Monique Ramsey (00:02):
Welcome everyone to The La Jolla Cosmetic Podcast. I'm your hostess, Monique Ramsey. And today I have a guest who has a wonderful story about her journey with surgery, with a capsulectomy and explanation by Dr. Luke Swistun. And we're honored that she's willing to share her story for those in the audience who might be thinking about this surgery and just finding out what are the things that led her to want to have this surgery and how she's feeling now. So Amie, welcome.

Amie (00:32):
Thank you for having me.

Monique Ramsey (00:34):
Thanks for coming. So tell us a little bit about yourself.

Amie (00:38):
Well, I am originally from New York City. I have been living in San Diego for over 20 years now, and I have two beautiful children and a wonderful husband.

Monique Ramsey (00:49):
Well, that's nice. Now, when did you originally get your breast implants?

Amie (00:53):
My first set of implants, I got at age 21 and they were saline. And then I switched to silicone because I found out, well, the word was that silicone was safe and more realistic. And so I opted to for my second set to go to silicone. And I loved the feel of them. They looked fantastic and things were great. Things started to happen in my body that I never would've thought were related to my implants. All of those things began to add up, and there was no particular reason for that, as I'm very healthy, very active. I'm an athlete. I play soccer a couple times a week. I'm very careful about what I put in my body. I exercise every single day. And I found myself in a early menopause. I was having night sweats, crazy night sweats in my early thirties. I had chronic hives that came out of the blue, dermatographia, which is like skin writing, so hives all over my body, and if I lightly scratched, they would raise, become raised.

Monique Ramsey (02:05):
Oh gosh, that's so hard when you want to itch something and you can't. Let me have you back up for one second. So you had your first set with saline. You're 21 years old, and what was sort of your driving for, like did you just really kind of have no chest and you wanted to have some curves? Or what was sort of your motivation?

Amie (02:25):
Yes. I had pretty much no breast tissue. I was so flat. My best friend, I tease her now, but she used to call me mini and minnier and it was the nineties and the thing was breast implants and I saw it everywhere on tv. Pam Anderson was the thing, and I thought, wow, I'm really going to like myself more if I have curves.

Monique Ramsey (02:52):
And if you were really flat, did you just opt for a small implant or what was the size that you felt you thought you wanted?

Amie (03:01):
I wanted to look like I didn't have breast implants. I wanted to just be in proportion. And so I got a C and my doctor did advise me, because you have so little breast issue, it would be best to be on the smaller side and it wouldn't be so obvious. And so I went with that.

Monique Ramsey (03:18):
And so when you decided that you wanted to switch to silicone, how long had you had the saline implants?

Amie (03:26):
A long time. So we're talking about 1998 ish to 2011.

Monique Ramsey (03:32):
Oh, okay. So 2011, fast forward, you switch them out, you get silicone. How long until you started feeling some of the symptoms you talked about? And maybe we'll start to go into some of those as well.

Amie (03:45):
Yeah, it's so hard to recall exactly when, but it was shortly thereafter. And the first thing that happened, and this is all now in hindsight, the first thing that happened were these, what they called cluster headaches. I never had headaches in my life. I don't have migraines. And all of a sudden there were these pounding headaches, so painful out of the blue, couldn't explain. It went on for weeks. I saw a neurologist, I was told I was completely normal. There's nothing there. It's what they called cluster headaches and it will probably go away. I had a brain scan and everything and it did eventually resolve, but I have no idea what that was about. Very strange. And I also started experiencing raynaud's.

Monique Ramsey (04:31):
Yeah,

Amie (04:32):
So it's like a circulatory thing where the tips of your fingers and toes become numb from just being super, super cold, even when it's not very cold outside. So they would turn white and they'd become completely numb. I'd feel nothing. And then when the feeling would start to come back, they would turn these crazy colors almost like purple black. Yeah, bizzarre.

Monique Ramsey (04:58):
Oh my gosh, that's terrifying.

Amie (05:00):
And the doctor said, there's nothing you can do about that other than wear gloves all the time and try to stay warm. So I was made fun of constantly because I used to run a semi pro women's soccer team, and I would show up to every practice in a giant puffy coat. And I'm in San Diego, so I'd be in my winter coat. It was ridiculous, but that's how I had to handle that.

