Getting Some Work Done

I'm reading a book called "Beauty Junkies: Inside Our $15 Billion Obsession With Cosmetic Surgery" by Alex Kuczynski. It's all about the different facets of cosmetic surgery with lots of gory details. At times it reads like a script to "Dateline" with real life stories of different people's experiences, and at times it is more like a textbook, with facts, figures and the history of plastic surgery.

The parts that I like best so far are when she gives examples of people who have had work done and their experiences with cosmetic "enhancement". First, Kuczynski gives us a few examples of work that has gone well. We meet Robert, a Botox addict, whose "goal is the live a life without wrinkles or sweat". Then there are Claudia Lowe and her friend, "B." (who doesn't want to reveal her real name), who go on "Surgery Safaris" to Africa for face lifts, lipo and the like. (I find flying completley excruciating to start with, so I can't begin to imagine a flight back to the US from Africa after a major surgery.)

And then there are the enhancements that go horribly wrong. For example, we hear the story of Dr. Bach McComb, a massage therapist from Florida who whipped up a batch of bootleg Botox and administered it to himself, his girlfriend Alma Hall, and two other friends, Eric and Bonnie Kaplan. They all became seriously ill, had to be hospitalized and could not breathe for months without the aid of a ventilator. As of 2005, Bonnie Kaplan's face is still mostly paralyzed. But none of them died.

Kelly Cregan, from County Cork, Ireland, was not so lucky. She died after complications from a face lift and nose job that she had done in New York City. (I'm thinking her funeral was not open casket.)

It's a good read so far and it's really made think about plastic surgery and all the procedures that fall under that umbrella. I think you might be able to justify some cosmetic surgery/enhancement if you are in a line of work that relies on looks, be it actor, national news anchor or model. For the average person, like me, though, I don't think it's worth the potential health risk and cost.

So, even though Botox sounds tempting, I think I'll stick with fancy eye creams and maybe a bit of Retin-A to combat my crow's feet. At the very least, my face will be pliable, and I won't have to tell people if I'm laughing.