As many of you know, I am recovering from major surgery right now. My surgery was on January 29, 2016 and for the next year to year and a half I will be detoxing and doing special treatments to regain my health. There are many women who were not so lucky!
Some of you have already watched the video myself and my Mountain Man produced to share our story or listened to my podcast, but I felt it necessary to write our story also for those of you unable to watch videos or listen to podcasts.
Our video can be found at http://trayerwilderness.com/ourhealthjourneyvideo and my podcast can be listened to here: http://trayerwilderness..com/podcast–131.
This is a personal story and although I have had great pain and suffering, I feel that God used me as a vessel so that I can Pay It Forward and help others and that is exactly what I intend to do. Additionally, I feel very blessed to be able to share my story because my illness almost took my life.
In 1991 and again in 2004 I had lumps removed from my right breast. I was young, felt misshapen and bought into my doctor’s spiel about how safe the new saline implants were hook, line and sinker.
For the last three years, my health has been progressively declining. Medical doctors laughed at me and told me that it was in my head and I was full of poo. They were wrong, as most plastic surgeons and doctors are today when they tell women that their implants couldn’t be causing their health issues. Thankfully I had the knowledge to know how to self-diagnose and self-medicate with natural remedies which honestly was my saving grace. I knew that my immune system, adrenal glands, lymph glands, thyroid, and liver were taxed and sluggish so I was treating them on a regular basis but did not know the cause. I tried sleeping more and trying to take better care of myself, but my health continued to decline.
I went from being a very physically fit, athletic, driven person to someone who within a months time was nearly wheelchair bound, unable to walk more than a 1/4 mile unassisted, unable to sit straight for more than 15 minutes without pain, unable to lift a canning jar a 1/3 full of dry oatmeal when only months before was lifting 85 lbs on my weight bench. I had heat traveling up and down my arms and legs, a swollen face, entirely swollen abdominal area, blurred vision and dry eyes, could drink enough water for my entire family in a day and was still dehydrated, chest pain, a hiatal hernia due to all the swelling in my abdomen, digestive issues, pains in my breasts, swollen lymph glands, sinus issues, nauseated all the time, unable to eat, I was losing my hair by the handfuls, debilitating headaches and face pain, symptoms of fibromyalgia, lupus, Lyme, MS, my adrenals, thyroid, liver, kidneys and immune system were taxed and no longer working properly as well as SO many other symptoms. Holding a conversation became an issue as well because I could not keep my thoughts to save my life. Doing my radio show became such a challenge and a fear at the same time because I never knew from minute to minute what my body and mind would do.
It was honestly such a scary time for myself and my men. I knew I was sick and didn’t know what was causing it and men are fixers and they had to resign to watching my health decline and were unable to do anything to help me. As I mentioned in our video and podcast, it is important to think of each other's feelings during such trying times and to realize that we all think differently and handle situations differently. So communication is key and understanding that when your man is angry it is probably because he can’t fix you so it comes out in anger.
It was really quite amazing how I was diagnosed and many of you will think I am crazy. As many of you know, we take our faith very seriously and God is the head of our family. During my sickness, I became even closer to God and he truly shared things with me. This was something I often prayed to have the ability to do – to hear him speaking to me… It was awing…
I felt God nudged me to get an ionic foot bath. I have used them in the past (pre-implants) to help detox my body, but I never owned one. I knew we could all benefit from it, so when we had the money I purchased one. When it arrived I could not wait to use it and pulled out all the paperwork and was reading over everything before my first soak. One of the first warnings on the pamphlet was if you have implants of any kind you should not use it… I was so disappointed and decided to do some searching on the internet and the 2nd line of my first search revealed a link to Breast Implant Illness!
It was like someone smacked me in the face or flipped the switch to the BIG neon sign! The link revealed all the symptoms to Breast Implant Illness and my mouth continued to drop open. I was a walking poster board child for this illness. I had all the symptoms, but one. I just cried, but they were more tears of joy to know FINALLY what was causing me to be so sick.
