By Liana Jacob
MEET THE WOMAN who was BULLIED so severely for her ‘small breasts’ that she decided to get IMPLANTS that increased them by THREE CUP SIZES but claims that they made her feel SUICIDAL and left her covered in CYSTIC ACNE – and since having them EXPLANTED she has promised to put her health before her appearance and slams celebrities like KIM KARDASHIAN for setting a bad example to young girls.
Client success manager, Mollie Smith (29) from Wyoming, USA, grew up a late bloomer, ashamed of her smaller chest. Pressurised by the media and bullied by boys in school, she watched as other girls developed at faster rates and attracted the attention of the opposite sex, leaving her feeling invisible and unattractive.
The bullying from her classmates became so severe she would cry herself to sleep nightly. She remembers being called a ‘pirates dream’ and ‘carpenter’s special’. The abuse was so persistent, it led to her stuffing her bra with toilet tissue. One of her most painful memories involved a classmate approaching her from behind on her way to class, aggressively pulling on the back of her bra, resulting in the toilet paper falling to the floor in front of a hall full of her peers.
Her severe insecurity continued throughout her early twenties and she decided to make a permanent change; it was then she decided to spend £4,000 on a breast augmentation surgery, altering her cup size from a 32A to a 32C. After the procedure, her confidence soared; the attention from men and the feeling of being noticed more was something she had never experienced, and it became addictive for her.
The excitement and enjoyment of her breast implants was short-lived. A year after her surgery, she began experiencing a myriad of unexplained symptoms: fatigue, extreme depression and anxiety, brain fog, full body hives, and severe cystic acne.
All tests came back normal, leaving her feeling crazy, it was around this time when her depression became so overpowering that she was experiencing panic attacks and dark suicidal thoughts, which led to a visit to a psychiatrist who diagnosed her with bipolar disorder. At this point she was on various medications including antidepressants, mood stabilisers, medicine for cystic acne to manage her unexplained symptoms.
Around this time, she had met her now boyfriend, Zaz (31), who supported her through everything. With his help, she did extensive research and stumbled upon a YouTube video of an influencer called Karissa Pukas, who described the symptoms she had from breast implant illness that matched hers.
Through a friend’s recommendation, she joined a Facebook group called Breast Implant Illness and Healing. With the support of other women, she decided to remove her implants, finally learning to love herself for who she is. Despite the surgery costing £2,200, she booked an appointment and had them removed in June 2019. Before the explant surgery, her breasts had swelled up to 32DD.
“I started stuffing my bra in high-school in hopes that I could at least be invisible to boys who would bully me,” Mollie said.
“It worked for a while until one day, a boy ran up to me from behind and snapped the back of my bra and all the stuffing fell to the floor. I hated my body for being one of the reasons I couldn’t fit in.
“I think I would have told you before I got implants that I wasn’t influenced by celebrities and the media, but now I know that subconsciously I was.
“Stars, especially those like the Kardashians and Jenners, really market the hell out of unrealistic body standards.
“Jameela Jamil recently mentioned that stars like this are ‘selling women self-consciousness’; that really resonated with me and I couldn’t agree more.
“I decided to take a stand and change my own Instagram from a place to post pictures where I try to portray some perfect life into a space for speaking my truth and showing my journey with Breast Implant Illness, no matter how ugly it got. I feel a responsibility to show my reality and help others going through a similar experience.
“Now that I look back at the timeline, I can see that the symptoms of breast implant illness began early on after my surgery. The symptoms were truly so slow and insidious that I forgot what feeling healthy was like.
“This is what makes breast implant illness so hard to detect, which is what I suspect makes it so easy for many doctors and plastic surgeons to dismiss so easily.
“I even had one plastic surgeon urge me against explanting and that my symptoms could be due to ‘the aging process’ – I’m 29-years-old, for God’s sake.”
A mere hour post-surgery, she felt an instant relief and now says she wants to encourage other women to love their bodies the way they are.
Mollie says now she feels beautiful in her own skin and this has been helped by her boyfriend who has always accepted her for who she is.
“I met Zaz, my boyfriend in February 2019, when I already had my implants. He saw me at the height of my symptoms – especially the acne and suicidal thoughts,” she said.
“He is the one who initially brought up the worries about my memory loss – he was so concerned he thought I showed signs of early onset dementia. It was terrifying.
“The hardest part was feeling like my body was breaking down while every single medical professional I visited told me I did, in fact, look extremely ill, but that my tests were normal and there wasn’t anything they could do.
“The day I discovered the video by Karissa Pukas and binge-read the stories of the other women in the Breast Implant Illness Facebook group was the day I decided to take my life back. I finally could put a name to how I had been feeling and I had other women who had my back.
“My gut told me my implants were killing me; I decided then and there that my health would take priority over my appearance.
“Zaz has truly helped me feel beautiful in my own skin; he accepts me for who I am. As soon as I told him about BII, he supported me fully and wanted nothing more than for me to get the implants out and feel healthy again.
“After my explant, all my symptoms are lifting. I plan on tapering off all my medications. My friends and family are telling me I have life back in my eyes and face again.
“It saddens me that there is a billion-dollar industry built upon placing toxic bags into women’s bodies.
“It devastates me that women are not warned of the true risks. If I would have known about BII, I would have never implanted in the first place.
“I made a promise to myself that I will continue sharing my story to urge women considering implants to reconsider and to inform women who may be suffering from similar symptoms.
“The first hug with my boyfriend on the day after my explant surgery was the most beautiful experience. There were no longer two objects between us. He looked me in the eyes and said, ‘I feel like I’m seeing the real you for the first time’ – and he was right.”
For more information visit: https://www.instagram.com/extraguacamollie/
