October 21, 2021 • 47 mins
Let’s start at the basics. What is Breast Implant Illness? What causes it? Who gets it? How do you get it? And how does it manifest in your body? These and many more questions are discussed with our very brave survivors.
Special Guests: Tamra Judge (IG: @venacbd) and Christine Handy (IG: @christinehandy1). Follow us on Instagram: Kristin - @kristin_e_nobles Christine - @CTorres1017 For more information: www.sicktitties.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Close to the Chest with Kristen and Christine is brought
to you by I Heart Radio. My name is Kristin
Nobles in today September, and this is my audio diary
during one of the worst times of my life. I
have lived with breast in plant illness for almost half
of my life. When I got breast in plants in
(00:23):
two thousand one, I wanted to feel better about my body.
I never thought that my implants would affect my body
the way they did and caused me to have over
twenty five surgeries and rely on feeding tubes to eat.
This is a disease that at the time no one
knew much about, and it made it that much harder
to endure. My fake boobs have taken up so much
(00:43):
of my life. So now I want to go back
and find out why this happened to me, to try
and stop it from happening to other women, and call
the task the people who are responsible and question spot
walk into the room, heads turning on and down on
(01:04):
the fire. I am Kristin Nobles and I've been battling
breast and plant illness for the past twenty years and
I'm on a mission to beat this disease, and I'm
Christine Tourists, a friend and ally I'm here to help
Christen uncover the truth about breast and plant illness. Together,
(01:26):
we are hosting this podcast Close to the Chest with
Kristen and Christine to give you the real facts on
fake boobs. This season, we will learn from experts, survivors,
and advocates and hopefully save lives. I also share revealing
moments from my personal journal experiences that I never thought
I could survive. Keep in mind that we're not medical doctors,
(01:47):
and what we are discussing here are our opinions and experience. First,
let's get everyone on the same page. Breast and plant
illness or b I I is an autoimmune inflammatory syndrome
induced by breast and plant What type of implants can
cost this, Christine? Well, Kristen, b I can occur with
any type of rusting plants. All implants are encased in silicone. Well,
(02:09):
that's incredible. I think for so long I thought implants
were either silicone or sailing. Well, they're filled with either
silicone joel or sailing, but they're actually encased the capsules
that they are encased in are made of silicon. B
II seems to impact each individual in a unique way.
Some teams conclude a lot of things. So, Kristen, why
(02:30):
don't you tell us your own personal journey with brust
in plant illness? Absolutely, Christine. In my twenties, I actually
had my first breast augmentation. I was feeling a bit
insecure as a newly single mother and thought that this
would be the path to getting me the life I wanted.
And then ultimately I became really sick right away. I
ended up having more than thirty surgeries. I spent over
thirteen years on feeding tubest years. You didn't eat for
(02:53):
thirteen years. And what was so difficult about that is
I actually worked full time. And for those of our
listeners of feeding tube can be pretty invasive. It's very painful,
and you actually put a fluid in a syringe and
feed yourself. Oh, we don't need to know the details. Yeah,
it was lovely. And then ultimately I was in the
hospital over a thousand days, that's over three years. During
that time, I had numerous internal organs removed my gallbladder
(03:15):
and my appendix. Ultimately, all this led to a massive
brain infection and a cervical spinal fluid leak. Oh my goodness,
what happened? I woke up Christmas Eve morning and was
lying in my bed, couldn't lift my head, couldn't stand up.
I had a horrible fever of a hundred four plus
and my daughter called an ambulance. I was taken to
the hospital and there was a pivotal moment in my
(03:35):
diagnostic and treatment process because I was lying in a
bed an intensive care following a cervical spinal fluid leak
from the test they did to determine why I had
the infection, and they brought someone to the hospital called
an intensivest. What's an intensivest? That is the doctor you
see like on House, if you remember that show where
no one can figure out what the heck is going on,
so they bring in the big guns. You got Doctor House,
(03:58):
I got the House of U. C. L A. And
this one was amazing. She came in and just had
this adoring spirit. She looked down at me and said,
I think your breast implants are killing you. Oh my goodness.
Is so this is the first time that anybody has
discussed you your breasts being involved in all this chronic
disease that you have absolutely and I had actually been
part of other clinical trials in the g I space,
(04:20):
et cetera, where I had met with doctors and specialists
who were the best at the best, And so I
was really at my wits end because nobody could tell
me why my body was shutting down. And I was
also very vulnerable. You know what a lot of people,
I'm sure I can empathize with this. When you're in
the hospital, you're very sick, if you're in intensive care.
For her to sit there and tell me that she
believed that my breast implants were killing me and that
we could get past this, I felt elated. I was
(04:41):
so excited. So I was actually sent to a plastic
surgeon after seventeen years of suffering all kinds of disease,
and for the first time somebody says, well, I think
your breast implants could be causing all this, and then
they send you to a plastic surgeon to take them out. Yes,
and that plastic surgeon had a consultation with me and
he told me, with a whopping twenty five dollars, he
(05:04):
would remove and replace the implants because it was not
covered by insurance, but he could make me look great
and feel better and it was completely safe. So the
boobs that were making you sick or now replaced with
a new pair. I explanted in two thousand eighteen, and
I went from having sailing implants to having silicone implants.
And after undergoing the X plant, I felt terrible. So
(05:24):
the operation that was supposed to make you feel better
made you feel worse. Maybe I feel terrible. I was
having symptoms that went far beyond not eating. I started
to notice that my bone density was going down and
I actually had both of my hips replaced. Then I
started Christian, you're a young woman. You've had two hip replacements.
I'm basically bionic at this point. And what was crazy
(05:45):
and that point of time was I was feeling so
desperate and he wasn't an answer. So I went on
to a Facebook page and I started to see people
talking about breast implant illness. I actually asked one of
my friends what she was experiencing that I had made
through the community and when I took older, I had
implants put back in. She was shocked, and at that
point she shared with me that the implants I had
(06:05):
not only should not have been put in me because
that's not the right protocol for breast implant illness, but
that these implants had been recalled for causing a form
of blood cancer and come to find out, what we
really have to learn through this podcast and explain to
the listeners is that the doctors don't know what they
don't know. And so at the time, the FDA recalled
these implants and they set out a notification, but I
(06:26):
didn't get that notification. And that's the scary part. Well,
it's not until like really really really recently that any
doctor has come out and so that they actually believe
that b I I exists. Yes, And I think that's
why this podcast is so important to me as someone
who is currently dealing with breast implant illness. What I
want to understand is how did this happen, what do
(06:48):
we do as women going through this, and what are
my best options going forward. I think one of the
scariest things about this disease is, like other issues currently
in the press, there's not a lot of facts out
there that we can rely on. The doctors are depending
on the f d A and figuring out what doctor
to go to that actually identifies with this disease and
will treat it. Is not easy. Well, I know since
(07:08):
I've met you, you've been traveling to doctor after doctor
after doctor who cannot help you. Yes, one of the
biggest challenges with this issue is finding a doctor who
can take your insurance, believes in the issue, knows how
to treat it, and ultimately being healthy enough to get
through the surgery. So, Kristen, who are we going to
hear from today? I am so excited, Christine. Today we
(07:29):
have Tamera Judge, who many of the listeners know from
the Real Housewives of Orange County. She's also a fitness expert,
a beauty expert, a mom, entrepreneur, and someone who's been
working diligently to get out there and raise awareness about
breast implant illness and documenting her journey live on social media.
So I'm very excited to hear from her what to
expect when explanting, and any tips she has for me
(07:52):
as I embark on this journey. Fine, we have Camera Judge,
who is not only an entrepreneur, reality star, mom wife,
fitness expert, beauty expert, and all these other incredible things,
(08:14):
but someone who's been so brave at speaking out about
breast and plant illness. And I'd love to have you,
if you don't mind share with the listeners a bit
about your journey how this started for you and your
experience with implants and b I. I thank you so
much for having me and being able to spread awareness
is the most important thing for me right now. I
have had a love hate relationship with my breast and plants.
(08:36):
I've had them removed before, I've had them made bigger,
made smaller. I've all these things for the longest time.
I would say, I don't know, three years. Probably. I
just didn't feel right and I was having all these complications.
I was having fatigue, I was having g I issues,
SIONUS issues, bad dry eyes, my whole just my whole
(08:56):
body was inflamed for so long, and I kept going
to the dogf They kept telling me nothing's wrong. You know.
I'd have scopes done, CT scans, ultra sounds, blood work done.
My thyroid is barely working out this point, I have
hashimotos constantly, like feeling like I kind of had hangover almost.
I just figured, Okay, this is getting old. This is
(09:17):
what getting old peaks like, and it sucks. So I
have had a similar journey, and I think as women
we embrace the suck right for me. I started to
talk to people who are healthy and they're like, no,
this isn't normal, but for us it kind of becomes normal. Yeah.
You know, since I've been off the show, it has
gotten worse for me in the past year. And I
don't know if the symptoms are getting worse or I
(09:39):
just have more time to think about them and you know,
dwell on them, being at home and really being in
tune with my body, where before I was busy, busy,
busy all the time. So now I just thought, God,
this is not normal. I don't know what's wrong with me.
And then I didn't want to even say anything to
my husband anymore, like oh, this hurts when my joints
are aching, because I was afraid He's like, oh jeez,
(10:01):
what now. My mind would just go crazy, and I thought,
what is wrong with me? I just started doing you know,
my own research, being my own advocate, and just going
through and googling it and somehow, some way, and I
can't remember what it was. I had never heard of
breast implant illness ever, and I really when I started reading,
I thought, well, I don't have silicone mine. We're saying
(10:23):
lean so that can't be me, because you know, you know,
you think of it as like, oh, you have to
have a rupture or it has to be leaking into
your body for you to get sick from this. That's
not the case at all. And I got a symptom
list and I'm like, Okay, I have chronic fatigue, I
have joint pain, I have brain fog, I have insomnia,
I have thyroid dysfunction, I have anxiety, dry eyes. That
(10:47):
constant inflammation of my sinuses was horrible. The other thing is,
I'm sure people kept saying you look fine because you
look beautiful, but you being willing to actually go forward
and not only do this, but do it publicly, so brave.
What was the first type of doctor you saw that
kind of acknowledged this or how did you get help
once you started to research it? My hormone doctor, he's
(11:09):
the one that started doing all these tests on me,
and I was getting constant, like these infections in my body.
