, he said that if a woman can have babies without pain medicine, I could stand this. He then walked out of the room. My wounds were left open and every 4 to 6 hours my open wounds were packed with an antibiotic called amikasin(sp) that had to be kept in the freezer prior to being packed into my open wounds.

I cannot begin to tell you the pain that caused.I was on it for four straight years, (and now have hearing damage and tinnitus from it.) I had a nurse persuade me to fire the doctor and she called an infectious disease doctor in on my case. He started me out immediately on morphine IV's. Unfortunately, I was unable to find any other surgeons to help me after being butchered by this one surgeon, so, I had to go back to him. By that time I had a diagnosis of Epstein Barr Virus, had strange rashes all over my body,(butterfly rashes on my face), etc. This continued for several years, and until I started getting my medical records in 1990, I had no idea that he had replaced so many ruptured implants. In 1985 I finally was able to find a reconstructive surgeon to remove the last set of implants, however, he left the capsules in me stating that there was no need to remove them. So, silicone continued to leak in my body until 1994 when I went to Houston Texas to see Dr. Patten, and he had a surgeon remove the capsules, or what was left of them. However, I am getting ahead of myself.

In between 1985 and 1994 I continued to have one problem after another, and was taken back to surgery for everything from foreign matter benign tumors to bleeding ulcers. While I was in Houston, it was discovered that I had diverticulitis, three stomach ulcers, mega colon, I had 2 major strokes that left me blind in one eye, and paralyzed on my left side. I eventually regained partial site back, and partial use of my left side, however, it is still weak to this day, and I have since had several mini strokes (TIA'S).

It was also discovered in Houston that my lungs, were full of foreign material, and the x-rays looked like a Dalmatian spotted dog! I was found to have silicone in my brain, lungs, liver, kidneys, reproductive organs, and the biopsy done of the nerve in my left ankle even showed silicone in it! By now I knew that that silicone had spread throughout my entire body. I came home with some of my medical records that my husband had managed to sneak out of the nurses station and have copied. I still have over 650 pages of medical records there, but they refuse to release them to me until I send them $654.00 for them. I spent three months in the hospital there, I went through IV steroid treatments, all kinds of medication treatments and then was told that there was only one thing left that might help me and that was chemotherapy.

I reluctantly agreed to the chemo. and never thought I would live through it! During that time, I developed severe stomach pains and went to O.R. for colonoscopy and endoscopy. That was when the ulcers were discovered. I had a stomach surgery and unfortunately developed blood clots in my legs. Two days later the blood clots dislodged and hit my lungs. I was started on heparin (blood thinner) but a few days later it was discovered that the heparin was causing my ulcers to bleed. Now I had to go to surgery for GI Bleeding. By the time I came home three months later, I was just a shell of the person I once was. I began having terrible abdominal pains and went to see my GYN doctor. After a few months of ultrasounds and sonograms diagnosing foreign matter, I was told I needed a hysterectomy. The doctor had to change his gloves three times due to the silicone sticking to his gloves, when he went to take out my ovaries, he had found that they had been pushed through my bowels due to the silicone. So, at the same time of the hysterectomy I had to have a bowel resection done. How kind of my insurance company at the time, they allowed me 12 hours in the hospital, but I began to hemorrhage, so I had to stay for 2 extra days and be taken back to surgery to stop the hemorrhaging. It took two surgeries to do that.

After the hysterectomy, within six weeks I started having terrible chest pains, so, back to the doctors I went. The x-rays of my lungs showed foreign material and a biopsy was advised. My lung collapsed immediately after the first biopsy, and a chest tube had to be inserted into my lung. I was sent home with the chest tube in place for a week. The next week, I had to have another lung biopsy because the pathology report was inconclusive. Again my lung collapsed, and again I went back to surgery for another chest tube. Home again for another week, when I went back to have the chest tube removed, I was told that the second biopsy showed a strange foreign matter, and I needed another lung biopsy. This time I was admitted into the hospital and went to surgery and had my ribs spread, and the biopsy went through my back. Again I woke with a chest tube where my lung had collapsed for the third time.

The pathologist never could figure out what was in my lungs, so he decided that I must have hystoplasmosis, and I had six months of antifungal medication. I have since been diagnosed with COPD, Chronic Bronchitis, and foreign matter in both lungs. Foamy Macrophages were found within both lungs, and I still have them as far as I know. Two months after that a tumor was found on my thyroid, so, back to surgery to remove my thyroid. If anyone wants to know what hormone hell is, just have a hysterectomy, and then a thyroidectomy within a few months of each other, and not be allowed to take any estrogen replacements due to the strokes, the blood clots in my legs, and breast cancer!