Monique Ramsey (05:23):
And then tell me about the rashes.

Amie (05:25):
The hives out of nowhere, I'd just be itching all over my body. I saw an allergist, I had every test under the sun done on me. I'm allergic to nothing. And he said, sometimes this happens. It's basically our cells releasing histamine for absolutely no reason. And so I'm take a daily Zyrtec just to kind of keep that at bay. It doesn't always work. Sometimes I have to double triple up and add another medication on top of it just to not feel itchy all over my body.

Monique Ramsey (05:55):
What was that moment where you started to think maybe it's my implant? Yeah,

Amie (06:00):
So as I mentioned, have two kids. When I was experiencing these, I'll call it early menopause or perimenopausal symptoms, I went to see a fertility specialist and I said, I'm really concerned. I'm in my thirties, I want to have children, but this is going on. Can we get my hormones tested? And I did. And she called me and she said, you know what? Your hormones are really low. I just have to tell you you're probably not going to be able to have kids. Got me so worked up and so upset, I was devastated. And I got pregnant at the drop of a hat. So I don't know what's going on there, but it's definitely my hormones were affected, interrupted, I don't know. But I had my son with no problem and I had my daughter with no problem. But I will say I was not able to breastfeed either child. And that got me thinking as well. And you start to create excuses for everything. And I said, well, I am getting older, so the hormones, maybe I just will have early menopause. Maybe I'm just one of those people. Maybe I can't breastfeed because I didn't have much breast tissue to begin with. So maybe it's because of that I tried so hard, that really devastated me as well.

Monique Ramsey (07:24):
Yeah, that's a really hard thing when you, and especially I think that because that's the one thing a mom can do for her child that is supposed to be so natural. And I had a really hard time with it for a whole different reason, but it was tragic because you just feel like you're not being a good mom and it's so out of your control. I think that's the other part that it emotionally takes a huge toll.

Amie (07:50):
Oh yeah, we can go down that road. That's a whole other subject. But yeah, so I think for me it was a couple of those things and it felt like I was visiting the doctor weekly and my husband started to ask me, Hey, what's going on with you? Why are you constantly seeking doctors? And I said, I don't know. I just don't feel right. There's all these things going on. There's got to be a reason for it and I don't want to miss it. What if there's something sinister and I'm missing it somehow? So I had a relative actually who had an explant and started telling me about it. And I thought, really? Is that a thing? Could it be those never occurred to me in a million years? Why would it? They're supposed to be safe. That's what you're told. No big deal. Everybody has 'em. So she had this explant and she told me the reasons why, and I thought, oh my gosh, there's more to this. And I started researching like crazy. I found a Facebook group. I joined the Facebook group. It seemed all the women on there had the same issues that I had and were planting and feeling better immediately. So anyway, I did my research and then I started meeting with doctors and looking for someone to help me explant.

Monique Ramsey (09:19):
And so before you saw Dr. Swistun, did you see other doctors? And what was their advice if you did?

Amie (09:26):
I first went to a very well-known doctor who I'd seen on TV a million times, known the reputation of this doctor, felt very comfortable going in and asked, what do you think about BII could these things be caused by my breast implants? And I was immediately dismissed. He did not believe in BII. And I said, well, I'm here to explant, like that's my goal. I don't want these anymore, so can you help me? And he said, well, yes, I can help you take these out, but you're not going to be happy with the way you look, so I recommend we put another set in. And basically sent me on my way with a quote for $16,000 and telling me that I'm not going to like myself if I take out my breast implants.

Monique Ramsey (10:15):
And I'm sort of speechless by that, that

Amie (10:23):
As was I.

Monique Ramsey (10:24):
Yeah. And okay, for in the audience, we will back up for one second, probably anybody listening already knows what BII is, but it stands for breast implant illness, and it's sort of all the, it's maybe a catchall term for all the things that you might be feeling. And as somebody, I have fibromyalgia, same sort of idea where in the nineties they're like, yeah, whatever, go home, you're fine. And that sort of dismissiveness and really no solutions. And same thing, I think it's very parallel with breast implant illness and the people who have these different, it could be so systemic, it's all over and not everybody has all the same symptoms, but I'm sure there must be some consistency in that Facebook group. Did you feel like, oh my gosh, now I understand what's going on?

