Pamela's Story

Click here for Human Adjuvant Disease Corp's latest newsletter.

In 1998, I had my first breast augmentation surgery. I consulted with a plastic surgeon in Texas in the spring regarding the size of my breasts. Next, the physician discussed my options concerning the type of implants, the placement of the implants, incision sites, and the size of the implants. I made an appointment to have the surgery performed at a local hospital. After having the procedure performed in Nassau Bay, Texas, I left the hospital with 525 cc saline-filled implants, which were overfilled to 630 cc on the right and 640 cc on the left. The implants were placed in the subglandular position through two very small periareolar incisions.

In the fall of 1998 I moved to Belize and began medical school. I received my B.S. degree from Ohio University in 1995, graduating summa cum laude with a major in Biology (pre medicine program) and a minor in Psychology. I was excited about continuing my education and happy with my new breasts. They looked great and were comfortable.

I spent two years in Central America learning about medicine in classrooms and clinics. At my college there was a dress code that included a white collared shirt with a khaki/tan skirt or khaki/tan trousers and a name badge with the student's picture and semester on it. Even though I was a good student and voted class representative, a female instructor at the university complained to the administration about my shirts supposedly violating the dress code. She said that my button up shirts were too tight on my breasts; my shirts were definitely not tight. I also had a male friend tell me that some of the students were making comments about my chest. How ridiculous!

I moved to England in 2000 where I studied psychiatry at Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath and then moved to Enfield Town where I studied medicine at Chase Farm Hospital until 2001. I really enjoyed it. I had the chance to wear suits and dresses in the U.K. instead of uniforms.

In 2001, I moved to Chicago, Illinois where I studied medicine for a
year. During this time, I noticed that my implants were sagging,
rippling, and palpable. I made an appointment to see a plastic surgeon
at Northwestern in the summer of 2001. He recommended a mastopexy and
exchange of the breast implants. He also discussed additional
procedures with me during the consultation.

On August 17, I went into the hospital for surgery including an open rhinoplasty and chin implant under conscious sedation. On September 14th (less than 1 month later) I was in the O.R. again for the following procedures performed under MAC anesthesia: implant exchange (375 cc implants filled to a volume of 460 cc in the submuscular position), a full mastopexy, upper lid blepharoplasty, and malar implants.

I spent the next few weeks in bed with constant pain. I had a bottle of Vicodin on a stand next to my bed and plastic bags filled with frozen peas draped over my face.

Within a few months of the previous surgeries I was back for a dermabrasion procedure to remove scars around my mouth and chin. I talked to the plastic surgeon about my concern over the appearance of my chest. My breasts did not look normal anymore, the nipples were not symmetric and I was left with hypertrophic scars. He assured me that the result was very good and that my chest would look much better in another year.

The following year I graduated from medical school and took a job in Miami, Florida working in medical/pharmaceutical research. It was at this time, approximately 10 months after the aforementioned surgeries, that I became very ill. I experienced memory loss, had swollen glands, rashes, dysarthria, arthritis, and fungal infections in my mouth and nails. I slept about sixteen hours per day and was too fatigued most of the time to get out of bed.

I went back to the plastic surgeon in Chicago for a scar revision procedure on my chest. The surgery only slightly improved the appearance of the scars. My health continued to worsen over the next year.

I went to several physicians in Florida; none of them were able to diagnose my medical condition. I contacted Dr. Susan Kolb, a plastic surgeon, in Atlanta, Georgia. She was the doctor who later diagnosed my illnesses as silicone immune dysfunction, atypical neurological disease, and systemic candidiasis. She told me that the chin implant, malar implants, and breast implants were the cause of these ailments and said that it was medically necessary to remove them without replacement.

In June 2003, Dr. Azurin in South Florida removed all of the five implants. I had bilateral rippling of the implants, asymmetry of the breasts, thick hypertrophic scarring, and asymmetry of the nipples. The left breast implant had completely flipped with the valve on the surface side, which was palpable through the skin. The older incisions were reopened and I had another full mastopexy.

I was told that the breast implants would last at least ten years and that the facial implants would last for the rest of my life. I did not understand that the saline-filled implants had a silicone shell. If someone told me in 1998 that in five years I would have four surgeries on my breasts including 2 mastopexies, a chin implant and cheek implants inserted and removed, I simply would not have believed it. Obviously I thought that implants were safe. I was wrong and so were my doctors.

In the summer of 2003 I founded a non –profit organization. In the past 4 years we have helped both women and men who are ill following silicone injections and implant surgery.

With Love To All and Special Thanks To Ilena,

Pamela Jones

Human Adjuvant Disease Corp.

www.freewebs.com/implants