IN THIS NEWS 5 INVESTIGATION: THOUSANDS OF WOMEN ACROSS THE NATION, SOME RIGHT HERE IN COLORADO SAY "BREAST IMPLANTS" ARE MAKING THEM SICK.
SOME EVEN CLAIMING IMPLANTS CAUSED CANCER.
NEWS 5'S ALASYN ZIMMERMAN IS LOOKING INTO THOSE CLAIMS AND THE RESEARCH BEING DONE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THESE CONCERNS.
MANY OF THEM ARE OPTING FOR AN "EXPLANT" SURGERY-- TO GET RID OF THE IMPLANTS MANY OF THEM SAY IS IMPACTING THEIR HEALTH.
THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEALTH RESEARCH RECENTLY PUBLISHED A STUDY ON THIS TOPIC...
THEY SAY OF THE HUNDREDS OF WOMEN OF RESPONDED 85 PERCENT OF THEM SAY THEY GOT THE SURGERY BECAUSE OF OTHER HEALTH ISSUES...
THE REMAINDER SAY THEY GOT THEM BASED ON THESE ISSUES YOU SEE HERE...
BUT IT'S SOMETHING BECOMING MORE COMMON FOR WOMEN HERE AT HOME AND BEYOND.
KIT THOMPSON "I WOULD SHOUT FROM THE MOUNTAINS I WOULD JUST SAY DONT DO IT" WHEN KIT THOMPSON FOUND OUT SHE HAD THE "BRCA GENE"...
WHICH GIVES HER AN INCREASE RISK FOR BREAST CANCER-- SHE DIDN'T WANT TO TAKE ANY CHANCES.
KIT THOMPSON "MY MOM HAD HAD IT TWICE AND OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS HAD IT AS WELL " SHE HAD NUMEROUS TESTS DONE, M-R-I'S, BIOPSIES, YOU NAME IT.
KIT THOMPSON "SO FINALLY AFTER ONE REALLY PAINFUL AWFUL TESTS SHE SAID "WELL WE CAN KEEP DOING THIS OR YOUR OTHER OPTION IS A PROFILATIC MASTECTOMY.
" IT DIDN'T TAKE LONG FOR HER TO TAKE THE DOCTOR UP ON THAT OFFER....
KIT THOMPSON "I FOUND OUT ON A TUESDAY AND FRIDAY I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL IN A SURGERY ROOM" GETTING HER BREASTS REMOVED...
AND IMPLANTS TO REPLACE THEM.
KIT THOMPSON "I THOUGHT IT WAS EITHER, YOU DO IT THIS WAY OR YOU JUST HAVE NO RECONSTRUCTION AND JUST LIVE WITH THE SCARS FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE" "I DIDN'T EVEN
REALIZE THAT I HAD OPTIONS, NOT AT ALL, AND I WAS YOUNG I WAS ONLY 42" AND AFTER THE SURGERY-- YEARS LATER HER HEALTH TOOK ANOTHER TURN.
KIT THOMPSON "CHRONIC FATIGUE, HEADACHE, DULL PAIN, JUST ALL OVER, SHARP PAINS IN MY CHEST A LOT OF THAT SCAR TISSUES FULLIN
NATS- "IF YOU LOOK AT THESE TOP ONES" THOMPSON IS ONE OF THOUSANDS OF WOMEN ACROSS THE NATION WHO SAY THEY HAVE "BREAST IMPLANT ILLNESS".
MANY OF THEM DETAILING THEIR CHALLENGES IN THIS FACEBOOK GROUP..
SHARING THEIR VARIETY SYMPTOMS-- THEY SAY IS CAUSED BY THEIR IMPLANTS.
NANCY WONG- UCHEALTH SURGEON "IT'S NOT CURRENTLY A MEDICAL
DIAGNOSIS, BECAUSE THERE'S NO SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE YET TO LINK THE IMPLANTS TO THESE SYMPTOMS THERE'S NOT DIAGNOSTIC TEST THAT CAN BE DONE TO SHOW THAT A PATIENT HAS THIS"
AND IT'S A TOPIC-- SURGEONS IN THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY HAVE MIXED OPINIONS ON.
"I FEEL LIKE WOMEN IT WAS THEIR CHOICE TO HAVE THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE AND ABSOLUTELY IT'S THEIR CHOICE TO HAVE THEM REMOVED" LINDA HUANG- SURGEON "I HAD A LOT OF PUSHBACK IN THE
90'S FROM MY MALE COUNTERPARTS, SAYING "OH MY GOSH I'M JUST FUELING THE FIRE AND MAKING
WOMEN ANXIOUS ABOUT IMPLANTS, BUT WOMEN WERE COMING TO ME WITH REAL PROBLEMS AND JUST SAYING, I'M DONE" DOCTOR LINDA HUANG
WORKS IN DENVER-- SHE'S SEEN PATIENTS FOR ABOUT TWENTY YEARS EXPRESSING CONCERN OVER HOW THEIR IMPLANTS ARE IMPACTING THEIR HEALTH.
LINDA HUANG "I'VE HAD SEVERAL THOUSAND OVER THE YEARS" BUTTED TO LINDA HUANG "I ACTUALLY BELIEVE IN IT, SO
WHEN I REMOVING IT, I TRY REALLY REALLY HARD TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT TAKING EVERYTHING OUT, RINSING IT VERY CAREFULLY" DOCTOR HUANG STILL PERFORMS IMPLANTS...IN ADDITION TO THESE
"EXPLANT" SURGERIES WHERE PATIENTS ASK FOR THEM TO BE REMOVED.
