102 - 6086 Boundary Drive West

Surrey, B.C. V3X 2B3

Telephone: (604) 572-8486

One mission of the I.A.S. Implant Awareness Society is to help women who now have, or are contemplating having, saline breast implants.

It was four years ago that a number of ill women, all suffering as I was from silicone and saline breast implants, said they would work closely with me if I would form a registered charitable society with Victoria and Revenue Canada in Ottawa.

Our society has about 150 members and affiliates now. Our mission is to help women who have implants and educate them so that on explantation they do not, first of all, feel they need or want another breast implant. Secondly, when they meet with the explanting doctor (either surgeon or plastic surgeon) they feel secure within themselves that they cannot be talked into another replacement.

We have learned the hard way that a breast will remain healthier, even a diseased breast, if it is never implanted. And this is not a popular message.

Our biggest problem is the PLASTIC SURGEONS who still suggest that implantation is a non-invasive and non-harmful procedure (and also quite expensive at $5,000 to $7,000 a shot). This was taken from the Massage & Bodywork magazine for physiotherapists, Summer/Fall 1997.

The word is getting around that this is an invasive procedure. Saline implants have a life expectancy of only 4-7 years. Do women really want surgery that often for the rest of their life.

Dr. Blais said and I quote on page 20 of the F.D.A. report " Laboratory work on collected prostheses indicates a safe lifetime of less than four years for many types of prostheses. We are recovering (explanted) prostheses or fragments thereof where the shell and gel are chemically changed. Shells are weak like paper. You can tear them easily. Even if they are superficially intact at the moment of explantation, they cannot sustain capsulotomy, or any type of medical procedure to reduce contracture or to obtain biopsies. The device is finished. To top it off, we have found something else. The tissue around it ...forms an abrasive substance, a material like sandpaper which will ensure the demise of the prosthesis well within the five year limit".

It is amusing and sad to hear women refer to implantation as "a nip here and a tuck there". It really is a great deal more than that, and they are left with sacks of liquid material inside of them that their immune system recognizes as a foreign body and rejects from day one.

More evidence is coming to light every month on problems related to ALL breast implants. There are over 1,000 clinical papers that prove disease from implants.

One of the first symptoms that most women have is that, when they first get out of bed, they have morning stiffness. They start having many flu-like illnesses that last longer each time. Then, very subtly, other problems start that they blame on getting older.

Is it worth poor health for the rest of their life just to look better in a dress or swimsuit. Their health gets so compromised. The problems come on slowly at first, and then at the end the women spiral down very quickly. Think about this, over half of the women in the world have little or no breast, Why do we let style, fashion, and fads decide what we should do on this continent?

I am very proud to say that not one of our members, after reading the material we have and watching doctors on lecture videos, has ever been reimplanted.

One woman who joined our society had silicone implants, and they were found to be leaking. A well-known plastic surgeon in Vancouver convinced her to have saline implants after the removal of the silicone implants. He presented her with a disclaimer to sign on a clipboard, just as they were wheeling her in for the operation. She was very sedated, as you are with pre-op procedures. Her signature was hardly legible, and not positioned on the line provided.

How many other women are treated this way? Less than a year later, the surgeon was angry when she insisted that these saline implants should be removed. She was blaming her progressive sore fingers joints on implant problems.

She phoned me about seven months after the saline implants were explanted and said, at last, she had no more joints starting to pain. There was no doubt in her mind that having NO BREASTS WAS WORTH BETTER HEALTH.

If these implant devices are so safe, why are women today signing disclaimers that absolve the doctors and manufacturers of all responsibilities? Why do the disclaimers name many high-risk diseases? The Massage & Bodywork magazine states: "Some of the possible dangers presented to clients who opt for MENTOR H/S implants include: `scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis, syndromes which mimic systemic lupus erythematosus, skin lesions, alopecia, pyrexia, rash, swelling of joints, weight loss, chronic arthropathy, morphea, general malaise, arthritis, cancer, and toxic shock syndrome'." FIFTEEN PAINFUL DISEASES, AND SOME CAUSE DEATH.

THAT IS NOT ALL. The magazine goes on to say: "Inherent risks of the implant procedure (which are assumed by the patient as part of the procedure) include: `unpredictability of the capsule contractability (and therefore firmness of the breast due to shrinking scar) and its physical effects; possible need for future implant replacement (at the cost of the client); uncertain life span of the implant, including possible rupture, deflation, or gel migration; risk of compromised detection of early breast cancer; possible effects on nursing; and possibility of late calcification (in surrounding breast tissue)'."

AND THAT IS NOT ALL. The magazine further states: "The MENTOR H/S Product Summary lists additional unknown risks to women with implants: `unusual hair loss; memory problems; headaches; unusual loss of energy; greater chance of getting colds, viruses, and flu; muscle weakness or burning; nausea; vomiting; and irritable bowel syndrome'. This summary also reports that `Some women with breast implants have reported health problems in their breast-fed children'."

WAIT, THERE IS MORE. "Possible complications of the procedure include: `infection, bleeding, hematoma, excess or wide and obvious scars, changes in nipple sensation, chronic pain, asymmetry, and general disappointment'."

This implant insert is a far cry from the one that MENTOR presented in 1987, ten years earlier. No disease was listed there, only possible capsular contracture, leakage, ridges, creases, and interference with mammography.

The Newsletter of the Canadian Society of Plastic Surgeons, Winter-Spring 1994, has SIX VERY important points to cover, on CONTRASTING OPINIONS:

1. "As the breast is compressed during mammography, it may be possible - although extremely unlikely - for an implant to rupture during this examination." With our own experience we found it encourages weakening of the implant. Our own Health Protection Branch 1991 publication, cautions against chancing rupture by the "compression of the breast during mammography" and "women with implants should not have routine mammograms". They suggest that ultrasound is the best.

