Estelle's Journey back to Health!
Donation protected
Many of you remember my daily posts filled with workouts, eating well, and feeling positive. Although I still strive for those things in my life, the past few years have made me a shell of the person I once was. I don’t know where to begin with my story of health decline, so I will start at the beginning.
When I joined the US Navy in Feb of 1999, I was fresh off a bike riding kick in which the height of it was doing the Aids Ride from the Twin Cities to Chicago. At this point in my life I was motivated to do big things in my life so I joined the Navy and off to boot camp I went. The military offers so many different things, and one day while talking to my doctor I found out that they did plastic surgery and reconstruction. My doctor and I discussed a congenital birth defect that I had been living with all of my life and assured me that the doctors there could do revision and reconstruction on my breasts and fix the issues that caused me self-confidence issues and were a source of embarrassment since puberty. I was so excited, I felt that I would finally be “normal” and this was truly something I had always wanted! My first surgery took place within 3 months. The doctor did what he could, but the right side lift did not take, and I was left with an open wound for another 3 months and was in an incredible amount of pain. Once it healed, the doctor decided that he would put a smaller implant in on the “lift” side and did a revision to the scarring that the wound left behind. In my almost 6 year enlistment I went on to have 2 more revisions to fix the scars that were a result of the first surgery. I am a proud Veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom as well as Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Fast forward to nine years ago, I was a Mom of a 3 year old daughter and had another on the way. Due to the surgeries I had, I was unable to breast feed although I was told it shouldn’t be an issue and that my implants were something I could keep in my body for life, since they were “just salt water”. After my second daughter Katy was born I started to develop strange food allergies, have allergic reactions and my hands would crack and bleed. I went to every sort of doctor imaginable from dermatologist to natural doctors and spent thousands on testing, medicines and blood work. No answers and most treatments only lasted a week or two. It was at this time I fell in love with working out. My youngest was about 2 and I hired a coach and learned about “clean eating”. My life revolved around my kids, college, and the gym – I’d usually go up to twice a day and made a ton of friends there. Friends and internet strangers alike followed my progress and I truly got into the best shape of my life and enjoyed motivating others around me and creating recipes, etc.
My family decided to move from Chicago to Bloomington IL. I hired a local coach in the area and decided to try and compete in a fitness show. It was around 6 months later I was on the treadmill and things felt strange, and I had a panic attack. I started to have them daily, and they just became a part of my everyday life. I started seeing doctors, followed their protocol and took different antidepressants which made me feel lost and not care about my former self who enjoyed working out and being active. One even landed me in the ER with seizures to which doctors dismissed me as having panic disorder and sent me away 6 hours later. The skin rashes continued and then breathing issues started up. I was put on asthma medication and given inhalers. It just felt like I could never get a good breath. Somehow I managed to keep up with the gym, but not to the point where I had been years before. I even finished up my degree at ISU in 15’ with a degree in Community Health.
This past year has been a steady decline of fatigue, weight gain and now thyroid issues. I cannot get my levels where they need to be and feel in my heart it truly is not a thyroid issue. One day while unable to get a good breath I googled capsular contracture and breathing. I discovered that there were thousands of women dealing with very similar issues and symptoms…and we all have breast implants. I joined a support group on Facebook and could not believe how much better these women were getting after properly explanting their toxic implants and restoring their health. Many that suffered from joint pain, inflammation and even fibromyalgia were feeling back to normal once they got them out. I decided that mine needed to come out and went to the source, the military – since they put them in they certainly would take them out!?!
After waiting over a year to be seen by a military hospital and waiting another 3 months for a letter, I was told that they didn’t see any connection to medically remove them. I was frustrated after learning that an appeal would probably take just as long. I went to my insurance, which of course claimed that even in the case of reconstruction, that this is a cosmetic issue. Also, I was told that even though they could be ruptured they are saline and it’s “just salt water”. Many women with saline implants are having issues with mold and pathogens inside of their bodies. Google “mold toxicity” and see how great that is.
I’m at my wits end. I want to feel like myself again. I’ve found an amazing doctor that has helped over a thousand women get better and I feel that he is the doctor I need in order to get back to myself. My daughters are dealing with a Mom who constantly has body pains, fatigue and medical appointments. Some days I wonder if I will ever feel better but I remain hopeful after seeing so many success stories in my group.
I am asking for help because I would like to get this done sooner than later. My family and I are moving one town over and downsizing in order to save more aggressively but this still won’t be able to be done until the end of the year. If I can raise even half, it would mean I could move the surgery up by months or more. I work for a nonprofit full time and I am doing everything I can to get this together but as we clean up credit there is not much we can get in the way of a loan.
Any donation helps. If you can’t donate, share my story. I am an open book and I will talk to anyone that wants to see if this is something they could be dealing with if they have implants. If you can’t do either then please pray for me.
Thank you so much for reading my story!
