The AARP was contacting me before I began my first job out of college. For you other non-retirement age gals out there, the AARP is for RETIRED PERSONS and those getting close. I was 23. However, I felt like I had so much more in common with 70-somethings (stiffness in the mornings, inability to do aerobic activity) than I did with other women in their 20’s. For a long time I envied my grandmother who was 75 and could run circles around me, literally.

Before I had a chance to start my life, I became disabled. It was not because of a childhood illness or a genetic disease or even cancer. I believe it was a direct result of having a breast augmentation. I started becoming sick a few months after my operation and only started getting better once I had my breast implants removed. It has been four years since I have been implant-free, and you would think my health might be as good as new…well, you would hope.

I am feeling so much better now, as the joint and muscle pain has lessened, and in January 2007 I started my first full-time job. Once upon a time I had over 25 weird symptoms popping up at any one moment (shortness of breath, dizziness/fainting, stabbing pain in my arms, sharp rib pain, feeling like something was crawling on me, you name it). The majority of them ceased after explant (implant removal surgery). However, every once and a while, and for a more brief sitting, one of them can still rear its ugly head.

Like right now, I had hoped to be able to post here sooner, but my health had other things planned. Right now, I’m dripping in sweat from intense hot flashes that have lasted for several days. I am uncomfortable most of the time, and cannot wait for this symptom to cease. Hot flashes are not something that are widely acceptable in conversation, well, at least not for a 25-year old. So while my boyfriend’s mother was fanning herself at the dinner table (admittedly due to hot flashes), and while his sister-in-law was talking about how bad her hot flashes were while pregnant, I kept quiet instead of revealing that I know just how they feel. It is not “fun” to be sick, nor is it necessarily “fun” to be around someone who is sick. Many times I pretend I’m perfectly healthy, just to appear “normal,” so that others do not feel uncomfortable or sorry for me. I am sure that many ill people feel the same way. I think this connects us all, whether you’re possibly sick from an implant or from something like cancer.

My goal is not for sympathy but rather to be a source of information to help other women avoid going through the same hell that I still experience on a daily basis. I hope that by sharing my personal experiences, I become more “real” to others reading this online, and that they’ll be able to relate to me and be brave enough to want to find the right information.

~Kacey