breast augmentation is the most popular
procedure in the US but along with that
also comes some risk and it's not just
leaks you've heard of happening some
patients believe the implants have
actually been making them sick new six
morning anchor kirsten o'connor joins us
now with one woman's story well we have
a lot of viewers in central florida that
are originally from Michigan so you may
remember the name Tracy Geary from our
sister station local four in Detroit
now Tracy believes years of agony were
caused by her implants oh I don't know
how I survived this honest to god I
don't the Depression was the absolute
worst thing I've ever gone through
in 1998 Tracy Gary had breast implants
put in
before long she began to get what she
calls brain fog I mean it was bad the
brain fog got really bad
I'm derailing everyone's train like
every corner it was it was constant as
the brain fog worsened other problems
kept popping up and then I'll get chills
and then it'll happen again and I'll
start sweating again and then I get
chills and then I sweat again Oh
lower back pain they couldn't find that
I've had MRIs x-rays it was a laundry
list of ailments everything from chronic
fatigue to hair loss I had been so
depressed and I couldn't I couldn't go
from my room sorry frigerator and I felt
like I had to go back to bed she saw a
string of doctors some told her it was
menopause others said it was all in her
head but she just sank deeper and deeper
it was scary
I for a while towards the end was kind
of afraid she was gonna have a mental
breakdown last year a friend suggested
she google breast implant illness now
that's not really a thing at least not
officially but she found many other
women with similar stories and she found
quite a few women who'd gotten better by
undergoing explant surgery since breast
implant illness is not a recognized
condition removing the implants isn't
covered by insurance
looking for an affordable option led her
to dr. Victor Zola in Costa Rica
there are some symptoms are more
frequent than others you know like for
instance joint pains are very very
frequent and in this problem
hair loss brain fog journalist happy dr.
Zola is a believer in something many of
his fellow surgeons don't by breast
implant illness and thus his removal
process is much more invasive and much
more involved we are trying to
investigate to prove scientifically that
you know it is a medical condition and
again that some people experience is
from just like other people don't why we
still are not really really sure and I
think it really comes down to the
concept of bio individuality we're all
different dr. Tony Young is a plastic
surgeon in Troy
he says the science just isn't there for
breast implant illness to be a diagnosis
and yet he would never discount Tracy's
story even though there may not be these
large scale patterns that we can follow
in our scientific literature that
doesn't mean that a patient isn't
necessarily having a issue with
something that they're doing or
something that's potentially in their
body doctor Yun does worry about
Americans traveling abroad for
procedures and the risks involved but
for Tracey just a few days post-op she
felt like a new woman the elbow pain is
totally gone the the sweating is gone
the depressions gone the anxiety is gone
dr. Zola is quick to point out not
everyone sees the kind of improvement
Tracey has but Tracey Gary is back
though she feels a good bit wiser
I put foreign objects in my body and my
body personally does not like it
I just think other other people out
there should know that Tracey also wants
to point out that she does not believe
breast implants should be banned she
would just like more research done and
more women to know the risk of reacting
badly to the implants so she's sharing
her story yeah and we've heard of a lot
of celebrities taking out their implants
you know based on the same thing do we
know is there any difference between
saline versus silica
or gel implants with people reacting is
the biggest question when you're talking
about risks for implants at this in this
controversial topic I guess we could say
we're not talking about the difference
between the two we're just talking about
a foreign object going into your body so
and the argument could be made any
foreign object that you put in your body
could depending on your own you know
right everybody has a reaction yes
that's a toughie and what and what's
interesting is that you know there might
be some women who are watching this and
said wait a second I'm also dealing with
these things too and maybe it might be a
conversation even just to have with your
doctor right and see if you mean this
might not be an official illness but if
it works for you works and that sort of
point hopefully more women will talk
with their doctors about it
all right thank you Kirsten