I had two major infections in my gut that I
had no idea that I had them. So he put
me on antibotics for two weeks to get rid of that,
and then it was just one thing after another. I
was having reoccurring ladder infections, and I would go to
the doctor, said I have a bladder infection and she's like, no,
(11:29):
you don't, and so I'm like, why do I have
inflammation on my bladder? So this is just crazy. So
he started doing all these tests on me. He noticed
that my thyroid was declining quickly and diagnosed me with
hashimoto has put me on medication. And so, after doing
my own research, I said, Dr Lee, is it possible
it's my breast implants something's wrong? And he says, yeah,
(11:52):
it is possible. You know, the only thing you can do,
there's no real test. All you can do is remove
them and see if you get better. I would imagine
it feels like you're being a slid. Yeah, you're feeling
all these things, and you're experiencing all these things, and
yet at the same time, like the doctors are telling
you you're crazy. Well, the doctors were always like, oh, well,
it's stress. You know, maybe you should go on like
(12:12):
a mild antidepressant or something like that, or takes an
X because you know that will calm your nerves. And
I'm like, what the hell do I have to be
nervous about? Like I have a happy family life I have.
I mean, obviously we're all going through COVID. I actually
enjoyed it because I got to stay in the half, right,
you went some downtime for once. Yeah, And it creates
this feeling for us as women where I noticed my
(12:34):
biggest advocates for other women like you who started to
share their story. So I felt like Number one, I
wasn't alone. And then the more women I met, I
started to get exasperated. For the most part, I am
not much of a complainer, so I just kind of
sucked it up. And it just got to the point
where get up every morning bright and early, I go
work out, and I would go to the gym and
(12:54):
I'm like, I'm exhausted. I can't stop yawning. And I
just slept eight nine hours and I would yawn and
yawn and yawn, and I'm like, I just want to
go home. I don't want to be here anymore. So
it was getting worse. Another something I had that I
didn't even realize that could be causing it. I had
a twitch in my thigh. Really, I have the same
thing yep, on my right thigh. I had a twitch,
(13:17):
and you could you could see it. You can actually
see my leg jumping. I have not had it since
I had my implants removed. How long has that been?
Two weeks? And I thought it was because I had
fell on my telebone years ago and I had some
nerve damage in my lower back and my hip. So
I thought, oh, it's probably just because of that. You
know that fall I have not had that. I have
(13:37):
not had. Every morning, I have to get up and
I have to put eye drops in my eyes because
they were just goofy and I couldn't see. I mean,
I was starting to worry. I'm like, am I going blind?
What is going on? And I go to the eye
doctor and they're like, your eyes are great. Other than
you know, you need reading glasses but very mild prescription,
but your eyes are perfect for your age. And then
(13:59):
what I find interesting is that they start researching and
you start pulling up information, and then there's this moment
for all of us, but we're like, Okay, we may
not get better, but we can't get ff and worse.
And what I find so heartbreaking is that in order
to be diagnosed, a lot of women don't realize how
expensive it is, because, like you, we go to g
I doctors, we go to the people, and then eventually
(14:20):
you go back to the plastic surgeon. They also don't
necessarily know. So was it hard for you to find
a doctor that acknowledged it, that will actually do it
because doctors were telling me they look great, don't touch him.
Um my doctor I actually have a really good relationship
with and I've known him for twenty years. He told
me that he's removing more implants and he's putting in
(14:41):
right now because of women having autoimmune issues, so he
was very for it. Um we talked about, you know,
removing the capsule and making sure we get everything out,
and he said absolutely. You know, because I've everybody was
sending me information suddenly, like I touch just talked about
it on Instagram, and so many people have come, you know,
reached out to me to talk to me about it
(15:02):
and tell me their experience. So you know, I said, yeah,
I definitely want the capsule removed. Yeah. I had drains
in for a week because I kept just fluid coming out.
Luckily I had enough of my own breast tissue so
I was able to get a lift and everything looks great. Congratulations,
that's amazing. Yeah, thank you. I mean, I know a
lot of girls are getting fat transfers and things like that,
(15:24):
because sometimes if you remove the capsule, you can look
a little disfigured from what I've heard, So I was
lucky enough that I had, you know, enough of my
own breast tissue. And how are you feeling now? I'm
feeling good. Tired, just kind of still a little bit
tired from the surgery. I've really taken it easy for
this is today's two weeks. My doctor, you know, scared
(15:45):
the Jesus out of me because he knows I'm so active,
and I in my mind before surgery, I'm like, Okay,
I'm gonna be down one week. Second week, I'm gonna
start walking the lake where we live, like it's like
three or four miles around. Then week three, I'm hitting
the gym. And I really have not done any of that.
My sinuses are so improved. It is so nice not
(16:06):
to have just the constant like headache. So that's a
big plus. You already have immediate relief, yeah for that,
And then I have more color in my in my face.
It's really weird because everyone's like take a picture before
and then a couple of days after with no makeup
on and just look at your skin. Well I didn't
do that. I forgot to do that. But just like
some days I'd wake up and I'd almost have like
(16:28):
a gray color to my skin and my eyes were
almost like kind of like one day I'm like, do
you have jaundice? And my eyeballs look yellow? So I
had my coloring was off, and it was like one
day it was good, the next day it looked really
I looked really gray. I always covered it up with
good or And then the other side of it was
the emotional site for me. I got really anxious, depressed,
(16:49):
but I was covering it up. But it was my
private moments like you talk about. So how did you cope? Also,
you at the pressure of the public eye. You know,
it's hard enough for me to get up in the
morning and through my hair and a pony tail to
walk the dogs, but you have that people always looking
at you. So how did you deal with the pressure
of feeling like shit all the time but functioning so high.
I think I isolated myself. I literally, like I said
(17:12):
that the pandemic was the best thing for me because
it was an excuse for me not to leave I
just stayed to myself and that's just how I dealt
with it, and I don't want to cry. But you
were really brave. You made the choice. You're in the
beauty business, and you went very public with that. Do
you mind sharing why you chose to be so open,
because I know you know I've read your very private
I obviously follow you and I'm such a fan just
(17:35):
in how you are publicly. But this was a big move.
It's so brave. I just felt like it was something
that really needed to be heard. Talking to people, just
friends and family. They had said to me, I think
I have that too, that those are the symptoms I have,
and I thought that there were my breast and plants.
So a lot of people don't know, like I spoke
(17:56):
out about it, and I'm getting like email this from
people in London where they say it is not recognized
in Europe, rest implant illness is not recognized. As soon
as I just started barely speaking about it, just questioning
like is this what's happening? And I did it in
one of my Instagram Q and a s. I could
not believe how many women reached out to me. Isn't
(18:17):
it overwhelming to know that there's millions of women who
have been struggling like you, and they don't. We don't know. Yeah,
so have you gotten messages from people who were also like, Oh,
it's in your head, don't worry about it. You know what.
I didn't. I didn't get any messages like that. I
really didn't. I just got a lot of messages from
women like how do you know? And what are your symptoms?
(18:38):
And how can I get more information about this, and
a lot of women that have gone through it, like
it's the best thing I've ever done. I took my
breast implants out five years ago, and I lost fifty
pounds and I don't have, you know, anxiety, and I
don't have this and I don't have that. And I thought,
oh my gosh, if there's like a ten percent chance
that this is gonna help me, then I'm doing it,
(18:59):
Like I'm going to choose my health over my vanity.
That's an important topic to right there, because your health
and your vanity, and as women, it's a big decision.
I've had girlfriends tell me, hell, no, I will never
remove mine. I've had people reach out to me and
say I really would like to remove mine, but my
husband or my boyfriend, UM would not go for it.
(19:22):
How does Eddie feel about it? And I'm like, what,
so you're married or you're dating somebody that would rather
have you in pain or feel like crap than have
your rest and plants removed. That is ridiculous. First and foremost,
thank you Tema because I think through your platform, you
know millions of william are hearing this. Because I think
the other thing is the anger. And that was my
last question for you, is that I've had so much
(19:44):
anger dealing with this issue. You know, like you, I
want to tell it in every way I can. You know,
I meet strangers all the time when we talk about it,
and what I'm so shocked at is a how many
people don't know this exists and then be, like you said,
think it's them. So in moving forward, you know, dealing
with the anger? Do you have any advice for us?
But that issue is the listeners because I know that's
(20:05):
pretty and pissed. I never think of it from an
angry point of view. I did it to myself. I
put them in. I didn't care about anything else but
looking good, and now I have to pay the price.
I didn't have implants that were recalled. If I got
sick from that, that would be a totally different story
for me. Um, I would be going after I'm guns blazing, sure,
(20:28):
So I don't. I don't really come from a place
of anger. I think I'm just come from a place
where I just want to bring awareness to it, and
as to other women that are having symptoms and don't
even have a clue, because it's one thing, it wasn't
cheap to go through all the testing I went through.
I mean I was going through scoping and colonoscopies and
(20:49):
scanning and ultrasounds and all that stuff for nothing. What
would you have said to your younger self before you
had your implants and put in just be people with
what God gave you. I was always wanted to be perfect,
and I was. You know, I was a super insecure
young mom, and I really felt like no guys really
(21:10):
wanted me because you know, I was a teenager, they
had a baby. You know, I really put a lot
of energy into my looks when I was young because
I was super insecure. I wish I would have put
it into schooling. But I think now you're teaching people
to look at how they feel, and I think, I
mean other than Orange County. I think the world is like,
you know, trying to be very body positive and be
(21:33):
accepting of the body that they were given. You know,
back then, not so much so much you got made
fun of if you had to wear glasses, you know,
you the world was so different back then. Now, just
be happy, I mean, be healthy, but be happy. Fine, fine, fine, fine,
(22:01):
So Christine, that was so exciting having Tamra judgeohn. I
feel like I learned a lot about what to expect
when explanting, and she's such an inspiration for me as
I go into this next surgery and hopefully our listeners.
What an incredible role model. Oh my god, just like
this next moment, we're about to talk to Christine Handy,
who she's a breast cancer survivor, yes, and a cancer disruptor.
Christine's out there doing a lot of work to raise
(22:23):
awareness for women facing breast cancer that there are safer
alternatives than breast implants. Given what she faced with breast
implant illness, I'm very excited to hear from her. Christine Handy,
first and foremost, thank you so much for joining us
on Close to the Chest with Kristen and Christine, I
(22:44):
wanted to start today by asking you to share a
little bit with our listeners about your journey with b
I I and what it's meant to you so far. Well,
I'm not sure where to start, but I had breast
cancer in two thousand and twelve, and I had my
first mass acting me in two thousand on the cancer side,
and I had implants put in on that side then.
