'I feel free': An Instagram influencer on having her "toxic" breast implants removed.

Social media star Sia Cooper is well-known for her Instagram profile boasting 1.2 million followers (you have 110% seen her feed-good comments on the photos of every celebrity you follow) and her mega-successful blog, Diary of a Fit Mommy.

In recent months, the 29-year-old fitness blogger has been open about her desire to have her breast implants removed, holding them responsible for her extreme fatigue, exhaustion, hair loss and weight gain.

Sia had her implants removed last week and this week shared a confronting photo of herself post-op, holding up her silicon implants.

 

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WHY I CHOSE TO REMOVE MY IMPLANTS + ONE WEEK POST-EXPLANT UPDATE on the blog✨Click the link in my bio for the full update + pictures. I can’t believe it’s been one week, y’all. This past week, I’ve been sore, but have felt incredible. More-so than the last few years. I went from being practically bedridden to having more energy to live. Chest pain is GONE. Shortness of breath is GONE. Bad body odor is GONE. Inflammation is rapidly decreasing. I feel mentally more clear, but still waiting for more on this. Acne is clearing up. I have color back in my face again. My weight is finally budging for the first time in MONTHS. I’m still tired, but I am guessing it’s my body healing from the surgery. My husband said I haven’t been this talkative in months and I credit that to me not being so anxious and depressed anymore. The toxicity of the implants themselves (ingredients listed in my blog post) + my body trying to fight the foreign objects took a toll on me this year which lead me to remove them. I ate healthy, exercises regularly, but nothing would help me. I saw so many doctors and took so many tests for no answers. I felt like such a hypocrite and fraud because I preached natural, healthy, and organic everyday and yet here I was sick from silicone and a bad choice I made 7 years ago. It got to the point where I couldn’t workout anymore. I was that sick. I felt like an 80 year old when I was only 29. I feel freer than I have in so long. I thought I would cry seeing my new breasts, but I haven’t. It feels amazing to be smaller again and they fit my body. I never thought I would say this, but I love my new (old) self. Crazy that it took me all of this running around to get back to this point. You truly don’t appreciate your health until it’s been compromised. While I’m still healing, I’ll be taking it easy. I still can’t lift anything (including my kids ????) until one month post op. My incisions are in my fold so you cannot see them (great work @jchunmd1). It looks like I never had implants to begin with! Thank you to all who supported me in this emotional journey. I will post another update at one month post op which will be in a few weeks. ????

A post shared by SIA (@diaryofafitmommyofficial) on Dec 11, 2018 at 7:31am PST

“This past week, I’ve been sore, but have felt incredible,” she captioned the photo.

“I feel freer than I have in so long. I thought I would cry seeing my new breasts, but I haven’t. It feels amazing to be smaller again and they fit my body. I never thought I would say this, but I love my new (old) self. Crazy that it took me all of this running around to get back to this point. You truly don’t appreciate your health until it’s been compromised.”

In another post, Sia said she has already noticed a different since her implants – which weighed almost a kilogram – were removed including improvements in breathing and less inflammation.

 

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A post shared by SIA (@diaryofafitmommyofficial) on Dec 5, 2018 at 8:11am PST

 

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Update: yesterday I had my first post op visit since my explant. The drains didn’t get to come out just yet so we are going to see Doctor Chun again today to see if they are ready. The purpose for the drains is to prevent a hematoma or seratoma in my breasts and to aid in healing. I saw my breasts and showered last night for the first time. I didn’t cry like I thought I would. It was something I was so afraid of! Doctor Chun told me that the worst they’ll look like is at 24 hours post op and he was amazed at how much better they turned out since I denied a lift. I got my implants back to me in a bag which was interesting. He took my hands and told me to feel how heavy the bag was and wow.. I didn’t realize I was carrying so much weight on my chest, placing stress over my heart and lungs for the past 7 years. We weighed the implants and they were two pounds! So far I’ve noticed: 1. I can breathe deeper 2. I feel lighter 3. My face and skin actually produces oil again-used to be so dry. 4. I have less inflammation everywhere. I have a few other improvements that I’m noticing but i would like to wait until I’m at least 1 month post op or so before I claim them just to make sure. I’m just so happy to feel better. I honestly feel younger. They say implants age you, but I had no idea. The fatigue, joint pain, hairloss, and inflammation became too much for me and I had to make a change. Over the next few weeks they say my breasts will change and “fluff” out. I look forward to that and getting my health back to where it needs to be. It was hard preaching health when I wasn’t feeling very healthy so this had to happen for me. Thank you again for the support guys. It was a big step for me. I’m looking forward to improving and getting better. #breastimplants #breastimplantillness #bii #plasticsurgery #cosmeticsurgery

A post shared by SIA (@diaryofafitmommyofficial) on Dec 7, 2018 at 7:43am PST

Speaking to Mamamia in September, Sia said she was encouraged to have her breast augmentation at the age of 21 by her ex-husband but as she grew older, the initial self-confidence boost she felt “turned into another self-esteem blow”.

“As the years went on, I realised that after having my breasts done, I would pick apart NEW areas on my body that I felt ‘needed work’ such as my nose, butt, lips, etc. The augmentation is the only thing I’ve had done. I still feel like plastic surgery makes you crave more and can be addictive.

“I loved my breasts after the augmentation, but it had me picking myself apart in other areas and body dysmorphia was already something I struggled with since my early teen years.”

Sia’s body changed after her two children, and thanks to the lessons she learned as a mother, surrounding herself with people who build her up and her “incredibly supportive” second husband, Sia learned to love it just the way it was.

“My children saw me in this natural light that nobody else does … They look up to me as if I’m the best thing ever. I had to realise this and practice a sort of mantra I share with my kids and others: ‘You’re beautiful from the inside out’. It is so important to focus on how your body works rather than how you think it looks.

“Kids do not spend minutes or hours looking in a mirror wishing they appeared differently. They are happy as they are! We need to be more like this!

“My nose was something I struggled with for most of my life. When I saw my daughter had MY nose, I stopped considering rhinoplasty. Why would I want to change something that resembled my daughter?”

The Food and Drug Administration in the United States has agreed to a public meeting of medical advisors in 2019 to discuss the safety of silicone breast implants.

In the largest study of long-term safety outcomes for patients with breast implants, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found that silicone implants are associated with some rare diseases, autoimmune disorders and other conditions, although a causative relationship has not been established.