A nurse wants to raise awareness of the risks associated with breast implants after being diagnosed with cancer for a second time.
Mum-of-three Marie Bloom, 50, opted for reconstruction surgery after undergoing a life-saving mastectomy – having been diagnosed with breast cancer 10 years ago, reports the Manchester Evening News.
The mum, from Droylsden, Manchester, had been in remission for five years and was making plans to move to Dubai when she noticed swelling around her implants in December.
Medical professionals carried out a series of tests, but she was told she was suffering from breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) – a very rare cancer of the immune system.
Very little is known about the uncommon form of cancer, but it is understood that white blood cells (lymphoma) grow in response to the body’s reaction to the breast implant.
Marie is now awaiting surgery to have her breast implants removed, and will then have to undergo further scans to check the cancer hasn’t spread to other parts of her body.
She says she never would have opted for the surgery if there was a chance it could cause cancer.
“After I was diagnosed with breast cancer I was advised to get a mastectomy and they offered me reconstruction surgery with implants which I decided to do. You are told the risks but it was more about infection. To the best of my memory I can never remember being told about BIA-ALCL.
“Since the initial surgery I had two further lots of implants due to different things going wrong. The first two implants were anatomical and a more natural shape.
“I went back because I was getting tight around it and they decided to take it out and used a different kind. This one was called a high profile implant and I got that around two years ago.”
In December last year, Marie noticed some swelling which had developed around her breast area and she was given the devastating news on Christmas Eve.
She said: “I was seen by a consultant and there was also a breast cancer nurse in there too which I knew from experience meant there was bad news coming. I was told malignant cells were found in the fluid. That means it has come from a cancer.
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“The consultant at this stage wasn’t sure if it was from my previous breast cancer or a new one or whether it was BA ALCL. Over the Christmas period I knew I had cancer but I didn’t know the extent.”
Scan results showed that the cancer was concentrated to the breast implant, and that the cancer was at stage one and Marie will now need to have surgery to get the implants removed.
“The doctors and nurses didn’t really know much about the condition because it’s so rare. I have done a lot of my own research and found support groups,” she said.
“I would like to have a procedure which is a form of microsurgery and means I wouldn’t have to have breast implants. But I’ve been told because of covid the wait for that surgery is around 18 months. I know my mental health is going to suffer.
“I would have never had the implants if I had known they could cause cancer. I don’t think anyone would take that risk.”
Marie says she wants to raise awareness of the risks attached to breast implants, even for women who have never had cancer before.
“I am a nurse knew with medical experience so I really when to push things but I’d be worried that less confident women would be turned away. I am one of the lucky ones because it has been picked up so early.
“If I can save one person’s life then I know something good has come out of my diagnosis,” she said.
For more information about BIA-ALCL click here.
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