And in two thousand and sixteen, I was well enough
(23:07):
after having twenty eight rounds of chemotherapy and I can't
remember how many surgeries at that point, was well enough
to have the other side mass ectomy. And during that
surgery they put in the textured bio still allergen implants, which,
by the way, they pitched really well to me because
I had empty breast cavities, obviously because of the mass ectomies.
(23:30):
And when you have an empty breast cavity, those normal
implants with not the textured part, they move around and
they cause a lot of pain. And so when they
put the textured ones, which was why they pitched them
to me, they felt so much better. But part of
the reason why they felt so much better was because
they adhere to your skin. They adhere to your tissue
(23:51):
and they basically mold into your tissue, which, by the way,
that wasn't part of the pitch. And so ultimately, in
two thousand nineteen, I got a call from my classic
surgeon that said, those implants have been recalled. Don't panic.
They are causing a form of breast cancer. Since I've
already had breast cancer, I thought, what do you mean,
don't panic. We got to take these suckers out, and
(24:12):
I did it within like a year. By that point,
I had had some issues, and I didn't realize. It's
funny how much our body can compensate and how much
our body wants to heal even when we have this
foreign substance in our body, which was told to us
that was healthy and safe and all of these other things.
(24:33):
And so my body was telling me as much as
I could that it was okay, and there were just
little things that kept hickupping in my health. When they
recalled them and they took them out, I got an
infection during surgery. Allergen put new ones in so nice
of them. Over the next six months is when I
started to get very very ill. I ultimately had a
(24:54):
mercer infection that almost took my life. So on that note,
and to pause for a second, because the way you
tell this story, and I know you've had quite a
health journey. You know you've been through so much, and
I think there's three things I just wanted to pause on.
You mentioned that your plastic surgeon called you, and there
was a one year period between the phone call and
the X plant correct and then you did to swap out. Right,
(25:15):
do you mind sharing a bit about the swapout experience
and what happened with Allergan at that moment when you
did the surgery, because I don't think a lot of
people understand that they were recalled and off and replaced. Well,
I was very lucky that my plastic jersey called me.
I obviously I am a public figure in the breast
cancer space, and when I had that surgery, I was
very vocal about what was happening, and people would d
(25:38):
M me or call me or text me and say,
I had no idea that these implants were recalled because
they had them inside him as well. Now this is
gonna sound ridiculous. I was also very lucky that they
were covered by insurance because I had breast cancer. But
for the rest of the world. Allergen was going to
replace just the implant, like they were going to not
pay for the surgery, but put the other implant in,
(26:00):
which I didn't have to fight that battle, So that
part was relatively uncomplicated for me. I got a cross
surgeon to do it because he knew that the insurance
company was going to pay for it, and we did
the surgery when was scheduled. The surgery itself was not
as easy as they led me to believe. But we're
just gonna swap these out. It's no big deal. It's
(26:21):
not even a night in the hospital. It turned into
a disaster because that mesh, that rigid texture, had already
gotten into my body, which I had no idea. And
when he described the surgery, he described it as like
a peeler, like you had to take like a scalpel
and peel off all that scar tissue. Because I had
already had breast cancer, my skin was so thin, and
(26:43):
by that point I had a few surgeries on each side,
and so by the time that the surgery was done,
the skin was so thin. But it was that it
was okay, so you could see a little bit of
the implant underneath the skin, which ultimately was the disaster
for me because it never healed. So I appreciate you
sharing that with the listeners because when people talk about
(27:04):
the quote swap out in the surgery, they act as
if it's quote no big deal. Why don't you just
do it for you? What was your you know, immediate
symptom that you had following the surgery. I know you
had an infection, but you also mentioned some other issues.
I have had an infection before by the way um
on my arm, and so I knew that there was
something going on, but I I just couldn't heal. First
(27:25):
of all, physically on the site where they opened up
the breast cavity and replaced it, there was some bubbling
and there was some redness and swelling, and ultimately there
was a tiny little speck on the left side of
my left BREASTT never healed, it never closed, and I
kept going back to my doctor saying, why isn't this closing?
(27:45):
And it was because the area was so damaged. And
so I had, you know, some digestive issues. I had
some headaches, and but those things I just equated with
just I'm getting older, I've had a lot of chemo
in my life, it can't possibly be related. And until
March of two when my symptoms started to really flare
(28:07):
up and I was hospitalized in March of two thousand twenty,
when the whole world was running from the hospital, I
was in the hospital, not with COVID. It was then
when I was left started to question, like, really, what
was happening. I started googling breast implants illness, and I
did find some information about it, and I thought that
happened to me. That happened to me. That happened to me,
but I didn't do anything about it at the time.
(28:29):
I mean, of course, I was in hospital, and I
trusted the professionals that were caring for the infection that
I had, which ultimately came back with a vengeance the
next month. That was in the hospital for five days,
and then ultimately my breast cavity was excavated in June
of two thou when that infection went from a staff
infection to am mersa infection, and when they took that
(28:52):
breast cavity out completely never to be repaired because I
lost skin. The infection had eaten a hole through my
breast and so by the time I checked into the hospital.
I had a hunter and four fever. I couldn't lift
my head and I was literally stopped at the front
of the hospital and that you know, it's the middle
of COVID, right, and so they were distracted. The education
and information given to you during the process of you
(29:15):
getting both sets of implants, none of this was told
to you. It sounds like no one said you could
end up. Did they share this with you? And you
know what they presented in a really pretty little box.
You know, I had to have my breast removed because
of breast cancer. But look what we can do for you.
Look how we're helping you. And I'm sure I had
to sign something that that had the you know, side
(29:36):
effect possible side effects, but they don't read it to you.
They don't say this could happen. Nobody said to me, oh, well,
if you get this, there's a possibility of breast implant illness.
I've never even heard the word before. And so what
I'm trying to do as a breast cancer survivor and
as a breast implant survivor with now a concave chest,
(29:57):
I'm trying to educate doctors, class of surgeons to say
just because you've had breast cancer doesn't mean the only
solution to having a chest is an implant. This is
a possibility having nothing at all. And that's okay. As
a society, we're so quick to want to replace and
to redo. And by the way, the medical field is
(30:19):
a business, and if we remember that, it's gonna save
us a lot of time and energy. Listen. I just
had a doctor my on colleges, said to me, I
really think you should go see this classic surgeon. May
maybe make it, tighten it up a little bit, do
something a little bit, because I mean, if you could
see what's underneath here, you would blow your mind. And
I said to her, I'll do it for you, and
I was almost kind of pacifying her. And I went
(30:41):
to see this guy and he said, okay, in order
for you to have breasts. Because they had implants on
the table when I walked in, and I put papers
over them because they didn't want to see them. Doctor
walks in and he's like, you know, why did you
do that. I go, I don't want to see him.
I don't want you to pitch them. I don't I
don't want I'm smart. I got to Harvard, I don't
need you to pitch this to me. I'm out of
(31:03):
the implant game. And here's why. And he said to me,
after thirty minutes of talking in circles, in order for
you to have a chest, I need to put a
small implant in. And I said, what part of you
walking in this room and me having the implants covered up?
Did you not understand? And so I walked out of
that office and a two weeks later, his assistant called me,
(31:25):
and she called me and she said, so do you
wanna do you want to sign up for the surgery?
And I was like, how are you not listening to me? Well,
you know what, my self esteem is unstoppable. It wasn't
at one point. And if you don't have an unstoppable
self esteem, these people are could destroy you your health,
(31:45):
your mental health, your physical health. And that's dangerous. So
when you say these people, Christie, one thing that's so
important that you brought up and I'm literally crying inside
and clapping physically what you talk Because the ability to
go to your doctor and to have unstoppable self esteem
and ask questions and have boundaries and be educated about
(32:05):
the products the risks, and to have been through it
then you were still pitched. How did that make you feel?
Because that moment is life. So I have to go
back a little bit because I had an infection in
my arm in two thousand and eleven, and I have
a fused arm. I had a torn ligament my right wrist,
and the doctor that I chose, who went to Stanford
(32:26):
and was very well revered in the community that I
lived in, I chose him to do the surgery. And
after the surgery, six weeks later, they took off the
cast and my arm ballooned. A long story short, I
had an infection to my arm for six months and
my self esteem was not good then, and I allowed
this man to bully me. He told me that the
pain and the swelling was in my head. He told
(32:47):
me that I had RSD. He told me that I
was a hysterical housewife, although I had never shed a
tear in his office. He sent me to a physical
therapy office miles away from his office. He wanted me
as far away from his as possible. Ultimately, I got
up enough courage to go see a second doctor, even
though my doctor told me that he would be mad
at me if I did that. He took one X
(33:09):
ray and every single bone in my wrist was broken.
I was in surgery that day. I had to then
find a doctor that would repair a doctor's malpractice. Now,
if you don't know what that means, you're lucky, because
so often doctors won't take cases where doctors butchered you.
(33:30):
And that's what happens to us women all the time,
is we're going back to the same doctor who put
these in and asking them to fix their There aren't
doctors that will fix it because the liability they're afraid to.
So the system is failing us. So by the time
that I had breast cancer, and by the time I
had implants, my self esteem was really low because I
(33:51):
had gone through that whole process with my arm. But
I have ultimately built it back up to a place
where it's unstoppable, unshatterable, And that's why I am a
breast cancer disruptor and speaker and and all the things
I do. But it's built on a foundation, a solid
foundation and a solid self esteem, which, by the way,
I work on every day. Now, if you are the
(34:11):
normal woman who gets beat up all day long in
this world that we do, then you're not going to
have that unshakable self esteem. So you're gonna walk into
these appointments like I did in two thousand sixteen, and
you're gonna say when they tell you, look how pretty
these implants are, and you're gonna say, sign me up.
Because we trust doctors. We are supposed to. The first
thing they learn is medical school is do not harm right.
