My Incredible Explant Journey!!

It was the beginning of 2019 and I was listening to tv when I faintly heard the announcement for the next story, “Women bravely opens up about removing her breast implants due to breast implant illness.” WHAT?! What in the world was Breast Implant Illness?! They surely had my attention. I stopped my folding and turned up the volume. A beautiful woman sat and courageously told her story. She talked about experiencing strange symptoms years after her breast augmentation. Symptoms such as chronic fatigue, hair loss, dry skin, odour, joint pain, anxiety, depression, hormone imbalance, acne, brain fog, fever, skin rashes, leaky gut, insomnia, among many, many others. She spoke about an ocean of women with the same symptoms who cured themselves by having their implants removed, herself included. The story ended and I just sat there, utterly perplexed, ruminating on this shocking information I just heard. I spent the remainder of the day reading anything and everything I could about BII, and I couldn’t believe it! It all made sense! All the symptoms that, this woman experienced I was experiencing too. Yet because the doctors couldn’t determine what the cause of these symptoms were, I started to believe this was normal. So, the following day I researched surgeons and set-up a consultation. I just wanted them OUT. Could my symptoms have manifested from Stress? Dietary changes? Surely, they could have. Could my symptoms have manifested from foreign objects placed on top of my rib cage that my body was constantly fighting against? Absolutely. Will I ever know the real cause? Not probable. But one thing I was sure about was that I was done with them. It wasn’t until a year later, that I found my surgeon. Dr Ellis Choy. The team at his clinic made me feel so supported and heard that I knew I was in the right place. During my consultation Dr Choy was so understanding, and explained everything to me in detail, making it incredibly clear on what the process will be. I felt so relieved to have found a surgeon who not only explained the process, from pre-surgery, surgery, post-surgery but was so understanding and compassionate. I knew I was in good hands. From the time of my consultation, everything just seem to flow so easefully and quickly, from completing the hospital paperwork, to speaking with Supercare who helped me access my super, to paying my surgery fees, to then being in hospital (incredible hospital and staff) having the surgery, I felt so taken care of and supported throughout this entire journey. I am so grateful to everyone involved who has helped me. I am 4 weeks post op and I can honestly say the Recovery from explant was a lot easier than having implants. The first week was hard, having drains in was quite uncomfortable but the biggest thing I have noticed is that overall I feel so much better! I can fully breathe again; my back doesn’t ache anymore and a lot of the symptoms I had are now gone. It is still early days but hand on heart, this was one of the best decisions I have ever made! Thank you, Dr Choy and Team, for giving me my life back.