Every December I find myself reflecting on the year behind us. This year was a doozy for our family- one son diagnosed with chronic kidney disease and another with Type 1 diabetes. I haven’t felt this level of stress in over a decade. But miraculously, my body has handled the stress remarkably well. I’m sleeping well, my diet has stayed healthy and consistent, my skin in still clear and soft, and my hair isn’t thin or brittle. In the past even slight waves of stress would take an immense toll on me- hair would fall out in clumps, skin would flare in raging red patches and plaques, I’d lose weight and struggle to sleep. And my emotions would be on a constant rollercoaster of anxiety, tears, and quiet rage.
Then I had my breast implants removed. I’m now almost three years post-explant and can’t believe how incredible my body feels today.
But before January of 2023, I was suffering. Brain fog, fatigue, hormonal disruption, anxiety, mood swings, pain, sleeplessness…I could go on and on. I attributed so many of those issues to mental health, or being a mom of babies for nearly two decades. But the truth was so much simpler than that. My body was constantly fighting an invader and was responding with an extreme level of inflammation, so extreme that it nearly couldn’t keep going.
I was sick enough at the end of 2022 that my mother-in-law had to fly across the country to come help me with the children, and I was questioning whether I’d ever be able to milk again. My right side had become so inflamed I was losing the use of my right arm. I had severe plaque psoriasis, and my right hand was closing up into an eagle claw- I couldn’t even sign my name. What started as a pinching sensation under my right arm became an intense, consistent dull pain that pulsed down my arm to my fingers.
I had done tons of research- I knew they needed to come out. But explants are expensive. It cost nearly three times what it costs to put them in, to get them out. And finding a surgeon who believes in breast implant illness- who understands the importance of removing the entire capsule, scraping away inflamed and damaged tissue, and allowing the body to properly heal before attempting any reconstruction- is incredibly difficult. Most surgeons insisted to me that the implants just needed replacing with better quality implants.
The body is intelligent- it surrounds the implants with scar tissue, the “capsule,” to protect itself from the foreign object being placed so close to vital organs. This is disclosed in consults with plastic surgeons- not hidden at all- the body is going to create a barrier because it recognizes this as a problem from the start. It never occurred to me that this process is the first red flag that perhaps these devices don’t belong inside us. Often times this capsule only exaggerates exactly what we want from implants to begin with- a firmer, perkier version of what’s lying beneath.
When I got my implants, I was a 19-year old mom who had breastfed her first baby and was shocked by what my breasts looked like. I grew up in the South, where being pretty is a virtue, like good manners. And I grew up thinking that being pretty takes maintenance. Getting breast implants was just part of keeping up with looking your best, like going to the gym, getting your hair and nails done, or wearing nice clothes. It didn’t even occur to me that there were other options. I knew more women who’d had plastic surgery than hadn’t, and there was no stigma around “having work done.” My surgeon was attentive and knowledgeable, and the process was as simple as a day at the spa- another testament to our culture’s normalization of surgical procedures. The idea that he was cutting into my body and filling it with something artificial, initiating an immune response that would essentially never stop, never crossed my mind.
That initial surgery was uneventful, and the results were beautiful. I felt like a young woman again, no evidence of my initiation into motherhood on my body. But in my six subsequent pregnancies and birth, I struggled to breastfeed— something I never struggled with prior to implants, and something my initial surgeon insisted would not be a challenge since “many women with implants breastfeed their babies successfully every year.” I suffered nerve damage from the pressure of the implants and capsules on my nerve tissue- I had no feeling in my breasts whatsoever, a common response to implants. I had so many other side effects over the years that I could easily brush off as related to other issues, but my the 10th year with them I started feeling like more and more of how I was feeling was connected to the implants, and I began to research the explant process.
I had my implants removed on January 6, 2023. I’d read so many stories of women with breast implant illness, and taken so many notes from explant stories. I followed a series of doctors on instagram making notes of what to ask my surgeon, and when I found one who consistently handles en-bloc capsulectomies (complete removal of the capsule, the implant, and all affected tissue surrounding them) I scheduled a consult. His team told me that for the month before surgery and for six weeks afterward, they require their patients to add 60g of protein twice a day to their diets, with no exceptions or the surgery would be canceled. He expects his patients to be nourished enough to support their healing after surgery. I’d had a hysterectomy not long before, and I’ve had other surgeries in the past, and never have I had a surgeon tell me nutrition was a requirement for going under the knife.
That made all the difference. I did all his recommendations leading up to surgery- exercised, focused on mental health, added that huge dose of protein, and tried to get good rest. But the real difference of course came after the implants came out. I had so much inflammation they had to scrape my breast tissue down to the muscle and deep under my arm to get everything clear. Once the implants were out, they tested them for leaks. There were none. My implants were as perfect as the day the first doctor put them in. They were poisoning me anyway. My body had clearly rejected them and engaged in an enormous inflammatory immune response against them.
I felt like I aged ten years in reverse. My brain fog was immediately lifted- I was thinking clear as soon as I was home from the hospital. I had so much less pain than before that it didn’t even occur to me to take the pain meds they prescribed. My surgeon sent me home with drains to pump fluid out of my chest cavity during the first few weeks after surgery, and with strict dietary guidelines to keep my body purging the bad and building on the good. Within a week I was out running errands and milking my cows again. Within a month I was back to 100% of my activities, with more energy and better mood, thought processes, everything than before.
Because I had so much inflammation, I had a pretty extensive detox journey after the explant process. I decided to do a 3 week bone broth fast (I did continue to supplement protein, and I recommend Ancestral Supplements bone broth protein powder, especially for a detox bc it’s dairy free and includes organ meats, bone broth, and mushrooms). I slowly added organ meats and rice cooked in bone broth, then eggs and some raw dairy, and I stayed on a mostly carnivore diet for over 6 months. I felt like my body needed that very intense period to rebuild its muscle and fat stores and to fully recover from years of physical trauma. Today I eat a normal balanced diet without restrictions, but I attribute that to being fully healed following the explant and detox process. I also used infrared sauna, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, acupuncture, and chiropractic adjustments to support my healing.
I did opt to have a breast lift to remove excess skin and reconstruct where all the damage was- I’m not afraid to admit my own vanity still comest through in spite of myself. However, my surgeon wouldn’t do the reconstruction until at least 6 months after my first surgery. I wound up having one additional surgery to remove more scar tissue that had built up following the explant, and then reconstruction finally happened 9 months after my original surgery. Now, three years later, I am thrilled with the results.
Yes, I have significant scarring. But what I got in exchange for that scarring is everything- I got my life back. Your health is everything- it doesn’t matter how perky the girls are if you have to keep them in bed or a hospital all day. This very long process started me on an incredible health journey that completely transformed my life, not just for me, but for my children as well.
My husband was my biggest encourager in this, reminding me that taking this step was as much for our children and our family as it was for me and my health. I have four daughters and three sons, and I’ve been honest with them about this process. That I prioritized looking “pretty” without looking ahead to the consequences, and that now I’m setting aside looking “pretty” for the sake of feeling my best, so I can be the wife and mom I want to be. When I first got my implants, I believed I was taking steps to be my best self. Now my definition of my best self is different. This is breaking generational curses. My hope is that when my children are older, their definition of the best version of themselves (or their wives) will be focused on what’s inside- not what’s on the outside.