Amie (11:12):
I did. I felt like I found my people. I had support, I had evidence. I finally could breathe knowing that, oh, this is something I can fix. And wow, I have no problem taking these out. I don't care about these anymore. I love myself. I want to be a good role model for my kids. They need to know that I'll do anything to be healthy, to be here as long as I can. And so yeah, I felt really good about that group and they led me to Dr. Swistun.

Monique Ramsey (11:42):
So when you had your consultation, tell me about how that felt and maybe even in relation to the other consultation you had, what was different it and what were the steps in that consultation?

Amie (11:57):
It's night and day. So Dr. Swistun is a wonderful human being, first of all. So immediately you meet him and you feel like relaxed at home. He is just, the demeanor is very calm and warm and he spends his time to get to know you, to really understand why you got your implants, what's been happening, what's changing. He accepts that BII exists. He understands it. He's just a lovely, lovely person who really makes you feel like everything that you've been thinking is valid. And I knew immediately, I mean instantly, okay, this is who I'm going to go with. This is the person I want taking care of my body because he actually cares about my body and wanting to help me.

Monique Ramsey (12:50):
I think he does take his time and to make sure he knows who you are and your motivations so he can do the best job.

Amie (13:01):
It was about a two hour consultation.

Monique Ramsey (13:04):
It's a long one.

Amie (13:06):
It's amazing because I had asked about a lift afterwards, and he spends the time to look at your skin and check out other scars. You have to make sure he understands the way your body heals so he can give you the best advice. This wasn't done at all in my other consultation, none of it. Dr. Swistun asked for pictures of before and after the first set of implants just to see how my body behaved and reacted. All of these things, so thorough, so thoughtful things I never thought about. That's why you feel comfortable because this person actually cares about the work that he's doing, helping people.

Monique Ramsey (13:45):
Now, how long ago did you have your surgery?

Amie (13:47):
October of 2023.

Monique Ramsey (13:49):
Okay, so we're a little past six months maybe? Yeah, yeah, a little over six months. So how long from that consultation did you consider before actually doing the surgery? Was it pretty quick or did you think about it for a little while?

Amie (14:05):
It was immediate for me just because I had been thinking about it for a while. I just needed to find time on my calendar to get it done, but I wanted to get it done as quickly as possible. And I had a lot of people questioning what I was doing and asking me, are you sure that's a big decision, and all of the things. And I said, there's no big decision here, it's my health. I don't need breast implants to make myself feel good. I don't need that. I did need that when I was 21, but I don't need that now. And so for me, it was very, very simple decision. I want to be here for my kids. I want to be healthy, and it's peace of mind. If this isn't the cause of all of these issues, then fine. It's not. But you know what, now I don't have to have any more surgeries for the rest of my life, knock on wood.

Monique Ramsey (14:56):
Right. Because implants are not a lifetime device. They don't last forever, no matter which kind you put in. And so in the days and weeks leading up to surgery, how were you feeling? Talk to us about maybe the day of surgery. What was that like?

Amie (15:10):
Yeah, I was really excited, actually not nervous at all. More curious how I would look and how I would feel afterwards. I felt very calm the morning of everybody took great care of me. Dr. Swistun spent his time talking with me before my surgery, just sort of to let me know everything that was going to happen. He videotapes afterwards and kind of goes through what he found when he took the implants out.

Monique Ramsey (15:38):
And did you opt for the total capsulectomy where he takes the whole capsule out? Right, not just the, because there's an explantation where you could go in simply remove the implants, but the capsule is kind of the pocket that forms around the implant. Anytime you put a foreign substance in your body, your body goes and makes a little home and kind of seals it off. And so I'm assuming you opted for a total capsulectomy?

Amie (16:08):
I did. I mean, when I think about that and I think about what my body is trying to do, it's trying to separate itself from this foreign object that's been inserted inside of it. And to me, that's telling to me, that's saying, this doesn't belong here. It needs to come out. And so yes, of course I wanted every bit of it out. I didn't want to have any questions anymore that these were causing my health issues.

Monique Ramsey (16:33):
So I mean, I know you'd had surgery before because you obviously put the implants in, but what was that kind of that morning in the marking session?

