‘We helped cure cancer. We did it.’
By Raylene Hollrah, American Family Insurance Agency Owner
Working hard, in all areas of life, is something I take pride in.
As an American Family Insurance agency owner with offices in Hermann and Warrenton, Mo., I focus on three important things: My family, my business and my advocacy work on behalf of my nonprofit, Just Call Me Ray.
I put in 60 to 70 hours a week, altogether, between all my commitments. I call my advocacy work my part-time gig. It’s the one that doesn’t pay me but it’s very much worth my time.
That part-time gig funds, educates and advocates for patients affected by breast implant associated-anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL), a cancer linked to breast implants. It’s a cause I’m dedicated to and it’s been quite a journey in my life.
After a breast cancer diagnosis in 2007, when I was 33, I chose to have a bilateral mastectomy without reconstruction, followed by chemotherapy. About 18 months later, I had a full reconstruction, using FDA-approved silicone textured cohesive breast implants, made by Allergan and touted as the safest on the market.
But in 2013, I was diagnosed with lymphoma, caused by the breast implants.
I was diagnosed on a Friday, and I flew out the very next day to MD Anderson in Houston, Texas. The next five months were spent in Texas, removing this man-made cancer from my body.
I was the 25th documented case of BIA-ALCL in the United States and the 61st case in the world.
For five months, I underwent treatment with Dr. Mark Clemens, an expert in treatment of BIA-ALCL at MD Anderson. After that experience, I was committed to my advocacy — not only detection and research into breast cancer, but the recall of textured implants.
I spoke internationally at conferences and with news organizations about BIA-ALCL. I testified seven times at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. And I opened an insurance agency in 2010, followed by a second office in 2016. My husband, Jayson, and I were also busy raising our children, Allyson and Ryan.
One thing you should know: I’m not anti-implant. I’m pro-informed patient. I was working so hard to get black-box warnings — the kind of thing you see on cigarettes — onto the paperwork and materials that patients receiving these implants would see. I also wanted to increase awareness of this cancer in the medical community. I was speaking out, but nothing was happening.
But then, in July 2019, the Today Show called. My widely-seen interview aired shortly after.
Suddenly, I had a lot of attention. I was called back for more testimony at the FDA, and I appeared for news interviews and conferences in Rome, Dallas and San Diego.
The good news started rolling in.
Two days after that national interview aired on Today, on July 24, 2019, I learned that the Allergan implants that had caused my cancer were recalled.
And just a few weeks ago, I learned that black-box warnings had been approved for those textured breast implants still in use.
When Dr. Clemens called to tell me that the Allergan implants were finally being pulled from the market, he said, “Raylene. We helped cure cancer. We did it.”
My first thought was, “It’s done! We made it!”
But here I am, still doing it. There are still textured implants out there without patients’ understanding of the risks. Mitigating risks is what I do in both areas of my life — insurance and advocacy. I’ve learned that bad things happen, but good things can come from them.
