“I want to tell all women seeking out surgery and implants to improve their image to stop and think for a minute. This is a strange plastic inside your body. No matter what kind you get they breakdown and put toxins in your body.”

Chrissie suffered from a variety of breast implant illness symptoms including yeast infections, UTI's, hair loss and decreased libido for years before receiving a notification from her friend to join a Facebook group called “Breast Implant Illness and Healing by Nicole.”

Tell us about your explant journey.

I was 30 when I got my implants over 15 years ago, in Albuquerque NM. Back then there was literally no information pointing to implant illness. My surgeon never said that I would have issues like I did. He just said to choose saline because saline if ruptured will be absorbed by your body. I was insecure about my chest size then. So why not they sounded virtually safe. For a while it was nice to fill out clothing and I was pretty fit so it made me look more in proportion. My surgeon even pointed that out. He explained he did them so they were exactly even instead of the way my natural body looked. Showed me before and afters and cut my body in half then showed me two left sides and then two right sides. "See", he said. Now that looks better. I was thinking in my mind. To who? 

Immediately I started getting tons of yeast infections and cold sores, my nails were getting really weak. Anyway, about 3 years passed and my husband and I got married. We quickly started working on a family with no luck. For 5 years we were in and out of infertility clinics, had multiple IVF's and several artificial insemination. With no luck and no explanation. Just lots of miscarriages. During this time, the yeast infections continued and progressively showed up all the time. UTI’s started and my overall feeling good was declining. My only sibling Jessica went in for surgery (GBS) in July of 2008 and did not make it back out. Long story but she passed away July 23, 2008 from complications and mistakes at 36. Then in December of 2008 I was diagnosed, after a big miscarriage, with 2 genes of Factor V Leiden. Then the lightbulb went off and I said "that's gotta be it!" 

We tried until I decided to just step back and take a break. I could not handle any more let downs. My libido was getting lower and lower at this time and I was contributing it to depression and the IVF’s. I was getting really weird rashes on my feet, chin and other parts of my body. My brain was super cloudy. Then in December of 2011, I woke up and was getting ready for the dentist but while lying in bed I felt a weird tingle in my belly and said to myself “I must be pregnant”, I took a test and viola! I was. After a blood test that day I was 6 weeks pregnant and had no sign of having a blood clotting disorder. I was put on Lovenox ( a blood thinner until 6 weeks after birth). When he was 3 months old, I smelled cigaret smoke for 1 full year after receiving the whooping cough vaccine. I breast fed him until he was 2 years old. We had embryos stored so when my son was 3 we went back to infertile and tried to do more IVF’s but none took. 

Things at this point were really starting to go wrong. When my son was 5 I had lost big chunks of my hair all over my scalp (thought it was yeast), my joints were getting super tight, I has lost a lot of my libido, I was anxious, and still had weird rashes showing up all over me, I could not get pregnant, my eyes were losing sight quickly, my hair and nails were extremely brittle on top of the reacquiring yeast infections, cold sores and not sleeping well. At this point my fear of heights was enhanced. I was getting vertigo pretty bad at tops of steps. Then I got a FB notification from my good friend Rhiannon, she had gotten her implants the same year as me at the same doctor. The notification was Nicole's Breast implant Illness page. 

I started reading people's posts and was like “oh my gosh”. Rhiannon got hers out because she was ridden with cancer, intestinal issues and many other issues. When they took hers out, they found mold in them. I started looking for a doctor to remove mine. Fast forward 3 years I found a doctor in FL named Dr Rankin that specialized in removals. At this point I was getting a floater in my eye and not sleeping well on top of all of the other ailments. I explanted October 7, 2020 after waiting on his list for 9 months. I could not be happier. 

What type of implants did you have?

Mentor Smooth Saline 375CC

What surgeon did you explant with?

Dr. Rankin Jupiter FL

When did you begin to experience symptoms?

Within 1 year

What symptoms did you have?

Yeast build up and constant infections

UTI's

Brittle Nails

Brittle Hair

Hair Loss

Vision Impairment

Tight joints and joint pain

Low libido

No sleep
Cold sores

Vertigo

Anxiety

How did breast implants impact your life?

They made me love my natural body way more!

What was surgery like for you?

Surgery was easy and I literally had no pain. I felt better the day after surgery then I had in years. 

How are you doing now, after explant?

Brain fog is gone, Energy is increasing daily, My joints are not locked up anymore, the floater is gone in my vision, my confidence is coming back and it has only been 9 days post op.

What would you like women who are considering explant to know?

100% get them out of your body! You are enough.

Is there anything else you would like us to know?

I want to tell all women seeking out surgery and implants to improve their image to stop and think for a minute. This is a strange plastic inside your body. No matter what kind you get they breakdown and put toxins in your body. They also all have potential for rupturing. Several are being linked to blood cancers and breast cancer. Johnson and Johnson, Mentor smooth and textured implants have had recalls. Their textured ones are linked to lymphoma. It IS NOT WORTH IT and YOU are perfect the way you are. Big boobs don't make you more of a woman.