I started having eye problems again and was sent to a vitral-retinal specialist, he found silicone leaking from my tear ducts. He then sent me to a special hospital for specialized tests on both eyes. They concluded that I had "silicone toxicity" in both eyes, and would eventually go blind from it. I am slowly losing my sight now. My legs began to hurt so bad I could no longer walk without a cane, or a walker, so my neurologist did an EMG and a diagnosis of demylinating neuropathy was given to me in both legs. The doctor bent the needles at a 45 degree angle, and I felt nothing.

At that time I wore a size 5 1/2 shoe, now due to all the swelling of my legs and feet, I know have to buy size 7 1/2 just to get my feet into a pair of shoes. I have now been diagnosed with MS, Lupus, demylinating neuropathy in both legs, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis,(my bone scan showed my bones to be as brittle as a 75 year old woman's) I was told that was due to all the steroids, and the chemotherapy. I have been found to have a hole in my tricuspid valve of my heart, that is inoperable because I am such a bad surgical risk under anesthetic. I have arthritis in my spine, hips, legs, arms, and hands. I have sojourn's syndrome, raynauld's phenomenon, chill blain syndrome (my hands and feet literally blister if they get cold for more than 3 minutes) My circulation is next to zero, and my legs stay a very ugly color of blueish-purple! My nails on my toes have black streaks that go vertical and Dr.Patten said that was part of the silicone pattern.

The cartilage in both of my inner ears are being dissolved, and now I have severe vertigo(dizziness) and balance problems. I fall constantly, three times this past week down two flights of stairs. My husband gave me a hug and fractured three of my ribs! I have lost the use of my hands most of the time due to swelling and the joints of my knuckles have become stiffened to the point that they will not bend at all. My right knee has dislocated several times, and I have had four surgeries on it where the third surgery the doctor had to saw my lower bones and insert three steel pins. Six months later the pins started coming out through my skin so I had to go back to surgery to have the pins removed. It seems that by now, my body will not tolerate any foreign material in it. I reject everything. Two weeks ago I had to go to the emergency room because I woke up with my right eye swollen shut. After two shots of Demerol for the migraine and the eye pain, my eye was dilated, and was found that silicone had crystallized in my eye and cut my cornea in four different places. I see on a monthly basis, a neurologist, endocrinologist, pulmonary specialist, rheumatologist, and a pain management specialist. I have fibromyalgia to the point that I cannot sleep with any covers because of the pain it causes my skin when it touches or rubs my skin in my sleep. I have migraine headaches that put me in the hospital for days at a time, and my teeth have now lost all the enamel off of them. My gums have receded and have turned a deep purple color.

My fingernails look like someone took a hammer to them as they are dented and deformed. The rheumatologist says that is from a form of catastrophic illness, and he believes it is from the silicone, but says he cannot prove it. I have to take steroids about every three months because of my lungs, and so my body swells all the time. I started out at 89 pounds, went to 100 pounds, and now I am at 130 pounds. My joints are in severe pain constantly from the added weight on them. My long beautiful blonde hair is falling out in clumps like it did when I was on chemo. My bowels are such a mess I won't even get into that subject except to say that at times I cannot move my bowels for two weeks at a time. That is when I am really miserable. I wheeze with every breath I take, and when I catch a cold, it will turn into pneumonia within 24 hours EVERY time. My endocrinologist will not allow me to cough because of the osteoporosis. I cough so hard, I fracture my vertebra in my spine. I am now in a wheelchair most of the time, but on good days, I can get around slowly with my walker. My knees will dislocate without any notice, if I get up too quick from a chair or out of the bed. I am now able to push my knee caps back into place as the tendons and ligaments have been so damaged that they no longer hold my knee caps in place.

I bruise if I bump myself even very slightly, and will turn into a huge hematoma. My lymph nodes remain enlarged at all times in all parts of my body. I have had several of them biopsied, and the reports are always the same. Foreign body-foamy hystomacrophages. The pain in my legs never goes away, and I can only sit for a very short amount of time before my arms and legs go completely numb! I lay in a recliner chair most of the time. I can no longer hold anything that is made of glass for fear of dropping it, so I only drink and eat off of plastic or paper.