Amie (16:43):
I brought my husband with me. And so that was very calming and I felt really good about having him there. And I knew I was going to be fine. He might've been a bit more nervous than I was. He does not like hospitals or doctors at all, which is kind of good cuz I get distracted, comforting him. No, it's going to be fine.

Monique Ramsey (17:02):
Right.

Amie (17:03):
But yeah, no, Dr. Swistun, there was a nurse with me who was wonderful and had a great sense of humor and had me laughing. And so that was great. And then Dr. Swistun came in and his energy is just calming immediately.

Monique Ramsey (17:17):
So I'm guessing Ruth was with you.

Amie (17:19):
It was Ruth, yes, it was Ruth.

Monique Ramsey (17:22):
Ruth is the best. Yeah. So Ruth, she's an OR nurse for us, and she worked with Dr. Saltz for years and in the clinic. And now she's in the OR, and she is really,

Amie (17:36):
She's hilarious,

Monique Ramsey (17:36):
But she's also, her knowledge level is that of a doctor, we call her Dr. Ruth, because she is so knowledgeable and she understands what you need in that moment to help kind of get through it. So I'm assuming you went home, your husband, is he the one who took care of you?

Amie (17:54):
Yes, and he was wonderful. I honestly was worried because like I say, he's squeamish doesn't like hospitals, but he took excellent care of me. And you have drains when you come out of surgery and that fill up with fluid and it's blood tinged. It's not the most beautiful thing ever. You're really vulnerable and it's important to have a good support system. And he took excellent care of me, I have to say. It was really nice.

Monique Ramsey (18:20):
And now, are your kids a little bit older? You're not lifting children or having to do any of that?

Amie (18:26):
So my daughter just turned four, so she was three at the time and needed me a lot. And so again, that was really hard and my husband had to step in constantly and deal with all of that for weeks. So I couldn't pick her up for a really long time. My son was eight at the time, so that was okay. And he really understood. We talked about it before and after, and they were curious. He wanted to know what was going on, why did I do that? And I said, yeah, sometimes when you're young you don't know and you think you want things and you don't know how you're going to feel about them. And I made a decision that made me feel good at the time, but then it started making my body not feel good. And I decided that it was more important to be healthy and be here taking care of you.

Monique Ramsey (19:13):
Yeah, I think that's every kid's different and what they can process, but I think the more you can kind of bring them into understanding if whatever's appropriate for their age, and so they understand not to be scared that it's okay, and mommy's going to be all right, we've got a little owie. We've got these fun little drains.

Amie (19:36):
They were champs. They were champs.

Monique Ramsey (19:38):
Oh, that's so nice. That's so nice. And especially for somebody like you, because you're an athlete, you work out every day. How was recovery and how long did you have to stop doing what you love to do working out.

Amie (19:53):
Dr. Swistun knows it was really hard for me to sit still. I did, I was a really good girl for the first couple of weeks, and I do heal very quickly. And the problem with me is I have a high pain tolerance. So I don't really feel a lot of discomfort and pain after surgery. I didn't take any of the pain meds at all. I didn't need them. So I have a tendency to get moving more quickly than others. And also being an athlete, I wanted desperately to be back on the soccer field and even just to see how I would play differently, how I would feel in my body. And I had a tournament coming up and I have to tell you, it was five weeks after my surgery and I went and I played in it, but I'm a bad girl. I went and I played in it. You should not do that. Just to be clear, that is a major No-No. I could have had issues, knock on wood, I didn't. But I probably shouldn't have done that. But that's my nature.

Monique Ramsey (20:54):
And it's hard when you feel good. If you're feeling good, you think, well, I must be okay and it must be okay for me to take that next step. And even if something as simple as going on a walk, but what it does is it raises your heart rate, which puts pressure on the blood vessels and all the things that just newly got put into their new home and into their new place. And you can end up with bleeding, you can end up with swelling or extra fluid. Sometimes they have to put drains back in to people who think they're well on their way healing and then all of a sudden they have a setback. So yeah, no soccer games. But I'm glad it worked out okay for you.

Amie (21:32):
I'm so sorry. Yes, I know.

