LOS ANGELES, Aug. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ — TattX, LLC is pleased to announce the launch of TattX™, the first national laser tattoo removal brand that provides consumers with a process that is less painful and more effective than any other procedure available. The company is also announcing that the Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery Group is the first of what will become a nationwide network of premium Plastic Surgeon and Dermatology facilities offering the exclusive TattX™ process.
Headed by Dr. Payman Danielpour and Dr. John Layke, the Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery Group is one of the premier plastic surgery centers in Southern California. “We are very excited to be the FIRST TattX™provider in Southern California,” said Dr. Danielpour. “We have been looking at the tattoo removal industry for some time, but until TattX™, we were not satisfied with the technology and processes available,TattX™ gives us the opportunity to provide our patients with a truly effective and complete tattoo removal process that is much less painful than the current technology.”
Until now, laser tattoo removal has been very painful and ineffective, often causing scarring, “ghost” tattoos, and other side effects while rarely removing all ink colors. Based on the newly FDA-approved Asclepion TattooStar Effect laser, TattX™ is the most effective tattoo removal process available. It causes no blistering, bleeding or scarring and has been proven to remove all ink colors on any skin type, including large and complex tattoo designs.
“Ours is the first national brand to deliver on the promise of a premium process that safely, gently, and effectively removes unwanted tattoos completely—and with far less pain,” according to Richard Berry, CEO of TattX™. “We are honored to launch our brand with the Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery Group, as they embody the top notch experience that is at the core of our brand promise: TattX provides the most gentle, effective, and complete tattoo removal experience available through select Doctors and Practitioners.”
”The TattX™ system is light-years ahead of other laser systems,” said Dr. Layke. “It was important for us to align ourselves with the best solution for our patients who were looking to remove their tattoos gently yet completely, with no scarring, bleeding or pigment breakdowns.”
According to a study by Northwestern University, nearly 25% of the more than 45 million Americans with tattoos would like to remove one or more. What has prevented most people from doing so has been the lack of a low pain, effective procedure.
“Whether you've outgrown your tattoo or just want to make room for better art, the TattX™ procedure is simply the most advanced solution to removing unwanted tattoos on the market,” explained Lawrence Bracco, TattX co-founder and President. “And while other laser systems often require ten or more treatments, the TattX process provides gentle and complete removal in a fraction of the treatments.”
About TattX™:
TattX™ has developed the first consumer brand in laser tattoo removal. Utilizing breakthrough technology of the Asclepion TattooStar Effect laser, TattX™ provides a truly gentle, effective and complete tattoo removal experience without the extreme pain, scaring, bleeding, or permanent pigmentation changes experienced with the current technology. TattX™ is introducing its service in Southern California in 2012, with locations in Beverly Hills, Santa Barbara, Orange County and San Diego coming soon. http://www.tattx.com
About Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery Group:
At Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery Group, Dr. Danielpour and Dr. Layke are skilled Cosmetic and Reconstructive Plastic Surgeons who are dedicated to using advanced surgical techniques to achieve the look their patients' desire.
Dr. Danielpour attended the University of Illinois in Chicago and studied medicine at The Chicago Medical School. he decided on a surgical career and trained in General Surgery at the prestigious Mount Sinai Medical Center.
As a gifted general surgery resident, Dr. Danielpour was selected to train in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Nassau University Medical Center in New York. It was here that he trained under the prestigious Long Island Plastic Surgical Group – the largest and oldest private practice group in America. Dr. Danielpour has published numerous articles in prestigious surgical journals, and <strike>he</strike> has given oral presentations at multiple national conferences.
Dr. Layke attended Marquette University in Milwaukee and attended medical school at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. he trained in General Surgery at the University of Illinois Metropolitan Group Hospitals, where he was awarded the title of Administrative Chief Resident during his final year.
After receiving the Vijay Maker, MD award for Academic Excellence, Dr. Layke went on to train in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Nassau University Medical Center in New York. It was here that he trained under the prestigious Long Island Plastic Surgical Group – the largest and oldest private practice group in America. he is board certified by the American College of Surgeons in General Surgery. Dr.Layke has published several articles in leading medical and surgical journals, and has given oral presentations at national and international conventions.
KRIS JENNER’s extremely puffy lips are now the subject of major speculation on celebrity gossip websites—did she get them from an allergic reaction, or was it a case of plastic surgery gone horribly wrong?
Kris Jenner claims that her massive, swollen lips were caused by an allergic reaction to something she ate while on vacation with the Kardashian Klan in the Dominican Republic.
However, since she’s not exactly one to shy away from going under the knife, we really can’t help but wonder if maybe she underwent a lip enhancement procedure and is just too ashamed to admit it…
After debuting her crazy lips on Sunday’s episode of “Keeping up with The Kardashians,” Kris complained:
“I’m a mess. My lip looks like a who from Whoville.”
Kris later tried to downplay the puffiness with a bit of makeup, but to no avail.