(34:34):
But we should really be talking about the f d
A as well, because in two thousand and eleven, the
FDA warned Allergen about these implants. They put those implants
in me in two thousand and sixteen. Where was the
f d A in two thousand and eleven? Why didn't
they do something about it? I actually have the FDA
f d a'smission statement right here, which I'm going to
(34:55):
read to you. The Food and Drug Administration is responsible
for protecting public health, of ensuring safety, efficiency, and security
of human and vegtionary drugs, biological products, and medical devices,
and by ensuring the safety of our nation's food supply, cosmetics,
and products. I have two immediate questions for you, and
first time crying so thank you for you the moment
(35:17):
where you make that decision to take the swap out,
that's such a big moment for us as women, where
you lost so much from that moment to today, but
you also gained so much. How did you build that
confidence and do this research and get this strength to
ask those hards questions and to set these boundaries because
(35:39):
I need to learn from you. This is so important
for us as survivors and thrivers, and this is how
we disrupt this. I was taught at a young age
to behold authority in my life, like whatever that meant,
the police, the you know, medical field, doctors. That's who
I was supposed to look up to, and that's who
(35:59):
who I was supposed to trust. And I believed that right.
And then when that happened to my arm, I started
to question men. I started to question people. I started
to question the authority figures. I started to question the
institution of medicine. And I started to realize that, hey,
this is a business. They're not trying to help you,
They're trying to make money. And I don't think that's
(36:19):
true of all doctors at all. I know a lot
of really good doctors, including the doctor that ultimately fused
my arm, but it is a business. Because I went
through what I went through with my arm. I started
to ask questions. But that's not what we're taught in society.
We're not taught to ask questions. They went to medical school,
why wouldn't I trust them? And so if they're going
to pitch a product to me, for sure it's going
(36:40):
to be safe. And again I have to go back
to the f d A. Why are they not talking
about this? Why are they not protecting us? And so
the only reason I'm not part of the class action
suit is because the attorney that I called told me
that I couldn't be a part of it because he
said I didn't have cancer after the implants and that
the only people that were eligible to get anything were
(37:01):
the people that had developed the cancer from the implant.
So that's an important topic right there, because for you, Christine,
you've had cancer, you've had breast implant illness, and I
think the work you're doing as a breast cancer patient,
and stepping back a second to the f d A,
and I'm thinking out loud with you, is that the
fdamission statement is to protect us. In two thousand and eleven,
(37:21):
they weren't the f d A, and you received recalled implants,
So that in lies the problem. What would you like
to see happen for women that go through best cancer?
And like you said, over considering reconstruction, what disclosures would
you give them? Now? I want the nurses and I
want the doctors to say, this isn't your only option.
(37:42):
You can have an aesthetic closure and that is an
option for you. And I want them to tell them
why to be a patient is to relinquish control of
your life and your body. And it's unscheduled breakdowns. Right.
We have no control when you're diagnosed with cancer, when
you're diagnosed with b I I think we lose control,
right you you feel it right now? What we should
(38:03):
have control over is what people are feeding us, right,
the information. It should be logical, it should be factual,
and it should be true. We should have more choices. Right.
I wasn't even given the option. I'm not saying that.
It wasn't out there. Nobody said it to me. Nobody
said you don't have to have implants, you can just
(38:24):
have it closed. I never heard that, not one time.
Because I don't want women to have to go through
what I went through. I went through so many other
unnecessary illnesses and surgeries, and my poor liver. Right, all
that Anneciza and all that medication and all those things
unnecessarily why right to have a prettier chest. Listen, I
(38:46):
would have taken it. If they were healthy, I would
have kept him. I liked it. But they aren't healthy,
and they weren't healthy for me. And I'm not saying
that I'm an expert in the field, and I don't
know that they're unhealthy for everybody. Those obviously are because
they caused camp sertain But I just want people to
know what they're what they're walking into, and that there
(39:06):
is another choice, an esthetic flat closure, which is a
very beautiful choice, which is why I flaught my flat
chests all over the world, because I want women to
feel comfortable looking like this. The other thing that's so
important that you talk about is the supply chain. So
you've brought up all the parties that be that are
involved in this. You had the FDA, you have, the doctors,
you have. The one thing I love you to touch
(39:28):
on is what has the impact of b I I
been on you, your family and those around you. Because
you're you're such a song set's a purpose, but this
was still life changing for you, and I really love
the listeners to learn from you how you got through this.
If you don't mind, you know, that's a bit of well.
I think before I was faced with this, I had
already had eighteen surgeries between my I think I had
(39:50):
nine on my arm and nine on my chest. And
I used a lot of tokens from my friends and family. Right,
that's a lot. I had twenty eight rounds. It came
up therapy. That's a lot of drivers. That's a lot
of me, as as a lot of my kids, you know,
not being able to be with their mother. And to
add this was it was like the tip of the
iceberg for me. It was emotionally paralyzing for me because
(40:11):
I thought, wait again, I went through this again, like
I already went through this with my arm, Like now
I'm not can't trust the f d A. Now I
can't trust this these doctors. Now I can't trust the implants.
And so emotionally that took a big toll on me
and and and especially with my family, and because I think,
you know, when I went into the hospital for the
(40:32):
first time in March of two thousand twenty, and you know,
again the world is focused on COVID and here I
am in the hospital, They're like looking wrong, going again,
and so then you lose. You know, people get tired,
the patient gets tired, and the caregivers get tired, and
so this is the multiplier effect of when is this
going to stop? And it's not going to stop. If
(40:53):
we're fed a bunch of lies doesn't stop. You really
have to be your own best advocate. Yeah, I mean
we do. And it's easy to say that because we're
supposed to trust the people that have the medical degrees.
We're supposed to trust the f d A if it's
right here in black and white, that's what they tell us.
You know. One of the final questions I would love
(41:13):
have you answer is that to be your own advocate.
As Christine said, what would the top questions you'd have
a patient ask their surgeon when they go in with
b I I before they get diagnosed and treated. I
think I had a lot of anxiety and fear that
the questions would be dismissed because it's like, after I
had chemotherapy and I had terrible chemo brain, I had
doctors that said that doesn't exist, and I was like, well,
(41:35):
if it doesn't exist, how come I have it. But
I also had the gumption and the persistence in the
great and grace whatever you wanna call it, to ask
that question. I think a lot of women would have said, oh,
then I must not have it, it must not exist.
It's the same thing with b I I. You know,
you can walk into a doctor's office and say these
are my symptoms, this is what I have, and they say, well,
(41:56):
it's it's this, it's not that. That doesn't exist. And
so I think for me, I would have to have
a really strong sense of self assurance and self love
and self esteem to walk in there and say this
is that I've done my research and I'm not going
to leave here until you help me. I don't think
a lot of women have that power, of that gumption,
and so it's a slippery slow. So if you don't
(42:17):
have that, then you walk away feeling dismissed, and that's
a whole another emotional abuse of cycle, and that's a
slippery slow. And so I think more conversations like this,
I think anything we can do to say no, you're
not alone, and you you have the ability, you're strong,
and we will fortify you, we will help you through it.
(42:38):
But what you're going through does exist, So Christine, that
was so exciting to talk to Christine Handy. She is
such an inspiration out there educating doctors as an advocate
on alternatives to rest implants, and she is fierce. She
(43:00):
is fierce and she is making a difference, and I
think it's so important for everybody out there who here's
her story, here's Tamra story. There's so many amazing things
we can take away. So I thought we could just
share the top five things we learned today. What do
we learn first and foremost, It's really important to know
that not all doctors believe in breast implant illness and
you have to find a doctor who currently treats the disease.
(43:22):
Oh yeah, you have to be your own advocate. I mean,
and don't be afraid or embarrassed. Look, if you're not
going to take care of yourself, who is absolutely And
the other thing and learned is b I is so
hard to diagnose. It seems like there's multiple doctors involved.
And I think as women were embracing all of these
symptoms is getting older as part of the journey and
dismissing them. And we really deserve to be treated. Everybody
(43:43):
deserves to be treated and believed. One on that note,
the other I think big myth for people out there
is it can't be happening to them because they have
sailing implants. And what we learned today is it doesn't
matter if you have silicone implants or sailing implants. They
all have silicone in them and anyone can get b
I I gardless of your implants are recalled or not.
The shelves are all made of silicon, no matter what
(44:05):
the filling is. And I think for me, you know,
tip number four would be that don't give up tip
tip Yes, I think so many times we talked to
people today and Tamara and Christine said that the number
one thing they did was not give up. They kept
pushing forward, they kept asking questions, and they were their
own best advocate. They're both really strong women with a
(44:26):
lot of faith and faith in like who they are
and faith in their own strength. Well, and Christine had
that great term she talked about, which is that you
need to have really strong self esteem as a patient.
And I think that hits to the core of this issue.
And one of the exciting things, which is the most
important thing I learned today, is that we are not alone.
Rest implant illness is made up of a community of
(44:47):
women that are here to support each other. And through
those support groups, we can get the encouragement, information and
action plans we need to survive and thrive. And we
don't have to accept this as something going to defeat us.
That is the takeaway of the day. You are not alone,
and thanks to you, I'm not alone on this journey.
And thanks to our listeners. Because this isn't an easy
topic to talk about, but what I know is that
(45:10):
if we share our stories, we tell the truth, which
is our truth, that rest implant illness will become an
issue that everybody understands and is willing to deal with
head on. Thanks for you, Thanks for you. I'm gonna
cry now close to the chest with Kristen. Christine has
(45:33):
been brought to you by b Noble Media Group and
I Heart Radio. For more on Christine Handy, visit www
Dot Christine Handy dot com. That's www dot Christine Handy
dot com and on Instagram at Christine Handy One. Now
I'd like to share some gratitude a very special thanks
(45:54):
to I Heart Radio to our Parker and her I
Heart Radio Marketing team and a big big thanks to
our executive producer ramsay Unt. If you or someone you
know would like to know more about breast and plant illness,
please visit sick Titties dot com. That's s I c
K t I T t I e s dot com. Also,
(46:15):
please follow us on Instagram at sick dot titties and
at b Noble Art that's b n O B L
e A r T. And we would also love to
have you join our Facebook page at b Noble on
B I I and please remember you're not alone. Together
we can beat this. The views and opinions expressed are
(46:38):
solely those of the podcast author or individuals participating in
the podcast, and do not represent the opinions of our
Heart Media or its employees. This podcast should not be
used as medical advice, mental health advice, mental health counseling
or therapy, or as imparting any health care recommendations at all.
