After her breast augmentation, Dionne got complaints:'I wanted the silicone out and right away!' You can read her candid story here.
Finally feminine shapes! Eight years ago, Dionne (30) was still very happy with her silicone breast implants. Only those implants turned out to be a ticking time bomb…
Dionne:“My body changed during puberty, but I hardly got any breasts. All my friends had beautiful breasts except me. That made me insecure. Others also noticed that I had 'nothing':funny comments were made about it or I was bullied about it. That I had two backs, for example. I often laughed along, but inside I broke down.
Once I was locked in an elevator by a group of boys and girls. They tied me to a chair with my hands behind my back. They put the tape they used to do this over my upper arms and breasts. As a result, they saw that my bra was completely dented. Everyone started laughing and shouting down the halls:"Haha, Dionne has no tits!" I went through the floor, that event scarred me so much. I resolved that if my breasts didn't get any bigger, I would have a breast augmentation done.”
“The bullying has lasted about five years, so my breasts became an obsession for me. This came on top of my insecurity. To forget my problems, I focused on my eating behavior. I ate less and less. This too became an increasingly bigger and more intense obsession. By the age of 16 I had severe anorexia and because I had lost so much weight, I had no breasts at all. I had a small cup A, but in the mirror I only saw two nipples on a shelf.
It couldn't go on like this. When I was 20, I went to Spain for therapy to get rid of my eating disorder. Fortunately, it worked, but it would take another year for the pounds I gained to be evenly distributed throughout my body. I had the hope that my breasts would also become fuller. But that didn't happen. Not even after two years. I couldn't bear the fact that I had made my small breasts even flatter with my eating disorder.”
“At a good moment I received a gift from the family. Together with my savings, I almost had the amount together for a breast augmentation surgery. This surgery cost four thousand euros, I was still a thousand euros short. I told my mother that I wanted to use the money for a breast augmentation. She got very angry, thought you shouldn't have a healthy body cut. But she also knew how bad it was for me. The next morning she said she had thought it over again and was willing to pay me the remaining amount. I could hardly believe it. This meant that I would finally start to feel like a woman.
Together with my mother I found a good clinic. During the intake interview, the doctor told about the possible risks, for example that the prostheses could become infected. He didn't say anything about leaking silicone and how dangerous that could be. In fact, the doctor explained that the implants absolutely could not leak. He demonstrated this by cutting open a prosthesis and squeezing it. The contents were a solid substance and indeed remained intact. I was convinced and overjoyed that I would finally be released from my breast complex †
A few weeks later I had surgery. Still half intoxicated from the anesthesia, I asked the nurse if I could see my breasts. She helped me up, carefully removed the surgical bra and held up a mirror to me. I burst out crying, I thought they were so beautiful. I just couldn't believe these were my boobs. I was so relieved and happy. All the weight fell off me at once. Finally I had them too. Finally my body was right.”
“In my videos on YouTube, I spoke candidly about my breast augmentation. Then more and more stories came out about the dangers of silicone breasts. I was approached by TV producer Stepping Stone to participate as the main character in the documentary Moordtieten, about the dangers of silicone breast implants. I thought it would be interesting to talk to other women and doctors about this. At first I was skeptical about the problem stories I heard.
Still, it slowly dawned on me that the vague symptoms I was having, which seemed to be getting worse, might just be because of my breast implants. I was always extremely tired, had trouble concentrating and was sometimes forgetful as a result, and sometimes I couldn't get my words out. After a hard day's work I had to recover for two days because my body was exhausted and hurt all over. I also did not link subcutaneous inflammations in my face, especially on my forehead, cheeks and chin, to my implants. How could my breasts , which I was so very happy about, being the culprit?”
“To make sure my dentures were still intact, I had a hair test to do. This allows you to determine how much platinum is present in your body, a sign that the silicone is leaking. The result of the test turned everything upside down. The letter said it in black and white:my breast prostheses were no longer intact and I had a dangerously high concentration of platinum in my body. In addition, the silicone from my breasts was spread all over my body.
I was shocked:was this really about me? I cried for two days. Now I couldn't avoid it anymore, something had to be done. And fast too. Because of Moordtieten I knew that the longer the implants are in your body, the greater the chance of irreparable health problems. It scared me. I suddenly saw my breasts not only as a beautiful and feminine part of my body, but also as two dangerous poison balls.”
“Even though I knew that the silicone had to get out, emotionally I wasn't ready to go through life without breast implants. I didn't feel like having to hand in my femininity again. I imagined what my breasts would look like without those implants. Immediately that old, deep-seated pain of the past surfaced. I felt like that unfortunate girl who was being bullied for lack of feminine shapes. I also went to see girls who had beautiful breasts of their own. I could be very jealous of that. If I had my implants taken out, I would have nothing again. If only I had never started it!
I went looking for an alternative. After discussions with Professor Henry Dijkman, who has been researching silicone implants for twenty years, breast implants with a saline solution seemed to me to be a good solution. These are implants with a thin layer of silicone around it, a lot less than with my old prostheses. Implants are rarely placed in the Netherlands, because the result would be less attractive. They are round, like a water balloon under tension. Quite a difference from my much softer teardrop silicone prostheses. A dilemma, because what if I would have very differently shaped breasts and then no longer look like myself? Nevertheless, I decided to go for this solution. If this didn't improve my health, I could always decide to have them removed.”
The number of women who want to have their breast prostheses removed for health reasons has increased by 60% in recent years, health insurers report. Two-thirds feel better after removing the breast prostheses, according to the Amsterdam UMC.
While solid breast implants were previously thought to be safe, unlike liquid gel prostheses, nothing could be further from the truth. Also with this type, silicone particles can come loose. This is apparent from international research published in the medical journal JAMA, according to the AVROTROS consumer program Radar.
The study examined 400 women with solid or liquid breast implants. It turned out that in 87 percent of them, particles of the implant were found elsewhere in the body, even in the brain. In 92.5 percent of the women, inflammatory reactions in the body were shown.
The scientists' conclusion is clear:"The use of the silicone breast implants should be discontinued until safety is proven." In addition, researcher Dijkman wants insurers to reimburse the removal of implants from women with complaints. This doesn't always happen now.
Source:Radar, NOS
Text:Esmir van Wering / Girlfriend, Image:Getty Images