I think that I have given you enough of my testimony to realize that silicone does damage the body no matter what the doctors say. It just amazes me that they can get away with saying that silicone is not harmful to our bodies, and yet they have no answers for all the medical problems that I have except to tell me that it must be the chemicals from all the silicone that leaked into my body. What hypocrites they are. My husband has had to retire from his job of 23 years as a fire fighter because he would be gone for 24 hours every 3 days, and he would never know when he came home how he would find me. Most of the time I would be on the floor where I had fallen and could not get up without his help. So, I think that brings us up to the 40 surgeries that I have now had, and what silicone has done to me. I used to be such a productive person, as I was a trauma nurse/paramedic until I became too ill to work. I now live on disability, and where I used to make anywhere from $600.00 to $1200.00 a week, I now make a little over $600.00 a month!!!

I am being sued from Texas to Indiana and my medical bills have run well over the $250,000.00 range. I am not able to see any doctors that specialize in silicone problems because I can no longer afford them. I have received as many as 43 bill collectors calling me in one day. We had to install privacy manager on our phone to screen out all the bill collectors because it was causing me so much stress, my husband (and myself) were afraid the stress was going to cause me to have another stroke or heart attack. When I left Houston in 1994 Dr. Patten had told me that with the treatment of chemotherapy, I had a good chance of living 3 to 6 more years. Well, this July will be my 6^th year, and all I can do is pray and hold my breath!

Every day when I wake up, I thank God for giving me another day to live. If you can call this living. My attorney dumped my case last year when he realized that he was not going to make millions off of my case. If you ask me, (and this is my opinion and my opinion only) I think that he was bought off. He retired, moved across country, and was on a cruise to Alaska all within two weeks! My house has been broken into four times, and the only things stolen were medical records that had to do with Dow and the MDL.

It is so frustrating for me Micheline, as I used to spend my life taking care of others, and even had a full scholarship to medical school. I loved what I did, and I loved taking care of others. What a thrill it was to me to be able to bring someone back to life after a heart attack or a car accident, etc. Now I need help just to go to the bathroom. My husband has to pick me up, put me on and take me off the toilet, brush my teeth and hair, and even dress and undress me at times. This is what is called living? How can they get away with this? I will never understand it. I have sent letters to Vice President Gore, and his wife Tipper, to the President, to our Senators, and Congresspersons, but I never get any answers. Now I spend my days sitting in front of the window watching the world go by and praying for my other silicone sisters that they never have to suffer what I have gone through.

It breaks my heart that we are now on the second generation of children being born with silicone problems, and yet the FDA, Dow, Doctors, and anyone associated with silicone continue to argue that silicone is not harmful to our bodies. Don't they read the ingredients in the gel? Don't they know that saline expires, and causes bacteria and fungus? I just don't understand it. However, I am so grateful for all the hard work that our group leaders have done on our behalf. They are the true heroes in this saga.

They deserve the praise for all they do. Most of the time they do it out of the goodness of their hearts, using their own money, taking up their own time to fight for us relentlessly. I am so grateful to all of you who have taken up the cause for us. You are our true guardian angels. I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart.

Ilena,Myrl, PJ, Cindy, you and Tony, and all the others that have been so generous with their time and effort to help our cause. To the doctors who are willing to come forward and speak the truth about the dangers of silicone, Dr.Patten, Dr.Blais, Dr.Shanklin and Dr.Smalley, Dr.Ericsson, Dr.Zuckerman, and all the other doctors that are willing to take the heat for us. God bless all of you. What would we do without all of you? Where would we be now?

Let me tell you where we would be. We would all be in worse shape than we are now. We have already lost too many of our sisters to these bags of poison. I pray that no one else has to die to prove that silicone is the cause of all the pain and suffering. So, in a very long nutshell, this is my testimony, in a very condensed version. How do I give a testimony of 22 years of deterioration of my body that I never even gave consent for? What a crime it has become. All I can say at this point is, if silicone is of no harm, than lets put it in all the manufacturers of silicone, and all the doctors who say it is not harmful, and then see how long it takes the FDA to recognize the danger of silicone and saline too.

God Bless you Micheline and Tony, we all love you for all your hard work. It was so wonderful talking with you last week on the phone. You brightened my entire week, just from your one phone call. I will be forever grateful to you and all the others for all their precious time, hard work, and love. God be with all of you.

God Bless and Keep you all in His precious arms. My thoughts and prayers are with you and Tony.

Love Sami Lucas (Indiana- USA)