Raylene Hollrah

From: Missouri, USA
Implants: Allergan textured implant
Implanted: 2008
Diagnosed: June 2013

Diagnostic Journey:

Diagnosed with stage II Breast Cancer at the age of 33. I chose to do a bi-lateral mastectomy with no reconstruction. I endured chemotherapy for 9 rounds.

Eighteen months after my bi-lateral construction, I decided to look at options for breast reconstruction.  This decision was not quick; it took me three visits to plastic surgeons before I decided to move forward.  I met with a plastic surgeon that was highly referred and I decided to move forward. We discussed the options and decided on the FDA-approved silicone textured cohesive breast implant, a newer and apparently the safest implant on the market.  I signed up to be a part of the CARE study, mandated by the FDA for reconstruction patients using the Allergan implant. It was a 10 year study and I could help other women going thru reconstruction with the information on my journey.

I had a full reconstruction done in 2008.

Life stayed “normal” for a while, but my journey was, and is, far from over. In June 2013,  I noticed that one of my implants was slightly swollen.  I took note of this, but as the days went on it exponentially became worse and within 4 days my right chest tripled in size.  After a CT scan at my local hospital, I was advised to go to my plastic surgeon’s office immediately.  Through testing and draining it was reported that there was no cancer but my surgeon suggested that the implants be removed as to not cause infection later down the road.

Of course, I wasn’t crazy about the idea but I knew, or at least thought I knew, that implants were a safe option and that I could just replace them.  After the implants were removed, everything was sent off just to make sure there was no more danger. Ten days later I went for a post-operative checkup were my doctor told me I had BIA-ALCL (Breast Implant Associated-Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma).  I was the 25th documented case in the US and 61st in the world. I continue my cancer follow-up at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

Raylene shares her experience with BIA-ALCL; watch her video.

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