Trista Sutter had a mommy makeover! the original Bachelorette, who has two kids Blakesley Grace and Max with Ryan Sutter, tweeted about her plastic surgery, which included breast implants (she went from a small B to a full C) and a blepharoplasty to lift her eyelids and remove the bags.
“To hear/read about my news tomorrow…pick up @Life_and_Style & tune in to @InsideEdition. no divorce, no pregnancy…just a change,” she tweeted, hinting about her big news.
She later tweeted a link to the Life & Style magazine that showed a before and after shot of Sutter in a bikini with her plastic surgery reveal.
“Just to clarify…the b4 photo used in the story 2day was taken while nursing B in ’09,” she tweeted, referring to breastfeeding her daughter Blakesly. “Boobs were still VERY full!”
She told the magazine that she breastfed both her kids for a year. the 39-year-old reality star later tweeted that there was a deeper reason for her to undergo a nip and tuck.
“I’ve always tried to be honest and real. the story that @life_and_style put online is just a small part,” she tweeted, with a link to a longer post that continued her thought. “The rest (or more) is in the issue that’s on stands right now, with Jen Aniston on the cover. inside Edition teased a bit when I mentioned being depressed, but there is much more to the story. thank you to those who have been so sweet & to those who haven’t…you are entitled to your opinion.”
Snookie versus Teen Mom Jenelle Evans
Teen Mom Jenelle Evans took to Twitter to call out Jersey Shore’s Snooki’s parenting skills.
“omg, no offense… but yu call ME a bad mother… but look what @snooki said about her baby… thats straight FU**ED UP,” Evans wrote, with a link to a reported quote from Snooki that said:
“There is no way I’m changing any diapers when my baby is born. That is disgusting. That’s what maids are for and babysitters. I don’t have time for that. I’ll have them do that stuff. I’ll be there for the good parts, like dressing my son up and making sure he got style. You don’t have to cook or clean or change diapers to be a good mother. my son will have everything he wants. He’s going to be a little star like his mommy.”
As it turns out, that turned out to be a fake quote and Snooki quickly took to Twitter to dispute it.
“FYI, I can’t wait to change my kids shi**y diapers & I don’t even believe in maids. just sayin,” tweeted Snooki.
Snooki then retweeted a post from one of her followers, which said: “I’m so sick of hearing about @snooki being a bad mom.she hasn’t even had her baby yet. #giveherachance the world is rude.”
Snooki also blocked Evans from her Twitter feed!
“hahahahaha what did @snooki say back to me?” Evans later tweeted. “she blocked me from twitter… figures. cant take criticism like i can. “
So, are you Team Snooki or Team Evans?
Mayim Bialik
Blossom and the Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik took to Twitter to tell her fans she was fine after a car accident which resulted in a finger injury to her left hand and thumb. a car carrying tourists slammed into Bialik, causing her air bags to crash her hand.
“(husband typing) in pain but will keep all my fingers. if u wanna See pre accident me watch the Soup tonight lol #joelmchale @thesoup,” she (or actually her husband) tweeted.
Gotta love a girl who will promote her new gig even in pain!
Kim Zolciak
I guess Kim Zolciak’s baby wasn’t tardy for the party! the Real Housewives of Atlanta star tweeted the announcement of her fourth child.
“@biermann71 and I are sooo excited to tell you baby Kash Kade arrived today!!! Baby and I are doing great!!!! #soblessed,” she tweeted.
“I’m in awe! Absolutely in love with baby Kash!! Such a miracle! thank you God for our beautiful & healthy son!” the 34-year-old reality star later tweeted.
Kourtney Kardashian
Kourtney Kardashian made her first appearance since giving birth to her daughter Penelope Scotland one month ago.
“Family time in Malibu!” she tweeted, with a link to her website that featured a photo of her with her son Mason. She is wearing a loose fitting polka dotted top paired with black leggings (perfect for new moms!) and she gives us all the details of her outfit in her post.
“My family went to dinner at the new Nobu in Malibu for Kylie‘s 15th birthday dinner. What a gorgeous restaurant right on the ocean. I can’t wait to go back… it was that breathtaking,” she wrote. “I am wearing a Kardashian Kollection top, Alice & Olivia leggings (DASH), Balenciaga flats and Prada bag.”
From Kristin Cavallari to Jessica Simpson, check out more wacky, weird and sweet celebrity mom tweets >> Photos: WENN
This is the fourth installment of a four-part series.
Mandi Eisenbeis stood over her dad. it was a Thursday in May 2011 when she said her private good-byes at a funeral parlor in Lodi, Calif. George “Randy” Eisenbeis had died young, felled at age 57 by a methamphetamine overdose.
As she looked at him lying in the coffin, she noticed his hands were oozing blood.
Eisenbeis didn’t know what had happened until later, when she learned the funeral director had sent a scathing complaint to the California Transplant Donor Network, the nonprofit organ and tissue bank that had stripped out Randy Eisenbeis’ usable parts.
“To say this was simply a ‘hack job’ would be a compliment,” Lodi Funeral Home’s Michael Collins wrote in a letter accompanied by a series of graphic photos of the torn-apart corpse. “I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that you left his head and his hands for viewing, and yes, that is his severed foot in the photo to the bottom left of the embalming table.”