LINDA HUANG "I WOULD SAY THE VAST MAJORITY OF THESE WOMEN DO FEEL BETTER, IT'S NOT SNAPS FINGERS SNAP YOUR FINGERS OVERNIGHT" IN
THE LAST DECADE...
MORE WOMEN HAVE COME FORWARD EXPRESSING CONCERN.
NANCY WONG, SURGEON "WE'RE STARTING TO SEE THIS PARTLY BECAUSE OF THE PLATFO SUCH AS SOCIAL MEDIA, BECAUSE THE COMMUNITY IS MORE AWARE THAT
THIS MAY BE AWARE THE MEDICAL SOCIETY IS ALSO AWARE" NATS- TEXTING HERE IN COLORADO-- ONE OF THOSE WOMEN WHO MIGHT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT COMMUNITY IS THIS WOMAN
CHERESA HANES....WHO STARTED HER OWN GROUP FOR WOMEN EXPERIENCING THIS IN THE STATE.
CHERESA HANES ""I GOT BREAST IMPLANTS IN 1999, AND WITHIN A YEAR I WAS VERY SICK, ENDED UP LOSING MY JOB AND BECOMING DISABLED" SHE KEPT THE IMPLANTS FOR 17
YEARS...GETTING REPLACEMENTS ALONG THE WAY.
CHERESA HANES "THERE WERE TIMES I THOUGHT I MUST BE DYING YOU KNOW I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE IT COULD BE" SHE CREDITS AN ARTICLE FROM HUGH HEFFNER'S WIFE....AS FIRST
GETTING HER ATTENTION THE IMPLANTS COULD BE MAKING HER FEEL THIS WAY.
"I HAD SEVERE PRETTY MUCH LEVEL 10 PAIN MOST OF THE TIME, I HAD OVER A 100 DIFFERENT SYMPTOMS" AND NOW-- NEARLY THREE YEARS AFTER GETTING THEM REMOVED...
SHE'S WORKING AGAIN....
AND USING PART OFHER FREE TIME AS AN ADVOCATE FOR OTHER WOMEN HERE AT HOME.
CHERESA HANES "I THINK IT'S SOMETHING THAT'S CATCHING ON I THINK IT'S A MOVEMENT THAT'S GROWING BUT I THINK WE HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO GET EVERYONE WOMAN TO KNOW THAT
THIS A POSSIBILITY SO THAT THEY CAN BE WELL INFORMED" .....CREATING A SISTERHOOD OF SORTS FOR WOMEN LIKE KIT THOMPSON....
CHERESA HANES "WE'VE BEEN MADE TO FEEL LIKE WE'RE CRAZY BY A LOT OF THE MEDICAL PROFESSION" KIT THOMPSON "IT'S PHENOMENAL I LOVE IT,
BECAUSE YOU DO FEEL ALONE AND YOU DO FEEL LIKE YOUR CRAZY" BOTH WOMEN SAY THEY'RE ADAMANTLY AGAINST IMPLANTS AFTER WHAT THEY'VE GONE THROUGH...
AND THEY HOPE ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THE F-D-A WILL CRACK DOWN ON THEIR USE.
"ALASYN Q: WHAT DO YOU THINK IT WOULD TAKE FOR DOCTORS TO STOP PERFORMING THESE IMPLANTS?
KIT: HELL FREEZING OVER" THERE'S BIG BUSINESS IN THE SURGERIES...
BOTH IN GETTING IMPLANTS AND GETTING THEM TAKEN OUT...
THE COST RANGING FROM A COUPLE THOUSAND DOLLARS TO SIX AND HALF THOUSAND...
...
INSURANCE ONLY COVERING THE COST IF IT RELATES TO A BREAST CANCER DIAGNOSIS.
AND WHILE MEDICAL EXPERTS HAVE CONDUCTED RESEARCH...
THERE'S STILL MANY QUESTIONS SURROUNDING IF WHAT THESE WOMEN ARE EXPERIENCING IS BECAUSE OF THIER IMPLANTS.....OR SOMETHING ELSE.
NANCY WONG "THEY'VE DONE STUDIES WHERE THEY ASK WOMEN WITH BREAST IMPLANTS WHETHER THEY HAVE THESE SYMPTOMS OR NOT, THEN THEY ASK WOMEN WHO DON'T HAVE IMPLANTS WHETHER THEY
HAVE THESE SYMPTOMS OR NOT, TH SAME PERCENTAGE REPLY POSITIVE" WITH THOUSANDS OF WOMEN NOW COMING FORWARD...
SURGEONS SAY-- IT'S MORE THAN A COINCIDENCE.
NANCY WONG "THIS TELLS THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY THAT WE SHOULD PAY ATTENTION AND NOT DISREGARD IT" TA THROUGH THE RESEARCH IN THIS
STORY WE ALSO DISCOVERED A CERTAIN TYPE OF IMPLANT OR TEXTURED IMPLANT...
WHICH LOOKS SIMILAR TO THIS ONE IN MY HAND...EXCEPT IT HAS SORT OF SCALY OUTER SHELL HAS BEEN LINKED IN SOME CASES TO LYMPHOMA.
DOCTOR HUANG IN DENVER SAYS SHE IS NO LONGER PUTTING THOSE IMPLANTS IN PATIENTS.
THE F-D-A MET IN MARCH TO DISCUSS THE IMPACTS IMPLANTS HAVE ON WOMEN'S HEALTH.
THEY ULTIMATELY DIDN'T TAKE ACTION ON BANNING OR PUTTING A HOLD ON THE IMPLANTS.
AWOFY SOUTHERN COLORADO- ALASYN ZIMMERMAN NEWS5.