The next night my eyes went wide open at 1:50 am and I felt nudged to search and search and search about this illness and EVERYTHING I searched brought me to Dr. Susan Kolb, MD of Plastikos.com and author of The Naked Truth About Breast Implants. I knew that God was pointing me in the direction of Dr. Kolb. She could not have been more suited for the job, not only does she treat people from all over the USA and all over the country, but Dr. Kolb was her own guinea pig many years ago when she personally had Breast Implant Illness (BII). She is not only a medical doctor, but she is also a naturopath and a wealth of information when it comes to ridding the body of all the poisons.
What Is Breast Implant Illness (BII)
Breast implant illness is a period of sickness affecting the body caused by silicone or saline breast implants. Symptoms of breast implant illness vary from body to body due to personal differences, the type of breast implants and the progression of the illness.
It appears that a few symptoms show up a little earlier and more consistently such as fatigue, cognitive dysfunction (brain fog, memory loss), joint and muscle pain, hair loss and dryness throughout the body including organs and glands.
I highly recommend, if you are experiencing fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, joint and muscle pain, hair loss and dryness throughout the body, it is your body indicating to you that the implants are causing illness and should be removed as soon as possible.
Because breast implants affect most body systems, symptoms are widespread and can be related to toxicity, immune dysfunction/failure, auto-immune diseases, neurological symptoms, endocrine symptoms and metabolic symptoms.
What Is Silicone Toxicity
I feel it very necessary to mention this… Silicone Toxicity is not just from breast implants, but from anything silicone in your body such as stomach belts for weight loss, silicone mesh for hernias and varied other uses as well as the medical ports used for different procedures. PLEASE be aware that you too may be affected and it is very important to spread the word. These items are killing people.
Symptoms Of Breast Implant Illness & Silicone Toxicity
Fatigue Or Chronic Fatigue
Cognitive Dysfunction (Brain Fog, Difficulty Concentrating, Memory Loss)
Muscle Pain and Weakness, Joint Pain
Hair Loss, Dry Skin and Hair
Poor Sleep and Insomnia
Dry Eyes, Decline In Vision, Vision Disturbances
Hypo/Hyper Thyroid Symptoms
Hypo/Hyper Adrenal Symptoms
Estrogen/Progesterone Imbalnace or Diminishing Hormones
Slow Healing of Cuts and Scrapes, Easy Bruising
Throat Clearing, Cough, Difficulty Swallowing, Choking
Reflux
Vertigo
Gastrointestinal and Digestive Issues
Fevers, Night Sweats, Intolerant To Heat
New and Persistent Bacterial and Viral Infections
Slow Clearing of Common Colds and Flues
Fungal Infections, Yeast Infections, Candida, Sinus Infections
Skin Rashes
Ear Ringing
Sudden Food Intolerance and Allergies
Headaches
Slow Muscle Recover After Activity
Heart Palpitations, Changes in Normal Heart Rate or Heart Pain
Sore and Aching Joints of Shoulders, Hips, Backbone, Hands and Feet
Swollen and Tender Lymph Nodes in Breast Area, Underarm, Throat, Neck & Groin
Bouts of Dehydration For No Reason
Frequent Urination
Numbness/Tingling Sensations In Upper And Lower Limbs
Cold & Discolored Limbs, Hands and Feet
General Chest Discomfort, Shortness of Breath
Pain and/or Burning Sensation Around Implant and/or Underarm
Liver and Kidney Dysfunction
Cramping
Toxic Shock Symptoms
Anxiety, Depression and Panic Attacks
Symptoms of/or Diagnosis of Fibromyalgia
Symptoms of/or Diagnosis of Lyme Disease
Symptoms of/or Diagnosis of Auto-Immune Diseases Such As; Raynaud’s Syndrome, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Scleroderma, Lupus, Nonspecific Connective Tissue Disease, Multiple Sclerosis
Sypmtoms of/or Diagnosis of ALCL Lymphoma
Why Breast Implants and Silicone Make Us Sick
Breast implants and silicone cause illness because they are large foreign objects which overwhelm and impair our immune systems causing immune system dysfunction and auto-immune symptoms. Immune system dysfunction allows opportunistic bacteria and fungi to grow out of control causing serious bacterial and fungal infections in our body which produce large amounts of bio-toxins which overload our organs. In addition, implants are made of silicone which is a chemical soup of dangerous toxins and heavy metals that when implanted in the body begin breaking down due to body chemistry and releasing and circulating particulates of silicone and neuro-toxic, cyto-toxic, carcinogenic chemicals and heavy metals contaminating tissues, organs, glands and body systems. Simply put silicone is a biologically active and toxic substance that causes bio-toxins and systemically poisons and impairs many functions of the body.
