October 30, 2024 • 48 mins
Who needs a shrink when you could have a boob job? Join me in this conversation as I decompress after an unexpected encounter with a plastic surgeon at a weekend BBQ that unfolded into a spirited discussion about breast implants, explant surgery, and breast implant illness (BII). This episode explores the psychological motivations behind seeking plastic surgery and highlights the importance of awareness and transparency in surgical consultations.
Our dialogue peels back the layers of the emotional and physical journey many women face when deciding on breast implants. We confront the initial allure and confidence boost these procedures offer, juxtaposed with the troubling long-term health concerns that can arise. Despite differing views on risk vs reward, the conversation with the surgeon serves as a reminder of the importance of informed decision-making.
What do you think? I invite you to share your thoughts on this episode and your experiences speaking with surgeons about BII and implant risks. Shoot me a DM on IG or come chat in the Empowered Explant facebook group.
I also appreciate your advocacy! Share this episode so this message can reach more women who need to hear it!
Resources and Links
BII Information, FDA Recommendations + tons more, visit: https://www.empoweredexplant.com/resources
Please help us be heard and raise awareness:
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Let's connect!
Join the Empowered Explant Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/empoweredexplant
Connect with Darnah on Instagram: @darnahmercieca
Interviews and sponsorships email: podcast@empoweredexplant.com
Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/ilya-kuznetsov/anticipation
Disclaimer: This podcast does not constitute medical or mental health advice. Darnah is not a medical practitioner. She shares from personal experience, research, and conversations with other people. If you are experiencing symptoms, pain, post-surgery complications, or mental health concerns, please seek care from your medical provider or surgeon.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Darnah Mercieca (00:02):
and when this surgeon was sitting there
telling me that he considershimself and plastic surgeons
psychologists with a scalpel.
This is empowered explant, thepodcast helping women ditch
their breast implants withconfidence.
I'm Darnah Mercieca boardcertified health and wellness
coach and explant warrior.
Oh, oh, oh.
(00:23):
My friends, I literally had tothrow out what I had planned for
this week on the podcast tojust tell you about something
that happened on the weekend.
I knew as soon as this happened, I'm like, oh my gosh, I have
to share this on the podcast onTuesday because, wow, I went to
(00:48):
a barbecue with my boyfriend.
We arrived early, we arrivedbefore everyone else and I was
talking to the host about what Ido and the podcast came up.
Empowered Explant came up.
He was mentioning that hismother had breast cancer, so
naturally, this came up and hewas like, wow, he's like okay,
(01:13):
I'm going to have to introduceyou to my friend.
That's coming, you are going tohave a very interesting
conversation.
He's a plastic surgeon.
Like oh, okay, this will beinteresting.
So I'm sitting at this barbecuejust chit-chatting with everyone
.
I'm actually talking to otherpeople about the podcast.
(01:35):
Now there was another podcasterthere, so we start talking
about podcasts and bookpublishing and book publishing
because, in case you don't know,I own a publishing agency and
so we're talking aboutpublishing books and podcasts.
(01:56):
And I'm talking about empoweredexplant.
And they're all just kind ofshocked that I am at now 61
episodes of a podcast aboutbreast implant removal
specifically, and they're likehow can you, how are there so
many things to talk about?
I'm like, trust me, I haven'teven scratched the surface.
There are so many more topicsthat I'm so excited to talk
(02:18):
about on this podcast.
So we're chatting about that,and then, a little bit later,
the plastic surgeon startedasking me about my publishing
agency.
Actually, oh my gosh, this isjust so good, because, before I
get into all the details in thisconversation, let me tell you
(02:39):
like I, this is like tea, thisis like the ultimate tea.
Do you see, it got me so workedup.
I, I was sweating.
I was sitting at the barbecuesweating as I was going into
this conversation with thisplastic surgeon.
Because, well, the why willbecome very obvious to you when
(03:02):
I share our conversation withyou, and I, I and I've got a cup
of tea here.
I encourage you to get a cup oftea, settle in.
I want to hear your thoughts andcomments.
When you hear what I have tosay today, when you hear about
this conversation that I hadwith this plastic surgeon at
(03:22):
this barbecue completelyunexpected I want to hear what
you think about thisconversation.
I want to hear what you thinkspecifically about what he had
to say.
I want to hear what you thinkabout my thoughts and opinions
on this.
I want to hear your own.
I think that this is a reallyimportant conversation that
(03:45):
needs to be had, and so, yeah, Ijust I want to hear about your
experiences.
Maybe you've had a similarexperience talking with your own
surgeon or other surgeons inconsultation.
So, yeah, please let me know.
I've got a little thumbs up onmy screen, I think.
I think even my video, mycamera, is excited about this
(04:08):
conversation.
So, okay, sitting at thisbarbecue, this surgeon starts
chatting with me to kind ofpaint a picture for you where,
in this outdoor area, there's abunch of people sitting around,
they're all kind of having theirown conversation at this point,
and then it's me, and then myboyfriend, and then the surgeon
(04:29):
on the other side of him, and somy boyfriend's in the middle of
us, and he knows how strongly Ifeel about the topic of breast
implants and their risks andexplant surgery and explant
surgery.
(04:49):
So I think he was kind ofanticipating what was going to
come next and and uh and waskind of feeling the the tension
in the air a little bit.
But you know, I was going intothis conversation with an open
mind because I didn't know whatthis surgeon's stance was on
breast implants or explant orbreast implant illness.
So I was going in open-mindedand I like to just have
(05:09):
conversations because at the endof the day, when we're talking
to plastic surgeons, it'simportant for me to remember and
for us to remember in thiscommunity that that anyone we
speak to, we have theopportunity to plant a seed.
So even if somebody doesn'thave an awareness around breast
(05:31):
implant illness or someonedoesn't believe in it, or they
still believe in breast implantsor, as women, want breast
implants, you know it's just upto us to kind of share what we
know or what we've experiencedand plant a seed.
So I was there ready to plantseeds.
(05:52):
I suppose you could say Okay, sothis surgeon asks me about my
publishing business.
So I start talking to him aboutthat and then I'm like so what
would your book be about?
And he said well, likely aboutplastic surgery because I've
been doing it for so many yearsand I think that one of my first
(06:16):
books I'd be really interestedin writing about the psychology
of plastic surgery.
And I won't get into the detailbehind his book idea because I
think that that's personal tohim and I don't want to
overshare here.
And so he mentioned that hisbook would be about the
psychology behind plasticsurgery and I thought that that
(06:36):
was quite fascinating because atthe end of the day, there's a
huge psychological component togetting plastic surgery which I
think we all know right, andit's a big emotional journey,
psychological journey, thereasons behind it.
And so we talk about that alittle bit more more about the
(06:56):
book side of things, and I'mquite fascinated.
And then I say to him did youhappen to overhear what my
podcast was about?
He said no, I didn't.
And I said I actually have apodcast all about explant
surgery and removing breastimplants, and I could kind of
(07:18):
see this look on his face.
He was like wow, okay, he'slike, well, I'm performing an
explant next week.
I'm like this is great, likewow, I think we're about to have
a really cool conversationabout this.
That is until he went on to sayhe actually focuses more so on
putting breast implants in.
And then I was like thisconversation is about to get, is
(07:43):
about to be a little differentthan I thought it was going to
be, and so we start talkingabout BII.
And he agreed that BII is real.
He did say that, which I respectand appreciate, of course, and
then continued to say but thereare no solid studies to prove
(08:08):
why it happened and the whybehind it is very much unknown,
which, if you've been here withme for a while, if you've
listened to some of my otherpodcasts, I disagree with that.
I think that's BS.
I think that the reasons behindbreast implant illness are
actually very obvious and Ithink that people saying it's
(08:28):
not obvious is just a way ofthem kind of justifying
continuing to produce implants,continuing to allow them to put
them in our bodies, continuingto make money off of putting
them in our bodies.
So I think it's actually veryclear why breast implants make
us sick.
And then we got into all thedetails talking about, you know,
(08:52):
breast implants being foreignobjects and there's a foreign
body reaction anytime thatthere's an implant put in
someone's body which causesinflammation, causes an immune
response in your body.
And then I was explaining tohim why I believe this happens.
