Help Dawn Get the Surgery Needed to Heal from Breast Implant Illness

We’re creating this fundraiser to help remove the financial barrier between her and the surgery that offers a real path for healing. Below are Dawn’s own words as she vulnerably shares her story and asks for any help that you can give:

My name is Dawn and I’m reaching out because I’m suffering with Breast Implant Illness (BII) – a serious and often overlooked condition linked to implant toxicity. The only path to recovery is to remove the implants and the affected capsules/tissue through explant surgery. I do not have insurance or the financial means to pay for the cost of this life-saving surgery. Even for those with insurance, since this was an elected surgery, removing them is considered "cosmetic", regardless of the damage they are doing, and explant surgery is not covered. Also, getting them removed correctly, will cost triple what I had paid for the original surgery.

When I originally had breast implant surgery in 2006, I spent time researching the known risks and found who I thought was the best surgeon in Maryland. I went with what I was told were all the "safest" options – saline implants under the muscle, incision under the breast. (Spoiler alert: there are no real safe options when it comes to breast implants, I now know. ALL implants can cause Breast Implant Illness.)

Over the past few years, my health has slowly begun to unravel in ways I couldn’t explain. What started as small, manageable issues has spiraled into constant, debilitating symptoms hitting all of my bodily systems. I’ve experienced severe chest, hip and back pain, multiple autoimmune diseases such as Crohn’s and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) flare-ups, brain fog, memory loss, heart palpitations, constant fatigue and exhaustion, headaches, extreme inflammation, shortness of breath, mood swings, food intolerance and digestive problems, depression, anxiety, insomnia, accelerated dental decay and hair loss. A few months ago, the pain became so frightening that I was rushed to the emergency room because I believed I was having a heart attack.

I’ve seen multiple doctors and specialists but no tests seem to explain the reason as to why I’ve been experiencing all of these symptoms. They’ve tested my blood multiple times, sent me for scans, referred me to more doctors but couldn't quite figure out what was going on – as all my results came back inconclusive. I feel anything but normal though – I feel like I’m fading away and slowly dying. Reduced to an utter shell of myself, mentally, physically, emotionally – trying to figure out what is going on while becoming more disabled, often being dismissed by doctors, misdiagnosed or just treated symptomatically.

I’ve been left feeling frustrated, alone and embarrassed of my symptoms after being treated like a hypochondriac by most of the doctors I’ve seen because there were more symptoms than they knew what to do with and they either lacked the knowledge or simply refused to acknowledge Breast Implant Illness as a real illness.

After struggling with these ongoing health issues and getting progressively worse for years, with different doctors who couldn’t properly diagnose, nothing seemed to be getting to the root of the problem or really helping. Until last year, when one of my implants started noticeably leaking, I finally started considering whether my breast implants could also be linked to my other health problems. And that was the catalyst for finally realizing that ***every single mystery health problem I had been struggling with met the criteria for Breast Implant Illness and had been onset with a steady decline since breast augmentation ***.

It has taken meetings with multiple surgeons to finally find Dr. Landon S. Pryor, who I’ve chosen to do my surgery. Dr. Pryor is a highly recommended, experienced explant + capsulectomy surgeon with the skills and patience to make sure nothing is left behind to contaminate my body. On April 13th, 2026, I will undergo surgery for my breast implant removal with total capsulectomy, mastopexy and muscle repair.

Any funds donated will go towards the total cost – including surgery, recovery and follow-up medical costs – $18,000. It’s more than I can manage on my own, but I know that every bit of help brings me closer to getting the care that I desperately need.

This is urgent and life-changing for me. I am incredibly grateful for the financial support but also more importantly – if my story can encourage someone to reconsider getting breast implants or to seek answers for their symptoms, then it’s worth sharing. Your word of mouth and help to raise awareness around this can and actually will save lives.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story, and for helping me take this next step toward recovery and health.

With gratitude,

Dawn