›› Board Certified Plastic Surgeon
They want you to
think that, before undergoing major cosmetic surgery, it is enough to
talk with a board certified plastic surgeon about the benefits and
risks of the procedure you are undergoing. It is not. At the very least
you should talk to your family and close friends. You should probably
see a psychiatrist as well. Although a board certified plastic surgeon
knows more than any of these people about surgery, he will know much
less than your close friends, or your medical health care provider,
about what effect such a procedure is likely to have on you.
I have felt insecure all my life about my appearance. My breasts were
too small and my nose too large, my lips too thin and my eyebrows too
thick. It seemed that nothing about me was right, that everything was
awkward and gangly. I've always been very all or nothing about things.
For years I was completely against the idea of plastic surgery.
Eventually, my curiosity got the best of me, and I went to see a board
certified plastic surgeon. I told him all of my insecurities, about my
nose, my lips, my eyebrows, my breasts. He told me that these were not
issues that I had to live with, that through the services of a board
certified plastic surgeon, I could have the body I had always dreamed.
I had saved up a good bit of money and, against my better judgment,
decided to “go for it” and schedule several
procedures for two weeks from that day.
As was required by law, the board certified plastic surgeon met me
immediately before the procedure, and asked me if I was still confident
that it was what I wanted. I was sure of it at the time. I had not even
talked to my family about my surgery, and when the bandages came off, I
could hardly recognize myself. And not just because of the swelling,
either. The board certified plastic surgeon explained to me that it was
nothing, that I would get used to my new appearance, that all my
friends would like the new me even more, but I couldn't shake that
feeling of being a stranger in my body, of not being what I was
supposed to be. My board certified plastic surgeon told me nothing of
the psychological strife this would cause, of the months of depression,
and of losing my job before finally pulling out of it.
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A Healthy Dose of Good Advice