And there's the inflammatoryresponse, there's an immune
(09:16):
response and then your body'sgenetics kind of determines how
your body outwardly responds,what symptoms look like, how
your body reacts to the implants, whether your body is fine for
a number of years and then lateron responds, or whether you get
your implants in and your bodyinstantly disagrees with them.
(09:39):
So there's so many factors thatcome back to somebody's
genetics as to why it doesn'tlook the same in everybody.
But I was explaining that.
You know that to me seems veryobvious.
And then he went on to say sure, but I have placed so many
implants at this point and mostof the women that I see in my
(10:01):
clinic report feeling better andlive better lives after getting
implants.
They self report to me he'slike this is just the feedback I
get Women feel better aftergetting implants.
This is why surgeons areconsidered psychologists with a
scalpel with a scalpel becausethey are improving someone's
(10:26):
quality of life through theseimplants.
And he is a strong believerthat he's making a positive
difference in the lives of thesewomen by placing implants.
And that's what he's hearing,that's the feedback he's getting
from these women and he saidthat he doesn't see many women
(10:48):
come back with issues and so hejust feels that there is not
enough data, there's not enoughproof, there is not enough women
that report being ill andbecause of that he chooses to
(11:09):
continue to place implants andfocus on that.
And at this point I had so manyfeelings inside me because,
first of all, let me just saythis Women go to their plastic
surgeon and we get our implantsput in.
And then I'm curious to know,for anyone listening or watching
(11:32):
here, how long did you stay incommunication with your original
plastic surgeon who placed yourimplants?
Because I know for me Imight've stayed in contact with
my surgeon for, I think, thefirst 12 months.
I remember getting my implants,you know, going through,
getting having a post-op checkup, and then I actually remember,
(11:58):
within the first year, goingback and being like, hey, I've
lost nipple sensitivity in myright breast, and him kind of
brushing that off Like it wasnothing, just saying it was
normal, that's going to improvewith time, which it didn't and I
just remember him likesqueezing on my nipples so hard,
(12:18):
like that it hurt, and he'slike, well, see, you have
feeling there.
Anyway, I digress, my pointbeing how often did you hear
from your surgeon after yourimplants went in?
Did you talk to your surgeonthree years later, five years
later, 10 years later?
I know I didn't, and most ofthe women that I've spoken to
(12:43):
don't stay in contact with theiroriginal plastic surgeon for
very long after their initialimplants go in.
So it's like, yeah, duh.
Of course I'm stoked andexcited and thrilled.
After my initial surgery.
I got these big boobs I'mwalking around in like cute
bikinis and different clothesand I'm showing them off and I'm
(13:06):
feeling sexy and like I'mgetting all of this attention
from men and I have thisconfidence about me and so, yeah
, I feel good and that's thereport that you're getting.
Typically after women get theirbreast implants, you're hearing
from them.
In that first year, my sex lifehas improved.
(13:27):
My husband loves my new toys onmy chest, like whatever it is.
It's usually an exciting timeafter a woman gets her breast
implants, except for those whoimmediately don't have a good
experience.
And I think my concerns were ohmy God, they're way bigger than
I expected and I lost nipplesensation.
(13:49):
So even I actually had somenegatives in that first year,
but for the most part.
I was pretty excited and Ithink it's really effed up that
a surgeon can say well, womenself-reportedly feel better, I'm
(14:16):
changing lives for the betterafter women get breast implants,
when you actually aren'tcontinuing to study your
patients and know your patients.
Five years later, 10 yearslater, 15 years later, 20 years
later, you're only hearing theimmediate response, not the long
term.
And let's face it, ladies, howmany of us went back to our
(14:38):
original plastic surgeon to haveour breast implants removed?
I didn't.
I know a ton of women.
I think majority of women donot go back to their original
plastic surgeon to get theirbreast implants removed because
they put them in us to beginwith and didn't give us all of
the information that we shouldhave had to make an informed
(15:00):
decision about putting thesethings in our bodies to begin
with, informed decision aboutputting these things in our
bodies to begin with.
So why would we go back to thesame surgeon who put them in?
We want surgeons who areexperienced in taking them out
and who believe us when we tellthem they're making us unwell.
So, once again, you may not behearing your patients aren't
(15:23):
happy with their implants, butthat's probably because they are
going to a new surgeon whospecializes in removal.
Those women who do go back totheir original surgeons for for
explant surgery often havereally negative experiences, and
I'm not saying this is all thetime.
Okay, I have spoken to somewomen who have gone back to
(15:48):
their original surgeon for theirexplant and they've had them
removed and it's been aperfectly fine experience.
But for the most part, womenwho go back to their original
surgeons have a horribleexperience because their
original surgeon doesn't want totalk about the fact that they
didn't tell them all the risksinitially.
(16:09):
More often than not, they don'tbelieve in breast implant
illness, which is just a hugeproblem, because you go to this
surgeon and they don't reallybelieve you.
And a lot of them try to sellyou on a new set of implants,
like, well, how about areplacement?
And it's like, bro, thesethings are making me sick or
(16:30):
these things are causing me pain, why would I want a new set?
And you hear things like, yeah,but you're going to end up with
pancakes or you're not going tobe able to get the same good
results with other methods likelift and fat transfer and stuff
like that.
So it's like it just becomesthis kind of psychological if
(16:51):
you will play for us to getimplants again or just that
whole feeling of you know theyaren't supporting the cause of
breast implant illness.
They're still in this game tobe placing implants.
They truly believe that theyare doing women a service by
(17:14):
putting implants in our bodiesand so, sitting here with him,
it really became obvious to methat he felt like he was doing
women a service to me, that hefelt like he was doing women a
service.
He felt like he was addressingwomen's psychological needs by
placing implants.
Not against plastic surgery, letme just I want to say that as a
(17:36):
disclaimer.
I am not against plasticsurgery as a whole.
I think that plastic surgeryabsolutely has its place and can
make a huge difference insomeone's life.
It truly can.
My issue is that these objectsthat they're placing inside our
bodies are making us sick andthey're dangerous and they are
(17:59):
major health risks, major healthrisks.
And so knowing that there areother options out there
available to women and stillselling breast implants as the
best option is a reallyfrustrating thing for me,
(18:20):
because that is not putting ourhealth first and that is
certainly not putting the healthof our psychology first,
because we go to a surgeon withthese concerns that always stem
from self-esteem.
Okay, I don't care what it is,whether it's come from after
(18:40):
children, after breastfeeding,there's sagginess.
Maybe you've lost a lot ofweight.
That's what happened to me.
I lost a lot of weight and allof a sudden, like I had a lot, a
lot less volume on my chest,and so I wanted more volume.
Whatever the concern is, even inthe case of mastectomy, I mean,
(19:02):
I don't know.
Whatever the case is, it's aself-esteem matter, it's a body
image matter, it's a self-worthmatter, and these are all
psychological issues thatespecially affect women, and
especially around the topic ofour breasts, because, let's face
(19:24):
it, they are sexualized, theyare thought of as adding to our
beauty, adding to our femininity.
So, yeah, we go to thesesurgeons to get answers of what
we can do to make ourselves feelbetter, to make ourselves look
better, to feel sexier, and thenwe're told yeah, your boobs are
(19:46):
really saggy.
The only way to really fix thisand to get that youthful look
is to put implants in, because,like this surgeon said at the
barbecue, he said, getting alift and fat transfer just does
not restore the structure ofbreast tissue after things like
(20:10):
breastfeeding, pregnancy, aging,all of that.
He's like the only way torestore the structure of the
breast is to place implant In myhead.
I'm like, okay, so we're beingtold this but we're not being
told.
Hey, you know what?
So we're being told this butwe're not being told.
(20:32):
Hey, you know what?
Breasts are supposed to changewith age.
Breasts are supposed to changeafter breastfeeding and after
pregnancy and they fluctuatewith weight gain and weight loss
.
Where are you at currently inyour weight journey?
Is this your standard weight?
(20:53):
Because for me, for example, Iwas underweight because I was
stressed, I was going through abreakup, I was going through a
divorce, I had been cheated on,I was drinking a lot, I was
living a really unhealthylifestyle, I was partying a lot
and I was really underweight.
(21:14):
But my surgeon didn't take theapproach of finding out what was
going on in my lifepsychologically you know the
real psychology to understandwhether I needed therapy and a
(21:35):
new diet and lifestyle change orwhether breast implants were
right for me.
