THE day Mandurah mother Ashlie Fahy had been waiting more than five years for finally came yesterday when she had her ruptured breast implants removed.
The 27-year-old single mother had her implants inserted six years ago after having her son and being left with what she said was “nothing”.
She was recommended by friends and work colleagues to a doctor in Perth, and never had a problem until six weeks after having them done.
When Ms Fahy went back to work as a fitness instructor after her recovery she noticed the left breast started rippling.
She rang the doctor straight away scared, and believing it had ruptured but was told there was no real concern and to wait until her two month check-up.
Ms Fahy said after being examined the doctor said there was “no possible way” it could have ruptured, despite having a dent in the left one.
Looking back now she believes the doctor should have given her an ultrasound but she had full trust in her doctor who wasn’t concerned.
Two years later Ms Fahy noticed the implants were starting to change and deflate.
She was in constant pain and her breasts ached.
Ms Fahy said: “It sucked because I had paid so much money for them and knew there was something wrong.”
She noticed a lump growing on her left breast and in December went to a doctor in Port Hedland where she was working at the time.
It wasn’t until then that she had an ultrasound and found an “outside rupture” in her left breast where silicone was leaking out.
The ultrasound revealed the lump was just cartilage but eight lymph nodes affected by the leak needed to be removed and tested for cancer.
Ms Fahy said she never regretted getting them implanted but was worried and scared because of all the health problems which she had developed after having them done.
She found out she developed an auto immune disease which can’t be pin-pointed to the leaking silicone but said it can develop from toxicity.
“There are 80 to 100 things it [the auto immune disease] could be but one of them is silicone toxicity,” Ms Fahy said.
The disease has caused Ms Fahy to be tired all the time and constantly sick. Before she had the implants removed she had the flu for three months, would get blood noses all the time and her hair was falling out.
Ms Fahy knew from the beginning there was something not right and wasn’t surprised when she was told they had to be removed.
At the time Ms Fahy was unaware her implants were the French-manufactured Poly Implant Prothese brand which had been found to have caused many problems and faults in other Australian women’s breasts.
Currently there are 120 women including Ms Fahy who are registered with Tindall Gask Bentley in Adelaide which is building a class action against the French manufacturer.
Despite her ordeal Ms Fahy said she would do it all over again but warns other women thinking of having them done to still listen to their doctor.
She does, however, discourage women travelling to places like Thailand to have them done.
“Although I didn’t go there to have them done it is harder to have them replaced or fixed if there are any problems,” Ms Fahy said.
She said despite paying more for her implants here than overseas, the $10,800 surgery was worth it because she was assured of cover and have them fixed and replaced properly.
It wasn’t until yesterday that Ms Fahy made the nerve-wracking journey to Perth to have her implants as well as the affected lymph nodes removed.
She had new implants inserted because the skin had been stretched.
This time they are Eurosilicone which her doctor recommended and are manufactured in France.
Ms Fahy is happy to no longer have dented breast implants but is nervous for the lymph node results which she is now waiting on.
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