PIP implant support group

[RainbowSheep]

www.facebook.com/groups/121178307922642/?notif_t=group_activity Hi, sorry I know this is not AIBU but I know this section has high traffic and I have found this group a real lifeline and I want to share it with others in my situation

[HomeBodMumster]

AngryBeaver, thanks for posting and sorry I haven't been back since. Only just seen your post today.
Has anything changed with your situation? It is an awful situation for all of us with PIPs but even harder for you being in a different country now..
I wish some people weren't so judging and nasty about the position we find ourselves in, the reasons women AND men chose to alter themselves through surgery are far more complex than some people understand.
Anyhow, that aside, I have researched it quite a lot in few months, since I found out in Jan that I have them too. Been terrified and quite low about it but feeling much more positive now I've had an MRI scan and found they are intact. Still want rid but trying to find best way to do this after recent govt select committee reports was published might change things with the private clinics maybe:

www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/health-committee/news/12-03-22-pipreport/

Which clinic did you use? Many are now offering MRI in the first instance. Many are now replacing for free if there is a rupture I believe. I was advised by the GP to sit tight for a few weeks before agreeing to pay the clinic the £2500 for the replacement surgery as pressure on the clinics is growing and advice keeps changing....maybe they'll bow under pressure.
There's also the possibility of legal action - i can give you some info on this as looked into it a bit. Just because you're in a different country wouldn't exclude you from this option..
Let me know how you've got on in recent weeks.
If anyone else has any other info, please post!

[Kagriff]

The thing to remember about these implants is that the British government in the form of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved these implants for use in the UK. And surely the UK government would then have made money off the imports of these implants. I found a website called TreatmentAdvisor which had some useful information on PIP implants - also I think they've got some really good surgeons on there who can give advice.

[AngryBeaver]

Yes,HomeBod.I agree,fb is too public and after scanning the posts,I don't feel I would have much in commom with 90% of the posters (hun,luv yas )
Although,let me tell you,I.am.terrified.And could do with talking.
I found out that I have pips,and along with the financial implications (we are broke) there is also the fact that I live on the other side of the world (had it done in a Liverpool clinic in 2004).
I see today the clinic is offering removal and replacements for £2995. We could possibly scrape that together.Then there is the cost of the airfare/accomodation. I wonder if they would stump up for that. Probably not.
Even if I could get there,I have 3 kids of 5 and under,the youngest is very clingy and it would distress both of us to be parted for probably a week plus.
Dh has just started a new job and couldn't take time off. How would I manage getting back when I can't lift anything etc The list goes on

I was thinking of ringing them and proposing that I pay them their 3 thou,and they make up the difference to a clinic of their choosing in NZ. Although I don't know if I have a leg to stand on with that.It's more expensive here,too.
I think between $12-14,000

I actually shaking as I write this.I just want the damn things out of me

[HomeBodMumster]

Is there any PIP group live on here though? Facebook is too public a forum for some people but still want support..? Anyone know? There must be quite a few women here who have them and want to discuss.

Oh, and interesting what a reaction this gets from some people - it's upsetting that so many people feel so judgemental about it. Certainly makes you wonder why...

[Hippymum89]

A few points....
I have PIP implants,
I am a nurse who coincidentally works on a breast/ gynae NHS ward.
I am having them removed on the NHS, I have seen first hand (in theatre) the mess these implants make of a woman's body (pus both around and inside the implant which wasn't even ruptured)
These implants were approved by the MHRA, so how is any private clinic to blame?

[perceptionreality]

I think you're right rabbitstew. The government has no way to make the companies take responsibility for their mistakes.

[rabbitstew]

I think the problem with the small private providers is that rather than bear the cost of replacing all the implants they have inserted, they can just go into liquidation, thus evading all responsibility, and the surgeons can set up elsewhere. That's the big difference between private enterprise and state run concerns... one can find all sorts of ways to evade all responsibility and the other is always left on the hook. The taxpayer always ends up carrying the can one way or the other. Or hadn't anyone noticed?

[perceptionreality]

The clinics are not replacing them because they are money-grabbing rip off merchants who care not one iota for the well being of their patients. I went for a consultation at one of the well known ones and they tried to get me to book in for an operation the same week! They do not care about what they are doing and if there is a problem afterwards they don't want to know.

Their behaviour is disgusting - I have heard lots of stories of people who had other problems following surgery and could not see their original surgeon and were then fobbed off.

[SardineQueen]

I have the same question as nagoo. Surely the private clinics should bear the cost - whoever put them in should take them out / replace them for free.