There was none of that.
So if you really want to do usa psychological service, you
could talk to us and educate uson the reality of women's
(21:56):
breasts and what they aresupposed to look like, not sell
us on having these objects inour bodies that create this
unnatural look.
Anyway.
That's not real.
(22:17):
I'm sorry, but afterbreastfeeding and after
pregnancy and after life, yourboobs aren't supposed to be all
up here and looking like that.
That's just the facts.
And look.
Some of us want that look.
This is not me throwing stones.
I was there.
I put implants in my body.
There is no shame here, okay,what I'm saying is is that
(22:42):
women's psychology aroundbreasts is completely skewed
because of society and whatthese surgeons are telling us.
When we step into their officewith our self-esteem issues and
our concerns and whatever we'regoing, whatever's going on in
our lives at the time, theyaren't actually there to help us
(23:05):
heal emotionally.
They are there to sell us onband-aid confidence, and that's
what this is.
And when this surgeon wassitting there telling me that he
considers himself and plasticsurgeons psychologists with a
scalpel, I was thinking no,because psychologists work to
(23:30):
heal emotional wounds, to rewireself-belief, to improve what's
going on on the inside of us,whereas what you are doing is
(23:50):
selling band-aid confidence.
You see us a couple times, youstick these things inside our
bodies, you don't tell us thereal risks and you assume.
You assume that you are givingus a life of feeling better
(24:10):
about ourselves.
Yeah, I would say that that istrue temporarily, and that's why
I call it band-aid confidence.
You're providing a temporaryfix.
What you're doing is likeprescribing pills to people who
are sick.
You are prescribing pills topeople who are sick instead of
being a functional medicinepractitioner who actually
(24:32):
addresses the root cause.
So all you are is a pill pusher.
All you are is prescribing aquick fix.
Because let me tell you whathappens when women are now
getting sick and are having toget their implants removed?
All of those same issues arestill there.
You haven't fixed shit.
(24:54):
We're still faced with the sameself-esteem issues or the same
self-worth issues, the sameterrified fear of oh my gosh,
what am I going to look like?
Oh my gosh, now my boobs aresaggy.
We still have the same issues,in fact, worse in my case.
I can't speak for everybody,but in my case I'm way worse off
(25:20):
now as far as my boobs go thanI was before I put my implants
in.
I wish more than anything I hadfound a way to be happy with my
breasts the OG breasts Becausenow think about it I carried
around 376 CC implants at a sizedouble D breast for a decade of
(25:41):
my life.
I have stretching, I haveasymmetry, I have a desensitized
nipple actually desensitizednipples but one is just way
worse than the other one.
And what?
You think that you did me apsychological service?
(26:02):
Like no, you didn't, I'm sorry.
And so I want to sit here andencourage any plastic surgeons
that listen to this to actuallyask yourself what do I know
about my patient and is this theright decision for her in 10
years time, or is there adecision that might serve her
(26:23):
better?
That wasn't even the icing onthe cake for me.
Okay, so so get this.
The surgeon says to me that whenwomen come to him for breast
implants, he sits down with themand explains the risks of
breast implants and the risks ofsurgery as a whole.
He said there are fatalitiesassociated with having surgery,
(26:47):
so you know there are risks.
And he says I say to women it'slike driving a car yeah, wait,
it gets better.
He said you choose to drive acar even though there's a risk
of accident and fatality, butyou still drive and most people
are okay, most people choose toget behind the wheel and they're
(27:10):
completely fine.
He said getting breast implantsis the same thing really.
You know there's a risk, butmost women are okay.
And I was sitting there like didhe just say that?
Yeah, I think I just heard himcorrectly.
He just said the risk ofgetting breast implants is like
(27:31):
the same thing as the risk ofdriving a car.
And he's telling women this.
And then I thought back to myown experience getting my breast
implants and I thought, yeah,my surgeon had a similar line.
It wasn't the same, it wasn'tthe car thing, but he also had a
line that minimized risk, thatminimized the gravity of what I
(28:00):
was doing, made it seem thatrisk was very low and that this
was just like any other riskthat you kind of take every day
and that there are other thingsthat we do in our lives, like
driving a car, that are actuallyput us at a higher risk of
dying than getting surgery forbreast implant.
(28:23):
I just realized in that momentthat, like it was a lost cause
and, like I said in thebeginning, I am here to plant
seeds and I hope that ourconversation planted a seed with
him to think about theseriousness of breast implant
(28:43):
illness and to maybe look intoit more.
But when somebody likens gettingthe risk of having cosmetic
surgery and getting breastimplants, to driving a car.
You know that there's only somuch that you can say before.
It's basically just going inone ear and out the other.
So you know, I'm at thisbarbecue, there's people around
(29:05):
my boyfriends, right in betweenus, listening to all of this,
and there was so much I wantedto say inside, like I was
boiling inside boiling, and Ialso recognize that I had a lot
of anger inside me towards mysurgeon.
That wasn't appropriate for meto take out on this guy who I
(29:31):
had just met and didn't knowmuch about.
But also I wanted to berespectful to my boyfriend, to
the lovely hosts of the barbecueand to everyone else, and to
the surgeon as well.
I didn't want it to turn into adebate and nor did I want to
waste my energy, but that is whyI had to sit here and get this
off my chest now with you all,because I know that so many of
(29:54):
you would understand myfrustration and I just wish I
wish so much that I had a wholegroup of you with me at this
barbecue.
The numbers don't lie, the factthat there are thousands of
women in this community, in theEmpowered Explant community and
in other communities, inFacebook groups and everything,
(30:18):
who have been made completelyill, severely ill, by their
implants, who have suffered fromsymptoms, who have had ruptures
and their lives turned upsidedown because of implants, who
have had cancer diagnosisbecause of their implants, who
(30:38):
have had autoimmune conditionstriggered and diagnosed because
of their implants.
I was just sitting there likesad, just feeling sad and
feeling angry that this is whatwe're up against.
This is what young women, allwomen, are up against when we
(31:00):
walk into a surgeon's office.
And so, going back to talkingabout breast implant illness
with him, the topic of heavymetals came up as well.
I was talking about there areother risks associated with
breast implants.
It's not only foreign bodyreaction, it's not only capsular
contracture, it's not onlyrupture, there are also things
(31:25):
like heavy metals associatedpressure.
There are also things likeheavy metals associated.
And then he said there's onlyone or two heavy metals that I
know of.
I know they're dipped inplatinum, but there's only one
or two heavy metals for starters, only one or two heavy metals.
That in itself annoyed me.
(31:46):
But I said metals.
That in itself annoyed me, butI said there's a whole list
published in the FDArecommendations, a whole list of
heavy metals.
I've got it open right here infront of me Heavy metals found
in breast implants.
There are 20 on this listAntimony I'm going to butcher
some of these words, butantimony arsenic, barium,
(32:12):
beryllium, cadmium, chromium,cobalt, copper, lead, magnesium,
mercury, molybdenum, nickel,platinum, selenium, silver, tin,
titanium, vanadium and zincthere are 20 metals heavy metals
(32:32):
found in breast implants.
And so when I told him aboutthis list that the FDA has here
on this document which, by theway, you can access this on the
empowered explantcom resourcespage, there's a link to it and
(32:53):
there's a list of the heavymetals down here at the bottom
and he said I would have to seethat and I'm like you haven't
seen this document from the FDA,because the whole list is there
, along with some real seriousrisks associated with breast
implants that you should bemaking your patients aware of
(33:15):
before they get implants.
In fact, this is arecommendation to surgeons, that
this is what surgeons should besharing with their patients.
There's a whole patientdecision checklist on this
document that runs through therisks.
(33:35):
It also runs through thepercentages of women who have
reported these issues and thepercentages are actually quite
high.
These risks are not so smallthat they barely exist and that
you know there are some.
If I had seen this, let me tellyou, if I had seen this before
getting my breast implants, Iwouldn't have gotten them, and I
(33:58):
was 23 years old and maybemaking some really dumb
decisions.
But I think even I would havebeen smart enough to have not
gone through with this surgeryif I had read this patient
decision checklist and reallyunderstood the true risks
involved associated with breastimplants.
So this conversation was reallyeye-opening to me.