In March the family sued the California organ bank, accusing it of fraud, mutilation of a corpse, and infliction of emotional distress.
According to call logs made of the consent process, the bank told Mandi Eisenbeis at least four times during the recorded consent process that the body would be properly put back together. she and the family couldn’t give informed consent, the lawsuit charges, because those promises were lies designed to manipulate them into giving their okay.
The California Transplant Donor Network is accredited by the industry gold standard — the American Association of Tissue Banks. According to its policies, tissue banks are required to reassemble a body out of respect for donors, their families and the professionals who handle bodies on their way to burial or cremation.
The tissue bank declined requests to comment for this story. In court filings the tissue bank has denied wrongdoing. In an earlier public statement the organization suggested that Randy Eisenbeis’ corpse had been in good condition when it sent it to the morgue for autopsy. “No matter how complex the reconstruction process may be, it is a standard to which we adhere consistently,” it said. “Unfortunately, we cannot speak to what may transpire once a donor’s body leaves our control.”
The medical examiner’s autopsy findings, however, reported that Randy Eisenbeis came to him naked and skinned, with his feet “separated from the ankles.”
What happened to Randy Eisenbeis may not be typical of how bodies are treated when they enter the tissue donation system. but as a worst-case scenario, his story provides a window onto a system that some say operates with inadequate regulatory scrutiny — and raises questions about how well the industry lives up to its own standards about the manner in which tissue banks obtain consent to take tissues from the recently departed.
Families often know little about what happens after they say, “Yes.” Ethics experts say many families in the U.S. and other countries assume that standard donor agreements apply only to hearts, lungs and internal organs. They don’t realize that in the brave new world of tissue harvesting, the dead’s bones, skin, tendons and heart valves can be cut out and used to create medical devices that can be sold for profit around the world.Lack of information
Tissue from about 30,000 cadavers in the United States is cleaned and milled into medical devices each year and some is exported around the world. U.S. companies also obtain tissue from places including Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Latvia.
In many countries, the law allows tissue harvesting unless a donor opts out before death. In the United States, federal law requires that tissue harvesters get families’ approval. How they do that is up to states to decide — and many states have few requirements or guidelines. People are often unaware just what they are giving away when they agree to become a donor. and families often don’t know that when they okay donations to nonprofit organizations such as the California Transplant Donor Network, the tissue routinely goes to for-profit companies, feeding a billion-dollar industry that uses those tissues for everything from repairing a knee to plumping up a penis.
Without uniform federal standards, it is mostly left up to tissue banks to decide how much information to share with donor families. few states require that companies tell families their loved ones’ tissue can be sold overseas, sent to a for-profit company or used in cosmetic procedures such as wrinkle-fillers and nose jobs.
“At present the industry thrives because of public ignorance and indifference regarding the for-profit involvement,” Robert Katz, a law professor from Indiana University wrote in 2006. “Most donors are either unaware of such involvement, or it does not trouble them enough to stop donating.”
In a 2010 study by researchers Laura Siminoff and Heather Traino, 70 percent of donor families said they’d object to a loved one’s tissue going to a for-profit business. Yet fewer than one in five said they’d been told that the harvested tissues could go to a for-profit company.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, a new York Democrat, introduced legislation in 2007 that would have established mandatory requirements for what banks had to tell donor families, as well as try to limit the profits companies can make from the donation. but the bill died after heavy lobbying by the industry, Schumer said.
Industry representatives have declined to answer questions for this story.A legal gray area
Chris Truitt, a former industry insider, is among the advocates who are working to reform the system and force companies and nonprofits involved in the process to do a better job of informing the grieving about what will happen to remains of family members who’ve died. Truitt is the author of a book, “The dark side of Tissue Donation,” which exposes what he sees as abuses and profiteering within the donation system.
Chris TruittChris Truitt, donor father and former tissue bank worker. Photo: Narayan Mahon
He began working in the industry after living through a family tragedy.
His daughter, Alyssa, was born with a condition that causes fluid to build in the brain. When Alyssa died at age 2, the Truitts donated her organs and tissues. it soothed the pain to know their daughter’s death had helped others in need. He and his wife began promoting donation.
“I felt it was basically my calling in life,” Truitt said. “I ended up doing what I could to find a position working in the field.”
Truitt signed on with nonprofit tissue bank Allograft Resources of Wisconsin. “My job was to go out and do the procedures. to recover bones, skin, veins, heart valves,” he explained. “We’d take the long bones out, we’d take skin out, take the veins out, take the heart valves out.”
The tools were mostly those found in any operating room — scalpels, retractors, scissors, and clamps. Sometimes, though, Truitt and other recovery technicians also used metal wedges and mallets to break through the bone.
Still, they prided themselves on being “stewards of the gift.” Donors, he said, were treated with respect. once, an elderly woman whose husband had died thanked Truitt for his work. “She said that at his age in life, he and she both felt that they were completely useless, they had nothing left to give. but by being able to donate, it kind of showed that they still meant something, they were still worth something, they were still able to help somebody.”
