Breast implants may be making some women sick. We followed one woman's journey to get hers removed.
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- We spoke to more than 100 women who believe their breast implants made them sick.
- Breast Implant Illness is not an officially recognized diagnosis, but many patients have reported symptoms including panic attacks, vision problems, brain fog, insomnia, and indigestion.
- We featured one woman in a short documentary about Breast Implant Illness, and recently caught up with her during the process of getting her implants removed.
Removing her breast implants seemed like Tracie Mohler's only hope.
She is one of thousands of women who believe they were sick with Breast Implant Illness, describing symptoms such as panic attacks, brain fog, vision problems, insomnia, and other problems.
Breast Implant Illness isn't officially recognized as a medical diagnosis, but we spoke with more than 100 women who deal with symptoms just like these. After featuring Mohler in a Business Insider Today documentary about the condition, we reunited with her as she went through the lengthy explant process and began her life anew.
Explant surgery is the only way to end the pain for some women.
In July 2020, Insider produced a short documentary about Breast Implant Illness. In it, we featured Tracie's story and interviewed David Rankin, a Florida plastic surgeon whose schedule is fully booked with explants.
An explant surgery can cost $10,000. Tracie saved up for surgery for six months, but after losing her job and separating from her husband, she was unable to afford the procedure. And when getting surgery seemed impossible, she hit rock bottom.
"It's not like I want to kill myself to relieve myself from pain, but it's a thought. It's there," Mohler told Business Insider Today.
After the video was published, Rankin called Mohler and offered to do her surgery pro bono.
"When I saw Tracie and how she felt, and didn't have the ability or the means to pay for her surgery, I decided I would jump in and just help her out," Rankin said.
"I know she's been sick and not feeling well for many years now. And she's ruled out many other illnesses through seeing doctors and really didn't have anywhere else to turn."
We caught up with Mohler before she made the trip to Florida from her home in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
"I hope that I am not tired all the time, not swollen all the time. I hope that I am able to put a sentence together without searching for a word, that I can't find I hope that I can be a better mom. I hope that I can be successful at work," Mohler said.
"This man is doing something for me that I can never repay, giving me this chance to get better. I just wanted to thank him from the bottom of my heart, and I look forward to meeting him. And I'm ready."