Monique Ramsey (21:35):
Yeah. It is it's hard though, it is, especially when you feel good. And now tell me about when you went home, what were kind of the, describe that feeling now that you've had your implants out right away. Did you notice it or did it take a little while?

Amie (21:50):
A couple of things to notice. Immediately were breathing. I felt like, wow, I am not shallow breathing anymore. I can take a deep breath. That's life changing. The other thing I noticed immediately were my eyes. My eyes looked bright and clear, not cloudy and bloodshot. Others have reported the same thing. I can't explain that, but it's like your body tells you, thank you, I'm happy now. Other things that I noticed took longer, and I think they're still working themselves out. I think it's going to take probably a couple of years for everything to be resolved. Your body has to adjust and get all the toxins out. And so what I can tell you is now I don't have the raynauds really at all. At least I haven't yet. So that might be gone. I had gluten sensitivity in a big way. I eat gluten now with no problem. I can't explain that. But yeah, hormones back to normal. So related to the perimenopausal symptoms were irregular periods and now they are back to the day the way they used to be. I used to be so I could chart to the day, and all of a sudden now I'm back there. It's crazy. And I'm almost 50 now, so I am.

Monique Ramsey (23:17):
Well you look great. Wow. I dunno what you're doing.

Amie (23:20):
I'll be 48 this month, the end of this month.

Monique Ramsey (23:23):
Oh, that's exciting.

Amie (23:24):
So yeah, I can't explain it. And the way that I feel, I was telling Dr. Swistun when I saw him at my sixth month, and I said, I just feel like myself. I feel like I'm in my own body. I don't remember the last time I felt so comfortable in my own skin. As imperfect as my breasts are, they're scarring now, and I don't care. I think it's amazing. When I play soccer, I'm able to be more aggressive and I feel faster. I feel younger because I'm not worried about these things getting in my way or me rupturing these breast implants that I have. I think it affects because of the way that it's placed in your body, it's affecting your shoulders, everything, the way that you move, the way that you breathe, I just feel like rejuvenated.

Monique Ramsey (24:20):
Now going to your point about scars. Okay, did he end up doing a lift on you?

Amie (24:26):
No.

Monique Ramsey (24:26):
Or what did you guys end up doing?

Amie (24:28):
He actually advised that I would likely not need a lift because as I said, I didn't really have much breast tissue before. And because of the way that I heal and scar, he said that my skin would be able to recover and I probably would not have any need for a lift. He was absolutely correct. I did not need one. I do not want one. Are there things that maybe could be done to make them more perfect? Probably, but I don't care. I'm happy.

Monique Ramsey (24:55):
Isn't it nice when things that bothered us, it doesn't even matter what the topic when we were younger, we're more nitpicky, we're more, I don't know. And yeah, so I'm 56 now and there's certain things that I would've really cared about at the time, and now I'm like, whatever. I have bigger fish to fry than to be worried about that. And that's normal. And I think it's having the permission to say, yeah, I wanted it when I was 21, and that's valid. And having the permission to say, I don't want it anymore. And that's valid too. And I think allowing yourself that grace and having a doctor who says, sure, there was no medical indication to put 'em in. So even if there's no, I mean Dr. Swistun, he's the best because he acknowledges that there's some group of people, whatever the percentage is, he acknowledges there are real symptoms systemic throughout your body that can happen. And it doesn't happen to everybody, but it can. And if it does, then yeah, by all means, if this will solve the problem, let's try it now. Is your husband surprised after how you your glow? Because like you say, you feel like you've got yourself back.

Amie (26:14):
He's amazing. He's supportive no matter what. And he said, if this is going to make you feel good, if this is going to help your health, then I'm on board for that. I just want to make sure it's what you want. And if it is, then okay, let's do it. So he's definitely surprised probably that I am as happy as I am. And not a lot of times you hear women say, oh, well I did it and I feel better, but sometimes I look at myself and I feel like I don't really look like a girl anymore. Or I'm not sure, maybe it wasn't the best idea, but I don't relate to that because I don't feel that way.

Monique Ramsey (26:55):
Yeah. Now, what would you tell somebody who's thinking about having their breast implants removed?