2. "Women should be aware that removal of breast implants can generate psychological problems due to change in the body which occurs following the removal." Our experience has been that of GREAT RELIEF mentally and physically on implant removal. No woman can actually ever believe or feel that this implant is her own body, as it never does feel natural. Yes, it can look natural from the outside before capsular contracture, which occurs 40% of the time.

3, In the Patient Information disclaimer it states: "implant(s) may not last an entire lifetime; and additional surgeries for removal or replacement may be necessary". We ask, whose lifetime?. The implant's lifetime or, as the preamble suggests and one is lead to believe, the woman's lifetime. In the FDA report to the AMERICAN CONGRESS the implants lifetime is 5 - 7 years.

4. "Saline-filled breast implants are presently seen by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Health & Welfare Canada as being safe and effective." The FDA report to congress states that they are waiting for the manufacturers to prove saline implants safe, the deadline today is 9 YEARS OVERDUE.

5. "A large number of women have had implants since this procedure was first developed in 1963, and are very happy with the results. It is not known how many of these women have experienced problems." Dr. Pierre Blais, a biochemist and specialist in medical product design and failure analysis writes, "These saline inflatables of the late 70's were notable for short service life. In the early 1980's, the situation became so widespread that a number of Canadian plastic surgeons filed claims against Dow Corning". They were successful too. These statements show that plastic surgeons are closing their eyes to the results of this very invasive procedure. They are removing many diseased saline and silicone implants, and see firsthand how physically sick the women are and the diseased breast cavity left behind.

6. "The implant can break due to injury or normal wear over time, releasing saline. The chances of this happening is 10% after ten years (1% per year)." I wonder why the FDA and the plastic surgeons differ so much in their findings, that the plastic surgeons can put this kind of information on their PATIENT INFORMATION FORM. On the last page is the Patient Consent Form for Saline-filled Silicone Breast Implants, which has patient and witness signature lines authorizing the surgery. They keep telling us that women can make an informed decision. I ASK YOU HOW, WITH ALL THIS MISINFORMATION?

Dr. Blais, in a report for a woman in our society, states: "Furthermore, it appears that she remained with a perforated device on the left side for at least 5 - 10 years. During that time, the interior of the perforated implant became septic and acted as a protected source of micro-organisms. On the basis of knowledge gathered from other users with similar histories, the pattern of infection and the nature of the micro-organisms involved in the process are different from what is encountered in naturally occurring infections. Instead, the progression parallels diseases more frequently encountered in a military trauma context. (She) will show an injury profile which combines certain aspects of autoimmunity as well as sequelae of chronic long term infection."

Another lady in our society was implanted with saline in 1978. In 1980 it was established medically that one had leaked totally flat and the other had leaked to the size of a golfball. The doctors kept saying, "don't worry, they are just fine and only sitting there", when she kept asking for an explantation. She was sick almost all of the time with flu-like symptoms and chest pains that made breathing difficult, she was certain she was having a heart attack. She called 911 several times. She was taken to Burnaby General and then sent home.

She was a secretary and held high-profile jobs. Her performance began to slip as she was finding work more difficult to perform. She lost her car, home, savings, everything. Her last job was secretarial at Simon Fraser University. She was not fired, just could not go on. Today she is 58 years old, on total disability, and stripped of everything she ever had.

She had to wait until 1995, seventeen years later, to have the implants out. By that time she was so ill that when she met us she confided that her pain was so great and severe she was praying to die. On explantation, the saline implants looked like crumpled tarpaper, black with fungus and micro-organisms.

Dr. Blais confirmed how unsafe her saline implants were in documentation. She will suffer for the rest of her life, just like the other lady mentioned earlier. She does not hesitate to say how she wishes she could turn the clock back and had stayed WITHOUT BREASTS rather than having implants.

How can it be that the plastic surgeons do not know what is going on? If I had only their paper and the disclaimer on it to go by, signing their form that gives consent for surgery, I could be tricked into having saline when they say, " this is safe, surely you want a better looking breast, you will not like yourself flat".

Ladies, what are we doing to ourselves, insisting that we must have implants? The FDA has yet to receive the scientific tests that prove the safety of these very same saline implants. Think, why does safety have to be proven when we actually sign our LIFE AWAY to get them at the rate of 86,000 per year in the USA alone? The manufacturers and plastic surgeons are having a field day at our expense and our children's expense. You decide who the winners are here. We have had three women in our society die in just over one year. Two of them were 52 years old. Was an implant worth that.

It would appear that the registered massage therapist understands implanted woman's problems. I say that because their magazine talks about having compassion for the lady who went against nature and, believing this was a non-invasive procedure, received implants and now is disabled. The article even went so far as to say, "Since many of these ladies are financially disabled, consider offering a discount (two for one) for massage services".

The article also states, "Stay away from some of the BASF hair, skin, and sun products. According to ingredient listings for some of their products, these contain Dow Corning 200 Fluid and 344 Fluid, which may contain harmful ingredients. Especially be wary of BASF Massage Lotion."

Become a label reader of all lotions. Foods, (spices, jello, flours) have silicone added as an anti caking agent. Perhaps this agent should not be included in there.

Our society have been given silicone and saline medical reports from some women, and I have their permission to share them with inquiring women who are investigating breast implants. Reports are from Dr. Blais on their implant analysis.

We also have court documents that have been used to establish the fact that silicone, saline, and elastomer shells are extremely toxic in the human body.

Adella Matthew

President