she had a successful career in Detroit
broadcasting Traci Gary did weather
traffic reports even DJ on local TV and
radio but it's been quite a while since
you have seen or heard Tracy on the air
because the last eight years have been
just agony for her and as are Devon's
Gillian reports she's not among a
growing number of women convinced that
it was a wide spectrum illness caused by
breast implants a quick note this story
does include some graphic video of
surgery he didn't say when I was putting
him in you'll be back in ten years show
up at Tracy Gary's house and she can
show you her breasts they're right there
on the table and she believes they were
the source of years of misery the
extremes that you've had I don't know
how you did 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 she had
breast implants put in but before long
she began to get what she calls brain
fog messing up cues at both channel 4
and on WWJ radio I mean it was bad the
brain fog got really bad up in the
chopper the same thing was happening
with John Bailey he would what are you
gonna cover well I'll do 690 675 in 30
seconds we could be over to Telegraph
he'd throw it to me and I'd cover
Telegraph and he's down there like so
I'm derailing everyone's train like
every corner it was it was constant the
you didn't connect it at that time
though no I just figured implants no I
figured I was an airhead 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 it 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 she'd always been an energizer
bunny but suddenly her battery was down
to one bar and it was blinking do you
think you ever got suicidal oh yeah I
would text him I'm going I feel like
going into the lake and drowning 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 and
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 but no body for eight years
said you know it maybe it's the breast
implants no no it's they don't they they
truly don't think there's a connection
last year a friend suggested she googled
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 but 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. Vicktor or 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 this problem
hair loss brain fog generalize happy dr.
Zola is a believer in something that
many of his fellow surgeons don't really
buy and that is breast implant illness
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 Ewan 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
that a patient isn't necessarily having
a issue with something that they're
doing or something that's potentially in
their body the online community around
bi I just keeps growing a Facebook group
dedicated to it now has 42,000 women
members growing by one or two hundred a
day Tracy is now part of that community
urging the medical world to recognize
what implants can do to an admittedly
small percentage of women until it's
recognized by medicine and insurance
many will do as Tracy did and look for
options elsewhere dr. Ewen does worry
about Americans traveling abroad for
procedures and the risks involved but
for Tracy just a few days post-op she
felt like a new woman the elbow pain is
totally gone the sweating is gone the
depressions gone the anxiety is gone
sitting in her house talking to her
knowing what she's been through I feel
like I'm back in my 20s or 30s again it
does seem miraculous and dr. Zola is
quick to point out not everyone sees the
kind of improvement Tracy has but Tracy
Gary is back to being Tracy Garrity
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
that's an amazing story she's going blue
and breast augmentation is the most
popular plastic surgery procedure in
America Tracy is quick to point out she
does not believe that breast implants
should be banned
yeah rather she would like just more
research done to verify that some women
can react very badly to those implants
very brave of her for sharing that story
oh you're not kidding I