For more information on Breast Implant Illness please visit:
healingbreastimplantillness.com or visit our support group on Facebook!
When I joined the US Navy in Feb of 1999, I was fresh off a bike riding kick in which the height of it was doing the Aids Ride from the Twin Cities to Chicago. At this point in my life I was motivated to do big things in my life so I joined the Navy and off to boot camp I went. The military offers so many different things, and one day while talking to my doctor I found out that they did plastic surgery and reconstruction. My doctor and I discussed a congenital birth defect that I had been living with all of my life and assured me that the doctors there could do revision and reconstruction on my breasts and fix the issues that caused me self-confidence issues and were a source of embarrassment since puberty. I was so excited, I felt that I would finally be “normal” and this was truly something I had always wanted! My first surgery took place within 3 months. The doctor did what he could, but the right side lift did not take, and I was left with an open wound for another 3 months and was in an incredible amount of pain. Once it healed, the doctor decided that he would put a smaller implant in on the “lift” side and did a revision to the scarring that the wound left behind. In my almost 6 year enlistment I went on to have 2 more revisions to fix the scars that were a result of the first surgery. I am a proud Veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom as well as Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Fast forward to nine years ago, I was a Mom of a 3 year old daughter and had another on the way. Due to the surgeries I had, I was unable to breast feed although I was told it shouldn’t be an issue and that my implants were something I could keep in my body for life, since they were “just salt water”. After my second daughter Katy was born I started to develop strange food allergies, have allergic reactions and my hands would crack and bleed. I went to every sort of doctor imaginable from dermatologist to natural doctors and spent thousands on testing, medicines and blood work. No answers and most treatments only lasted a week or two. It was at this time I fell in love with working out. My youngest was about 2 and I hired a coach and learned about “clean eating”. My life revolved around my kids, college, and the gym – I’d usually go up to twice a day and made a ton of friends there. Friends and internet strangers alike followed my progress and I truly got into the best shape of my life and enjoyed motivating others around me and creating recipes, etc.
My family decided to move from Chicago to Bloomington IL. I hired a local coach in the area and decided to try and compete in a fitness show. It was around 6 months later I was on the treadmill and things felt strange, and I had a panic attack. I started to have them daily, and they just became a part of my everyday life. I started seeing doctors, followed their protocol and took different antidepressants which made me feel lost and not care about my former self who enjoyed working out and being active. One even landed me in the ER with seizures to which doctors dismissed me as having panic disorder and sent me away 6 hours later. The skin rashes continued and then breathing issues started up. I was put on asthma medication and given inhalers. It just felt like I could never get a good breath. Somehow I managed to keep up with the gym, but not to the point where I had been years before. I even finished up my degree at ISU in 15’ with a degree in Community Health.
This past year has been a steady decline of fatigue, weight gain and now thyroid issues. I cannot get my levels where they need to be and feel in my heart it truly is not a thyroid issue. One day while unable to get a good breath I googled capsular contracture and breathing. I discovered that there were thousands of women dealing with very similar issues and symptoms…and we all have breast implants. I joined a support group on Facebook and could not believe how much better these women were getting after properly explanting their toxic implants and restoring their health. Many that suffered from joint pain, inflammation and even fibromyalgia were feeling back to normal once they got them out. I decided that mine needed to come out and went to the source, the military – since they put them in they certainly would take them out!?!
After waiting over a year to be seen by a military hospital and waiting another 3 months for a letter, I was told that they didn’t see any connection to medically remove them. I was frustrated after learning that an appeal would probably take just as long. I went to my insurance, which of course claimed that even in the case of reconstruction, that this is a cosmetic issue. Also, I was told that even though they could be ruptured they are saline and it’s “just salt water”. Many women with saline implants are having issues with mold and pathogens inside of their bodies. Google “mold toxicity” and see how great that is.
I’m at my wits end. I want to feel like myself again. I’ve found an amazing doctor that has helped over a thousand women get better and I feel that he is the doctor I need in order to get back to myself. My daughters are dealing with a Mom who constantly has body pains, fatigue and medical appointments. Some days I wonder if I will ever feel better but I remain hopeful after seeing so many success stories in my group.
I am asking for help because I would like to get this done sooner than later. My family and I are moving one town over and downsizing in order to save more aggressively but this still won’t be able to be done until the end of the year. If I can raise even half, it would mean I could move the surgery up by months or more. I work for a nonprofit full time and I am doing everything I can to get this together but as we clean up credit there is not much we can get in the way of a loan.
Any donation helps. If you can’t donate, share my story. I am an open book and I will talk to anyone that wants to see if this is something they could be dealing with if they have implants. If you can’t do either then please pray for me.
Thank you so much for reading my story!
For more information on Breast Implant Illness please visit:
healingbreastimplantillness.com or visit our support group on Facebook!
Organizer
Estelle M. Strantz
Organizer
Bloomington, IL