But the bank’s record keeping was abysmal, making it impossible to track the tissue from donor to hospital buyer. In 2000 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning letter — a serious and uncommon reproach. That’s when RTI Biologics — which had until then bought all the bank’s tissue — took over responsibility for its operations.
Once RTI got more involved in daily operations, Truitt said, training was upgraded. Experts came in to show him and his coworkers how to recover tissue in the most efficient manner. “I don’t think they made it any more professional,” he said. “I think they made it more industrial.”
The industrial part of processing and distributing tissue is so different from the soft nonprofit face that donor families are often shocked. “The for-profit trade in body parts is a legal gray area,” said Joshua Slocum, executive director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance. “This affects the confidence of the public and the whole donation process.”
Truitt has nothing against for-profit companies being involved in the industry. He just wants families to be fully informed when the dead’s remains are used to make commercial products. “What I’m saying is that I want that choice. I want to be able to know what that means. and I don’t think that’s what families are getting.”
That can be a challenge, given differences in disclosure laws among states as well as families’ vulnerability during the time of grieving.
Some families don’t want all the details, and it’s up to the organization seeking the tissue to judge how much to disclose, according to Christina Strong, a lawyer for organ and tissue banks and an expert on donation regulations.
Some families, Strong said, might say, “This is freaking abuse. Look, I’m giving OK. That’s it.” Others might say, “Yes, take it,” but they want an open casket funeral, which means that they need to be aware of the kinds of tissues to be taken and how that will affect the person’s appearance and clothing selection.
Most tissue donation center requests analyzed in the 2010 study didn’t tell families that they could decide not to donate. and none told families they could change their minds after initially agreeing, according to the study published earlier this year in the Journal of Trauma, a medical journal.
Families often have even less information and fewer rights when it comes to harvesting tissue from the dead overseas. Express consent isn’t required, for example, when a company gets tissue from some former Soviet nations.
RTI’s trade-partner turned subsidiary, Tutogen Medical, has obtained tissue from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Latvia, where everyone is a donor unless they expressly opt out. the company also obtains tissue from Ukraine, where government morgues can recover tissue from the dead if they gain family consent.
Four of Tutogen’s Ukrainian suppliers have been investigated for allegedly taking tissue against the wishes of donors or their families. the first case was dismissed when prosecutors couldn’t prove the tissue hand been transplanted. the second was dismissed after the defendant died while a court deliberated his case. two recent investigations are still pending.
The income that can be made from recovery to distribution is anywhere from $80,000 to $200,000, according to industry experts and court testimony. there is a cost involved in recovering, processing and distributing the tissue.
Overseas and in the U.S., some companies that profit from human tissue spend considerable resources cultivating sources of fresh bodies.
Phillip Guyett, who worked as a ground-level body wrangler in California, North Carolina and Las Vegas before he was sent to prison for falsifying death records, said the demand for tissue grows more intense every year. One tissue buyer, Guyett said, summed up the all-out competition for corpses this way: “Whoever has the most bone wins.”A profit machine
A tissue bank performs a tissue recovery.A tissue bank performs a tissue recovery.
When RTI took over the Wisconsin tissue bank where Chris Truitt worked, he said employees were pushed to compete hard with other tissue banks for access to bodies — courting hospitals, funeral homes and morgues. “We would convince them when they came across a death to call us in for the tissue, rather than some other tissue bank,” Truitt said.
Once the tissue left the bank, it was sent to RTI, sterilized and milled into implants. “It is a medical device. It’s regulated as a medical device,” he said. “It’s no longer part of Uncle John. It’s product XYZ123.”
Skin from the Wisconsin bank was also sent to new Jersey-based LifeCell. Truitt says a representative of LifeCell initiated an award for the person who could recover the most tissue from a donor. He said the award was named the Golden Dermatome Award after the instrument designed to strip layers of skin off a donor’s back, thighs and arms.
LifeCell did not respond to questions about the award but said in a statement to ICIJ that the company “is committed to improving patients’ lives.”
“When they started giving out those rewards, it really sunk into me that instead of being stewards of the gift and treating each donor with the ultimate in respect, the company was actually looking at each donor as a profit machine, as nothing more than raw resources,” Truitt said. “And it was our job to take as much of those resources as we possibly could.”
He left the bank, disillusioned that any profits could be made from recycling human tissues from donors like his daughter. He even had his name removed from his state’s list of tissues donors, but remains an organ donor. He hasn’t given up hope.
“Saving lives, making lives better. That’s what it should be all about,” Truitt said. “I talk with a lot of recipients. I talk with a lot of donor families. and we all feel the same thing. It’s too important a thing, too incredible a thing to just stop. We have to fix it instead.”
Mandi Eisenbeis hopes that her family’s lawsuit, filed this spring in San Joaquin County (Calif.) Superior Court against the California Transplant Donor Network, will spur that kind of reform among recovery banks.