Many people feel that the saline implants are safe, but they could not be more incorrect. I had saline implants and nearly lost my life to them. The problem with saline implants is that the valves leak which then allows fungis, bacteria and mold to form within the implants as well as around the implants. This combination is very toxic. Something as simple as hugging someone can cause the deadly concoction to leave the implant and enter the body causing you to get very sick. Additionally, the saline implants have a silicone outer shell which is still allowing silicone into the body and most cases the silicone had leached into the saline so it is still entering the body upon the valves leaking.
Life Without Implants
Ladies, we should be celebrating ourselves. We were beautifully and wonderfully created and to ever feel we are not enough or to allow a doctor to tell us we need to be more is ludicrous. I am celebrating my life and my body. I am proud of who I am, who God has sculpted me to be and how he made me. My regrets are that I did not feel like I was enough before because as I stated previously, I feel as though God is using me as a vessel to help other people so I am not losing sleep over a decision made 12 years ago. Instead, I have a voice and a heart to help, inspire and heal and that is exactly where my focus is. I found a book recently titled Raising Body-Confident Daughters: 8 Conversations To Have With Your Tween and I think this is something that all young girls should see. Our society puts too much emphasis on our outer appearance and not enough on the person that is inside!
Are You Still Considering Implants? Love Yourself For Who You Are Instead!
For those of you that are reading this and are actually considering and feeling the need to enhance your body, might I just say PLEASE DON’T DO IT‼ If reading the above is not enough to scare you, remember I almost lost my life‼ Do you have children or do you want to have children? If the answer is yes – do you want to lose an ounce of precious time with them? Would you also want to poison them while breast feeding? Consider your family – you will be sick it will just be a matter of when. You will lose your valuable and precious time to this illness – it will sneak in and steal your life. I am SLOWLY regaining my life and I am here to encourage you to think twice. They are not worth it‼ I am celebrating being me and happy with who I am and how I was created. Please look in the mirror and think about all the amazing things you love to do and the people you love – that will be impaired down the road when the illness sets in… Love yourself for who you are and how you were made and go out and enjoy your life‼
If you have a man in your life that is pressuring you to enhance your figure, you may be with the wrong man. A real man will love you for who you are both inside and out and would NEVER ask that of you!
If you have friend’s in your life pressuring you, PLEASE have them read this and you may consider finding new friends!
This may sound harsh and if nearly dying is not enough for you, what will you do when you start losing all your hair & your teeth, being quarantined in a facility because you have picked up unusual viruses and bacteria because your immune system is so impaired, wheelchair bound maybe for life and end up extremely over weight. This is happening to women all over the country and I am using my voice in hopes of eliminating you from becoming a statistic too!
Please share this with EVERYONE you know – if is important that the word is spread and remember this is not just for those with/or thinking of getting breast implants, but those with stomach belts, silicone mesh, medical ports or any form of silicone in the body. This is also not limited to women so please share with EVERYONE you know.
If you feel this has revealed answers to your own prayers and you feel you may be suffering from silicone poisoning, feel free to email me at any time at survive@trayerwilderness.com and below you will find some great resource.
