Mikayla Matthews Says She’s ‘Getting My Health Back’ After Breast Implants Sparked a 2-Year Battle with Chronic Illness
Mikayla Matthews first opened up about struggling with her chronic illness on social media in May 2023
Mikayla Matthews/Instagram
Mikayla Matthews documenting her ongoing struggles with her chronic illnessMikayla Matthews "finally [sees] the light at the end of the tunnel" one year after she removed her breast implants.
The 24-year-old Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star took to Instagram on Jan. 29 to commemorate the first anniversary since she removed her breast implants after they caused her chronic illness to flare up.
In the post, Matthews wrote "POV: It's been a year since you decided to remove your implants that sparked the beginning of a two-year battle with chronic illness" over clips of her health journey. The videos and photos included snapshots from the time she got her implants put in, the skin flare-ups she dealt with all over her body and her recovery after getting them taken out.
"One year 🍒 free 🥳," Matthews wrote in her caption. "I put it off for a long time (even though I only had them in for 10 months) but it was the best decision I made for my own PERSONAL health."
"Removing them was the beginning of getting my health back and clearing infection out of my body," she continued. "Still a long way ahead of me but I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!" Matthews' Mormon Wives costar Mayci Neeley also supported her journey and wrote "My girl in her healing era ❤️" in her comments.
Matthews also posted a video diary from the day she got her breast implants taken out to YouTube and included the full process, from flying into Los Angeles for the surgery to the post-op check-ins with husband Jace Terry by her side.
She even revealed that she tried to take her original implants back to Utah, but security did not allow her to take them on the plane. "I had to check it and I didn't check it in," she said in the video. "I guess we now know that the [breast implants] are not TSA-approved, I'm sad."
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Matthews' ongoing struggles with her chronic illness were not included in the first season of Mormon Wives. Still, she shared her journey on social media ahead of the show's premiere in September 2024. The mom-of-three took to TikTok on Sept. 15 and showed the "good that has come from sharing about [her] chronic illness that has controlled [her] life."
She wrote in the caption of that video that "it took me a long time to realize that my illness doesn’t define me, and I will continue to talk about it for those who [are] also debilitated by it."
Matthews further opened up on Instagram on Sept. 7 about her ongoing skin flare-ups and constant doctor visits while filming the first season. She said, "Showing up for filming the whole first season was not only physically exhausting but extremely mentally challenging."
"I was fighting for my life, not only cause I’m surrounded by crazy women lol but because I was really really struggling," she added. "I want to continue to shed light on the many stages of my chronic illness and chronic illness in general."
Matthews reflected on her time filming the show in her New Year's post on Instagram in December 2024, writing, "started 2024 suffering silently with chronic illness while showing up as best I could to film a reality show" over videos from the year.
In the caption of her post, she added that she was grateful she "showed that my skin doesn't define me and it gets better."
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