So You`re Thinking About Plastic Surgery

Posted Thursday, September 13, 2007 to PATIENT STORIES > Face

Posted by The Original Anti-Aging & Cosmetic Surgery Magazine

Julie Stacy an Emmy award winning journalist located in Los Angeles, CA talks about her first cosmetic surgery experience.

It finally happened to me. After years of saying I'd never even "think" about getting cosmetic surgery, was actually starting to think hard about it. Part of the reason was that I'm a reporter, and for some of the health stories I did, I was assigned to cover the newest plastic surgery innovations. Botox was a big story; yikes, thought, I'll never do that, it's a poison! Cutting open face? No way -I nearly fainted in an operating room watching a surgeon showing off his latest technique.

But I'd noticed something happening lately - as I hit the big 40, I started looking in the mirror a lot more. My resolve to age gracefully was waning. I hated those wrinkles starting to form between my eyebrows. And why were those laugh lines around my mouth turning into those nasal labial fold things the doctors kept talking about? I tried to talk myself down from doing anything drastic. I hung out with the friends who told me not to have anything done. I poo-poohed my friends who were making little changes.

But the more I started pulling back my cheeks everytime I looked in the mirror, the more I saw how happy my younger looking friends were. I realized I had to face the truth - I wasn't ready to give in to gravity.

As luck would have it, (or, as I prefer to think of it, as the News Gods would have it) I was assigned to do a story on a woman who was a plastic surgery consultant.

When I met her, I realized she could quite possibly solve my dilemma: should I or shouldn't I get something done? And if I did, what should I do? It turned out to be one of the most thorough interviews I'd done.

She gave me gentle suggestions, one of the best being that if you're thinking about getting something done, and going back and forth, you're probably not ready to get anything done. I learned that our faces age in plateaus, you look fine for awhile, and then bam, something drops a little. And I trusted her implicitly when she told me to maybe just have some Botox and something small done, not to go under the knife just yet. She gave me the names of different doctors and some ideas about procedures like fat transfers.

I went to all the doctors she'd recommended, and a few I'd researched. One wanted to do a full face lift. But the rest were voices of reason. Wait a few years for big surgery they told me, how about some Botox and some fat transfers?

After getting more information, I got comfortable with Botox; it had been used on faces for years for non cosmetic reasons, and seemed safer to me than it had before I knew the facts. I had my answer. And I knew, unequivocally that I wanted Botox and fat transfers.

First, I had Botox, a simple office procedure and the results were obvious in 3 days; I didn't have those frown lines anymore. Then it was time for the fat transfer. I started taking some homeopathic healing/anti-bruising medication 3 days before the surgery. The doctor's office didn't laugh at me when called a few days before and told them I woke up in cold sweat the night before thinking to myself "WHAT AM I DOING?? WHAT IF ITS LUMPY??" They calmed me down, and told me what I was feeling was perfectly natural, and that no one had complained of lumpiness yet. Besides, it wasn't permanent.

The day of surgery was here. I went in, had some calming medication, and with soft music playing, the surgical team let me know with each move they made what was happening to me. You'll feel a tug, they said. did, they were taking some fat from my hips. It was completely tolerable. I turned over, they injected the live fat into my face after a dental block.

About 20 minutes later, it was over.They handed me mirror. In the words of a friend, I was smitten with myself.

I couldn't be more thrilled, but it's because I went into this whole adventure with an open notebook and the best guidance. If you're considering surgery, or some other option, make sure you get the best information. know someday I won't be able to stop the aging clock from taking my face time, but until that happens, I'm going to be making wise ...and beautiful decisions.

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