The case is still in its early stages; the family’s lawyers hope lawmakers will notice the case and call for changes in how they obtain consent and treat donor bodies.
Eisenbeis said the condition of her father in the coffin — and the photos she saw afterward that showed the full picture of the mutilation — roused her to take her complaints to the bank.
Three times, she said, she sent copies of the funeral director’s letter and pictures to the tissue bank. Three times the bank said it never received the mail. then, she said, it stopped picking up the phone at all.
It was only after getting the silent treatment, she said, that her family decided to file the lawsuit.
“I don’t want anyone to go through what I felt the day I saw those pictures,” she said. “For me, I just wanted things to change, and when I saw those pictures I knew that I had to do everything I could to get someone to stand up and listen to me.”
This story was co-reported by National Public Radio (USA).Contributors to this story: Vlad Lavrov, Martina Keller and Thomas Maier
About this project:
Skin and Bone: the shadowy Trade In Human Body Parts is an eight-month project by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), a global network of reporters who collaborate on in-depth investigative stories that cross national boundaries
ICIJ found the business of recycling dead humans has grown so large over the past decade that you can buy stock in publicly traded companies that rely on corpses for their raw materials.
Skin and bones donated by relatives of the dead are turned into everything from bladder slings to surgical screws to material used in dentistry or plastic surgery.
Distributors of the merchandise can be found in much of the world. Some are subsidiaries of billion-dollar multinational medical corporations.
ICIJ discovered that patients aren’t always told that the product they are getting originated from a corpse. this led to a more complex issue – how does the industry source the raw material it uses in its products?
The ICIJ’s investigation relied on more than 200 interviews with industry insiders, government officials, surgeons, lawyers, ethicists and convicted felons, as well as thousands of court documents, regulatory reports, criminal investigation findings, corporate records and internal company memos.
ICIJ also conducted analysis on registered tissue banks, imports, inspections, adverse events, and deviation reports filed with the Food and Drug Administration, the US agency that polices the trade. ICIJ obtained the data through records requests to the FDA.
Palantir donated the use of software and assisted reporters in analyzing and visualizing data, as well as provided interactive and still graphics for ICIJ and partner publications.
The project was unveiled at the Google Ideas INFO Summit.
Because of her child’s problems, the author will never have a tidy, peaceful life. but none of this keeps her from being happy — as long as she asks herself the right questions.
The author on a walk with her son (Photo by Karl H. Jacoby)
As someone in her 40s, unequivocally in middle age, I find myself and my friends in that stage of life that seems to auger constant assessment — am I happy? Am I doing the right thing with my life?
Evidenced by the number times Anne-Marie Slaughter’s Atlantic piece “Why Women Still Can’t have It All” was posted on Facebook, it served as a cri de coeur of the collective unconscious of those of us swimming in the Gen X/Baby Boomer estuary, last stop before becoming truly elderly. (It’s apparently also the most-read article in the magazine’s 155-year history.) Slaughter rightly questions why having a family complicates the career ladder for women in a way that it does not for men. but the hidden heart of the article, I believe, is its hinting at that unspoken yearning for that perfect life that has been promised to us by … someone? Ads? TV? Ms. Magazine? Those ATHLETA catalogs?
Let me compare and contrast that with a typical incident that happened just last week in my own 40-something working mother life. My husband and I were sitting in the office of a neuropsychologist who had just run an assessment on our 12-year-old son who has a variety of disabilities and medical problems.
While our friends worry about middle schools, we bring our son to the ER to get stitches after he puts his head through a window.
“You know cognitively, he’s functioning at the bottom 1 percent of children his age,” he said.
“That means 99 percent of children are doing better than he is.”
I nodded again. (Yes, I can do the math.)
He waited, seemingly perplexed. “Having seen what I saw, and of course you have to be with your son all the time — I have to ask you, how do you have the patience?”
I looked at him. He’s my son. It was so obvious, I did not say it.
“I mean, really. How do you do it?” He looked to my husband, who gave him the same look. He tried a different tack: “Well, with all this stress, how are you two doing?”
“Fine,” we said, and meant it. He handed us the thick report, still shaking his head.
This is, sadly, a very typical exchange, not just with the experts in our lives, but even close friends: How do we stand our hellish life with a child who functions at 1 percent and starts to bite and hit when he is in situations he doesn’t understand — often, multiple times a day? once, watching our son having a hard time, a friend even blurted, “I’m so glad this didn’t happen to us!”
While our friends worry about the quality of middle schools, our parental duties include bringing our son to the ER to get stitches after he puts his head through a window, then arranging for a window replacement and for a special treatment for all the glass in our house so it won’t shatter — at a pretty penny. Other friends declare, “I couldn’t do what you do.” If I am to conform to their expectations, I’m not sure what I am supposed to do: Beat my son? kill myself? (Sadly, parents with kids like my son have done exactly that.)