[Nagoo]

Can anyone explain why the clinics that put them in are not replacing them?

[ledkr]

I have implants for re construction after cancer,they have been in 15 yrs with no probs. I have no problem with anyone having them for cosmetic reasons as if you never consider it how can you ever have an idea of how women feel when they make that choice?
loopsy what a ridiculous statement to make. I notice you havent come back to defend your comment. Look within yourself to see why it bothers you so much.

[needanewname]

Agreed if it ruptures we are talking about a life and it should be removed on the nhs, however of someone wants it removed as a precaution I still don't think it should be done in the nhs it is down to the clinic

[perceptionreality]

Modern implants should not rupture at all - that is what you are told at any consultation these days for a breast aug.

The PIP implants are made of stuff that is not supposed to be put inside people's bodies. If the clinics won't remove them, the NHS should of course.

These clinics are disgusting. I did not have my surgery with any of them because when I went for a consultation at one of them I got the distinct impression that they did not care much about what they were doing and just wanted you booked in and to get your money. They also employ surgeons who often don't live in the UK and many are not even plastic surgeons, they are 'cosmetic surgeons'.

[ScottOfTheArseAntics]

If a PIP implant is leaking in to your body today then you should have that implant removed immediately and if that can't happen privately it should happen on the NHS. This is a human life we are talking about. I read a post yesterday from someone who is having their leaking PIP implant removed on Monday. So this is happening and there is an immediate clinical need. Poster didn't say if it was private or NHS but either way it needs to be dealt with and I personally would have no objection to the NHS doing this.

[needanewname]

Dani. Whilst I have every sympathy for you and can only imagine how worried you are right now I don't believe he nhs should pick up the bill for the removal.

The clinic should pay. End of.

Though I do I course realise its not that simple

I hope everything. Is resolved for you

[EdithWeston]

Those who had them on NHS can have them removed on NHS.

Those who went privately would have (or rather should have) been warned that all implants carry the risk of rupture over time, and I hope would have considered then what they would be doing for long term aftercare, including paying for replacements. Now is the time to be putting that plan into action.

One way ahead would be to sue the provider - you would need to show that the clinic or individual surgeon had been at fault in knowingly using an inappropriate implant. I don't think the manufacturer can be sued as they've already folded. If the clinic no longer exists, or goes bust because of other claims, then this doesn't look promising, though.

I read somewhere that even if NHS might remove implants, they won't be replacing them. So depending on the individual's desired end result, paying for private removal and replacement might be the best way if that can be done together, as it minimises the health risks which no doubt is important.

[perceptionreality]

Judgmental indeed........people seem to have a real bee in their bonnet about anyone who has plastic surgery. I've had breast implants (not PIP) and when I went for consultation the main risk presented was capsular contracture (which is when your body rejects the implant). The risk of rupture was presented as almost nil.

[bringmesunshine2009]

One rule for breasts, another for lungs tummies and hearts?

No help for selfish vain breast enhancers (there is of course no medical need for reconstructive surgery following mastectomy - you won't die from not having it done)

But get out the gastric bypass and heart ops for the obese.

Give away free lung transplants to smokers.

Refuse maternity care because gawdammit you chose to get pregnant and contraception exists you know.

Pass out a free liver to the drinkers.

As for private treatment gone wrong... Only aesthetics? What about private abortion, if you have a serious reaction to the medical termination should the ambulance deliver you back to the private clinic with no critical care?

For fucks sake, some of the responses on here are so judgemental of those who have had surgery it makes me sick. If I had something in my body there was a question over,I would be very worried. Have some sodding empathy.

[BrigitBigKnickers]

I heard on the news this morning that the NHS will replace any implants originally provided by the NHS and will remove but not replace any that were done privately.

[perceptionreality]

I agree with Dani's post. And it has now been established that PIP implants have a much higher rupture rate - they do represent a real risk, the stuff they are made of is not suitable to be put inside bodies! A lot of women have had theirs rupture even before this story became high profile in the news.

And yes, why is it ok for the NHS to treat people with smoking and alcohol related illnesses but not someone who paid money in good faith for what they honestly believed was a responsibly undertaken procedure?

[sleeplessinseatle]

avenged my understanding is that Silicone is offered more often, because the result is more like a real breast. So for women who have had a mastectomy, even though a liquid implant may be used during tissue expansion stage, this is often removed and replaced with a silicone implant.

The NHS choices website has information about this, and the NHS uses silicone implants a lot.

[sailorsgal]

I see what you mean. Was just trying to show an example how money is wasted through the NHS. Smoking related diseases, obesity are better examples.