Resources
Healing Breast Implant Illness
Breast Implant Illness & Healing by Nicole (Facebook Group)
Breast Implant Truth, Implant Illness and Explantation (Facebook Group)
#TrayerWilderness #EmbraceOffGrid #PositivelyEncouraging
#BreastImplantIllness #BII #TheUglySideOfBreastImplants #SiliconePoisoning
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Tammy, you are one awesome lady. Thank you for this post, and for all you do. You have so much to offer and are not one bit ashamed to share it all. I also have you on FB and follow your farmish life all over the place. I remember when you had the surgery, but did not know why you had it. I had suspicions, but knew nothing for certain. Now I know. I have never had implant anything, but I had 2 DIL that did. So far, nothing bad has happened in that way. I hope it never does. God bless you and keep you.
Mimi thank you SO much for your kind words. You are such a sweet loving soul and I feel very blessed to have you following us! I love being able to get to know you over the years! Your prayers have ALWAYS been appreciated as are you! <3 I pray for our audience as a whole - we are blessed with SO many wonderful people and we have formed a community that really looks out for each other! I LOVE this so much! I believe that God has used our family as a vessel in many ways to help others I am so thankful and grateful and give God ALL the glory! I will keep your DIL's in our prayers too - this is one NASTY illness that I am still healing from. If they ever have even the slightest of struggle send them to my post because early intervention is HUGE! God bless you and yours sweet friend! I am very thankful for you and your friendship! <3
I agree that BII exists and do think women should consider enhancing what God gave them. However, what if you have breast cancer or the BRCA gene which requires you getting a double mastectomy….without implants your entire chest would be flatter than that of a man. It’s a scary thing and many of us who have to have this surgery don’t know what the best answer is. It also just sucks that we even have to deal with it.
Andrea, I am SO thankful for your comment and I apologize that it has taken me SO long to get back to you. I TOTALLY understand what you are saying. I will be praying for you and I agree that it sucks that you have to deal with this, but I look at things this way. Everything happens for a reason and God may be using you with this circumstance to help others coming behind you! I feel that God has used me as a vessel to help others. Initially, being flat on my back for nearly 9 months was not an easy task. I was an independent go-getter and it was a hard place to be, but once I accepted that God had me where I was for a reason everything changed! I realized that I could be of use to others in my current state and have never looked back. One of the greatest gifts I have received from this experience is to be happy with who I am as I am – our younger selves can be really hard on ourselves and I am thankful for where I am today. There are such things as fat implants. Dr. Kolb down in GA does the fat implants. I could have gone that route, but I nearly lost my life to implants and I had been sick for SO long it was just something I didn’t even consider for myself. But they are an option and something that you could look into. Andrea how are you doing today and have you made any decision since you commented? Feel free to email me at survive @ trayerwilderness . com. I would love to speak more with you. God bless sweet friend!
I meant to say “shouldn’t” I’m my post about getting implants for augmentation. Sorry- typo!
Thank you so much for writing this. I too was very sick and I think God pointed me to a website on Breast Implant Illness. I explanted on April 13 and am hoping to heal from this.
You are most welcome Missy! So excited to hear that you were able to get help and get them explanted. If you are not currently detoxing your body, you will want to start. I am 2 1/2 years out from my explant and I am still healing and pushing silicone from my body. This is quite the illness, but I am also healing and SO much stronger and healthier! Thank you greatly for reaching out. Feel free to reach out anytime. God is good and if we take the time to seek him and listen he will always guide and direct us! Blessed to be alive and blessed to know him! Sending love and prayers for your healing sweet friend! God bless!
Can you get this if you ingest silicone as used in silicone based personal lubricants?