Maybe it’s my Buddhist outlook, but I’m not consumed with worry and frenzy and despair like I’m “supposed” to be. I don’t enjoy that my 12-year-old son is still in diapers and sometimes purposely makes a mess in the bathroom. Or that he dumped his Thanksgiving dinner on my sister-in-law’s pregnant belly. Or that he screams in the parking lot of whole Foods until people call the cops on us. on the other hand, he is my son, and he is what I have. and he has a nice smile.
When I look at friends and acquaintances, many with perfectly beautiful children and wonderful lives, and see how desperately unhappy or stressed they are about balancing work and family, I think to myself that the solution to many problems is deceptively obvious. We are chasing the wrong things, asking ourselves the wrong questions. It is not, “Can we have it all?” — with “all” being some kind of undefined marker that shall forever be moved upwards out of reach just a little bit with each new blessing. We should ask instead, “Do we have enough?”
The New York Times’ travel section had a piece on Providence, Rhode Island, where we live. It mentioned that our city is extremely affordable, but filled with many fun and interesting things to do, such as going to Venda Ravioli on Federal Hill (Providence’s version of Little Italy) and procuring amazing hand-made ravioli filled with anything from homemade ricotta cheese to lobster. It’s something our friends do all the time: visit the quaint neighborhood, walk around with an Italian ice, and pick up dinner. Our son has digestive problems and can’t eat wheat or dairy, and much of his food has to be soaked and fermented beforehand. in addition, he has a hard time enduring crowds in small spaces. Ergo, despite our 15 years here, we have never been to Venda Ravioli, and probably never will.
Do I sit at home stewing over being denied a Venda Ravioli night? not any more than I sit stewing that I’ll probably never get to experience space tourism. and it’s not that I go through my life like the implacable Buddha, always in the present, dealing with what needs to be dealt with in a state of serenity and calm. My life — obviously — has many frustrations and disappointments (our son poured out his vegetable juice on our wooden table this morning). but one thing I’ve learned is that the minute I start fixating on what I don’t have — time, money, a child I can send to camp for the summer, central air conditioning — I just feel that much hotter and put-upon, and those bad feelings seem to attract extra obstructions to my day.
Another instructive moment: while packing for our upcoming move to New York City, we are in the process showing our house for rental (again: “How can you handle the stress?”), and the ramping-up of our culture’s “have-it-all” standards are exemplified in our 1969 GE Hotpoint stove. My husband and I make three meals a day from scratch on that trusty workhorse. a decade ago, we easily rented our house out when we went on sabbatical.
Now, despite beautifully redone bathrooms and yard, and EPA-approved lead abatement for families with children, our realtor tells us we have a problem: the stove. It has to go, he tells us. not because it doesn’t work — it still works great — but because people “expect” certain things. My husband and I were aghast as we pondered a major stove upgrade, but then we recalled acquaintances with gorgeous Viking stoves that sit unbesmirched by actual cooking, almost as if the stainless professional-quality stove is more prop than appliance, a requirement for kitchen happiness in the modern world. to look at our house, then, is to see the glaring absence of a Viking in our kitchen.
When people ask, “How are you not exploding with stress with everything on your plate?”, I know they only mean it in the best, most compassionate way. and for those who have beautiful healthy children and gleaming new stoves, I do not discount their heartaches and worries and crises. but what bothers me is the implicit expectation: that people are waiting for our inevitable breakdown, a breast-beating howl against fate that is sure to come once we realize we’ll truly never “have it all” — because of our imperfect son.
For all the people who are puzzled by my seeming happiness, I’ll be glad to let them know my “secret.” I’m not in denial, I’m not on antidepressants, and I don’t live in a fantasy world. I have a wonderful husband and I am pursuing a career I’ve dreamed of since I was nine years old. I have a beautiful son, friends, and a working stove. I am not paraplegic. I have parents who, through luck and fate, had me here in the United States, and not in North Korea. I live in a time where my awful vision can be corrected with glasses. I am a college graduate. I am never hungry unless I choose to be.
Do I have enough? Resoundingly: yes. and I ask you to take a moment: I suspect you might, too.
A picture is worth a thousand words, especially when it comes to rhinoplasty (cosmetic nasal surgery). When used prior to rhinoplasty, digital computer imaging serves as a wonderful communication tool between the patient and surgeon. Computer imaging, which allows the surgeon to morph images of the patient’s features on the computer, provides an approximate visualization of what the nose will look like following surgery. It allows the surgeon and patient to gain a more realistic understanding of the patient’s desires.
As opposed to the patient bringing in multiple photos of the nose he or she would like to have, computer imaging allows the patient and surgeon to together decide what is the most safe and aesthetically pleasing nose for him or her.
How does computer imaging work? The surgeon takes several digital photos of the patient’s face, from various angles. The patient and surgeon then view the photos on a computer screen, where, with morphing software, the surgeon is able to mold and shape the patient’s features on the photo. Displaying various outcomes, the photos allow the patient and surgeon to discuss what would be the most favored appearance of the nose, as it relates to the rest of the face.
It’s important to understand that although computer imaging does provide an approximate image of what the nose will look like after surgery, it will not represent what the exact final outcome of the surgery.