(34:20):
It showed me that a lot ofsurgeons out there still don't
really believe in breast implantillness.
They don't really believe inthe risks associated with breast
implants when it comes towomen's health and they don't
take that seriously.
They don't really take the timeto address the psychology
(34:46):
behind the decision that womenare making to get breast
implants.
They don't promote the otheroptions available to women, the
other surgical options availableto women, like lift and fat
transfer.
They do promote that implantsare the best way forward.
And it especially shows me thatthere is a lot more work to be
(35:11):
done here.
There is a lot more advocacythat needs to happen, and it lit
a fire in me to keep going.
It lit a fire in me to keepspreading this message and this
awareness, and it let me knowthat, while it may be extremely
difficult to change the minds ofthese surgeons because, let's
(35:34):
face it, they're making money.
This is their business.
They've built a business aroundus wanting to look different.
They've built a business aroundus not being happy with our
breasts, built a business aroundus not being happy with our
breasts.
(35:54):
So it's going to be reallydifficult to change the minds of
a lot of surgeons.
So advocacy is important.
Spreading the word, spreadingthis message is important.
It's important to reach womenwith this message.
It's important to reach womenwith it before they even get
implants.
To begin with, I think that whatwe're doing here is fantastic.
(36:17):
We are putting out the word andhelping educate women, once
they've got their implants, asto what their options are to
remove them and the fact thattheir breast implants could be
the cause behind their illnessand that that's a very real
thing that they should look into.
And this platform EmpoweredExplant and my mission is to
(36:43):
help women on the journey ofremoving their breast implants
because of all of thosepsychological components that
are there right, all of that,those fears and concerns and
self-esteem and body imageissues that are still there once
we have to face removing ourimplants and because of all of
(37:06):
the physical effects now thathave happened because of the
implants if they've caused usbreast implant illness symptoms,
the detoxing that occurs, thefact that we've had to go
through another surgery, all ofthe physical implications on our
bodies, just all of thosepieces.
And I think it's wonderful thatEmpowered Explant exists, that
(37:28):
I'm doing this work, that otherwomen are out there doing this
work, that, oh my gosh, thereare surgeons out there.
Thank you so much.
It makes me emotional how muchgratitude and respect I have for
the surgeons out there who havechosen to not put breast
(37:50):
implants in women's bodiesanymore and to solely support
women in the removal of breastimplants.
Thank you, thank you forbelieving in this and for making
a choice to support our health.
(38:11):
And while all of this is soimportant in supporting women
who have breast implants andneed to get them removed, this
really just makes me realize howimportant it is to also reach
the women who don't yet havebreast implants in their bodies,
their bodies, the women who aregoing into these surgeons
(38:40):
offices with these concerns andare being sold on breast
implants being the best optionfor them and are not being
informed of the risks, of thetrue risks, because the surgeons
don't believe in the risks.
It also reminds me of howimportant it is to address the
psychology of little girls, ofyoung women, and helping them
(39:09):
understand self-acceptance andself-love and understand the
reality of our bodies, thebeauty of our bodies and what
our breasts do and what they'recapable of, and how amazing and
beautiful they are throughpregnancy, through childbirth,
(39:31):
what breasts can look like afterthat process and how to look
after our bodies naturally, howto support our bodies, how to
care for our breasts, what tolook out for as far as breast
cancer goes, how to really carefor our breast health and our
(39:52):
skin health and nourish ourbodies.
And then the options later on,the options that are available
to us other than breast implants.
If we choose to get surgery tomake a change, to make
improvements to our, to our body, to our aesthetic image, to
make ourselves feel better, thencan we at least know the
(40:18):
options that are available to usthat don't have ongoing risks
to our health, like this surgeonsaid?
He said that the other options,like fat transfer, for example,
having a lift and a fattransfer, they're never going to
give you back that sameyouthful structure that you once
(40:39):
had, and only breast implantscan do that.
Well, you know what?
My boobs aren't supposed tolook the same at 36 or 40 or 50
as they did when I was 20.
That's the fact, and so maybemaybe a lift and a fat transfer
(41:03):
for a woman after three childrenis adequate.
Maybe that woman, having justthat little bit of help to bring
her boobs up a bit, to tightenup that skin, is enough.
If she understood all of therisks associated with breast
(41:24):
implants, if she understood whatthat could do to her health and
that she essentially has aticking time bomb in her body
that she has to worry aboutthat's going to potentially cost
her another $10,000 every 10 orso years to get replaced, maybe
she would agree that justhaving a perkier set, just
(41:51):
lifting up, tightening that skin, would be enough.
Maybe she would agree that justhaving a tiny bit of fat
transferred to her breasts justto give them a touch more volume
, just to fill them out a littlebit more, would be enough.
And there are women out therethat won't be okay with that,
that do want more, that do wantimplants and and you know once
(42:15):
again, no judgment, no judgmentat all.
If that is you, if you are awoman that wants more, I am not
judging you, but I do encourageyou to know the risks and know
what to look for.
That is what I'm all about.
I am here about empowereddecisions, empowering women to
make the best decisions forthemselves and their health.
(42:36):
And if you're choosing breastimplants, whether just because
that's what you want or whetheryou've had a mastectomy and you
are faced with this reallydifficult decision, then at
least be informed of the risksso that you know what to look
for later on, so that you knowtruly how you have to monitor
(42:58):
your breast implants as well asyour breast health, for ruptures
, for leakages.
Ladies like I, yes, keep going.
Yes, keep this podcast going.
(43:18):
Yes, there will be so many morethan 60 episodes here.
Yes, I will challenge anyplastic surgeon who doesn't
think there's enough evidencethat BII exists, or they don't
really understand how that couldbe a thing, or says that it's
not a thing until they see moredata or more evidence or more
(43:40):
research or more studies.
There are enough of us womenwho have been through this to
prove that this is a thing, avery, very serious thing that
more surgeons and more peopleneed to know about and pay
attention to and to prioritize.
So, with that said, I'm goingto keep being a voice, and I
(44:03):
hope you do too.
I hope you share this episode.
I hope you share any episode onthis podcast that resonates
that you feel like would be ofvalue to other people.
Join the Empowered ExploreFacebook group.
Get involved with me.
Help me spread this message.
Help me defend what we are herefor.
(44:25):
Help me defend what we havebeen through.
None of us should be made tosit there and feel crazy or like
we are some anomaly becausewe're not.
Breast implants affect everywoman.
Breast implants cause foreignbody reaction and immune
(44:49):
response and inflammation inevery woman.
Like I I mentioned earlier,it's just our genetics that
really determines how theeffects of that shows up in our
bodies sooner or later.
So, breasties, thank you forjoining me today for this little
bit of tea, this little gosssession that I had to share with
(45:11):
you after being at thisbarbecue, because, after leaving
and I just had so much spinningaround on my mind and so much
weighing on my heart and so muchthat I wish I could have said
on the day, but I bit my tongueand now I just had to get it off
my chest.
And if the surgeon that I spoketo at the barbecue on Saturday
(45:33):
happens to listen to thispodcast episode because maybe I
did plant a seed then I hope youlisten to other episodes.
I hope you start doing researchinto breast implant illness and
see how prevalent this actuallyis.
I hope you change your mind oneday.
(45:59):
I hope you come to the otherside and start specializing in
explant surgery.
I hope you get a new analogy,because choosing to get breast
implants is not the same aschoosing to drive a car.
And I extra hope you listenedto the interview that I had with
my ex-plant surgeon, dr Dev,who I have so much love and
(46:23):
admiration for as a surgeon.
He helped me.
He helped restore me.
He helped me get my health back.
He helped restore me.
He helped me get my health back.
If you're researching breastimplant illness, the risks of
breast implants, or deciding ifexplant surgery is right for you
(46:43):
, then go to the resources pageon the Empowered Explant website
.
That's empoweredexplantcom.
Forward slash resources.
There is so much goodinformation there.
Seriously, start there.
Start diving into all the linksI've provided.
The FDA documentation is there.
And then there are some podcastepisodes that you must listen to
(47:06):
if you haven't already, andthat is what is breast implant
illness?
What are the risks of breastimplants, the history of breast
implants.
I mean, there are some reallygood episodes on this podcast
that dive into the sciencebehind breast implants and the
reported risks, the dataassociated with them.
