When I sit down with patients after explant surgery, the conversations are often raw, honest, and deeply human. This interview with Casey Araujo is one of those conversations — and clearly it resonated. After being shared on YouTube, Casey's story has now been viewed over 800,000 times, striking a chord with women around the world navigating similar questions about breast implants, health, and identity.

Casey isn't a celebrity. She isn't a clinician. She's a young woman who trusted her instincts, listened to her body, and chose her health — even when the path wasn't obvious or easy.

What follows is a distilled version of our conversation: her journey into implants, the slow onset of symptoms, the emotional and physical toll, and ultimately, her decision to explant and reclaim her life.

Meeting Casey

I'm Dr. Robert Whitfield, and in this interview I spoke with Casey not as a "case," but as a person — someone who had spent years trying to understand why her body felt inflamed, exhausted, and unfamiliar.

Casey had saline implants placed under the muscle in 2016, when she was just 23 years old. Like many young women, she didn't do extensive research at the time. She wanted fuller breasts, more balance with her hips, and a body that felt more "womanly." At 5' lean and athletic — about 118–120 pounds and a size 0–2 — implants felt like the simplest solution.

What she didn't expect was how quickly everything would change.

When the Body Starts Saying "No"

Within six months of her augmentation, Casey experienced something unusual:

• Rapid 30-pound weight gain
• Widespread inflammation
• Rashes, dry skin, and dry mouth
• Chronic fatigue
• Swollen lymph nodes, especially in the neck and armpits
• Burning and nerve-type pain radiating from the breast toward the axilla
• Increasing anxiety and depression

For someone who had always struggled to gain weight, the sudden change was shocking. Even more unsettling was the feeling she described over and over again:

"I felt like I was living in someone else's body."

Like many patients, she assumed it was hormonal, stress-related, or just part of getting older. She saw GI specialists, adjusted her diet, eliminated gluten and dairy, stayed active — and still, the inflammation wouldn't budge.

Searching for Answers (and Hiding the Struggle)

As the years passed, Casey became adept at hiding how unwell she felt. On social media, she smiled. In real life, she struggled to get out of bed. Eventually, she began missing work regularly due to exhaustion.

By her late 20s, she found herself asking a terrifying question:

"Is this just how my life is going to be?"

Casey has celiac disease, an autoimmune condition diagnosed in high school — something that, in hindsight, mattered more than she realized. She spent two years deep in research, working with functional medicine practitioners, undergoing extensive testing, trying IV therapy, peptides, supplements, nutrition protocols — all while planning a wedding and appearing "fine" on the outside.

It was during this period that she first encountered the term breast implant illness (BII).

The Turning Point: A Rupture in Spain

Sometimes the body forces the issue.

While traveling in Spain, Casey woke up one morning to find her left breast completely deflated — a saline implant rupture. She remembers crying, not just from shock, but from a sudden clarity:

"Maybe this is a sign."

Back home, panicked and unprepared, she had the implant replaced. Instead of improving, her health worsened dramatically:

• Severe muscle and nerve pain
• Numbness in the arms and nipples
• Chest pressure and shortness of breath
• Even greater inflammation than before

That moment — the rupture followed by a difficult replacement recovery — became her line in the sand.

---

<a href="/products/free-inflammation-support-guide">Download Your Free Inflammation Support Guide →</a>

Learn evidence-based strategies to reduce inflammation and support your body before and after explant surgery.

---

Choosing Explant for Health, Not Aesthetics

Within months, Casey scheduled a consultation with me. By the time we spoke, she had already done an extraordinary amount of work — gut testing, genetics, hormones, food sensitivities, mold exposure. In many ways, she had already run her own version of what we now call the SHARP Method.

And yet, despite doing "everything right," her inflammation markers remained high.

What stood out most wasn't just her data — it was her mindset.

Casey was clear:

• She wanted the implants out
• She prioritized health over appearance
• She wasn't fixated on breast size, cleavage, or perfection
• She and her husband were planning to conceive
• She chose explant only, no lift, no fat transfer — trusting that her body could heal first, and aesthetics could be addressed later if needed

Preparing the Nervous System for Surgery

One of the most powerful parts of Casey's story — and the reason it resonates with so many women — is how intentionally she prepared mentally and emotionally for explant.

For seven months leading up to surgery, she focused on:

• Anti-inflammatory nutrition
• Daily meditation and breathwork
• Pilates and gentle movement
• Time in nature
• Somatic body awareness
• Energy work (Reiki, Theta healing)

Her favorite tools included apps like Calm, Headspace, and Open, as well as books on healing mindset and nervous-system regulation.

On surgery day, she did something I've rarely seen in nearly three decades of operating:

She arrived calm.

No panic. No tears. Just intention.

Recovery: Kindness Over Criticism

When Casey saw her chest post-explant, she was honest:

It was different. Smaller. Softer. A little deflated.

But instead of spiraling, she chose compassion.

She spoke kindly to her body. She avoided toxic online forums. She leaned on her husband, family, and close friends. And slowly, something shifted.

Her energy returned. Her mood stabilized. Her joy resurfaced.

"I feel like I got my quality of life back."

Others noticed too — even strangers online commented that she looked lighter, brighter, more at peace.

Why Casey's Story Matters

Casey's experience highlights several truths I see every day:

• Breast implant illness often presents as system-wide chronic inflammation
• Young, otherwise healthy women can be profoundly affected
• Surgery alone isn't the answer — mindset, biology, and support matter
• Healing is not just physical; it's psychological and emotional

Most importantly, her story reminds women that choosing explant is not about "giving something up."

It's about coming home to yourself.

Where Casey Is Now

Today, Casey is in her early 30s — healthier, more grounded, and hopeful. She continues to share her journey publicly to support other women navigating similar decisions.

You can follow her on Instagram at @casey.araujo, where she openly discusses wellness, mindset, and life after explant.

Final Thoughts

Casey's interview wasn't planned to go viral. It simply told the truth.

And sometimes, that's what people are waiting to hear.

If you're a woman questioning your health, your implants, or your intuition — know this: you're not alone, and your body's signals matter.

As Casey showed us, listening can change everything.