I got breast implants after beating breast cancer. They made me even sicker than I was before.

• I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017 and got implants after my mastectomy.
• I experienced 29 different symptoms, including constant pain that made me want to crawl into bed.

One of the best days of my life was the day I had surgery to remove my breast implants. After three and a half years of scans, labs, and appointments, I was finally free of the silicone bags sewn into my chest that were making me sick.

I made the decision to get breast implants just a few weeks after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017. Implants were supposed to help me feel womanly, whole, and normal after my mastectomy. My implants looked perfect.

However, I was not only in constant shoulder and rib pain, but I had 29 debilitating symptoms which I learned by doing my own extensive research were from breast-implant illness, or BII. It turns out, I'm not alone.

Though breast-implant illness is not an official, diagnosable medical condition, many of us who have had breast implant side effects are certain that it exists.

My breast implant symptoms started in 2019

Some of my symptoms included fatigue, dry eyes, increased anxiety, weakened bladder control, acne outbreaks, and I was told I may have lupus.

I woke up many mornings with my joints inflamed, my toes turning a purplish color, and I experienced a pulmonary embolism. There were many days I couldn't get out of bed, experienced brain fog, and would forget what I was saying mid-sentence.

I look back at pictures of myself before I explanted, and I see someone with a lot of facial inflammation, yellow-tinted skin, and thinning hair. All my symptoms began in 2019, about two years after getting implants, with the exception of the pain, which started immediately after surgery and stayed with me.

I could barely function, even on my best days. Keeping up with my four kids was nearly impossible. They were active and up for adventures, and all I wanted to do was crawl in bed and never wake up from the medical nightmare I was facing. I didn't just sit around, though. I pursued medical help.

I had an MRI, a CT, and many lab draws. I saw 10 doctors, but not one of them suggested that my implants could be making me sick. In October of 2021, the FDA issued new, strict breast-implant guidelines and also mentioned BII as something that may be resolved with the "removal of the breast implants without replacement."

Doctors told me it was possible my breast implants were making me sick

A person cannot be diagnosed with breast implant illness, because it's technically not yet an official medical condition.

However, after speaking with two of my doctors about my symptoms, they both confirmed it was possible that my implants were making me ill. They both also told me that they've had other patients explant and see major health improvements, which made my decision to remove the implants even easier.

Dr. David Rankin, founder of Aqua Plastic Surgery in Florida and the chief of plastic surgery at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, is a well-known explant — that's the removal of breast implants — surgeon who is booked through December 2023.

According to Rankin, breast-implant illness is "an array of systemic symptoms believed to be caused by the breast implants, which typically resolve when the implants and capsules are removed."

As a person who had breast implant illness and is active in the BII community, I remember being told that implants are overwhelmingly safe and complications are rare. However, there are large social-media groups dedicated to women who have become ill from their implants. One group has over 160,000 members. Many of us are told that our symptoms are all in our heads, and we're offered anxiety medication.

Four years ago, Rankin stopped offering breast-implant surgeries and chose to focus on explanting instead. He shared with me that a whopping 85% or more of his patients feel better after their explant surgery.

Breast implants were supposed to make my life better after cancer and losing my own breasts. However, my implants brought me nothing but agony, and I am so thankful that my health has resolved after removal.