Individuals are advised to seek independent medical counseling, advice, and
(46:59):
or therapy from a competent health care professional with respect
to any medical condition, mental health issues, health inquiry, or matter,
including matters discussed on this podcast. Close to the Chest
with Kristen and Christine is a production of I heart
Radio and produced Inner Studios, located in Atlanta, Georgia. For
(47:20):
more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart
Radio app.
Close to the Chest with Kristen and Christine is brought
to you by I Heart Radio. My name is Kristin
Nobles in today September, and this is my audio diary
during one of the worst times of my life. I
have lived with breast in plant illness for almost half
of my life. When I got breast in plants in
(00:23):
two thousand one, I wanted to feel better about my body.
I never thought that my implants would affect my body
the way they did and caused me to have over
twenty five surgeries and rely on feeding tubes to eat.
This is a disease that at the time no one
knew much about, and it made it that much harder
to endure. My fake boobs have taken up so much
(00:43):
of my life. So now I want to go back
and find out why this happened to me, to try
and stop it from happening to other women, and call
the task the people who are responsible and question spot
walk into the room, heads turning on and down on
(01:04):
the fire. I am Kristin Nobles and I've been battling
breast and plant illness for the past twenty years and
I'm on a mission to beat this disease, and I'm
Christine Tourists, a friend and ally I'm here to help
Christen uncover the truth about breast and plant illness. Together,
(01:26):
we are hosting this podcast Close to the Chest with
Kristen and Christine to give you the real facts on
fake boobs. This season, we will learn from experts, survivors,
and advocates and hopefully save lives. I also share revealing
moments from my personal journal experiences that I never thought
I could survive. Keep in mind that we're not medical doctors,
(01:47):
and what we are discussing here are our opinions and experience. First,
let's get everyone on the same page. Breast and plant
illness or b I I is an autoimmune inflammatory syndrome
induced by breast and plant What type of implants can
cost this, Christine? Well, Kristen, b I can occur with
any type of rusting plants. All implants are encased in silicone. Well,
(02:09):
that's incredible. I think for so long I thought implants
were either silicone or sailing. Well, they're filled with either
silicone joel or sailing, but they're actually encased the capsules
that they are encased in are made of silicon. B
II seems to impact each individual in a unique way.
Some teams conclude a lot of things. So, Kristen, why
(02:30):
don't you tell us your own personal journey with brust
in plant illness? Absolutely, Christine. In my twenties, I actually
had my first breast augmentation. I was feeling a bit
insecure as a newly single mother and thought that this
would be the path to getting me the life I wanted.
And then ultimately I became really sick right away. I
ended up having more than thirty surgeries. I spent over
thirteen years on feeding tubest years. You didn't eat for
(02:53):
thirteen years. And what was so difficult about that is
I actually worked full time. And for those of our
listeners of feeding tube can be pretty invasive. It's very painful,
and you actually put a fluid in a syringe and
feed yourself. Oh, we don't need to know the details. Yeah,
it was lovely. And then ultimately I was in the
hospital over a thousand days, that's over three years. During
that time, I had numerous internal organs removed my gallbladder
(03:15):
and my appendix. Ultimately, all this led to a massive
brain infection and a cervical spinal fluid leak. Oh my goodness,
what happened? I woke up Christmas Eve morning and was
lying in my bed, couldn't lift my head, couldn't stand up.
I had a horrible fever of a hundred four plus
and my daughter called an ambulance. I was taken to
the hospital and there was a pivotal moment in my
(03:35):
diagnostic and treatment process because I was lying in a
bed an intensive care following a cervical spinal fluid leak
from the test they did to determine why I had
the infection, and they brought someone to the hospital called
an intensivest. What's an intensivest? That is the doctor you
see like on House, if you remember that show where
no one can figure out what the heck is going on,
so they bring in the big guns. You got Doctor House,
(03:58):
I got the House of U. C. L A. And
this one was amazing. She came in and just had
this adoring spirit. She looked down at me and said,
I think your breast implants are killing you. Oh my goodness.
Is so this is the first time that anybody has
discussed you your breasts being involved in all this chronic
disease that you have absolutely and I had actually been
part of other clinical trials in the g I space,
(04:20):
et cetera, where I had met with doctors and specialists
who were the best at the best, And so I
was really at my wits end because nobody could tell
me why my body was shutting down. And I was
also very vulnerable. You know what a lot of people,
I'm sure I can empathize with this. When you're in
the hospital, you're very sick, if you're in intensive care.
For her to sit there and tell me that she
believed that my breast implants were killing me and that
we could get past this, I felt elated. I was
(04:41):
so excited. So I was actually sent to a plastic
surgeon after seventeen years of suffering all kinds of disease,
and for the first time somebody says, well, I think
your breast implants could be causing all this, and then
they send you to a plastic surgeon to take them out. Yes,
and that plastic surgeon had a consultation with me and
he told me, with a whopping twenty five dollars, he
(05:04):
would remove and replace the implants because it was not
covered by insurance, but he could make me look great
and feel better and it was completely safe. So the
boobs that were making you sick or now replaced with
a new pair. I explanted in two thousand eighteen, and
I went from having sailing implants to having silicone implants.
And after undergoing the X plant, I felt terrible. So
(05:24):
the operation that was supposed to make you feel better
made you feel worse. Maybe I feel terrible. I was
having symptoms that went far beyond not eating. I started
to notice that my bone density was going down and
I actually had both of my hips replaced. Then I
started Christian, you're a young woman. You've had two hip replacements.
I'm basically bionic at this point. And what was crazy
(05:45):
and that point of time was I was feeling so
desperate and he wasn't an answer. So I went on
to a Facebook page and I started to see people
talking about breast implant illness. I actually asked one of
my friends what she was experiencing that I had made
through the community and when I took older, I had
implants put back in. She was shocked, and at that
point she shared with me that the implants I had
(06:05):
not only should not have been put in me because
that's not the right protocol for breast implant illness, but
that these implants had been recalled for causing a form
of blood cancer and come to find out, what we
really have to learn through this podcast and explain to
the listeners is that the doctors don't know what they
don't know. And so at the time, the FDA recalled
these implants and they set out a notification, but I
(06:26):
didn't get that notification. And that's the scary part. Well,
it's not until like really really really recently that any
doctor has come out and so that they actually believe
that b I I exists. Yes, And I think that's
why this podcast is so important to me as someone
who is currently dealing with breast implant illness. What I
want to understand is how did this happen, what do
(06:48):
we do as women going through this, and what are
my best options going forward. I think one of the
scariest things about this disease is, like other issues currently
in the press, there's not a lot of facts out
there that we can rely on. The doctors are depending
on the f d A and figuring out what doctor
to go to that actually identifies with this disease and
will treat it. Is not easy. Well, I know since
(07:08):
I've met you, you've been traveling to doctor after doctor
after doctor who cannot help you. Yes, one of the
biggest challenges with this issue is finding a doctor who
can take your insurance, believes in the issue, knows how
to treat it, and ultimately being healthy enough to get
through the surgery. So, Kristen, who are we going to
hear from today? I am so excited, Christine. Today we
(07:29):
have Tamera Judge, who many of the listeners know from
the Real Housewives of Orange County. She's also a fitness expert,
a beauty expert, a mom, entrepreneur, and someone who's been
working diligently to get out there and raise awareness about
breast implant illness and documenting her journey live on social media.
So I'm very excited to hear from her what to
expect when explanting, and any tips she has for me
(07:52):
as I embark on this journey. Fine, we have Camera Judge,
who is not only an entrepreneur, reality star, mom wife,
fitness expert, beauty expert, and all these other incredible things,
(08:14):
but someone who's been so brave at speaking out about
breast and plant illness. And I'd love to have you,
if you don't mind share with the listeners a bit
about your journey how this started for you and your
experience with implants and b I. I thank you so
much for having me and being able to spread awareness
is the most important thing for me right now. I
have had a love hate relationship with my breast and plants.
(08:36):
I've had them removed before, I've had them made bigger,
made smaller. I've all these things for the longest time.
I would say, I don't know, three years. Probably. I
just didn't feel right and I was having all these complications.
I was having fatigue, I was having g I issues,
SIONUS issues, bad dry eyes, my whole just my whole
(08:56):
body was inflamed for so long, and I kept going
to the dogf They kept telling me nothing's wrong. You know.
I'd have scopes done, CT scans, ultra sounds, blood work done.
My thyroid is barely working out this point, I have
hashimotos constantly, like feeling like I kind of had hangover almost.
I just figured, Okay, this is getting old. This is
(09:17):
what getting old peaks like, and it sucks. So I
have had a similar journey, and I think as women
we embrace the suck right for me. I started to
talk to people who are healthy and they're like, no,
this isn't normal, but for us it kind of becomes normal. Yeah.
You know, since I've been off the show, it has
gotten worse for me in the past year. And I
don't know if the symptoms are getting worse or I
(09:39):
just have more time to think about them and you know,
dwell on them, being at home and really being in
tune with my body, where before I was busy, busy,
busy all the time. So now I just thought, God,
this is not normal. I don't know what's wrong with me.
And then I didn't want to even say anything to
my husband anymore, like oh, this hurts when my joints
are aching, because I was afraid He's like, oh jeez,
(10:01):
what now. My mind would just go crazy, and I thought,
what is wrong with me? I just started doing you know,
my own research, being my own advocate, and just going
through and googling it and somehow, some way, and I
can't remember what it was. I had never heard of
breast implant illness ever, and I really when I started reading,
I thought, well, I don't have silicone mine. We're saying
(10:23):
lean so that can't be me, because you know, you know,
you think of it as like, oh, you have to
have a rupture or it has to be leaking into
your body for you to get sick from this. That's
not the case at all. And I got a symptom
list and I'm like, Okay, I have chronic fatigue, I
have joint pain, I have brain fog, I have insomnia,
I have thyroid dysfunction, I have anxiety, dry eyes. That
(10:47):
constant inflammation of my sinuses was horrible. The other thing is,
I'm sure people kept saying you look fine because you
look beautiful, but you being willing to actually go forward
and not only do this, but do it publicly, so brave.
What was the first type of doctor you saw that
kind of acknowledged this or how did you get help
once you started to research it? My hormone doctor, he's
(11:09):
the one that started doing all these tests on me,
and I was getting constant, like these infections in my body.
