My name is Tia, and I feel my story should be told. I had Essure done in December of 2008. I was a single mother of four at the time. My youngest was 2 months old. I made it clear to my doctor that I was done having children. He recommended this ‘new, great procedure’. He told me that Essure was my best bet. Of course, I wanted all the options I had laid out for me, so I asked about the tubal. The doctor told me this horrifying description of a tubal. He literally said, ‘We basically put a red hot poker in there and hope we don’t hit something important.’ I am not lying, this is very true. Of course, I was terrified of the tubal after he said that. He really, really PUSHED the Essure procedure on me. He NEVER said anything about ANY potentially harmful sideffects. Despite my apprehension at using a ‘new’ procedure, I knew there was no way I could risk having another baby. I had as much as I could handle. The procedure itself was the most horrible and painful experience of my life. I am strong woman, and I pride myself on it. But this, this was absolutely agony. They only thing given to me was a Valium about an hour and a half before the procedure, which was NOT helpful. I cried during the entire thing! It hurt so bad, I wanted to die. There were nurses holding my hands on either side of me, trying to calm me, telling me how sorry they were. I hurt for a few days afterwards. Then, they gave me a card to keep, explaining that there were metals in my body, including Nickel. No one told me about the Nickel until after it was inside me. No allergy test was ever mentioned to me, before or after. I planned on having the 3 month check up, but Medicaid would not pay for it. Of course, I had no way of paying. I could barely keep my babies fed. So, no one ever checked the coils. I thought everything was fine, no more pregnancies. I fell in love, got married to a wonderful man, and got my kids out of public housing. I really thought that after the mistakes I made, the struggles I had gone through, I was finally getting to see some relief in sight. Then, my teeth started to go bad. Despite the brushing, flossing, etc… So, I thought maybe it was due to having 4 kids in 5 years. I started getting horrible headaches, thought they were due to something small like stress, or just too overwhelmed. I started having problems with my stomach. I have been a ‘big’ girl pretty much all my life. I usually hovered around 215-220 lbs. All of a sudden I started to lose weight. I stopped having an appetite. I lost 70 or so pounds in around 6 or so months. Yes, a lot of women would have been thrilled, but I didn’t feel right. My body didn’t feel like mine anymore. Now, I only eat once a day because I force myself. I hae to in order to live, but I don’t want to eat.. I have to use the bathroom all of the time. I have a nervous stomach now. If I get upset or anxious I have to hurriedly find a bathroom. There are all kinds of things I have to stop and consider before I make plans to go anywhere or do anything. I have to map out road trips to make sure I have plenty of bathroom breaks. I have false teeth at 31 years old. I can’t go out to eat with family and friends anymore. Even if I wanted to eat, I can’t taste my food or chew it very well with my false teeth in, so public eating it out. I feel fatigued and just icky all the time. I can’t enjoy spending time with my kids like I used to. I keep having bouts of sickness that last for days. Violent nausea and vomting that just goes on and on and makes me feel like dying would be so much better than this. When it happens I cannot even hold water down. I don’t have medical insurance. We are a family of 6 on a very tight budget. I was waiting on my youngest child to start school so that I could get a job and we could finally try for our family’s dream, a house of our own. But, I can’t hold a job. I am weak now, and have to go the bathroom every 15-20 minutes. I start being violently ill with no warning. And due to the medical bills from my er visits that never solved a thing, we are unable to get a house for our kids. Until I read about the Essure Problems on Facebook, nothing had ever been linked to my medical problems. None of the doctors I saw could figure it out. I did see a docor for a while that I paid out of pocket, and he diagnosed me with Anorexia. I weigh 160 lbs now, and it scares me. We don’t know how much more weight I will lose, because we don’t know why I am losing it. I thought I was crazy, that I was losing my mind, until I found the E-sisters. I started crying when I began to read some of their stories. It isn’t just me. I am not crazy, there IS something seriously wrong. Some doctors thought that my problems were in my head, so to speak. I was beginning to think that too, but not now. Now I know what’s wrong. It can’t be coincidence. All of the tests I have been given came back normal. But, in all these years since my Essure procedure, no one has checked those coils. No one has even looked there. I am truly scared that when I am able to get insurance and tell a doctor what I know is the problem, they are going to find that my coils are hitting things that they shouldn’t, or God only knows what. I’m scared that I can’t do things with my kids. The most important things in this world to me are my kids. They are going to be the culmination of my life’s work. I graduated high school, but stopped there. I made stupid mistakes, had a lot of kids when I didn’t have them means to support them. But, I made up my mind long ago that I would do whatever I had to to make sure they succeed in life. And I cannot do that with my current health. I want to go to all the school functions, help with all the science projects and student council elections, etc… But I can’t. Not all of it. I feel like my battery is blinking on low. All I want is to be healthy and take care of my family. The people that marketed Essure need to be held accountable. It isn’t fair that they are sitting there making money off our pain and misery. They are benefitting from my kids’ missing their fun, happy mom. I worry endlessly that this is going to be my life from now on, vomiting blood and migraines from hell and breaking out in a drenched sweat for no reason. It’s reprehensible that people are making money off of others misery. I want justice. For me, for my husband who has to carry the whole load when I am unable to get out off bed. For my kids who just want to play with their mother without worrying that she is gonna pass out. Yes, I get dizzy and lightheaded EVERY TIME I bend over and stand back up. Something has to be done. No one should have to go through this. I may be poor, I may not have a college education. But, I do know when a crock is a crock. And I refuse to sit here idly while these people continue to put women’s health and their children’s happiness at stake. My story needs told. Thank you.