Renaissance Plastic Surgery

I was reading a post from Dana Loesch from Mamalogues, regarding her feelings on plastic surgery.  She asks:

God forbid that a woman ages or shows signs of living a full life.

My question: why is society afraid of curves? Curvy women are hot. Women who can fill out their jeans are hot. Women who have babies and are unashamed of their physiques are hardcore. We’ve earned our stretch marks, our birthing hips. That’s strength.

Those physical attributes set us apart from other women. How anyone can look at a woman’s post-partum body and see anything less than power and beauty is beyond me. Please note that I’m not angry with women who want these services, but at companies such as these and society as a whole for demonizing the natural female form.

I understand what she was saying. There are companies that demonize a woman's body, but those companies include diet food, make-up, and even car commercials.  There is a lot of emphasis on personal beauty in today's culture, but it's not all coming from Madison Avenue. 

Debating the effects of advertising is healthy, but it's not clear cut.   Many of the women I've had the pleasure to meet don't feel "power and beauty" when they see an image in the mirror that has changed.  What they see in the mirror doesn't match how they "see" themselves, especially when they workout, exercise, diet and push themselves, but just can't get to their goal.  When this happens, they don't see a woman who needs "new makeup and an attitude adjustment." 

Think of it from a different perspective.  A perspective that says: we know models are airbrushed and photoshopped and we know curves are sexy; we are not sold on having to be stick skinny or perfectly flawless, but we do want to see a different image in the mirror.  One that isn't covered with makeup and attitude.  Consider this...

Unless you live under a rock or on a deserted island, then I'm sure you have recently heard or read about (Stephanie Kuleba), an 18 year old cheerleader in Florida who died after having a cosmetic procedure performed with the use of general anesthesia.  Her parents were recently interviewed on the Today Show.

They spoke about their daughter's choice to have the breast augmentation procedure, her choice in plastic surgeons, and the rare genetic reaction that their daughter had with the anesthesia used at the plastic surgeon's office.

This is one of the unfortunately rare genetic disorders that you just don't know about until the situation arises.  The drug to counteract the body's reaction, called malignant hyperthermia, has been reported as administered in the improper dosage.

There's not doubt this is a tragedy, but the media really makes this story out to be about plastic surgery, and not the rare, sad fact that some people will die under general anesthesia.  This young woman could have gone in for knee surgery, or removal of her wisdom teeth, or be involved in a car accident, and she still would have passed.

That she was 18, a cheerleader, and going for her breast surgery made this a national story.  And that's a shame.

But there are things you need to do to protect yourself, no matter what kind of surgery you are going in for. 

1. Board Certification (in the speciality); do some research.
2. Ask your family about surgical history - and tell your doctor.
3. Be careful of using surgical suites it's safer to work with physicians with access to hospitals.
4. Make sure that any location, where they perform surgery, has not only proper staffing, nurses and physicians who are well trained to handle any possible complication, but also has accreditations to certify their skills and competence.  Be sure to ask your physician about the location at which you are scheduled to have any surgical procedure.

Many will debate on whether this could be avoided.  This was an unfortunate event and we extend our condolences to Stephanie's family.