This Is How One Woman's Breast Implants Almost Killed Her

Breast augmentation is supposed to be a positive thing for those who decide to do it, but for one woman, this just wasn't the case.

Anne Ziegenhorn, 44, says that she almost died when one of her implants became filled with mold and the other one ruptured. She says her symptoms were entirely debilitating due to the moldy implant for years, but doctors had no idea what was going on. Eventually, she had a specialist take a look at her implants, and confirmed what was causing her so much pain.

The mother-of-two from Shalimar, Florida originally switched from silicone to saline implants in 1998, but within six months, her symptoms were so bad she had to get a brain MRI. "I had no clue what implants were made of. Had I known, I never would have stuck them in my body," she said.

In 2002, she was still unaware of what was happening in her body, which is when doctors think the mold began to grow. Anne says that her son, who is now 12, became very ill from breastfeeding during this time. "My breastfeeding caused my kids to be ill," she said. "My son, at 19 months old, had a severe kidney infection. He almost died."

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It was in 2001 that her symptoms worsened. She began gaining weight. At first it was 15 pounds, but then it became 60 pounds in just two years. She also suffered from short-term memory loss, a burning sensation, pain in her breasts and vision loss.

Sores surfaced all over her body and she bruised very easily. She was always tired and at one point, she couldn't speak for eight months. Anne was examined by 23 different doctors over two years. From lupus to arthritis and thyroid problems, they all had incorrect diagnoses. "I felt like that was it, I was gonna die, and the doctors were gonna let me die," she said.

Then, in 2013, she noticed a dip in one of breasts and informed the technicians during her schedule mammogram, who then confirmed that her right breast had ruptured. They also informed her that they noticed a leak two years prior. Anne was outraged, and decided to do her own research. When she googled "mold inside saline breast implant" she came across a video of a patient of breast implant specialist Dr. Susan Kolb who experienced similar symptoms. "I went, of my god, that’s me!" she said. She then informed Dr. Kolb, sending over her mammograms.

Anne said the doctor replied with, "I have never seen mammograms like this before. You have mold and bacterial infection. You need to be on antibiotics." Anne complied, and then had the implants removed. "Silicone sickness in and of itself is one entity," she explained. "And then you add the mold to it that we had, and then you've got two illnesses going on."

Dr. Kolb has seen cases similar to Anne's, claiming they are the result of defective valves. And in one of those cases, a woman named Amanda Gilcrease experienced neurological symptoms, as well as "burning, numbing, stabbing, shooting, electrical shocking pains throughout my body."

The doctor isn't against implants, but does recommend getting them replaced every eight to 15 years. "My experience in doing this for thirty years is that eventually everybody will become ill from their breast implants, unless they die sooner from something else," she said.

Amanda doesn't feel the same way, however. "They are ticking time bombs from the minute they are put into your body," she said. And Anne, who says she is suffering from permanent damage, agrees. Doctors have even informed her that she will never be 100 percent better.

She has now created a group to help women stay educated on the risks associated with implants called  The Implant Truth Survivors (TITS) Committee. "I literally willed myself to live and willed myself to get this message out here,' she said. 'This is my purpose, this is why I'm here."

Do you know anyone who has suffered from something similar?

Source: Daily Mail [caption id="attachment_121913" align="alignleft" width="100"] @BodyRockTV[/caption] [caption id="attachment_121912" align="alignleft" width="100"] @BodyRockOfficial[/caption]