I had two major infections in my gut that I
had no idea that I had them. So he put
me on antibotics for two weeks to get rid of that,
and then it was just one thing after another. I
was having reoccurring ladder infections, and I would go to
the doctor, said I have a bladder infection and she's like, no,
(11:29):
you don't, and so I'm like, why do I have
inflammation on my bladder? So this is just crazy. So
he started doing all these tests on me. He noticed
that my thyroid was declining quickly and diagnosed me with
hashimoto has put me on medication. And so, after doing
my own research, I said, Dr Lee, is it possible
it's my breast implants something's wrong? And he says, yeah,
(11:52):
it is possible. You know, the only thing you can do,
there's no real test. All you can do is remove
them and see if you get better. I would imagine
it feels like you're being a slid. Yeah, you're feeling
all these things, and you're experiencing all these things, and
yet at the same time, like the doctors are telling
you you're crazy. Well, the doctors were always like, oh, well,
it's stress. You know, maybe you should go on like
(12:12):
a mild antidepressant or something like that, or takes an
X because you know that will calm your nerves. And
I'm like, what the hell do I have to be
nervous about? Like I have a happy family life I have.
I mean, obviously we're all going through COVID. I actually
enjoyed it because I got to stay in the half, right,
you went some downtime for once. Yeah, And it creates
this feeling for us as women where I noticed my
(12:34):
biggest advocates for other women like you who started to
share their story. So I felt like Number one, I
wasn't alone. And then the more women I met, I
started to get exasperated. For the most part, I am
not much of a complainer, so I just kind of
sucked it up. And it just got to the point
where get up every morning bright and early, I go
work out, and I would go to the gym and
(12:54):
I'm like, I'm exhausted. I can't stop yawning. And I
just slept eight nine hours and I would yawn and
yawn and yawn, and I'm like, I just want to
go home. I don't want to be here anymore. So
it was getting worse. Another something I had that I
didn't even realize that could be causing it. I had
a twitch in my thigh. Really, I have the same
thing yep, on my right thigh. I had a twitch,
(13:17):
and you could you could see it. You can actually
see my leg jumping. I have not had it since
I had my implants removed. How long has that been?
Two weeks? And I thought it was because I had
fell on my telebone years ago and I had some
nerve damage in my lower back and my hip. So
I thought, oh, it's probably just because of that. You
know that fall I have not had that. I have
(13:37):
not had. Every morning, I have to get up and
I have to put eye drops in my eyes because
they were just goofy and I couldn't see. I mean,
I was starting to worry. I'm like, am I going blind?
What is going on? And I go to the eye
doctor and they're like, your eyes are great. Other than
you know, you need reading glasses but very mild prescription,
but your eyes are perfect for your age. And then
(13:59):
what I find interesting is that they start researching and
you start pulling up information, and then there's this moment
for all of us, but we're like, Okay, we may
not get better, but we can't get ff and worse.
And what I find so heartbreaking is that in order
to be diagnosed, a lot of women don't realize how
expensive it is, because, like you, we go to g
I doctors, we go to the people, and then eventually
(14:20):
you go back to the plastic surgeon. They also don't
necessarily know. So was it hard for you to find
a doctor that acknowledged it, that will actually do it
because doctors were telling me they look great, don't touch him.
Um my doctor I actually have a really good relationship
with and I've known him for twenty years. He told
me that he's removing more implants and he's putting in
(14:41):
right now because of women having autoimmune issues, so he
was very for it. Um we talked about, you know,
removing the capsule and making sure we get everything out,
and he said absolutely. You know, because I've everybody was
sending me information suddenly, like I touch just talked about
it on Instagram, and so many people have come, you know,
reached out to me to talk to me about it
(15:02):
and tell me their experience. So you know, I said, yeah,
I definitely want the capsule removed. Yeah. I had drains
in for a week because I kept just fluid coming out.
Luckily I had enough of my own breast tissue so
I was able to get a lift and everything looks great. Congratulations,
that's amazing. Yeah, thank you. I mean, I know a
lot of girls are getting fat transfers and things like that,
(15:24):
because sometimes if you remove the capsule, you can look
a little disfigured from what I've heard, So I was
lucky enough that I had, you know, enough of my
own breast tissue. And how are you feeling now? I'm
feeling good. Tired, just kind of still a little bit
tired from the surgery. I've really taken it easy for
this is today's two weeks. My doctor, you know, scared
(15:45):
the Jesus out of me because he knows I'm so active,
and I in my mind before surgery, I'm like, Okay,
I'm gonna be down one week. Second week, I'm gonna
start walking the lake where we live, like it's like
three or four miles around. Then week three, I'm hitting
the gym. And I really have not done any of that.
My sinuses are so improved. It is so nice not
(16:06):
to have just the constant like headache. So that's a
big plus. You already have immediate relief, yeah for that,
And then I have more color in my in my face.
It's really weird because everyone's like take a picture before
and then a couple of days after with no makeup
on and just look at your skin. Well I didn't
do that. I forgot to do that. But just like
some days I'd wake up and I'd almost have like
(16:28):
a gray color to my skin and my eyes were
almost like kind of like one day I'm like, do
you have jaundice? And my eyeballs look yellow? So I
had my coloring was off, and it was like one
day it was good, the next day it looked really
I looked really gray. I always covered it up with
good or And then the other side of it was
the emotional site for me. I got really anxious, depressed,
(16:49):
but I was covering it up. But it was my
private moments like you talk about. So how did you cope? Also,
you at the pressure of the public eye. You know,
it's hard enough for me to get up in the
morning and through my hair and a pony tail to
walk the dogs, but you have that people always looking
at you. So how did you deal with the pressure
of feeling like shit all the time but functioning so high.
I think I isolated myself. I literally, like I said
(17:12):
that the pandemic was the best thing for me because
it was an excuse for me not to leave I
just stayed to myself and that's just how I dealt
with it, and I don't want to cry. But you
were really brave. You made the choice. You're in the
beauty business, and you went very public with that. Do
you mind sharing why you chose to be so open,
because I know you know I've read your very private
I obviously follow you and I'm such a fan just
(17:35):
in how you are publicly. But this was a big move.
It's so brave. I just felt like it was something
that really needed to be heard. Talking to people, just
friends and family. They had said to me, I think
I have that too, that those are the symptoms I have,
and I thought that there were my breast and plants.
So a lot of people don't know, like I spoke
(17:56):
out about it, and I'm getting like email this from
people in London where they say it is not recognized
in Europe, rest implant illness is not recognized. As soon
as I just started barely speaking about it, just questioning
like is this what's happening? And I did it in
one of my Instagram Q and a s. I could
not believe how many women reached out to me. Isn't
(18:17):
it overwhelming to know that there's millions of women who
have been struggling like you, and they don't. We don't know. Yeah,
so have you gotten messages from people who were also like, Oh,
it's in your head, don't worry about it. You know what.
I didn't. I didn't get any messages like that. I
really didn't. I just got a lot of messages from
women like how do you know? And what are your symptoms?
(18:38):
And how can I get more information about this, and
a lot of women that have gone through it, like
it's the best thing I've ever done. I took my
breast implants out five years ago, and I lost fifty
pounds and I don't have, you know, anxiety, and I
don't have this and I don't have that. And I thought,
oh my gosh, if there's like a ten percent chance
that this is gonna help me, then I'm doing it,
(18:59):
Like I'm going to choose my health over my vanity.
That's an important topic to right there, because your health
and your vanity, and as women, it's a big decision.
I've had girlfriends tell me, hell, no, I will never
remove mine. I've had people reach out to me and
say I really would like to remove mine, but my
husband or my boyfriend, UM would not go for it.
(19:22):
How does Eddie feel about it? And I'm like, what,
so you're married or you're dating somebody that would rather
have you in pain or feel like crap than have
your rest and plants removed. That is ridiculous. First and foremost,
thank you Tema because I think through your platform, you
know millions of william are hearing this. Because I think
the other thing is the anger. And that was my
last question for you, is that I've had so much
(19:44):
anger dealing with this issue. You know, like you, I
want to tell it in every way I can. You know,
I meet strangers all the time when we talk about it,
and what I'm so shocked at is a how many
people don't know this exists and then be, like you said,
think it's them. So in moving forward, you know, dealing
with the anger? Do you have any advice for us?
But that issue is the listeners because I know that's
(20:05):
pretty and pissed. I never think of it from an
angry point of view. I did it to myself. I
put them in. I didn't care about anything else but
looking good, and now I have to pay the price.
I didn't have implants that were recalled. If I got
sick from that, that would be a totally different story
for me. Um, I would be going after I'm guns blazing, sure,
(20:28):
So I don't. I don't really come from a place
of anger. I think I'm just come from a place
where I just want to bring awareness to it, and
as to other women that are having symptoms and don't
even have a clue, because it's one thing, it wasn't
cheap to go through all the testing I went through.
I mean I was going through scoping and colonoscopies and
(20:49):
scanning and ultrasounds and all that stuff for nothing. What
would you have said to your younger self before you
had your implants and put in just be people with
what God gave you. I was always wanted to be perfect,
and I was. You know, I was a super insecure
young mom, and I really felt like no guys really
(21:10):
wanted me because you know, I was a teenager, they
had a baby. You know, I really put a lot
of energy into my looks when I was young because
I was super insecure. I wish I would have put
it into schooling. But I think now you're teaching people
to look at how they feel, and I think, I
mean other than Orange County. I think the world is like,
you know, trying to be very body positive and be
(21:33):
accepting of the body that they were given. You know,
back then, not so much so much you got made
fun of if you had to wear glasses, you know,
you the world was so different back then. Now, just
be happy, I mean, be healthy, but be happy. Fine, fine, fine, fine,
(22:01):
So Christine, that was so exciting having Tamra judgeohn. I
feel like I learned a lot about what to expect
when explanting, and she's such an inspiration for me as
I go into this next surgery and hopefully our listeners.
What an incredible role model. Oh my god, just like
this next moment, we're about to talk to Christine Handy,
who she's a breast cancer survivor, yes, and a cancer disruptor.
Christine's out there doing a lot of work to raise
(22:23):
awareness for women facing breast cancer that there are safer
alternatives than breast implants. Given what she faced with breast
implant illness, I'm very excited to hear from her. Christine Handy,
first and foremost, thank you so much for joining us
on Close to the Chest with Kristen and Christine, I
(22:44):
wanted to start today by asking you to share a
little bit with our listeners about your journey with b
I I and what it's meant to you so far. Well,
I'm not sure where to start, but I had breast
cancer in two thousand and twelve, and I had my
first mass acting me in two thousand on the cancer side,
and I had implants put in on that side then.