(47:28):
So go get informed, getempowered, because this is how
we make the best decisions forour bodies and for our health.
Okay, my love, thank you forletting me get that off my chest
.
It was so needed.
I feel lighter, like I did theday I got my implants out.
(47:48):
Don't forget.
I want to hear what you have tothink about today's episode so
badly.
So DM me, leave a review, leavea comment anywhere you can.
If you're watching on YouTube,leave me a comment on this
episode.
If you are listening to thepodcast, shoot me a DM on
(48:11):
Instagram at Dana Merzica.
Come into the Empowered ExplantFacebook group.
Come and talk to me in there.
My goodness, I want to hearyour thoughts on this
conversation.
I want to hear what you wouldhave said to this surgeon if you
were sitting there at thisbarbecue.
What would you have said to himin this same situation Okay, I
(48:36):
will see you here next week,breasty.
and when this surgeon was sitting there
telling me that he considershimself and plastic surgeons
psychologists with a scalpel.
This is empowered explant, thepodcast helping women ditch
their breast implants withconfidence.
I'm Darnah Mercieca boardcertified health and wellness
coach and explant warrior.
Oh, oh, oh.
(00:23):
My friends, I literally had tothrow out what I had planned for
this week on the podcast tojust tell you about something
that happened on the weekend.
I knew as soon as this happened, I'm like, oh my gosh, I have
to share this on the podcast onTuesday because, wow, I went to
(00:48):
a barbecue with my boyfriend.
We arrived early, we arrivedbefore everyone else and I was
talking to the host about what Ido and the podcast came up.
Empowered Explant came up.
He was mentioning that hismother had breast cancer, so
naturally, this came up and hewas like, wow, he's like okay,
(01:13):
I'm going to have to introduceyou to my friend.
That's coming, you are going tohave a very interesting
conversation.
He's a plastic surgeon.
Like oh, okay, this will beinteresting.
So I'm sitting at this barbecuejust chit-chatting with everyone
.
I'm actually talking to otherpeople about the podcast.
(01:35):
Now there was another podcasterthere, so we start talking
about podcasts and bookpublishing and book publishing
because, in case you don't know,I own a publishing agency and
so we're talking aboutpublishing books and podcasts.
(01:56):
And I'm talking about empoweredexplant.
And they're all just kind ofshocked that I am at now 61
episodes of a podcast aboutbreast implant removal
specifically, and they're likehow can you, how are there so
many things to talk about?
I'm like, trust me, I haven'teven scratched the surface.
There are so many more topicsthat I'm so excited to talk
(02:18):
about on this podcast.
So we're chatting about that,and then, a little bit later,
the plastic surgeon startedasking me about my publishing
agency.
Actually, oh my gosh, this isjust so good, because, before I
get into all the details in thisconversation, let me tell you
(02:39):
like I, this is like tea, thisis like the ultimate tea.
Do you see, it got me so workedup.
I, I was sweating.
I was sitting at the barbecuesweating as I was going into
this conversation with thisplastic surgeon.
Because, well, the why willbecome very obvious to you when
(03:02):
I share our conversation withyou, and I, I and I've got a cup
of tea here.
I encourage you to get a cup oftea, settle in.
I want to hear your thoughts andcomments.
When you hear what I have tosay today, when you hear about
this conversation that I hadwith this plastic surgeon at
(03:22):
this barbecue completelyunexpected I want to hear what
you think about thisconversation.
I want to hear what you thinkspecifically about what he had
to say.
I want to hear what you thinkabout my thoughts and opinions
on this.
I want to hear your own.
I think that this is a reallyimportant conversation that
(03:45):
needs to be had, and so, yeah, Ijust I want to hear about your
experiences.
Maybe you've had a similarexperience talking with your own
surgeon or other surgeons inconsultation.
So, yeah, please let me know.
I've got a little thumbs up onmy screen, I think.
I think even my video, mycamera, is excited about this
(04:08):
conversation.
So, okay, sitting at thisbarbecue, this surgeon starts
chatting with me to kind ofpaint a picture for you where,
in this outdoor area, there's abunch of people sitting around,
they're all kind of having theirown conversation at this point,
and then it's me, and then myboyfriend, and then the surgeon
(04:29):
on the other side of him, and somy boyfriend's in the middle of
us, and he knows how strongly Ifeel about the topic of breast
implants and their risks andexplant surgery and explant
surgery.
(04:49):
So I think he was kind ofanticipating what was going to
come next and and uh and waskind of feeling the the tension
in the air a little bit.
But you know, I was going intothis conversation with an open
mind because I didn't know whatthis surgeon's stance was on
breast implants or explant orbreast implant illness.
So I was going in open-mindedand I like to just have
(05:09):
conversations because at the endof the day, when we're talking
to plastic surgeons, it'simportant for me to remember and
for us to remember in thiscommunity that that anyone we
speak to, we have theopportunity to plant a seed.
So even if somebody doesn'thave an awareness around breast
(05:31):
implant illness or someonedoesn't believe in it, or they
still believe in breast implantsor, as women, want breast
implants, you know it's just upto us to kind of share what we
know or what we've experiencedand plant a seed.
So I was there ready to plantseeds.
(05:52):
I suppose you could say Okay, sothis surgeon asks me about my
publishing business.
So I start talking to him aboutthat and then I'm like so what
would your book be about?
And he said well, likely aboutplastic surgery because I've
been doing it for so many yearsand I think that one of my first
(06:16):
books I'd be really interestedin writing about the psychology
of plastic surgery.
And I won't get into the detailbehind his book idea because I
think that that's personal tohim and I don't want to
overshare here.
And so he mentioned that hisbook would be about the
psychology behind plasticsurgery and I thought that that
(06:36):
was quite fascinating because atthe end of the day, there's a
huge psychological component togetting plastic surgery which I
think we all know right, andit's a big emotional journey,
psychological journey, thereasons behind it.
And so we talk about that alittle bit more more about the
(06:56):
book side of things, and I'mquite fascinated.
And then I say to him did youhappen to overhear what my
podcast was about?
He said no, I didn't.
And I said I actually have apodcast all about explant
surgery and removing breastimplants, and I could kind of
(07:18):
see this look on his face.
He was like wow, okay, he'slike, well, I'm performing an
explant next week.
I'm like this is great, likewow, I think we're about to have
a really cool conversationabout this.
That is until he went on to sayhe actually focuses more so on
putting breast implants in.
And then I was like thisconversation is about to get, is
(07:43):
about to be a little differentthan I thought it was going to
be, and so we start talkingabout BII.
And he agreed that BII is real.
He did say that, which I respectand appreciate, of course, and
then continued to say but thereare no solid studies to prove
(08:08):
why it happened and the whybehind it is very much unknown,
which, if you've been here withme for a while, if you've
listened to some of my otherpodcasts, I disagree with that.
I think that's BS.
I think that the reasons behindbreast implant illness are
actually very obvious and Ithink that people saying it's
(08:28):
not obvious is just a way ofthem kind of justifying
continuing to produce implants,continuing to allow them to put
them in our bodies, continuingto make money off of putting
them in our bodies.
So I think it's actually veryclear why breast implants make
us sick.
And then we got into all thedetails talking about, you know,
(08:52):
breast implants being foreignobjects and there's a foreign
body reaction anytime thatthere's an implant put in
someone's body which causesinflammation, causes an immune
response in your body.
And then I was explaining tohim why I believe this happens.
And there's the inflammatoryresponse, there's an immune
(09:16):
response and then your body'sgenetics kind of determines how
your body outwardly responds,what symptoms look like, how
your body reacts to the implants, whether your body is fine for
a number of years and then lateron responds, or whether you get
your implants in and your bodyinstantly disagrees with them.
(09:39):
So there's so many factors thatcome back to somebody's
genetics as to why it doesn'tlook the same in everybody.
But I was explaining that.
You know that to me seems veryobvious.
And then he went on to say sure, but I have placed so many
implants at this point and mostof the women that I see in my
(10:01):
clinic report feeling better andlive better lives after getting
implants.
They self report to me he'slike this is just the feedback I
get Women feel better aftergetting implants.
This is why surgeons areconsidered psychologists with a
scalpel with a scalpel becausethey are improving someone's
(10:26):
quality of life through theseimplants.
And he is a strong believerthat he's making a positive
difference in the lives of thesewomen by placing implants.