Why is computer imaging helpful when considering rhinoplasty? It’s extremely beneficial to visualize how changing the shape and/or size of the nose will affect the overall appearance of the face. what a patient may think would be the perfect nose might not look so wonderful when he or she can see how it will relate to other areas of the face. for example, the nose of a celebrity who stands 5’2 with a small face may not look good on a 5’10 woman with strong facial features. Also, computer imaging helps the surgeon and patient develop a surgical plan together. sometimes, what the patient wants simply isn’t medically possible. or, the chance of damage, such as nasal collapse and difficulty breathing, may be too great with the type of nose a patient initially desires.
Morphing software has been used by plastic surgeons since the 1990s, and it is becoming increasingly popular. The ultimate goal of the software is that the communication between surgeon and patient is more effective to allow for clear understanding of the patients desired outcomes. Using sound surgical judgement of possible rhinoplasty outcomes, the surgeon can best advise the patient as to what is possible before and after rhinoplasty.
Rhinoplasty is one of the most complex operations that a facial plastic surgeon performs. Using tools such as computer imaging can help surgeons create an aesthetically pleasing, natural-looking nose, individual to one’s unique anatomical features; as well as ensure that the nose is well-functioning.
As with any plastic surgery procedure, it’s very important to work with a highly qualified surgeon when undergoing rhinoplasty.
This writing will focus on realistic expectations in cosmetic surgery in regards to body lift surgery and body contouring surgery. It will also discuss risk-benefit analysis about these operations. The goal of the writing is to provide a higher level of understanding about the surgery.
For those interested in facial rejuvenation, similar concepts are reviewed but about operations in cosmetic surgery designed to make us look younger. For those interested in these procedures, please see my educational writing “Facial Rejuvenation Concepts : Facelift Delaware – Eye lift Delaware.”
We will now turn our attention to realistic expectations about body lift surgery and body contouring surgery.
Please see the photo below of a women doing “The Pull.”
I call it “The Pull”. It is a setup for problems; a sign that the patient has unrealistic expectations. “The Pull” is the sign of a patient wanting something that is not possible. this is when a cosmetic surgeon’s job now becomes “more” important. he has the added responsibility of explaining realistic recovery and realistic results to a person who might not truly understand what cosmetic surgery can and can not do. The surgeon must explain what can realistically be achieved with surgery and what cannot be achieved. Some patients want results from surgery that are not possible. It is critical to understand what “can” be achieved through cosmetic surgery and what “cannot.”
What is “The Pull”? this is when people grab their thighs or lower sides and “pull up.” this creates fantastic improvement in the legs and thighs all the way to the knees. It is when people pull or grab themselves in the back of the thighs to tighten the skin or the inner aspects of the thighs. Let me be very clear. No surgery accomplishes this type of result! there is not a surgeon nor an operation that gives the results desired by a person doing “The Pull.” Thigh and buttock lifts do “not” accomplish this type of result. Nothing can give a person this type of pull.
Why not? These types of lifting forces can not be generated surgically. It is unrealistic! No operation can achieve this type of lift. No operation can achieve this type of result. The operations work extremely well! but not to this degree. Many of these patients also want no scars. we are now heading even further away from the truth or further away from the “Real-Reality.” Scars are a necessary part of cosmetic operations. Some operations can not achieve the results some people want.
Body lift and body contouring operations like buttock lift and thigh lift operations work extremely well to help reshape and enhance a person’s body and legs. but realistic expectations are important. One can not expect every little piece of skin to be removed or to have perfectly smooth skin. The surgeon tries to remove every piece of extra skin, but healing will lead to some return of looseness. Patients must understand that the operations work extremely well but only to a degree. this is called having realistic expectations. Reviewing before and after photos helps as does a thorough consultation with your cosmetic surgeon.
The risk-benefit analysis can be used to understand whether cosmetic surgery should be done or not. For example, if an operation has low risks and high benefits, then the decision to proceed with the surgery is more obvious. Conversely, if an operation has higher risks, and minimal benefits, then a patient probably should not have the cosmetic operation. When deciding on an operation, the risks of the procedure, such as infection, bleeding or other medical complications, must always be considered. If a patient is completely healthy, we might assume that she is going to heal from the operation uneventfully, without medical complications. However, she will still end up with incisions or scars from the procedure. These incisions or scars are part of the risks of the surgery and part of the risk-benefit analysis.
Understanding what the scars will look like after cosmetic surgery is critical to understanding the risks of cosmetic surgery. The “Real-Reality” of certain cosmetic procedures is understanding the “Real-Reality” of the scars. If the scars are minimal, the risk-benefit ratio might favor proceeding with the cosmetic surgery. this is typically true with operations such as breast enlargement or liposuction. this is because the scars are so small and almost always are difficult to see. If the scars don’t always heal well or might spread, then the risk-benefit ratio might favor not proceeding with surgery.
