The Trouble With Breast Implants

A growing number of women blame their surgeries for serious health problems.

- Julie Chadwick

NADINE ZILKE, an aesthetician based in Leduc, Alberta, had long been self­conscious about the size of her B­cup breasts, which she found too small. Simply taking her shirt off felt like an emotional ordeal. Having children had also stretched out the skin on her chest, and as a single mom trying to date, she had once been told by a man that no one would ever love her body the way it was. By the time she hit thirty, in 2007, Zilke decided to get sa­ line breast implants — and she became one of the estimated 20,000 Canadians who undergo the implantation procedure each year. Months after having the im­ plants inserted, she noticed her breasts looked loose. Instead of suggesting a breast lift, her surgeon decided to insert a set of much larger implants, and in 2008, Zilke’s original D­sized im­ plants were replaced with 34FF­sized saline cups.

Two months later, Zilke noticed a pain, a twinge that never went away, in her liver area. Over the next ten years, she de­veloped a number of unexplained health problems: fatigue, severe migraines, a swollen esophagus that made eating difficult, and wildly fluctuating body temperatures. Her brain fog, forgetfulness, and fatigue became so intense that she was scared to fall asleep — afraid that she would not wake up again. Working at her beauty clinic, where she applies eyelash extensions, became difficult. “I couldn’t understand why my hands didn’t want to work with my brain anymore,” Zilke says. “My speech was slurred. I would talk to [my clients], and two seconds later, I would forget what I was saying.”