Breast Implants… The Decisions, The Regrets, The Issues with Dr. Amie Hornaman
The dumbest decision I ever made was something I chose to do at the young age of 19. 🙈
I THOUGHT I was making all the right decisions at that time. Back “then”, the age of 52 seemed SO far away.
As I type this, I am exactly one month away from having yet ANOTHER breast surgery. I have yet ANOTHER breast implant rupture from the “gummy cohesive gel preformed” implants that are not supposed to rupture. But, a mammogram DID rupture it. This time, I hope to correct and undo the mistake I made 33 years ago.
I have been through it all with these dumb implants. First a rupture in my mid 20’s that was NOT capsule contained (I will never know if my auto immune came from this), MULTIPLE capsular contractures, and 5 surgeries to date already.
That $5,000 decision at age 19 has now caused health issues, multiple surgeries and has cost well over $100,000 in repairs.
This is not just as simple as just “taking them out”. There is a lot more involved when you have had multiple surgeries and already have an uncontained rupture from years ago. There are also so many options from EXPLANTING entirely to replacing with smaller saline ones, fat grafting, and more.
So what does the Thyroid Fixer Dr. Amie Hornaman have to do with this?
Dr. Amie and I were set to interview each other about completely different topics like fat loss and thyroid fix. However, I had to postpone our interview (because of my newly discovered implant rupture) and when I shared it with her, she shared with me that she had a very similar journey.
We decided to take our voice note conversation LIVE to you.
So, today we are talking about TWELVE boob jobs on the episode! YES 12! The decisions, the mistakes, the beliefs and even the regrets (from me)
Maybe this topic is TOTALLY unrelatable to you. OR maybe you GET THIS.
If you are in midlife like us then you KNOW that it was super common for our generation in our early 20’s to get breast implants. It wasn’t considered unhealthy, or toxic. It was just normal – especially for someone in the fitness industry.
We discuss it ALL on this episode!
Anything implant related – from wondering if you should get them, if you already have them, if you’re wondering about taking them out, if you’ve got B.I.I. – this episode is for you.
SIDE NOTE:
When we recorded the episode, I was STILL deciding what I would be doing to repair this most recent rupture. SINCE the recording, I have made the decision that will be FULLY EXPLANTING and hopefully closing this chapter of “fake boobs” in my life.
Why Did We Get Implants to Begin With?
Dr. Amie grew up a full C cup. She initially got her implants with the intention to become balanced again, because as someone with scoliosis who had lost a ton of weight for fitness competitions, she had lost hers and was left with uneven breasts. I, on the other hand, grew up flat as a board and even though I got a job serving at Hooters, I was super insecure and customers made it known that I did NOT fit in without one.
What Was Our First Problem with Implants?
The first problem for BOTH of us was that our surgeons put them under the muscle without knowing our lifestyle. If you do push ups, you do not want your implants under your muscle! Over time, our pec muscles started compressing the implants and brought them up much higher than normal breast tissue. Shortly after this, the silicone implants were actually recalled from the rotation of implants doctors use. Fast forward, and after some more studies, they claimed they didn’t actually find a correlation between silicone and other types of implants in terms of illness, and they reintroduced the silicone.
What Was Our Second Problem with Implants?
I almost right away got something called capsular contracture, which is where your body is fighting and rejecting the implant and in doing so, it creates a hardening in an attempt to push it out of your body. Again, I wasn’t connecting the dots between my implants being a terrible idea for my body. At first, to clean the capsular contracture, they can often just go in, break up, and clean out that hardened tissue. So we did that and replaced them with saline, because the surgeon said that would help this problem go away. When they went in, they found that the OTHER implant felt “normal” still because it had completely ruptured. There was silicone gel spilled EVERYWHERE.
Something else I learned in my process about capsular contracture is that because it’s a type of bacterial infection, once you get it, if you do NOT completely clear out everything and replace the capsule, you will keep getting capsular contracture.
What Happens with An Implant Rupture?
Breast implants have come a really long way since my rupture 25 years ago. While I personally had the worst thing happen to me (silicone leaking everywhere, including my lymph nodes), today if a silicone implant ruptures, it will supposedly stay in the capsule. Dr. Amie, however, has also had two ruptures and although she had the gummy bear type implants, she still had pieces of silicone leak into her body from her capsule.
Nowadays, you can have imaging, mammograms, and MRI’s to confirm whether or not they are still intact. However, if you do have implants, you almost should skip the mammograms and ask for a breast MRI instead. Unless your tech is really well versed in implants, mammograms can cause more harm than good if you have them.
What I Want People to Know About Breast Implants
I have had silicone in my lymph nodes for over 20 years. Who knows if me having celiac is related to the spill, or me having breast implants in general. I will never know! If you are considering getting implants, I want you to know that this is a lifelong decision. You put them in and you’re navigating them every so often. Yes, some people have better odds than others, but Dr. Amie and I have both had 6 surgeries, so how unlikely is it really?
Also, if you’re someone who has judged someone for having implants, I offer a friendly reminder that we are ALL on different paths in life, with different limiting beliefs, setbacks, etc. and I hope you can find it in yourself to have more compassion for people in general. Happy people should want to see happy people – whatever that looks like for them and their struggle.
And remember: if you have implants, skip the mammogram!
This and so much more on this episode!
About Dr. Amie Hornaman
Dr. Amie Hornaman “The Thyroid-Fixer”, is host to the top-rated podcast in medicine and alternative health: The Thyroid Fixer™, with listeners around the globe. She is the founder of The Institute for Thyroid and Hormone Optimization, an organization with transformational, proven approaches to address thyroid dysfunction and support people in returning to full health.
Dr. Amie is also the creator of The Fixxr™ Supplement line with revolutionary, proprietary supplements that are changing the lives of many people. Ultimately, she is a woman on a mission to optimize thyroid patients around the world and give them their lives back.
After her own experience of insufferable symptoms, misdiagnoses and improper treatment, Dr. Amie set out to help others who she KNEW were going through the same set of frustrations and who were on the same medical roller coaster.
She grabs your hand, gives you answers about your health that no one has told you and gives you the actual tools and personalized treatment to fix you. What makes her program unique is the extra support and accessibility that you can’t find anywhere else. That’s the transformational journey. With a focus on optimizing thyroid and hormone function, and thus optimizing her patients, Dr. Amie looks at you as a unique individual and not JUST a lab value. She examines all factors that tie into thyroid dysfunction and thyroid symptoms and FIXES you to give you your life back.
Connect with Dr. Amie Hornaman: https://dramiehornaman.com/
In this episode, you will learn:
- The many issues that come with breast implants
- What to consider before deciding to get implants
- How implants can affect you physically
- Is there alternative options