My name is Sigrun G. and I will try to tell you how it all started and how things are now. 1987 I got cancer and was divorced with 4 young children and it did not look so good for me that time but everything went well. 1988. I got silicone implant at my left side and that was no information at all about the silicone and the doctor did not tell me anything. 1990. My right breast was removed and I got silicone implant on my right side. I had been working at office before so I had a income for me and my children, but 1990 when they removed my right breast something happened under the surgery when I woke up I could not use my right arm and had to quit working , but I did not have any proof what happened because I was a sleep. I did not get anything from the insurance I had to proof that it was a mistake that happened in the surgery room.

I was never informed that something could happen, but anyway I can not turn back and I had to learn that I was not able to work and my income was from the Icelandic health insurance and it is about 800 dollars per month, but that is for most of the people that is not able to work, it even lower in some cases.

I did not do anything for a few years in my case, but last year I got sick and had to stay in a hospital for 2 months and after that I went to rehabilitating and was there for 2 months and I did not get any better, the doctors have not found out what was wrong but they know that something is wrong with my health and they are taking a good care of me but they still do not know and are now wondering if it is my silicone implant?

Last autumn I got a computer, and the internet and start to look up about silicone and I was all over the net and I got afraid when I saw all the things about silicone implant and my first thought was what do I have inside my body, and never got information about the silicone implant from the doctors the only thing they said that was this is the best and it will last forever and not a word more. So I was not satisfied and started writing to COSS, Dianna, and they gave me a lot of information, and after that I went to the health department, drug administration and the country doctor of Iceland, and told them about all the information that I had and I felt that they were surprised, and they asked me as a survivor if I knew how many Icelandic woman have those implant and I told them that I am only a survivor and I do not know how many women have implants but I think that is many. They were all very nice and interesting what I was doing and today I have a good contact with them.

Then in april 1999 I was interviewed at the radio, t.v. newspaper and magazine were I told about my story and about what I knew about the silicone implant, and in the newspaper I came into Dow Corning because we did not know anything about that it seems to us that Iceland was the forgotten country and after this a women with silicone implant started calling me and now we are coming together as a small group, and it is a very sad story that we hear as the women say we were just by ourselves and had nobody to talk to about our problem, if we asked our plastic surgery doctor we did not get any information so this is our step now that we would like to get our flag at your place then we are in for the first time.

We have not heard a word from the plastic surgery doctor as I say they are a good doctors but they need to give us information, it is not even a brochure that comes from them about silicone or saline information. So now would like to thank you for your letter and it is a thanks from the Icelandic survivor women too. Hope then I will hear from you soon. I think that we will turn our Dow Corning registration case to Germany, we do not have lawyers here that know so much about what is going on.

Sincerely

Sigrun