And that's what he's hearing,that's the feedback he's getting
from these women and he saidthat he doesn't see many women
(10:48):
come back with issues and so hejust feels that there is not
enough data, there's not enoughproof, there is not enough women
that report being ill andbecause of that he chooses to
(11:09):
continue to place implants andfocus on that.
And at this point I had so manyfeelings inside me because,
first of all, let me just saythis Women go to their plastic
surgeon and we get our implantsput in.
And then I'm curious to know,for anyone listening or watching
(11:32):
here, how long did you stay incommunication with your original
plastic surgeon who placed yourimplants?
Because I know for me Imight've stayed in contact with
my surgeon for, I think, thefirst 12 months.
I remember getting my implants,you know, going through,
getting having a post-op checkup, and then I actually remember,
(11:58):
within the first year, goingback and being like, hey, I've
lost nipple sensitivity in myright breast, and him kind of
brushing that off Like it wasnothing, just saying it was
normal, that's going to improvewith time, which it didn't and I
just remember him likesqueezing on my nipples so hard,
(12:18):
like that it hurt, and he'slike, well, see, you have
feeling there.
Anyway, I digress, my pointbeing how often did you hear
from your surgeon after yourimplants went in?
Did you talk to your surgeonthree years later, five years
later, 10 years later?
I know I didn't, and most ofthe women that I've spoken to
(12:43):
don't stay in contact with theiroriginal plastic surgeon for
very long after their initialimplants go in.
So it's like, yeah, duh.
Of course I'm stoked andexcited and thrilled.
After my initial surgery.
I got these big boobs I'mwalking around in like cute
bikinis and different clothesand I'm showing them off and I'm
(13:06):
feeling sexy and like I'mgetting all of this attention
from men and I have thisconfidence about me and so, yeah
, I feel good and that's thereport that you're getting.
Typically after women get theirbreast implants, you're hearing
from them.
In that first year, my sex lifehas improved.
(13:27):
My husband loves my new toys onmy chest, like whatever it is.
It's usually an exciting timeafter a woman gets her breast
implants, except for those whoimmediately don't have a good
experience.
And I think my concerns were ohmy God, they're way bigger than
I expected and I lost nipplesensation.
(13:49):
So even I actually had somenegatives in that first year,
but for the most part.
I was pretty excited and Ithink it's really effed up that
a surgeon can say well, womenself-reportedly feel better, I'm
(14:16):
changing lives for the betterafter women get breast implants,
when you actually aren'tcontinuing to study your
patients and know your patients.
Five years later, 10 yearslater, 15 years later, 20 years
later, you're only hearing theimmediate response, not the long
term.
And let's face it, ladies, howmany of us went back to our
(14:38):
original plastic surgeon to haveour breast implants removed?
I didn't.
I know a ton of women.
I think majority of women donot go back to their original
plastic surgeon to get theirbreast implants removed because
they put them in us to beginwith and didn't give us all of
the information that we shouldhave had to make an informed
(15:00):
decision about putting thesethings in our bodies to begin
with, informed decision aboutputting these things in our
bodies to begin with.
So why would we go back to thesame surgeon who put them in?
We want surgeons who areexperienced in taking them out
and who believe us when we tellthem they're making us unwell.
So, once again, you may not behearing your patients aren't
(15:23):
happy with their implants, butthat's probably because they are
going to a new surgeon whospecializes in removal.
Those women who do go back totheir original surgeons for for
explant surgery often havereally negative experiences, and
I'm not saying this is all thetime.
Okay, I have spoken to somewomen who have gone back to
(15:48):
their original surgeon for theirexplant and they've had them
removed and it's been aperfectly fine experience.
But for the most part, womenwho go back to their original
surgeons have a horribleexperience because their
original surgeon doesn't want totalk about the fact that they
didn't tell them all the risksinitially.
(16:09):
More often than not, they don'tbelieve in breast implant
illness, which is just a hugeproblem, because you go to this
surgeon and they don't reallybelieve you.
And a lot of them try to sellyou on a new set of implants,
like, well, how about areplacement?
And it's like, bro, thesethings are making me sick or
(16:30):
these things are causing me pain, why would I want a new set?
And you hear things like, yeah,but you're going to end up with
pancakes or you're not going tobe able to get the same good
results with other methods likelift and fat transfer and stuff
like that.
So it's like it just becomesthis kind of psychological if
(16:51):
you will play for us to getimplants again or just that
whole feeling of you know theyaren't supporting the cause of
breast implant illness.
They're still in this game tobe placing implants.
They truly believe that theyare doing women a service by
(17:14):
putting implants in our bodiesand so, sitting here with him,
it really became obvious to methat he felt like he was doing
women a service to me, that hefelt like he was doing women a
service.
He felt like he was addressingwomen's psychological needs by
placing implants.
Not against plastic surgery, letme just I want to say that as a
(17:36):
disclaimer.
I am not against plasticsurgery as a whole.
I think that plastic surgeryabsolutely has its place and can
make a huge difference insomeone's life.
It truly can.
My issue is that these objectsthat they're placing inside our
bodies are making us sick andthey're dangerous and they are
(17:59):
major health risks, major healthrisks.
And so knowing that there areother options out there
available to women and stillselling breast implants as the
best option is a reallyfrustrating thing for me,
(18:20):
because that is not putting ourhealth first and that is
certainly not putting the healthof our psychology first,
because we go to a surgeon withthese concerns that always stem
from self-esteem.
Okay, I don't care what it is,whether it's come from after
(18:40):
children, after breastfeeding,there's sagginess.
Maybe you've lost a lot ofweight.
That's what happened to me.
I lost a lot of weight and allof a sudden, like I had a lot, a
lot less volume on my chest,and so I wanted more volume.
Whatever the concern is, even inthe case of mastectomy, I mean,
(19:02):
I don't know.
Whatever the case is, it's aself-esteem matter, it's a body
image matter, it's a self-worthmatter, and these are all
psychological issues thatespecially affect women, and
especially around the topic ofour breasts, because, let's face
(19:24):
it, they are sexualized, theyare thought of as adding to our
beauty, adding to our femininity.
So, yeah, we go to thesesurgeons to get answers of what
we can do to make ourselves feelbetter, to make ourselves look
better, to feel sexier, and thenwe're told yeah, your boobs are
(19:46):
really saggy.
The only way to really fix thisand to get that youthful look
is to put implants in, because,like this surgeon said at the
barbecue, he said, getting alift and fat transfer just does
not restore the structure ofbreast tissue after things like
(20:10):
breastfeeding, pregnancy, aging,all of that.
He's like the only way torestore the structure of the
breast is to place implant In myhead.
I'm like, okay, so we're beingtold this but we're not being
told.
Hey, you know what?
So we're being told this butwe're not being told.
(20:32):
Hey, you know what?
Breasts are supposed to changewith age.
Breasts are supposed to changeafter breastfeeding and after
pregnancy and they fluctuatewith weight gain and weight loss
.
Where are you at currently inyour weight journey?
Is this your standard weight?
(20:53):
Because for me, for example, Iwas underweight because I was
stressed, I was going through abreakup, I was going through a
divorce, I had been cheated on,I was drinking a lot, I was
living a really unhealthylifestyle, I was partying a lot
and I was really underweight.
(21:14):
But my surgeon didn't take theapproach of finding out what was
going on in my lifepsychologically you know the
real psychology to understandwhether I needed therapy and a
(21:35):
new diet and lifestyle change orwhether breast implants were
right for me.
There was none of that.
So if you really want to do usa psychological service, you
could talk to us and educate uson the reality of women's
(21:56):
breasts and what they aresupposed to look like, not sell
us on having these objects inour bodies that create this
unnatural look.
Anyway.
That's not real.
(22:17):
I'm sorry, but afterbreastfeeding and after
pregnancy and after life, yourboobs aren't supposed to be all
up here and looking like that.
That's just the facts.
And look.
Some of us want that look.
This is not me throwing stones.
I was there.
I put implants in my body.
There is no shame here, okay,what I'm saying is is that
(22:42):
women's psychology aroundbreasts is completely skewed
because of society and whatthese surgeons are telling us.
When we step into their officewith our self-esteem issues and
our concerns and whatever we'regoing, whatever's going on in
our lives at the time, theyaren't actually there to help us
(23:05):
heal emotionally.