Amie (27:01):
Removed? I would say everybody's different. Trust yourself, trust your body. And that's the best advice I can give because everyone has their own journey. Everyone does their own research and it's all, at the end of the day, it's about how you're going to feel.

Monique Ramsey (27:17):
And yeah, I think your point about the medical community not even acknowledging for a long time. And so it's sort of interesting to me that when a group of women can rally around and make their voice heard and how that can help bring about change, I think that's huge. Isn't that amazing? And I have nothing against breast implants. And if some people want it, great, but if they're not making you feel good or if even that's a potential for you're not of a cause for you not feeling good, why not take them out and see?

Amie (28:00):
Is it worth it? Yeah.

Monique Ramsey (28:01):
Yeah. So are you left with any of the symptoms that you had before? So now you're seven or eight months out, is there anything still that's sort of going on?

Amie (28:11):
I would say the only lingering major thing would be the hives. And I can tell you it's not nearly as bad. I used to feel itchy all over all the time. It would be worse at certain times than others, but it was always there. I don't feel that now. I mean, I have a flare up here and there where I get a little bit of it, a little bit of itchiness, but I literally could scratch everywhere every single day. And that was the driving force behind all of my research, to be honest with you, because it was something that was affecting me every single day and I couldn't deal with it anymore.

Monique Ramsey (28:51):
Yeah, that's hard. Very debilitating to have something sort of seemingly not a big deal, but it's a huge deal because it's that aggravation and that extra itch. I had a compressed nerve or something and I was having this crazy itching on one arm and I'm like Googling intense itching right arm. And it came from a nerve thing because I was itching it to the point where it was so painful and I had no rash. I had to put ice on it and ice would calm it down. But it was like, what is this, this? It was so bizarre. And I went to a guy who could help adjust things and it went away and it was like, wow, in just day-to-day living. So I can completely relate to that feeling of agitation and pain with extreme ing. And so headaches, any headaches left?

Amie (29:50):
No headache. No headaches at all.

Monique Ramsey (29:51):
Okay. So one last question. What would you tell somebody who's researching a plastic surgeon? What are the questions you would ask or what are the things you would tell them to look for?

Amie (30:04):
I would say you have to find somebody who accepts BI as an issue and somebody that is willing to listen to you and understand your point of view and what you want. Because at the end of the day, it's about what you want. It's not about somebody making money or somebody imposing their idea of what a woman should be onto you. So you ask the questions, get the answers you want, and if you can't find a doctor that's going to give that to you, then you're not at the right place.

Monique Ramsey (30:37):
Okay. So tell me about your wardrobe now. Have you had to rethink anything?

Amie (30:41):
It's so funny. I am an athlete, as we mentioned a couple of times, and I live in sports bras and tank tops, and I just still live in sports bras and tank tops. I haven't had to change really anything. I used to have a lot of nice brass for certain different times, different events. Obviously I can't fit into those anymore. And now I just have some cute bralettes. But yeah, no, everything's more comfortable now. Everything sits better on my body, to be honest with you, flat is kind of cool. I'm not going to lie, I kind of like it.

Monique Ramsey (31:21):
Well, and like I said, in different parts in our lives we have different needs, different wants, different desires, and that's totally fine. And I think, again, giving yourself that permission to say, yeah, this is good for me. Now is, okay. So we'll put in our show notes, we'll put a link to Dr. Swistun's bio and we'll put a link also to his gallery of photos so you can go online and see other women who've what they look like before, what they look like after. And no two pairs of breasts are the same.

Amie (31:55):
This is true.

Monique Ramsey (31:55):
But it probably helps give you an idea. Okay, this is to mentally visualize what the after will be. Well, Amie, thank you for joining us, and again, thanks for sharing your story.

Amie (32:11):
It's been really nice. Thank you so much.

Announcer (32:13):
Take a screenshot of this podcast episode with your phone and show it at your consultation or appointment or mention the promo code PODCAST to receive $25 off any service or product of $50 or more at La Jolla Cosmetic. La Jolla Cosmetic is located just off the I-5 San Diego Freeway in the Ximed Building on the Scripps Memorial Hospital campus. To learn more, go to ljcsc.com or follow the team on Instagram @ljcsc. The La Jolla Cosmetic Podcast is a production of The Axis, theaxis.io.