June 8 2000

HEALTH

Moira Petty talks to women who have suffered the painful consequences of soya breast implants

The Government has advised women to have soya implants removed Photograph: SIMON BROOKE-WEBB - (go to website for photo)

THE morning after Dawn Beales had surgery to remove the Trilucent breast implants which are now implicated in a major health scare, a nurse told her of the fetid odour which filled the operating theatre.

"She told me that as the implants were being pulled out there was a stale, putrid smell of oil and the nurses were clutching their own chests," says Dawn, 34.

She is one of an estimated 5,000 women to undergo breast augmentation who opted for the soya oil implants following worries about silicone alternatives. This week the Department of Health advised removal of the implants amid fears that they could cause cancer and harm unborn babies.

Now Dawn, from Woodford, Essex, the mother of girls aged eight and ten, has had to postpone plans to have another baby as she has still not been given the all-clear. After much consideration, and unhappy with her "saggy" bust after breast-feeding, she had paid £4,200 for the breast enhancement operation in July 1997. Her husband, Jimmy, who runs a gas distribution company, was supportive.

Then, in September 1998, she felt a lump in her left breast. "It was the size of a peanut, then grew to the size of a Malteser. My nan and aunt had both died of cancer so I went to see a breast cancer specialist."

By the time it was clear that the implant was to blame, Dawn was in severe pain. "I couldn't lie on my front in bed. In the shower I couldn't touch myself under the arms as it was so tender. The first lump became the size of a brazil nut and protruded through my clothes and there were many others on the surface of both breasts."

The maker of the implants, Collagen, paid for their removal but after surgery in April 1999, Dawn received no follow-up checks. "I rang the hospital this week asking why I hadn't seen the report on the implants, which had been sent off for testing, but I'm getting no answer.

"I had arranged to have my contraceptive coil removed but I can't think of having another baby yet. I don't know what this oil has done to my body. I just want a clean bill of health and to know I'll be around for my children." Dawn's soya implants were replaced with reconstructive adhesive gel, which can be cut in half but is reputed not to burst or leak.

Originally she had minimal scarring. "Now I have thick scars which are red and inflamed. I was told I wasn't liable for compensation because the implants came out whole, but the awful smell from them means there must have been something wrong. I'm planning to see a solicitor."

Marie McGowan, 60, of Woollaton Park, Nottingham, had mastectomies in 1995 and 1996 after being diagnosed with breast cancer. She didn't opt for reconstruction until 18 months after the second mastectomy.

"My husband said: 'You won't be happy if you don't do this'. There was a lot of controversy about silicone. What made me go for this soya implant was that the information was that if it leaked, your body would accept it."

In March 1999 came the first report that the soya implants could be harmful. "I'd been thinking how fortunate I was. But when I heard about the implants I cried - and I'm not a weepy person."

Marie went back to her hospital and asked to be tested. "I was told that there was a risk with MRI scanning that the implant would burst." An ultrasound showed a shadow around the implants and her surgeon agreed that removal was the best course.

During the operation, carried out late last summer, the soya implants were replaced with silicone gel. "I had a large cavity in my chest so I had to have something put in. The new implants were put in too high on my chest and then bolster stitches were inserted to pull them down. One is fine but the left one is all gathered and the shape is terrible."

Marie, who helps to run the family day nursery business, has yearly oncological check-ups and cannot believe that, having had cancer, she may have been put at risk of the disease again.

Christine Williamson, of Silicon Support UK, has been fielding calls from frightened women since this week's announcement. She explains that the soya implants are cased in a silicon shell: "They're made to bleed so that the body will react and form scar tissue to hold the implant in place. What nobody realised was that the oil would start to kill off the tissue. That's what the putrid smell is - the smell of rotting flesh."

Her organisation is calling for "proper testing of medical devices before they're allowed on the market". She warns women considering breast implants: "There is no safe option."

Silicon Support UK: 020 8806 9023.