They are there to sell us onband-aid confidence, and that's
what this is.
And when this surgeon wassitting there telling me that he
considers himself and plasticsurgeons psychologists with a
scalpel, I was thinking no,because psychologists work to
(23:30):
heal emotional wounds, to rewireself-belief, to improve what's
going on on the inside of us,whereas what you are doing is
(23:50):
selling band-aid confidence.
You see us a couple times, youstick these things inside our
bodies, you don't tell us thereal risks and you assume.
You assume that you are givingus a life of feeling better
(24:10):
about ourselves.
Yeah, I would say that that istrue temporarily, and that's why
I call it band-aid confidence.
You're providing a temporaryfix.
What you're doing is likeprescribing pills to people who
are sick.
You are prescribing pills topeople who are sick instead of
being a functional medicinepractitioner who actually
(24:32):
addresses the root cause.
So all you are is a pill pusher.
All you are is prescribing aquick fix.
Because let me tell you whathappens when women are now
getting sick and are having toget their implants removed?
All of those same issues arestill there.
You haven't fixed shit.
(24:54):
We're still faced with the sameself-esteem issues or the same
self-worth issues, the sameterrified fear of oh my gosh,
what am I going to look like?
Oh my gosh, now my boobs aresaggy.
We still have the same issues,in fact, worse in my case.
I can't speak for everybody,but in my case I'm way worse off
(25:20):
now as far as my boobs go thanI was before I put my implants
in.
I wish more than anything I hadfound a way to be happy with my
breasts the OG breasts Becausenow think about it I carried
around 376 CC implants at a sizedouble D breast for a decade of
(25:41):
my life.
I have stretching, I haveasymmetry, I have a desensitized
nipple actually desensitizednipples but one is just way
worse than the other one.
And what?
You think that you did me apsychological service?
(26:02):
Like no, you didn't, I'm sorry.
And so I want to sit here andencourage any plastic surgeons
that listen to this to actuallyask yourself what do I know
about my patient and is this theright decision for her in 10
years time, or is there adecision that might serve her
(26:23):
better?
That wasn't even the icing onthe cake for me.
Okay, so so get this.
The surgeon says to me that whenwomen come to him for breast
implants, he sits down with themand explains the risks of
breast implants and the risks ofsurgery as a whole.
He said there are fatalitiesassociated with having surgery,
(26:47):
so you know there are risks.
And he says I say to women it'slike driving a car yeah, wait,
it gets better.
He said you choose to drive acar even though there's a risk
of accident and fatality, butyou still drive and most people
are okay, most people choose toget behind the wheel and they're
(27:10):
completely fine.
He said getting breast implantsis the same thing really.
You know there's a risk, butmost women are okay.
And I was sitting there like didhe just say that?
Yeah, I think I just heard himcorrectly.
He just said the risk ofgetting breast implants is like
(27:31):
the same thing as the risk ofdriving a car.
And he's telling women this.
And then I thought back to myown experience getting my breast
implants and I thought, yeah,my surgeon had a similar line.
It wasn't the same, it wasn'tthe car thing, but he also had a
line that minimized risk, thatminimized the gravity of what I
(28:00):
was doing, made it seem thatrisk was very low and that this
was just like any other riskthat you kind of take every day
and that there are other thingsthat we do in our lives, like
driving a car, that are actuallyput us at a higher risk of
dying than getting surgery forbreast implant.
(28:23):
I just realized in that momentthat, like it was a lost cause
and, like I said in thebeginning, I am here to plant
seeds and I hope that ourconversation planted a seed with
him to think about theseriousness of breast implant
(28:43):
illness and to maybe look intoit more.
But when somebody likens gettingthe risk of having cosmetic
surgery and getting breastimplants, to driving a car.
You know that there's only somuch that you can say before.
It's basically just going inone ear and out the other.
So you know, I'm at thisbarbecue, there's people around
(29:05):
my boyfriends, right in betweenus, listening to all of this,
and there was so much I wantedto say inside, like I was
boiling inside boiling, and Ialso recognize that I had a lot
of anger inside me towards mysurgeon.
That wasn't appropriate for meto take out on this guy who I
(29:31):
had just met and didn't knowmuch about.
But also I wanted to berespectful to my boyfriend, to
the lovely hosts of the barbecueand to everyone else, and to
the surgeon as well.
I didn't want it to turn into adebate and nor did I want to
waste my energy, but that is whyI had to sit here and get this
off my chest now with you all,because I know that so many of
(29:54):
you would understand myfrustration and I just wish I
wish so much that I had a wholegroup of you with me at this
barbecue.
The numbers don't lie, the factthat there are thousands of
women in this community, in theEmpowered Explant community and
in other communities, inFacebook groups and everything,
(30:18):
who have been made completelyill, severely ill, by their
implants, who have suffered fromsymptoms, who have had ruptures
and their lives turned upsidedown because of implants, who
have had cancer diagnosisbecause of their implants, who
(30:38):
have had autoimmune conditionstriggered and diagnosed because
of their implants.
I was just sitting there likesad, just feeling sad and
feeling angry that this is whatwe're up against.
This is what young women, allwomen, are up against when we
(31:00):
walk into a surgeon's office.
And so, going back to talkingabout breast implant illness
with him, the topic of heavymetals came up as well.
I was talking about there areother risks associated with
breast implants.
It's not only foreign bodyreaction, it's not only capsular
contracture, it's not onlyrupture, there are also things
(31:25):
like heavy metals associatedpressure.
There are also things likeheavy metals associated.
And then he said there's onlyone or two heavy metals that I
know of.
I know they're dipped inplatinum, but there's only one
or two heavy metals for starters, only one or two heavy metals.
That in itself annoyed me.
(31:46):
But I said metals.
That in itself annoyed me, butI said there's a whole list
published in the FDArecommendations, a whole list of
heavy metals.
I've got it open right here infront of me Heavy metals found
in breast implants.
There are 20 on this listAntimony I'm going to butcher
some of these words, butantimony arsenic, barium,
(32:12):
beryllium, cadmium, chromium,cobalt, copper, lead, magnesium,
mercury, molybdenum, nickel,platinum, selenium, silver, tin,
titanium, vanadium and zincthere are 20 metals heavy metals
(32:32):
found in breast implants.
And so when I told him aboutthis list that the FDA has here
on this document which, by theway, you can access this on the
empowered explantcom resourcespage, there's a link to it and
(32:53):
there's a list of the heavymetals down here at the bottom
and he said I would have to seethat and I'm like you haven't
seen this document from the FDA,because the whole list is there
, along with some real seriousrisks associated with breast
implants that you should bemaking your patients aware of
(33:15):
before they get implants.
In fact, this is arecommendation to surgeons, that
this is what surgeons should besharing with their patients.
There's a whole patientdecision checklist on this
document that runs through therisks.
(33:35):
It also runs through thepercentages of women who have
reported these issues and thepercentages are actually quite
high.
These risks are not so smallthat they barely exist and that
you know there are some.
If I had seen this, let me tellyou, if I had seen this before
getting my breast implants, Iwouldn't have gotten them, and I
(33:58):
was 23 years old and maybemaking some really dumb
decisions.
But I think even I would havebeen smart enough to have not
gone through with this surgeryif I had read this patient
decision checklist and reallyunderstood the true risks
involved associated with breastimplants.
So this conversation was reallyeye-opening to me.
(34:20):
It showed me that a lot ofsurgeons out there still don't
really believe in breast implantillness.
They don't really believe inthe risks associated with breast
implants when it comes towomen's health and they don't
take that seriously.
They don't really take the timeto address the psychology
(34:46):
behind the decision that womenare making to get breast
implants.
They don't promote the otheroptions available to women, the
other surgical options availableto women, like lift and fat
transfer.
They do promote that implantsare the best way forward.
And it especially shows me thatthere is a lot more work to be
(35:11):
done here.
There is a lot more advocacythat needs to happen, and it lit
a fire in me to keep going.
It lit a fire in me to keepspreading this message and this
awareness, and it let me knowthat, while it may be extremely
difficult to change the minds ofthese surgeons because, let's
(35:34):
face it, they're making money.
This is their business.
They've built a business aroundus wanting to look different.
