Fw: Cosmetic surgery cuts both ways ~ SD Union

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From: " ilena rose " <ilena@...>

Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2001 12:31 PM

Subject: Cosmetic surgery cuts both ways ~ SD Union

> EXCERPT:

>

> " How ridiculous is that, that I had to have surgery to make myself feel

> better about myself, " said Holly. In retrospect, Holly said that 75

percent

> of the time, she regrets her decision to go ahead with the surgery.

>

> http://www.uniontrib.com/news/weekly/family.html

>

> To reply: letters@...,familyties@...

>

>

> Cosmetic surgery cuts both ways

>

> Young woman pays price for 'feeling better about myself'

>

>

> By Kendra Strey

>

> April 21, 2001

>

> The phone rings in 19-year-old Holly Joy 's dorm room in San Diego.

> It's Mom. For Christmas, she and Dad are giving Holly something she always

> wanted.

>

> " I was excited, but shocked at the same time because it was such an

> out-of-the-blue idea, " said Holly, now 21.

>

> Holly had wanted the cosmetic surgery when she was in high school, and she

> and her mother, , looked into the options. called a

> few plastic surgeons in the area and was surprised at their response.

" They

> laughed at me, " she said.

>

> The doctors told her that it was ridiculous to perform breast augmentation

> surgery on someone as young as 17-year-old Holly. She wasn't done growing,

> they said. told her daughter she would have to wait.

>

> A couple of years later, Craig , Holly's father, learned from a

> physician friend that his daughter had the same operation. Craig read a

few

> articles about plastic surgery and, from his general knowledge of the

> subject, he said he felt it was safe enough for his own child and would

> pick up the $4,400 tab.

>

> " I felt that, as her dad, if this would boost her self-confidence, I was

> all for it, " he said.

>

> The plans were set for her Easter break from college. Holly met with her

> surgeon three times before the big day.

>

> At the initial consultation, the doctor explained the risks of having the

> operation. Holly could face a condition known as capsular contracture,

when

> the scar tissue around the implant tightens, causing a hardening of the

> breast.

>

> She was also told about the possibility of the implants leaking. However,

> since they were filled with saline, the solution would be harmlessly

> absorbed by her body.

>

> And Holly knew that she would have to have an annual checkup, and that she

> would most likely have to have her implants removed or replaced in about

10

> years.

>

> Her next two appointments involved trying on the different sizes of

> implants using a special bra and going over how to nutritionally prepare

> her body for surgery.

>

> Holly flew to her parents' home in Phoenix. She would have her surgery and

> fly back a " new person " to her friends only a few days later.

>

> wasn't as gung-ho about the surgery as Holly thought, and

she

> tried to talk her daughter out of it. The horror stories of leaking

> implants, infections and intense pain made her question her

supportiveness.

> Yet, if this was something her Holly really wanted, would be by

her

> side.

>

>

> Mixed feelings

> Holly's alarm clock buzzed before the sun came up that Monday as she lay

in

> her childhood bed. She nervously climbed into her mother's car. Holly

drove

> to keep her mind off what was going to happen. Mother and daughter went

> over the procedure one last time.

>

> It was only 7:30 a.m. when Holly arrived at her doctor's office, where the

> procedure would be done. Three hours of pre-op preparation later and in

> walked the anesthesiologist. It was time. What happened next, she doesn't

> remember.

>

> Holly's eyes fluttered, revealing her strange surroundings in the recovery

> room, and she couldn't move.

>

> " I woke up, and I had the most horrible pain I've ever experienced, " she

> recalled.

>

> The doctors used a new procedure to place the saline-filled silicone sac

> implants behind the muscle tissue. It's the best bet to be able to

> breast-feed her future children, they said. The consequence: Any movement

> of her arms or upper body following surgery felt like knives ripping

> through her chest.

>

> " I remember telling my mom and dad that I wished they would have never let

> me do this, " said Holly.

>

> She did her best to rest at home the next day. She was allergic to her

pain

> killers, so she lay motionless in bed.

>

>

> Lost in translation

> Wednesday morning, it was time to take off the bandages. Her 32A frame

> would be a 34B, or so she thought. Holly stared at her reflection and

> remembered the last thing she told her doctor.

>

> " I want to be happy with the size. "

>

> She is now a 32D.

>

> At her checkup, Holly asked her doctor if the size would decrease over

time.

>

> " The doctor said, 'You told me you wanted to be a good size,' " she

recalled.

>

> Holly said that she was so intimidated that she remained silent. " But he

> knew I wanted to be a B or C. "

>

> Cohen, a plastic surgeon at Faces Plus in San Diego, said that

> plastic surgery can rejuvenate a young patient's self-esteem.

>

> " It can be rewarding and make an enormous difference in their life, " he

said.

>

> Although his cases of reconstructive surgery help young patients'

> self-esteem, there are times, he says, that he runs into ethical dilemmas

> with patients wanting cosmetic procedures like Holly's.

>

>

> Timing is everything

> " Are they ready to deal with the dangers? I'm not sure they are, " he said,

> referring to teen-agers.

>

> Cohen is a facial specialist and is drawn to what he said can give

children

> with congenital deformities a normal life. Cohen began his studies in

> medical school with the intent of becoming a heart surgeon. But it's the

> impact his current work has on people's lives that altered his course.

>

> " I fell in love with the changes, " he said. " I saw kids go from completely

> deformed to completely normal. "

>

> Kaweski, a plastic surgeon at the Craniofacial, Reconstructive and

> Cosmetic Institute in San Diego, stressed the importance of looking at

each

> case from a broad perspective. The teen years are wrought with peer

> pressure for everyone, she says.

>

> " Teen-agers oftentimes don't know the real issue, " she said. " They think

> surgery is the answer, but it isn't always the issue. Sometimes counseling

> is the answer. "

>

> Like Cohen, Kaweski has worked with young patients whose lives have been

> drastically improved as a result of plastic surgery. While both doctors

may

> be hesitant in cases of cosmetic surgery like Holly's, they agree that the

> benefits of reconstructive surgery on their young patients change lives.

>

> " It's like they come out of a shell, " said Kaweski. " You see the

difference

> in their personality, in how they deal with other people. They may have

> thought of themselves as less than others (before). "

>

> According to 1998 statistics from the American Society of Plastic

Surgeons,

> teen-agers are not a majority of the overall number of plastic surgery

> patients.

>

> " Some types of cosmetic surgery -- such as liposuction and breast

> augmentation -- have tripled over the last five years, yet the number of

> teens having these procedures has not risen comparably, " the society

> reported.

>

> Of the 167,318 cases of cosmetic breast augmentation in 1999, less than 2

> percent were performed on patients under age 18.

>

> Holly wanted breast-augmentation surgery to feel better about herself.

But,

> she says, in the end she was more self-conscious than she had been about

> her initial chest size.

>

> " How ridiculous is that, that I had to have surgery to make myself feel

> better about myself, " said Holly.

>

> In retrospect, Holly said that 75 percent of the time, she regrets her

> decision to go ahead with the surgery. The style of bathing suits and

> T-shirts she thought her new figure would look good in don't fit her D

> chest.

>

> " Looking back, I wish I would have had the foresight to maybe check and

see

> if I was ready, " she said. " If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't

> say I wouldn't have done it, but I definitely would have done more

> research. "

>

>

> Kendra Strey is a Union-Tribune intern and a senior studying journalism at

> Point Loma Nazarene University.

>

>

> Copyright 2001 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.

>

>