SHALIMAR, FL — Imagine mold, growing inside your body, undetected for years.
That is exactly what a Florida woman says happened after breast-implant surgery.
Anne Ziegenhorn says she suffered from debilitating disorders, and doctors couldn’t figure it out, “I felt like that was it, I was gonna die, and the doctors were gonna let me die.”
She says it started in 2011, when she began suddenly gaining weight, losing her vision, and experiencing burning pain.
Anne also said that she began getting sores all over her body, and her thinking was getting cloudy.
Doctors though she had anything from Lupus, to arthritis, to thyroid problems.
Her correct diagnosis finally came from Dr. Susan Kolb, author of “The Naked Truth about Breast Implants.”
Dr. Kolb says she’s seen plenty of cases of women with mold in their saline implants, often caused by defective valves.
She says for safety, women need to get their implants replaced every eight to fifteen years.
Through Dr. Kolb, Anne has met other women suffering from the same frightening symptoms she faced.
They are now working together to educate women and doctors and force the FDA to listen.
Anne says, “I literally willed myself to live and willed myself to get this message out here This is my purpose, this is why I’m here.” And, “It’s not a story a multi-billion dollar industry wants to get out.”
WEAR asked the FDA if they had heard reports about illnesses from mold in saline implants or silicone shells.
Aspokesman said they had not, but the agency does say most women will eventually need to have implants replaced
