As if you needed another reason to love New York!
“I want to party and give it all up,” sang Tiffany Pollard from a post-op hospital bed during Monday’s Botched season premiere. Still loopy from breast implant removal surgery, the reality star thanked Dr. Terry Dubrow for a job well done. “You did not make me a part of the itty bitty titty committee,” she rhymed, sporting a satisfied smile. “I still feel a little bit of Dolly Parton in my blood.” Wink-wink.
“Your makeup’s still intact,” one physician noted from nearby.
“Lord have mercy!” Pollard cried. “I’m ready to go clubbing!”
The original HBIC returned to the Botched office this week with boatloads of signature spunk and something called BII, an acronym whose meaning proves much less desirable than that of her iconic namesake.
BII stands for Breast Implant Illness, a possible complication of augmentation surgery that impacts thousands of patients worldwide. “The most rapidly expanding part of my practice is taking breast implants out for patients who think they may have Breast Implant Illness,” revealed Dr. Dubrow, who recognized symptoms of the illness in Pollard and ultimately performed that same procedure on her mid-way through this week’s episode.
As Dubrow acknowledged during an initial “reunion” meeting with Tiffany, the Internet has provided space for people suffering from BII to share their experiences, but receiving a formal diagnosis is still uncommon (largely due to lack of adequate research).
So, even though the TV personality consulted a handful of medical professionals about her dizziness, stomach issues and trouble concentrating before turning to the Botched duo, “a lot of the doctors just blew me off and made it seem like they just thought, ‘Hey, you’re having an anxiety attack,'” she recalled.
But Pollard knew she wasn’t getting the whole story.
“I believe my breast implants are actually making me sick,” she said before sitting down with Drs. Dubrow and Paul Nassif for a second time. Four years ago, Nassif—a rhinoplasty specialist—gave Tiffany a new nose, while Dr. “Messiah of Breasts” Dubrow touched up her implants.
“He did a perfect job, but when I currently look at my breasts now, they literally remind me of Snoopy’s ears on my chest,” cracked the I Love New York star, who underwent the first of several augmentation procedures 13 years ago. Speaking more seriously, she told the Botched cameras, “I’m starting to feel nervous, like maybe breast implants and myself don’t mix.”
That was a pretty harrowing possibility for the Head Bitch In Charge, who felt her chest size (much like her dynamic personality) had become an integral asset to her personal brand.
“Oh my gosh, taking out the implants is so scary for me because I’m losing an energy,” Pollard explained, wondering aloud if going “organic” and remaining HBIC were mutually exclusive scenarios.
Luckily, she didn’t have to wonder about that for too long. Surgery with Dr. Dubrow was a success on all fronts, and twelve weeks later, Tiffany celebrated her new look with all the fresh enthusiasm of her anesthesia-induced post-op bedside manner.
“Thanks to Dr. Dubrow, I no longer feel sick and the girls are now naturally abundant,” she exclaimed. “I would’ve done this 10 years ago if I knew how wonderful I would feel today.”
As for her trademark persona? Much like we suspected, it hardly took the duration of her recovery time for New York to realize it was never the breast implants that made the badass, but rather the other way around.
“Turns out, you can be natural and still be the HBIC!” she confirmed happily.
See how everything went down this week in the full recap video above!
Watch the season 6 premiere of Botched tonight at 10 p.m., only on E!