Silicone Breast Implants link to MDS?

[Jill2008]

Has anyone ever heard of MDS being associated with silicone breast implants? I have read information about ruptured silicone breast implants being a possible link to auto-immune diseases and certain types of cancer. There is alot of conflicting information among the studies and they do not specifically name MDS.

[Marlene]

Hi Jill,

Here's a link you may want to look at regarding implants and its effects on the immune system. You have to scroll down to get to the study stating that silicone can migrate to the bone marrow. They never say it causes MDS but if you are one of the unlucky ones to have problems, then from everything I've read from the people suffering from them, it appears to affect many aspects of their health.

This is also true for other types of implants like hip and knees.

Bottom line for me is that since they don't know what causes these bone marrow failures for most of us, everything and anything is suspect. I'm sure you can post your concern on this forum and see if anyone else has experienced blood disorders.

http://www.breastimplantsupport.org/...365&forum_id=5

[Jill2008]

Thanks for sending me the link. I am horrified to think this could be the answer to why I have developed MDS. I just started to think about possible causes and this came to mind. I will be contacting my Hemotologist to get his feelings.

Jill

[Marlene]

I can understand how you feel. You are so young to get a disease that is commonly thought to only effect the elderly.

Marlene

[Jill2008]

Spoke to my PA at Stanford and saw my Primary M.D. today. Both say MDS would not be caused by a leak in my implant. My M.D could not detect a problem and said the symtoms I'm having are due to anxiety.

[Marlene]

Hi Jill,

What did your doc mean "your symptoms are due to anxiety" ?

I would have pretty much expected them to say your implants would not be problem. And, implants do not have to be leaking to cause a problem. It's pretty difficult to prove anything is responsible for bone marrow failures unless it's obvious. So many illnesses are due to things that happened years before the illness shows up or to ongoing imbalances in the body. That is why they are reluctant to attribute drugs and other toxins as the cause unless it's a recent exposure at pretty a high level. In the end, it doesn't seem to matter what the cause, they tend to treat the same way no matter what the cause.

I have always been concerned in that you may "fix" it or put it in remission, but if you don't understand what caused it, then how do you prevent it from coming back? We asked this question when John was getting ready for treatment and the answer was "it just doesn't". Only time will tell .

Take care,
Marlene

[Jill2008]

Thanks for your concern. Not that I have given up on this as the cause. I will continue to bring it up and plan to have them removed as soon as I can. I don't think this is the best time to go through a surgery though. My Dr. did put me on a low dose anxiety med and it has helped. My mild shortness of breath could also be due to my HGB dropping 1 point since last month. I am documenting my symptoms everyday and have tons of questions for the transplant team next week.

[Marlene]

Yeah, shortness of breath can be due to a lower HGB. Everyone has a different threshhold for when syptoms appear due to low HGB. Docs don't alway accept this.

Just as a point of reference in case you need surgery....John had surgery with a HGB of 10 and plts of 30. His WBC as around 2.8 at the time. It's not an ideal time but they transfused platelets before surgery and gave him two units of red cells afterwards. I continue to be amazed at how well one can function with very little. I remember how scared I used to be, thinking that any little thing could kill him. Much of this was perpetuated by the medical community. I wanted to wrap him up in bubble wrap. But our experience with low counts for a long time showed that he was stronger than they lead us to believe. Of course you don't gain this confidence until you actually experience an event. Our local Hemo was surprised from time to time also. Post treatment, with very low counts, he was able to deal with shingles, broken wrist, flu, colds, dental work, ruptured quad and other stuff. So just know that you are very strong and your body will do everything its power to restore your health.

Marlene