The following story are excerpts from a mommy and personal trainer named Sia who recently had her breast implants removed.

“The first time I felt self-conscious about my breasts was in 2011. I had just started on my fitness journey and had lost 45 pounds. My body changed significantly after dropping all that weight so quickly. My boobs were one of the first things to go. At the time, I was still learning what it really meant to be “healthy” and I was focused more on the way I looked versus building a sustainable lifestyle. It also didn’t help that my husband at the time felt like implants would be a good idea—that they’d spice things up between us.

After doing some research, I found a plastic surgeon in the area, who recommended getting 400cc Mentor Silicone Gel Implants. These would bump me up to a 32DD. I felt like that was the answer to all my problems. I wouldn’t realize until a couple years later that I was wrong.”1

Let me stop here and say, I get it. I was modeling at one point in my past and it seemed like a good idea. But it was a mistake. After getting my implants I didn’t feel well and we would find out later that I literally had mold growing in my implant…mold growing inside my body.

So I totally understand why she did what she did.

“Things changed for me both physically and mentally when I woke up from my surgery. For starters, I felt like there was a weight on my chest and it was a little hard to breathe. In fact, I was in pain and felt discomfort for over a month. But when I saw myself in the mirror for the first time, I immediately fell in love with my look. I felt confident. I finally felt good about myself. I remember thinking that I’d made an awesome decision and that this was going to fix everything that was wrong in my life.

As time went on, I quickly learned that wasn’t the case. Over the next couple of years, I ended up going through a divorce and remarrying. I became a mother of two. I also became a nurse and a personal trainer, and I began developing my blog, Diary of a Fit Mommy. As I continued learning about health, wellness, and what it really means to appreciate your body, I found myself feeling like my implants no longer aligned with my beliefs and what I was preaching to my followers and personal training clients. I was a completely different person from when I first got my implants and that start to weigh heavily on me.”2

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Update: yesterday I had my first post op visit since my explant. The drains didn’t get to come out just yet so we are going to see Doctor Chun again today to see if they are ready. The purpose for the drains is to prevent a hematoma or seratoma in my breasts and to aid in healing. I saw my breasts and showered last night for the first time. I didn’t cry like I thought I would. It was something I was so afraid of! Doctor Chun told me that the worst they’ll look like is at 24 hours post op and he was amazed at how much better they turned out since I denied a lift. I got my implants back to me in a bag which was interesting. He took my hands and told me to feel how heavy the bag was and wow.. I didn’t realize I was carrying so much weight on my chest, placing stress over my heart and lungs for the past 7 years. We weighed the implants and they were two pounds! So far I’ve noticed: 1. I can breathe deeper 2. I feel lighter 3. My face and skin actually produces oil again-used to be so dry. 4. I have less inflammation everywhere. I have a few other improvements that I’m noticing but i would like to wait until I’m at least 1 month post op or so before I claim them just to make sure. I’m just so happy to feel better. I honestly feel younger. They say implants age you, but I had no idea. The fatigue, joint pain, hairloss, and inflammation became too much for me and I had to make a change. Over the next few weeks they say my breasts will change and “fluff” out. I look forward to that and getting my health back to where it needs to be. It was hard preaching health when I wasn’t feeling very healthy so this had to happen for me. Thank you again for the support guys. It was a big step for me. I’m looking forward to improving and getting better. #breastimplants #breastimplantillness #bii #plasticsurgery #cosmeticsurgery

A post shared by SIA (@diaryofafitmommyofficial) on

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Eventually, Sia would go on to have symptoms that she couldn’t explain and couldn’t live with. After doing a bit of research she believed she had some type of an autoimmune disease but a visit to her general practitioner offered no solutions. In fact, it wasn’t until she started posting about how her anxiety and depression had worsened after getting implants that people started to ask her about breast implant illness (BII).

“When I brought BII up with my general practitioner, he had never heard of it. He didn’t really have anything to say about the potential side effects of implants. So I decided to pay my original surgeon a visit to talk about getting them removed.

When I described my symptoms and shared what I’d learned about BII, he cited a lot of research about how and why silicone implants are perfectly safe and that there isn’t enough evidence out there to prove that BII even exists. So it was obvious to me that he didn’t believe in it. Either way, I said I was interested in getting explants but he tried talking me out of that too, saying I’d look “disfigured” without my implants and that I should consider a fat transfer if I still wanted to take that route.

I left that appointment feeling disappointed—not only because my doctor wasn’t willing to give me what I wanted, but because my symptoms and the way I was feeling didn’t seem to matter. I knew I had to find someone who was at least willing to listen to me and my concerns.”3

However, she did eventually find a doctor who knew about BII and supported her decision to have them removed.

“When I woke up, I took my first breath and felt my lungs expand in a way they hadn’t in years. I no longer felt like there was an elephant sitting on my chest. I remember looking at my husband and smiling. I knew that even if this didn’t solve all of my problems, I had made the right decision.

Since having my implants removed, I’ve lost 5 pounds in just nine days—2 pounds of which were from my implants alone. While I’m still sore and tired, I’ve already noticed several of my symptoms improve. To start, my chest pain is gone. I feel much less bloated and inflamed, and my acne is gone. My skin actually feels a little oily, which it hasn’t in years. Not only that, but my husband said I haven’t been this talkative in months. I think it’s because I don’t feel so anxious and depressed. The progress I’ve seen so far is amazing. So many women say their symptoms immediately disappear. I just couldn’t believe it was true until I experienced it myself.”4

We are so happy that more and more women are talking about the risks involved with implants and telling other women that they are so much more than their breasts. It’s just not worth it. At all.

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Have you had your implants removed? Share your story below.

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