N.B. woman whose breast implants were recalled now spreading awareness on risks

Six years to the day that Chrissy Powers got her breast implants, she had them removed.

In 2018, Powers had a double mastectomy to lessen her chances of breast cancer after finding out she had the BRCA 2 gene mutation, which made her chances of developing breast cancer as high as 85 per cent.

She also had an immediate reconstruction with silicone implants.

But over the last few years, the 45-year-old mother struggled with breast implant illness, or “BII.” Her symptoms included brain fog, joint and muscle pain, blurred vision and inflammation.

When she did a little research, she found out her type of implant was actually part of a 2019 Health Canada recall notice for “Allergan Biocell breast implants,” as they had been linked to a type of rare non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

She didn’t want to risk getting cancer, again.

On Jan. 19, Powers successfully had the implants removed.

Almost four weeks later, she’s healing at home.

“I'm still obviously sore, but overall, like emotionally I'm feeling amazing,” she said in an interview with CTV News Atlantic. “Almost immediately after surgery, I could breathe, literally breathe so much better. It was like literally the weight of the implants were off my chest.”

Chrissy Powers is pictured in this photo. (Source: Laura Brown/CTV News Atlantic)

Her tissue has been sent to a Montreal lab to determine if she does have that type of implant associated cancer.

But in the meantime, she’s determined to spread awareness.

Feb. 13 is Breast Implant Illness Awareness Day, and Powers is now part of a virtual world-wide community of other women looking for information on breast implants.

She clarifies she’s not against implants, she just feels education is key.

“Knowledge is power, right? It's the education piece,” she said. “I know when I was recommended implants six years ago, I never knew any of these type of risks. I never heard of BII, I never heard that breast implants were linked to four different cancers, you know, that they are linked to today. So I think it's very important for any anybody that is looking to undergo any type of surgery with any medical device to educate yourself, understand the risks.”

Hoping for change

In the fall, the House of Commons health committee unveiled a report calling for a national registry that would allow the federal government to trace specific implants, contact patients in the case of a recall, and contribute to research related to breast implants.

According to the Health Canada recall notice for the type of implants Powers had, the federal agency states “BIA-ALCL is a serious but rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma…that may develop many months or years after a breast implant procedure. It is not a cancer of the breast tissue. BIA-ALCL usually presents as an accumulation of fluid (known as seroma fluid) between the implant and the surrounding tissue.”

Health Canada has received 64 confirmed cases of the lymphoma in the country. Three of those people have died. Of the 64 cases, 51 involved the specific type of textured implants, the agency said in an email to CTV.

“Patients need to be informed. I'm sorry, Health Canada, but putting out an advisory on your website? I only go to the CRA website to do my taxes,” Powers said. “Like, I'm not there just looking around at random health information unless it's specific to something I'm having a problem with. Right? So I feel like we missed the ball there.”

Powers is hoping changes are made so patients are more informed about potential risks of any medical device.

Patient advocate and researcher Julie Elliott agrees.

Based in Montreal, Elliott works with plastic surgeon Dr. Stephen Nicolaidis, and speaks to patients needing guidance.

She believes the idea of a breast implant registry is something that should have happened yesterday.

“We are living the consequences because there's no registry. Women still don't know. Some women don't know that they have textured implants. So they're coming to a plastic surgeon asking for their breast implants to be removed because they have no clue what kind of breast implants they have in. And so I would like to see a registry implanted tomorrow, but it should have been done decades ago,” she said.

Elliott says she recently had a patient who, at 80, got her implants removed after being ill for decades.

And it’s not just breast implants – the patient advocate says it could be any medical device.

“Breast implant illness is not uncommon, less uncommon than we think. But it's also not specific to breast implant. So a lot of medical implants are causing systemic symptoms,” she said.

Patient advocate Julie Elliott is pictured. (Source: Laura Brown/CTV News Atlantic)The idea of informed consent has also been discussed by decision-makers. Elliott says that type of documented consent should be available for all medical devices.

“I would go as far as mandatory, proper informed consent. It should be done with each and every medical device, including dental implants, mesh medical clips. There's two million different medical devices on the market as we speak. There should be a proper mandatory informed consent with each medical device that would state to the patient, by the surgeon, the things that you can experience with a medical device that you may not know about that most people don't know about,” she said.

N.B. Medicare won’t cover explant surgery

Powers took matters into her own hands out of fear she may have developed the type of lymphoma. She was worried she’d have to wait for explant surgery in New Brunswick, which is why she turned to Dr. Stephen Nicolaidis in Montreal. But because the surgery was done outside of the province, she had to pay out of pocket.

The total: $15,090.00 not including travel and accommodations while in Montreal.

Powers said she did hear from her MLA, Kris Austin, and the Minister of Health Bruce Fitch. They both informed her she could appeal the Medicare decision not to cover the surgery.

She wants people to know this wasn’t a cosmetic surgery.

“What I don't think is right is if these implants are making women sick or in some cases debilitating, they're not able to, you know, get up and go to work in the morning, their symptoms are so bad, this should be a no brainer,” Powers said. “They should be covered by Medicare for these women to get these implants removed.”

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