And in two thousand and sixteen, I was well enough
(23:07):
after having twenty eight rounds of chemotherapy and I can't
remember how many surgeries at that point, was well enough
to have the other side mass ectomy. And during that
surgery they put in the textured bio still allergen implants, which,
by the way, they pitched really well to me because
I had empty breast cavities, obviously because of the mass ectomies.
(23:30):
And when you have an empty breast cavity, those normal
implants with not the textured part, they move around and
they cause a lot of pain. And so when they
put the textured ones, which was why they pitched them
to me, they felt so much better. But part of
the reason why they felt so much better was because
they adhere to your skin. They adhere to your tissue
(23:51):
and they basically mold into your tissue, which, by the way,
that wasn't part of the pitch. And so ultimately, in
two thousand nineteen, I got a call from my classic
surgeon that said, those implants have been recalled. Don't panic.
They are causing a form of breast cancer. Since I've
already had breast cancer, I thought, what do you mean,
don't panic. We got to take these suckers out, and
(24:12):
I did it within like a year. By that point,
I had had some issues, and I didn't realize. It's
funny how much our body can compensate and how much
our body wants to heal even when we have this
foreign substance in our body, which was told to us
that was healthy and safe and all of these other things.
(24:33):
And so my body was telling me as much as
I could that it was okay, and there were just
little things that kept hickupping in my health. When they
recalled them and they took them out, I got an
infection during surgery. Allergen put new ones in so nice
of them. Over the next six months is when I
started to get very very ill. I ultimately had a
(24:54):
mercer infection that almost took my life. So on that note,
and to pause for a second, because the way you
tell this story, and I know you've had quite a
health journey. You know you've been through so much, and
I think there's three things I just wanted to pause on.
You mentioned that your plastic surgeon called you, and there
was a one year period between the phone call and
the X plant correct and then you did to swap out. Right,
(25:15):
do you mind sharing a bit about the swapout experience
and what happened with Allergan at that moment when you
did the surgery, because I don't think a lot of
people understand that they were recalled and off and replaced. Well,
I was very lucky that my plastic jersey called me.
I obviously I am a public figure in the breast
cancer space, and when I had that surgery, I was
very vocal about what was happening, and people would d
(25:38):
M me or call me or text me and say,
I had no idea that these implants were recalled because
they had them inside him as well. Now this is
gonna sound ridiculous. I was also very lucky that they
were covered by insurance because I had breast cancer. But
for the rest of the world. Allergen was going to
replace just the implant, like they were going to not
pay for the surgery, but put the other implant in,
(26:00):
which I didn't have to fight that battle, So that
part was relatively uncomplicated for me. I got a cross
surgeon to do it because he knew that the insurance
company was going to pay for it, and we did
the surgery when was scheduled. The surgery itself was not
as easy as they led me to believe. But we're
just gonna swap these out. It's no big deal. It's
(26:21):
not even a night in the hospital. It turned into
a disaster because that mesh, that rigid texture, had already
gotten into my body, which I had no idea. And
when he described the surgery, he described it as like
a peeler, like you had to take like a scalpel
and peel off all that scar tissue. Because I had
already had breast cancer, my skin was so thin, and
(26:43):
by that point I had a few surgeries on each side,
and so by the time that the surgery was done,
the skin was so thin. But it was that it
was okay, so you could see a little bit of
the implant underneath the skin, which ultimately was the disaster
for me because it never healed. So I appreciate you
sharing that with the listeners because when people talk about
(27:04):
the quote swap out in the surgery, they act as
if it's quote no big deal. Why don't you just
do it for you? What was your you know, immediate
symptom that you had following the surgery. I know you
had an infection, but you also mentioned some other issues.
I have had an infection before by the way um
on my arm, and so I knew that there was
something going on, but I I just couldn't heal. First
(27:25):
of all, physically on the site where they opened up
the breast cavity and replaced it, there was some bubbling
and there was some redness and swelling, and ultimately there
was a tiny little speck on the left side of
my left BREASTT never healed, it never closed, and I
kept going back to my doctor saying, why isn't this closing?
(27:45):
And it was because the area was so damaged. And
so I had, you know, some digestive issues. I had
some headaches, and but those things I just equated with
just I'm getting older, I've had a lot of chemo
in my life, it can't possibly be related. And until
March of two when my symptoms started to really flare
(28:07):
up and I was hospitalized in March of two thousand twenty,
when the whole world was running from the hospital, I
was in the hospital, not with COVID. It was then
when I was left started to question, like, really, what
was happening. I started googling breast implants illness, and I
did find some information about it, and I thought that
happened to me. That happened to me. That happened to me,
but I didn't do anything about it at the time.
(28:29):
I mean, of course, I was in hospital, and I
trusted the professionals that were caring for the infection that
I had, which ultimately came back with a vengeance the
next month. That was in the hospital for five days,
and then ultimately my breast cavity was excavated in June
of two thou when that infection went from a staff
infection to am mersa infection, and when they took that
(28:52):
breast cavity out completely never to be repaired because I
lost skin. The infection had eaten a hole through my
breast and so by the time I checked into the hospital.
I had a hunter and four fever. I couldn't lift
my head and I was literally stopped at the front
of the hospital and that you know, it's the middle
of COVID, right, and so they were distracted. The education
and information given to you during the process of you
(29:15):
getting both sets of implants, none of this was told
to you. It sounds like no one said you could
end up. Did they share this with you? And you
know what they presented in a really pretty little box.
You know, I had to have my breast removed because
of breast cancer. But look what we can do for you.
Look how we're helping you. And I'm sure I had
to sign something that that had the you know, side
(29:36):
effect possible side effects, but they don't read it to you.
They don't say this could happen. Nobody said to me, oh, well,
if you get this, there's a possibility of breast implant illness.
I've never even heard the word before. And so what
I'm trying to do as a breast cancer survivor and
as a breast implant survivor with now a concave chest,
(29:57):
I'm trying to educate doctors, class of surgeons to say
just because you've had breast cancer doesn't mean the only
solution to having a chest is an implant. This is
a possibility having nothing at all. And that's okay. As
a society, we're so quick to want to replace and
to redo. And by the way, the medical field is
(30:19):
a business, and if we remember that, it's gonna save
us a lot of time and energy. Listen. I just
had a doctor my on colleges, said to me, I
really think you should go see this classic surgeon. May
maybe make it, tighten it up a little bit, do
something a little bit, because I mean, if you could
see what's underneath here, you would blow your mind. And
I said to her, I'll do it for you, and
I was almost kind of pacifying her. And I went
(30:41):
to see this guy and he said, okay, in order
for you to have breasts. Because they had implants on
the table when I walked in, and I put papers
over them because they didn't want to see them. Doctor
walks in and he's like, you know, why did you
do that. I go, I don't want to see him.
I don't want you to pitch them. I don't I
don't want I'm smart. I got to Harvard, I don't
need you to pitch this to me. I'm out of
(31:03):
the implant game. And here's why. And he said to me,
after thirty minutes of talking in circles, in order for
you to have a chest, I need to put a
small implant in. And I said, what part of you
walking in this room and me having the implants covered up?
Did you not understand? And so I walked out of
that office and a two weeks later, his assistant called me,
(31:25):
and she called me and she said, so do you
wanna do you want to sign up for the surgery?
And I was like, how are you not listening to me? Well,
you know what, my self esteem is unstoppable. It wasn't
at one point. And if you don't have an unstoppable
self esteem, these people are could destroy you your health,
(31:45):
your mental health, your physical health. And that's dangerous. So
when you say these people, Christie, one thing that's so
important that you brought up and I'm literally crying inside
and clapping physically what you talk Because the ability to
go to your doctor and to have unstoppable self esteem
and ask questions and have boundaries and be educated about
(32:05):
the products the risks, and to have been through it
then you were still pitched. How did that make you feel?
Because that moment is life. So I have to go
back a little bit because I had an infection in
my arm in two thousand and eleven, and I have
a fused arm. I had a torn ligament my right wrist,
and the doctor that I chose, who went to Stanford
(32:26):
and was very well revered in the community that I
lived in, I chose him to do the surgery. And
after the surgery, six weeks later, they took off the
cast and my arm ballooned. A long story short, I
had an infection to my arm for six months and
my self esteem was not good then, and I allowed
this man to bully me. He told me that the
pain and the swelling was in my head. He told
(32:47):
me that I had RSD. He told me that I
was a hysterical housewife, although I had never shed a
tear in his office. He sent me to a physical
therapy office miles away from his office. He wanted me
as far away from his as possible. Ultimately, I got
up enough courage to go see a second doctor, even
though my doctor told me that he would be mad
at me if I did that. He took one X
(33:09):
ray and every single bone in my wrist was broken.
I was in surgery that day. I had to then
find a doctor that would repair a doctor's malpractice. Now,
if you don't know what that means, you're lucky, because
so often doctors won't take cases where doctors butchered you.
(33:30):
And that's what happens to us women all the time,
is we're going back to the same doctor who put
these in and asking them to fix their There aren't
doctors that will fix it because the liability they're afraid to.
So the system is failing us. So by the time
that I had breast cancer, and by the time I
had implants, my self esteem was really low because I
(33:51):
had gone through that whole process with my arm. But
I have ultimately built it back up to a place
where it's unstoppable, unshatterable, And that's why I am a
breast cancer disruptor and speaker and and all the things
I do. But it's built on a foundation, a solid
foundation and a solid self esteem, which, by the way,
I work on every day. Now, if you are the
(34:11):
normal woman who gets beat up all day long in
this world that we do, then you're not going to
have that unshakable self esteem. So you're gonna walk into
these appointments like I did in two thousand sixteen, and
you're gonna say when they tell you, look how pretty
these implants are, and you're gonna say, sign me up.
Because we trust doctors. We are supposed to. The first
thing they learn is medical school is do not harm right.
