Meet the woman who was left crippled by her addiction to cosmetic surgery "(Photos)

A woman who has had an astonishing 200 procedures, making her one of the most surgically enhanced people in the world, is facing the devastating consequences of her addiction.

Monique Allen, 58, from Orange County, California, has been going under the knife for 35 years, resulting in her being left permanently disabled.

The self-confessed surgery addict, who also had gender reassignment surgery at 22, has had nearly every part of her body altered in some way.

'I was raised here in Orange County, I had a traditional Middle Class upbringing; mother, father, sister, doggies, kitties... I knew at three years old what I was.
‘I didn't know there was a name for it, I didn't know there was a surgery for it, but I knew that I was a girl.

I'm fun, outgoing, and I love being glamorous. I've had two eyelifts, I had one upper eye job, I've had more than 20 nose jobs, I've had my lips injected 20 times, I've had silicone removal eight to 12 times, eight breast jobs, sculpting of breasts and ass eight times, re-sculpting of breasts four times,’ Monique proudly states.
The total cost of Monique’s procedures comes to over $200,000 (about £121,795). 

Monique who was once a boy said....

All my friends were girls... We'd play with Barbies, with a doll house, you know... I did all the girl games and then I was 12 years old when I started dressing up. I was 17 when I told my mother, and then she told my father... I wasn't afraid at all. Surgery has never frightened me. My mother paid for it and I went to the hospital in Colorado on the train, I had my surgery and I was complete. I came back and started my life over.I was never a man, I was a boy. I never got the chance to grow into a man but if I had, I would have been a very unhappy person. I probably wouldn't be here today.

I just kept going, going, going, going! It was a high... I just loved being in that hospital bed, being prepped, feeling that needle go in you, having that morphine putting you out... I used to count to 10 and go "ohhhhhhh". That was my favourite feeling, I imagine it’s what dying feels like...'

By time Monique hit her 28th birthday she says she was addicted to surgery, craving the next ‘fix’ like an addict. 

‘When you have your surgery, the first week after surgery, you go into depression. You're bashed up, you're black and blue, you hurt, you can't go out, and you’re kind of in a funk. But when you see the doctor and the bandages come off, and then you're on a high.’

Monique estimates that she's had over 12 litres of silicone pumped into her body in total, which has had tragic consequences; permanently disabling her and forcing her to end her dancing career Silicone injected into her hips and buttocks has migrated down her legs, restricting her mobility.

'I have severe, severe problems with my legs. Some of the silicone dropped down my leg and I'm now considered a disabled person by social security. I used to have a second career as a dancer and I can't do that anymore or put my heels on. I've accepted that I'm disabled and it's not going to make me an unhappy person. I've still got some spunk.’

Monique says that her experience of the dangers of plastic surgery have curtailed her visits to the hospital somewhat in recent years

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