They've built a business aroundus not being happy with our
breasts, built a business aroundus not being happy with our
breasts.
(35:54):
So it's going to be reallydifficult to change the minds of
a lot of surgeons.
So advocacy is important.
Spreading the word, spreadingthis message is important.
It's important to reach womenwith this message.
It's important to reach womenwith it before they even get
implants.
To begin with, I think that whatwe're doing here is fantastic.
(36:17):
We are putting out the word andhelping educate women, once
they've got their implants, asto what their options are to
remove them and the fact thattheir breast implants could be
the cause behind their illnessand that that's a very real
thing that they should look into.
And this platform EmpoweredExplant and my mission is to
(36:43):
help women on the journey ofremoving their breast implants
because of all of thosepsychological components that
are there right, all of that,those fears and concerns and
self-esteem and body imageissues that are still there once
we have to face removing ourimplants and because of all of
(37:06):
the physical effects now thathave happened because of the
implants if they've caused usbreast implant illness symptoms,
the detoxing that occurs, thefact that we've had to go
through another surgery, all ofthe physical implications on our
bodies, just all of thosepieces.
And I think it's wonderful thatEmpowered Explant exists, that
(37:28):
I'm doing this work, that otherwomen are out there doing this
work, that, oh my gosh, thereare surgeons out there.
Thank you so much.
It makes me emotional how muchgratitude and respect I have for
the surgeons out there who havechosen to not put breast
(37:50):
implants in women's bodiesanymore and to solely support
women in the removal of breastimplants.
Thank you, thank you forbelieving in this and for making
a choice to support our health.
(38:11):
And while all of this is soimportant in supporting women
who have breast implants andneed to get them removed, this
really just makes me realize howimportant it is to also reach
the women who don't yet havebreast implants in their bodies,
their bodies, the women who aregoing into these surgeons
(38:40):
offices with these concerns andare being sold on breast
implants being the best optionfor them and are not being
informed of the risks, of thetrue risks, because the surgeons
don't believe in the risks.
It also reminds me of howimportant it is to address the
psychology of little girls, ofyoung women, and helping them
(39:09):
understand self-acceptance andself-love and understand the
reality of our bodies, thebeauty of our bodies and what
our breasts do and what they'recapable of, and how amazing and
beautiful they are throughpregnancy, through childbirth,
(39:31):
what breasts can look like afterthat process and how to look
after our bodies naturally, howto support our bodies, how to
care for our breasts, what tolook out for as far as breast
cancer goes, how to really carefor our breast health and our
(39:52):
skin health and nourish ourbodies.
And then the options later on,the options that are available
to us other than breast implants.
If we choose to get surgery tomake a change, to make
improvements to our, to our body, to our aesthetic image, to
make ourselves feel better, thencan we at least know the
(40:18):
options that are available to usthat don't have ongoing risks
to our health, like this surgeonsaid?
He said that the other options,like fat transfer, for example,
having a lift and a fattransfer, they're never going to
give you back that sameyouthful structure that you once
(40:39):
had, and only breast implantscan do that.
Well, you know what?
My boobs aren't supposed tolook the same at 36 or 40 or 50
as they did when I was 20.
That's the fact, and so maybemaybe a lift and a fat transfer
(41:03):
for a woman after three childrenis adequate.
Maybe that woman, having justthat little bit of help to bring
her boobs up a bit, to tightenup that skin, is enough.
If she understood all of therisks associated with breast
(41:24):
implants, if she understood whatthat could do to her health and
that she essentially has aticking time bomb in her body
that she has to worry aboutthat's going to potentially cost
her another $10,000 every 10 orso years to get replaced, maybe
she would agree that justhaving a perkier set, just
(41:51):
lifting up, tightening that skin, would be enough.
Maybe she would agree that justhaving a tiny bit of fat
transferred to her breasts justto give them a touch more volume
, just to fill them out a littlebit more, would be enough.
And there are women out therethat won't be okay with that,
that do want more, that do wantimplants and and you know once
(42:15):
again, no judgment, no judgmentat all.
If that is you, if you are awoman that wants more, I am not
judging you, but I do encourageyou to know the risks and know
what to look for.
That is what I'm all about.
I am here about empowereddecisions, empowering women to
make the best decisions forthemselves and their health.
(42:36):
And if you're choosing breastimplants, whether just because
that's what you want or whetheryou've had a mastectomy and you
are faced with this reallydifficult decision, then at
least be informed of the risksso that you know what to look
for later on, so that you knowtruly how you have to monitor
(42:58):
your breast implants as well asyour breast health, for ruptures
, for leakages.
Ladies like I, yes, keep going.
Yes, keep this podcast going.
(43:18):
Yes, there will be so many morethan 60 episodes here.
Yes, I will challenge anyplastic surgeon who doesn't
think there's enough evidencethat BII exists, or they don't
really understand how that couldbe a thing, or says that it's
not a thing until they see moredata or more evidence or more
(43:40):
research or more studies.
There are enough of us womenwho have been through this to
prove that this is a thing, avery, very serious thing that
more surgeons and more peopleneed to know about and pay
attention to and to prioritize.
So, with that said, I'm goingto keep being a voice, and I
(44:03):
hope you do too.
I hope you share this episode.
I hope you share any episode onthis podcast that resonates
that you feel like would be ofvalue to other people.
Join the Empowered ExploreFacebook group.
Get involved with me.
Help me spread this message.
Help me defend what we are herefor.
(44:25):
Help me defend what we havebeen through.
None of us should be made tosit there and feel crazy or like
we are some anomaly becausewe're not.
Breast implants affect everywoman.
Breast implants cause foreignbody reaction and immune
(44:49):
response and inflammation inevery woman.
Like I I mentioned earlier,it's just our genetics that
really determines how theeffects of that shows up in our
bodies sooner or later.
So, breasties, thank you forjoining me today for this little
bit of tea, this little gosssession that I had to share with
(45:11):
you after being at thisbarbecue, because, after leaving
and I just had so much spinningaround on my mind and so much
weighing on my heart and so muchthat I wish I could have said
on the day, but I bit my tongueand now I just had to get it off
my chest.
And if the surgeon that I spoketo at the barbecue on Saturday
(45:33):
happens to listen to thispodcast episode because maybe I
did plant a seed then I hope youlisten to other episodes.
I hope you start doing researchinto breast implant illness and
see how prevalent this actuallyis.
I hope you change your mind oneday.
(45:59):
I hope you come to the otherside and start specializing in
explant surgery.
I hope you get a new analogy,because choosing to get breast
implants is not the same aschoosing to drive a car.
And I extra hope you listenedto the interview that I had with
my ex-plant surgeon, dr Dev,who I have so much love and
(46:23):
admiration for as a surgeon.
He helped me.
He helped restore me.
He helped me get my health back.
He helped restore me.
He helped me get my health back.
If you're researching breastimplant illness, the risks of
breast implants, or deciding ifexplant surgery is right for you
(46:43):
, then go to the resources pageon the Empowered Explant website
.
That's empoweredexplantcom.
Forward slash resources.
There is so much goodinformation there.
Seriously, start there.
Start diving into all the linksI've provided.
The FDA documentation is there.
And then there are some podcastepisodes that you must listen to
(47:06):
if you haven't already, andthat is what is breast implant
illness?
What are the risks of breastimplants, the history of breast
implants.
I mean, there are some reallygood episodes on this podcast
that dive into the sciencebehind breast implants and the
reported risks, the dataassociated with them.
(47:28):
So go get informed, getempowered, because this is how
we make the best decisions forour bodies and for our health.
Okay, my love, thank you forletting me get that off my chest
.
It was so needed.
I feel lighter, like I did theday I got my implants out.
(47:48):
Don't forget.
I want to hear what you have tothink about today's episode so
badly.
So DM me, leave a review, leavea comment anywhere you can.
If you're watching on YouTube,leave me a comment on this
episode.
If you are listening to thepodcast, shoot me a DM on
(48:11):
Instagram at Dana Merzica.
Come into the Empowered ExplantFacebook group.
Come and talk to me in there.
My goodness, I want to hearyour thoughts on this
conversation.
I want to hear what you wouldhave said to this surgeon if you
were sitting there at thisbarbecue.
What would you have said to himin this same situation Okay, I
(48:36):
will see you here next week,breasty.
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