Many young women do not truly understand the risks associated with plastic surgery; I know I didn’t understand the severity of my breast augmentation. Doctors like to say that “all surgeries carry some risk,” which downplays what could actually happen. You may not wake up or your health might be forever affected. It’s one thing to have a necessary medical procedure and have the benefits outweigh the risks. But what about elective surgery? In the case of breast augmentation, the risks just DO NOT outweigh the benefits. Is your life or health truly worth sacrificing for the sake of higher self-esteem or looking better in a swim suit? I wish someone had asked me that very question when I walked into my plastic surgeon’s office at 19. Perhaps I would have started to be more aware of exactly how risky elective surgery can be.

Wednesday, an 18 year-old girl (after being a guest with me on the Mike and Juliet show on Fox) walked off the stage and commented, “They’re just breast implants. It’s just like getting your hair cut!” Now, how well do you think her potential surgeon conveyed the severity of an elective operation to her? He was also on the show by the way. And what does this say for the culture that is being created for our teens and women today? Apparently there is no hope that this 18 year-old even remotely paid attention to what I had to say. Maybe it’s because she’s already made up her mind and is a patient of that surgeon on the show who was so ready to say that he’s implanted thousands of 16-18 year-olds because “their mothers bring them in.” Well, if their mothers don’t have the sense to tell their daughters that they are beautiful the way they are, then at least the surgeon could keep the scalpel away and do both of them a favor.

I just got my hair cut - no scalpels, drains, anesthesia, surgeons or nurses necessary. I will never wonder if my hair cut will cause joint pain. Can anyone say the same about breast implants?

Here are some of pictures of me with my implants at age 20-21:

Here is me SICK with implants:

This picture shows the silicone that was found in my bloodstream:

The round cells are healthy red blood cells and the neon patch is silicone (which is rather large when compared to the red blood cells). The test was performed by Dr. John Gonino, M.D./D.O., of Rowlett, Texas. He was one of the first doctors to say that my implants could cause my illness.

And here I am just last week at the Morning Show with Mike and Juliet on Fox:

To see just how dissimilar hair cuts are to breast augmentation, see my story at www.implantsout.com

If you’d like to view Wednesday’s (3-26-08) segment of the Mike and Juliet show click here.
~Kacey