Those of you who have not met me yet, I am Felicia Nassif, I live in San Diego with my two boys and wonderful husband.
Those that know me well, know I don’t ask for help, and I don’t like  borrowing or receiving money unless it’s money I’ve earned,  but these past two years have challenged me and have changed me and have taught me to be candid and vulnerable.  This truly trying medical journey has helped me grow more than has been comfortable. These past two years have helped me recognize when I need help and to swallow my pride and accept and ask for help when it’s offered.

That being said, I need help now. Many friends and family know my story but for those that don’t, the shortest summary I could write is below and bless you for reading this in its entirety.  What I left out in the summary is that I also have breast implants that I had implanted in 2008. With being an athlete, the more I worked out, the smaller my chest became. I wanted to feel feminine. After a consult and surgery shortly after I was happy with the outcome. Fast forward to 10 years later, almost to the day all my neurological symptoms started and have lead me down a rabbit  hole of doctors visits, 11 MRI’s, MRA’s, a lumbar puncture, an unnecessary cardiac catheterization landing me a hospitalization for a week and Emergency surgeries to repair the damage. After feeling defeated and not knowing where to turn,  the idea that the implants could be the cause kept coming up and I’d suppress the thoughts, not thinking they could cause such severe, debilitating symptoms that I was experiencing.  Then Brian asked could it be? Then his aunt asked...then 3 friends over 3 months have either brought it up or have undergone the explant surgery and are recovering and are alive, and thriving with symptom improvement almost immediately after surgery or shortly after. 

 Breast Implant Illness (BII) is a real thing and the fact that ALL my tests are negative yet I show symptoms of rheumatologic, connective tissue disorders, autoimmune disorders like MS, lupus, etc, I HAVE to listen.  Between partially covered MRI’s, out of pocket specialists, and all the expenses during my hospitalizations, missed work, and my voluntary recent drop in hours at work (an attempt to help my energy levels with family with shortened days), we are now in debt, which is eating away at me. I’m calling on my family and friends to help cover the costs of this highly specialized explant surgery to ensure removing the implants and capsules completely so that healing can begin. I started this campaign not only to help pay for the removal of these toxic implants, but also to bring awareness to Breast Implant Illness as a recognized disease, not only helping to heal myself, but also discourage others from getting implants in the first place, and help other women who have them and have been experiencing these symptoms in silence, know that they aren't alone. The money raised in this campaign will help cover the expenses of surgeon fees, anesthesia fees and facility fees as well as help with travel expenses during my post operative healing. Some surgeons do not believe that implant illness is real and tell these poor women I have met, that their sicknesses and symptoms are in their heads.  I am fortunate enough that the doctors I have acknowledge this illness as a true and debilitating medical diagnosis.

The problem with breast implant illness is there aren’t tests or a protocol for diagnosis yet so the only way to find out is by removing them and allowing my body to do it's amazing job of healing. My body cannot stop inflamming itself until these toxic things are removed.  Your generous donations will help cover the costs of and travel for my surgery.  Early September was the initial date, in Newport Beach with Dr. Jae Chun.  As of today, i have been rescheduled for May 13! I’m so ready and so is my body! The moment I got the call today, my body reminded me how much discomfort I live with day to day and intensified for a moment and then let up before it went back to the normal aches and pains that I experience. A true sign that this is finally the right path! Dr.  Chun is considered the expert at successfully performing the en bloc/ total capsulectomy surgery without further damaging his patients or making matters worse.  He has been helping women start their healing process for years, he has hundreds of documented cases where explantation can help tremendously, or stop completely, these neurological symptoms associated with BII. 

I have rushed things in the past with procedures, simply because insurance covered them and trusted that in network doctors were experts and knew what they were doing to relieve these symptoms.  That ended with a week-long hospital stay, two blood clots, vascular surgery, a worried family and lots of fear and doubt in the doctors treating me and losing faith in healthcare, as well as the emotional trauma of knowing something is wrong and no answers were being found.  Instead I now chose to do something the right way with the right doctor, in hopes that the removal will end this challenging health chapter in my life and I can start living my days, rather than just surviving.  I will be transferring these funds to a savings account where I will later withdrawal on May 6 to get ready for surgery.

Anything helps and Brian and I, and especially the boys are eternally grateful for your faith and prayers and support in this truly testing time. 