I would imagine so Debbie. Silicone is harsh on the body and if you are experiencing symptoms I would imagine it is messing with your immune system. There is a needle soak that I use and soak in the tube to help pull the silicone out of my body. Almost 2 1/2 years post surgery and I am still on a healing journey and silicone is still coming out of my body. If you have other questions – please do not hesitate to reach out to me. Blessings Tam
Hi how often do you do the needle soak? Thanks cindy
Hi Cindy,
I was doing them once a week. They are extremely helpful. If you need additional assistance feel free to reach out. I have been led deeply into the wellness arena and would love for you to also check out FaithLedHealing.com. This is where you will find my practice as I have stepped deeper into helping those behind me get to the root cause of their struggles and to also destress and renew. Would love for you to also join me for a Breathwork session. It was another tool that helped me to keep my lymphatic and drainage pathways open. You can do so by going to FaithLedHealing.com/groupsession. Look forward to helping you further. God bless sweet friend, Tam
Thank you so much for sharing your story. I have been dealing with so many ups and downs in my health. I got silicone implants in may 2013 and since then I have been diagnosed with celiacs, sjogrens, and now possible lupus. My husband stumbled upon your article because I have been dying for answers. I was a healthy active person before my implants, and have only become more health conscious as time has done on. I have all but 2-3 of the symptoms that you listed. I really think God lead me to your story so I thank Him for you and His work in you! I’m so eager to get an explant, but that journey is just beginning. Thank you so much.
Libby I am SO thankful that you took the time to comment! I will be praying for you. How is your journey going? God diagnosed me, pointed out the doctor I needed to go to and has provided me with everything I have needed on this journey including the special people I needed along the way. God is so good and he is returning my health daily. It is a long journey, but there have been SO many blessings along the way and I truly feel that God has used me as a vessel to help others. I have learned SO much through this journey and will be sharing a LOT more on my healing process with a FAQ page here on the website as well as educational videos to help point people in the right direction to find healing from this nasty illness. I am sending prayers your way and would love to hear back from you to see how you are making out on this journey. I look forward to sharing more with you. God bless sweet friend and may God continue to heal your body!
I am so happy to read a response! My health has been slowly deteriorating and my anxiety is through the roof. I have a consult for an explant and total capsulectomy on dec 5th and hoping to have the surgery ASAP. I’m so certain this is silently killing me. I can’t eat with out feeling ill. My body doesn’t even feel like my own. I just want to get on the road to recovery and heal. I feel your prayers and welcome them! Thank you so much. I’m ready and want to also be a vessel to tell people my story!
Libby I am SOOOO glad to hear that you are progressing and making plans to explant. You will feel so much better instantly. There is definitely a process to healing and I will be sharing more and more on this aspect of things. I TOTALLY understand how you feel – I was there – I could not hold a conversation with anyone and hated to go anywhere – my brain was so effected. I could not remember anything to save my life, I lost all my strength, had so many autoimmune issues. Went from hiking 21 miles in a day to not being able to walk a 1/4 mile without assistance and my body hurt ALL over. SO SO many weird oddities that only someone living with me would understand. I will keep you in continued prayers and PLEASE keep in touch with me and let me know your surgery dates, etc. So glad to hear also that you are able to have a total capsulectomy or you will remain just as sick otherwise. I experienced all the things you are experiencing – you are not losing it and you will regain your health over time. So glad to hear you are taking this step. Keep in touch and reach out ANYTIME!! you can also email me at survive @ trayerwilderness . com. So glad too that you want to be a vessel – I want to keep people from making the same mistake I did. Our health is SO important! God bless sweet friend!
Libby here are some after thoughts… You might want to check out this Nerve Tonic http://trayerwilderness.com/nervetonic. It is all natural and has really helped me. You might also consider diffusing some essential oils in your home. Citrus oils will help change mood and provide comfort as will lavender. I would also recommend that you get some non-gmo milk thistle capsules or drink some non-gmo milk thistle tea daily. I am sure that your liver is greatly taxed. I also lived on bone broth to help my digestive system to process food because all my organs were SO taxed and working overtime. I used http://trayerwilderness.com/bonebroth. My entire middle was swelled due to all my organs being taxed and inflammed. Will the doctor that you are going to put you on a detox protocol? If not I would consider getting this book http://trayerwilderness.com/toxsick. The protocol she and her husband used for Lyme disease was the 2nd protocol that I went on which was very equivalent to the protocol I started on. By the time you explant I will have a post in place with a lot more detail on the detox process, but this will help you get started and be prepared! God bless sweet friend and please do not hesitate to reach out! <3