(34:34):
But we should really be talking about the f d
A as well, because in two thousand and eleven, the
FDA warned Allergen about these implants. They put those implants
in me in two thousand and sixteen. Where was the
f d A in two thousand and eleven? Why didn't
they do something about it? I actually have the FDA
f d a'smission statement right here, which I'm going to
(34:55):
read to you. The Food and Drug Administration is responsible
for protecting public health, of ensuring safety, efficiency, and security
of human and vegtionary drugs, biological products, and medical devices,
and by ensuring the safety of our nation's food supply, cosmetics,
and products. I have two immediate questions for you, and
first time crying so thank you for you the moment
(35:17):
where you make that decision to take the swap out,
that's such a big moment for us as women, where
you lost so much from that moment to today, but
you also gained so much. How did you build that
confidence and do this research and get this strength to
ask those hards questions and to set these boundaries because
(35:39):
I need to learn from you. This is so important
for us as survivors and thrivers, and this is how
we disrupt this. I was taught at a young age
to behold authority in my life, like whatever that meant,
the police, the you know, medical field, doctors. That's who
I was supposed to look up to, and that's who
(35:59):
who I was supposed to trust. And I believed that right.
And then when that happened to my arm, I started
to question men. I started to question people. I started
to question the authority figures. I started to question the
institution of medicine. And I started to realize that, hey,
this is a business. They're not trying to help you,
They're trying to make money. And I don't think that's
(36:19):
true of all doctors at all. I know a lot
of really good doctors, including the doctor that ultimately fused
my arm, but it is a business. Because I went
through what I went through with my arm. I started
to ask questions. But that's not what we're taught in society.
We're not taught to ask questions. They went to medical school,
why wouldn't I trust them? And so if they're going
to pitch a product to me, for sure it's going
(36:40):
to be safe. And again I have to go back
to the f d A. Why are they not talking
about this? Why are they not protecting us? And so
the only reason I'm not part of the class action
suit is because the attorney that I called told me
that I couldn't be a part of it because he
said I didn't have cancer after the implants and that
the only people that were eligible to get anything were
(37:01):
the people that had developed the cancer from the implant.
So that's an important topic right there, because for you, Christine,
you've had cancer, you've had breast implant illness, and I
think the work you're doing as a breast cancer patient,
and stepping back a second to the f d A,
and I'm thinking out loud with you, is that the
fdamission statement is to protect us. In two thousand and eleven,
(37:21):
they weren't the f d A, and you received recalled implants,
So that in lies the problem. What would you like
to see happen for women that go through best cancer?
And like you said, over considering reconstruction, what disclosures would
you give them? Now? I want the nurses and I
want the doctors to say, this isn't your only option.
(37:42):
You can have an aesthetic closure and that is an
option for you. And I want them to tell them
why to be a patient is to relinquish control of
your life and your body. And it's unscheduled breakdowns. Right.
We have no control when you're diagnosed with cancer, when
you're diagnosed with b I I think we lose control,
right you you feel it right now? What we should
(38:03):
have control over is what people are feeding us, right,
the information. It should be logical, it should be factual,
and it should be true. We should have more choices. Right.
I wasn't even given the option. I'm not saying that.
It wasn't out there. Nobody said it to me. Nobody
said you don't have to have implants, you can just
(38:24):
have it closed. I never heard that, not one time.
Because I don't want women to have to go through
what I went through. I went through so many other
unnecessary illnesses and surgeries, and my poor liver. Right, all
that Anneciza and all that medication and all those things
unnecessarily why right to have a prettier chest. Listen, I
(38:46):
would have taken it. If they were healthy, I would
have kept him. I liked it. But they aren't healthy,
and they weren't healthy for me. And I'm not saying
that I'm an expert in the field, and I don't
know that they're unhealthy for everybody. Those obviously are because
they caused camp sertain But I just want people to
know what they're what they're walking into, and that there
(39:06):
is another choice, an esthetic flat closure, which is a
very beautiful choice, which is why I flaught my flat
chests all over the world, because I want women to
feel comfortable looking like this. The other thing that's so
important that you talk about is the supply chain. So
you've brought up all the parties that be that are
involved in this. You had the FDA, you have, the doctors,
you have. The one thing I love you to touch
(39:28):
on is what has the impact of b I I
been on you, your family and those around you. Because
you're you're such a song set's a purpose, but this
was still life changing for you, and I really love
the listeners to learn from you how you got through this.
If you don't mind, you know, that's a bit of well.
I think before I was faced with this, I had
already had eighteen surgeries between my I think I had
(39:50):
nine on my arm and nine on my chest. And
I used a lot of tokens from my friends and family. Right,
that's a lot. I had twenty eight rounds. It came
up therapy. That's a lot of drivers. That's a lot
of me, as as a lot of my kids, you know,
not being able to be with their mother. And to
add this was it was like the tip of the
iceberg for me. It was emotionally paralyzing for me because
(40:11):
I thought, wait again, I went through this again, like
I already went through this with my arm, Like now
I'm not can't trust the f d A. Now I
can't trust this these doctors. Now I can't trust the implants.
And so emotionally that took a big toll on me
and and and especially with my family, and because I think,
you know, when I went into the hospital for the
(40:32):
first time in March of two thousand twenty, and you know,
again the world is focused on COVID and here I
am in the hospital, They're like looking wrong, going again,
and so then you lose. You know, people get tired,
the patient gets tired, and the caregivers get tired, and
so this is the multiplier effect of when is this
going to stop? And it's not going to stop. If
(40:53):
we're fed a bunch of lies doesn't stop. You really
have to be your own best advocate. Yeah, I mean
we do. And it's easy to say that because we're
supposed to trust the people that have the medical degrees.
We're supposed to trust the f d A if it's
right here in black and white, that's what they tell us.
You know. One of the final questions I would love
(41:13):
have you answer is that to be your own advocate.
As Christine said, what would the top questions you'd have
a patient ask their surgeon when they go in with
b I I before they get diagnosed and treated. I
think I had a lot of anxiety and fear that
the questions would be dismissed because it's like, after I
had chemotherapy and I had terrible chemo brain, I had
doctors that said that doesn't exist, and I was like, well,
(41:35):
if it doesn't exist, how come I have it. But
I also had the gumption and the persistence in the
great and grace whatever you wanna call it, to ask
that question. I think a lot of women would have said, oh,
then I must not have it, it must not exist.
It's the same thing with b I I. You know,
you can walk into a doctor's office and say these
are my symptoms, this is what I have, and they say, well,
(41:56):
it's it's this, it's not that. That doesn't exist. And
so I think for me, I would have to have
a really strong sense of self assurance and self love
and self esteem to walk in there and say this
is that I've done my research and I'm not going
to leave here until you help me. I don't think
a lot of women have that power, of that gumption,
and so it's a slippery slow. So if you don't
(42:17):
have that, then you walk away feeling dismissed, and that's
a whole another emotional abuse of cycle, and that's a
slippery slow. And so I think more conversations like this,
I think anything we can do to say no, you're
not alone, and you you have the ability, you're strong,
and we will fortify you, we will help you through it.
(42:38):
But what you're going through does exist, So Christine, that
was so exciting to talk to Christine Handy. She is
such an inspiration out there educating doctors as an advocate
on alternatives to rest implants, and she is fierce. She
(43:00):
is fierce and she is making a difference, and I
think it's so important for everybody out there who here's
her story, here's Tamra story. There's so many amazing things
we can take away. So I thought we could just
share the top five things we learned today. What do
we learn first and foremost, It's really important to know
that not all doctors believe in breast implant illness and
you have to find a doctor who currently treats the disease.
(43:22):
Oh yeah, you have to be your own advocate. I mean,
and don't be afraid or embarrassed. Look, if you're not
going to take care of yourself, who is absolutely And
the other thing and learned is b I is so
hard to diagnose. It seems like there's multiple doctors involved.
And I think as women were embracing all of these
symptoms is getting older as part of the journey and
dismissing them. And we really deserve to be treated. Everybody
(43:43):
deserves to be treated and believed. One on that note,
the other I think big myth for people out there
is it can't be happening to them because they have
sailing implants. And what we learned today is it doesn't
matter if you have silicone implants or sailing implants. They
all have silicone in them and anyone can get b
I I gardless of your implants are recalled or not.
The shelves are all made of silicon, no matter what
(44:05):
the filling is. And I think for me, you know,
tip number four would be that don't give up tip
tip Yes, I think so many times we talked to
people today and Tamara and Christine said that the number
one thing they did was not give up. They kept
pushing forward, they kept asking questions, and they were their
own best advocate. They're both really strong women with a
(44:26):
lot of faith and faith in like who they are
and faith in their own strength. Well, and Christine had
that great term she talked about, which is that you
need to have really strong self esteem as a patient.
And I think that hits to the core of this issue.
And one of the exciting things, which is the most
important thing I learned today, is that we are not alone.
Rest implant illness is made up of a community of
(44:47):
women that are here to support each other. And through
those support groups, we can get the encouragement, information and
action plans we need to survive and thrive. And we
don't have to accept this as something going to defeat us.
That is the takeaway of the day. You are not alone,
and thanks to you, I'm not alone on this journey.
And thanks to our listeners. Because this isn't an easy
topic to talk about, but what I know is that
(45:10):
if we share our stories, we tell the truth, which
is our truth, that rest implant illness will become an
issue that everybody understands and is willing to deal with
head on. Thanks for you, Thanks for you. I'm gonna
cry now close to the chest with Kristen. Christine has
(45:33):
been brought to you by b Noble Media Group and
I Heart Radio. For more on Christine Handy, visit www
Dot Christine Handy dot com. That's www dot Christine Handy
dot com and on Instagram at Christine Handy One. Now
I'd like to share some gratitude a very special thanks
(45:54):
to I Heart Radio to our Parker and her I
Heart Radio Marketing team and a big big thanks to
our executive producer ramsay Unt. If you or someone you
know would like to know more about breast and plant illness,
please visit sick Titties dot com. That's s I c
K t I T t I e s dot com. Also,
(46:15):
please follow us on Instagram at sick dot titties and
at b Noble Art that's b n O B L
e A r T. And we would also love to
have you join our Facebook page at b Noble on
B I I and please remember you're not alone. Together
we can beat this. The views and opinions expressed are
(46:38):
solely those of the podcast author or individuals participating in
the podcast, and do not represent the opinions of our
Heart Media or its employees. This podcast should not be
used as medical advice, mental health advice, mental health counseling
or therapy, or as imparting any health care recommendations at all.
Individuals are advised to seek independent medical counseling, advice, and
(46:59):
or therapy from a competent health care professional with respect
to any medical condition, mental health issues, health inquiry, or matter,
including matters discussed on this podcast. Close to the Chest
with Kristen and Christine is a production of I heart
Radio and produced Inner Studios, located in Atlanta, Georgia. For
(47:20):
more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart
Radio app.
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