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Summary of my health journey -

March 20, 2018, a week before my 32 bday, I went in the house after gardening with the boys to serve dinner, and the moment I stepped down from the ledge I knew something was off. It was hard to walk on my right leg without it giving out and my foot flopping. The numbness and tingling travelled up my leg, to my arm and my face and soon affected my mouth and face and throat. I went to the ER, and the doctor ordered and MRI and MRA to rule out brain tumor and a stroke and thankfully it was ruled out. I was sent home with a diagnosis of complicated migraines and told to follow up with neurologists. I’ve never had a migraine in my life. I started this journey with Dr. Huott who thoroughly and respectfully ran lots of tests for blood clotting disorders, autoimmune disorders, Lyme disease, heart conditions, etc. the only thing that came back positive was for a Patent Foramen Ovale, a hole between the two upper chambers of my heart. After deferring the suggestions a cardiologist, who will remain unnamed, told me that the reason behind my symptoms was having two children and working and stress, that drinking more water ( I drink two liters a day) and drinking electrolytes my worries would go away.

I then was referred to an interventional cardiologist to potentially have a heart cath to close the PFO. I was hopeful that closing the whole would help my symptoms tremendously. August 2018 I had a cardiac cath that was unsuccessful. You may all remember how that went... during the heart cath he couldn’t find the hole and assumed it had closed already... I went home feeling defeated, and back at square one with no answers for these symptoms that were worsening. The next week I went to the ER for right leg pain, swelling and redness, where I hopefully would be told I was fine and to rest. But instead was admitted for a week for a blood clot and a blood tunnel created from the cardiac cath when my femoral artery was accidentally nicked while exiting my Femoral vein. I received a clot filter and when the tunnel didn’t close on it’s own, underwent vascular surgery to close my femoral artery and vein and blast the large clot. I was in blood thinners for 4 months that left me feeling weak and dizzy during that time of the month. My symptoms had improved slightly over the four months, but then came back full force once I stopped the blood thinners. This was January 2019.

Now my symptoms have worsened and are no longer episodic... it is constant. When I met with my neurologist in May, we did another round of MRI’s since my symptoms were so significant, and planned for evoked potential tests, and a lumbar puncture( spinal tap). Why am I having Multiple Sclerosis (MS) symptoms with no proof? Finally in August I had positive results on my spinal fluid for 3 oligoclonal bands, that are consistent with MS or some sort of CNS inflammation. As weird as it sounds I was happy to have some sort of proof that something was really wrong. I decided to see an MS specialist at UCSD for a second opinion and my wonderful neurologist at Sharp agreed I should see Dr. Kinkel at UCSD to interpret these bands...and surprisingly, our new insurance approved it. Meeting him brought me hope, that someone will help me and have a clue.

I met Dr. Kinkel in October and i just had a gut feeling this wasn’t the end. He examined me, said my bands were marginal and my MRI’s were all normal ( all 10 of them) and from one health professional to another, he had no idea what was going on but referred me to a bunch of other specialists orders more MRI’s and checked for immunodeficiencies. All tests of coarse are negative. He prescribed me Amantadine for the fatigue, an antiviral that he says helps his MS patients with fatigue and it has helped me get through the day! The symptoms I feel are depressing and I thank you for bearing with me. My voice cracks and I have a hard time swallowing water, like it gets stuck, I have a difficult time walking, tripping if I don’t focus on my gait and tense up my left side. I drop things and break things all the time. I have a really hard time seeing at night and my eyes don’t accommodate in the dark so I have learned to adapt and I now move all the furniture I can potentially trip over during my nightly walk to the boys room to keep me from falling down the stairs or in the halls. I jumble my words, I have a hard time finding the words of what I want to say. The disorienting brain fog is unreal. I wake up in the morning and two hours later no matter how well I slept the night before I am EXHAUSTED and can’t keep my eyes open.

To all my mom friends, it’s the fatigue you have in your first trimester of pregnancy but it has lasted for two years. My body feels like I have the flu. ALL. THE. TIME. I’m grouchy because the fatigue and pain are almost unbearable. When I’m in the heat, warmer than 75 degrees, it’s like I have been day drinking in the jacuzzi all day in the heat and I slur my words. In the cold, I feel like a reptile, in the sense that my fine motor skills are shot, from buttoning the boys pants to fastening my own pants. I can barely move my hands and when i get cold I can’t warm up. My balance and coordination are challenging when it comes to movement and anytime I close my eyes or stop moving I brace myself for the dizziness that follows. The new not fun symptoms in the last few months are involuntary twitches when I’m tired, along with shaking; my shortness of breath has worsened and feels like someone put a girdle around my rib cage and is hugging me real tight. There is a constant vibrating in my right side that has now moved to my left. Sometimes it feels like someone is holding fire to my skin. Cold water is freezing to the right side of my body and warm is scalding but it takes about 10 seconds to catch up to my brain to pull away.

If you’re curious like I was, below is a YouTube video of the surgeon I’m seeing for my procedure explaining Breast implant illness and the research behind it.


https://youtu.be/Wog_76ITybU