With a thigh lift, the scars, as described above, can sometimes heal long, widespread, and less then perfect. The benefit from the thigh lift can vary. If a patient has minimal looseness of thigh skin, then the benefit from the procedure would be minimal. The risk-benefit analysis considers incisions and scars. The risk-benefit analysis in this condition may lead the patient and doctor to decide not to do the surgery. In cases of major weight loss and significant loose skin in the thigh area, the benefit is very dramatic and this benefit outweighs the risk of the incisions. The risk-benefit analysis in this case favors proceeding with surgery.
Buttock lift, thigh lift, or flank lift are operations designed to improve these respective areas. The incisions used for these operations are typically long. They are typically long because there is a lot of extra skin, and this is the only way to remove all the extra skin. These incisions are one of the major concerns for patients to discuss and understand. Body lift and body contouring incisions are not going to be small. They tend to be long because of the amount of skin that needs to be removed. although the scars usually heal well and most people are very happy, it is important to remember that a risk of the procedure is that the scars can spread and be wider than desired.
Body lift operations can give excellent results when there is significant looseness or hanging of skin. The “Real-Reality” of the incision or scar is that it can sometimes spread. The concept of the risk-benefit analysis helps a patient determine if they will benefit from the operation. Moderate to severe hanging of the areas will be significantly or dramatically improved, and in these cases the incisions are probably well worth the benefit of the operation. In cases where the hanging of the buttock or thigh is not great or is minimal, then the scar might not be worth the benefit of the surgery. In other words, if you just have a little loose skin, you probably should not do the operation. If you have more or “a lot” of loose skin, most people find the results of surgery are well worth the risks. Satisfaction in these cases is often very high and with wonderful results.
Channing Tatum is apparently in line to play Superman, but is unlikely to be donning the customary spandex like other actors who have played the role.
This is because Tatum is thought to be in line to play Superman in ‘Lego: the Piece of Resistance’ which will only require the ‘Magic Mike’ star to lend his voice to a lego version of the character.
The movie will combine lego animation with live action and according to Variety, Tatum is wanted to play Superman opposite will Arnett’s lego Batman.
Tatum is apparently struggling to commit to the role due to his busy schedule. a sequel to previous film ’21 Jump Street’ is currently in the works.
However after his current movie, based on his own experiences as a male stripper, ‘Magic Mike’ it could be the perfect change of pace for the star.
PHOTOS: Channing Tatum Promotes New Stripper Movie ‘Magic Mike’.
Kanye West has become part of the Kardashian family, so much so that the rapper is really concerned over Kris Jenner’s love of plastic surgery and has allegedly been pleading with the reality star to stop going under the knife.
The Keeping Up with The Kardashians momager was seen having a few bits done ahead of Kim’s wedding to basketball player Kris Humphries, but Kanye has now expressed his concern that she might suffer the same fate as his mother, Dondra West, who tragically died after surgery in 2007.
“Kanye West is pleading with girlfriend Kim Kardashian’s mom Kris Jenner to stop having plastic surgery because he’s afraid she’ll end up dead like his own beloved mother,” a source told the National Enquirer.
The ‘Power’ rapper, who is currently in Cannes with girlfriend Kim, is worried that he fears “she will go overboard with her nip-and tuck operations,” especially as the pair have grown quite close since he began dating her daughter.
“She’s become like a second mom to him, and he couldn’t bear losing another person in his life to plastic surgery,” the close source continued.
According to the tabloid all of the Kardashian and Jenner clan are worried over Kris’s love of plastic surgery.
Meanwhile a source close to the family told Gossip Cop that the rumours are “not true”.
LAS VEGAS - Ricky Gervais traveled to Las Vegas to visit the world famous Hoover Dam.The British comedian stood in awe as he gazed upon the concrete monstrosity and simply remarked "Damn!" (no pun intended).Gervais was accompanied by his hair stylist Reginald "Frisky" Friskingham, whom he brought over from England and who resides with him and his live-in Partner of 30 years Jane Fallon.The British comic was recently asked by Hacienda Dakota with Hollywood Vis-á-Vis why he has not married miss Fallon since they have been living together for three decades.Gervais smiled as he took three sips from his Lowenbrau beer can and replied that one, he does not believe in rushing into marital commitments and two, it is really and truly none of anyone's friggin business.miss Dakota told him that he did not have to be so arrogantly testy about it. he took three more sips from his beer and replied, "Oh, but yes I do my dear. Yes I abso-effen-lutely do."Gervais was then asked about the persistent drinking rumors that have plagued him for years.he smiled as he took a photo of "Frisky" with the Hoover Dam in the background and remarked that he is tired of people making a big thing out of the fact that his one and only hobby is drinking the hell out of freakin' beer as if it is going out of style."Jaws" as he has been dubbed by Vice-President Joe Biden because of the sharp configuration of his teeth, stated that he is seriously thinking about possibly checking himself into The Henry and Betty Ford Rehab Clinic."to take care of the drinking problem?" asked miss Dakota."Ah no," answered Gervais sarcastically, "to take care of the math problem."And with that miss Dakota informed him that she was ending their interview because if she wanted to put up with bitter sarcasm she would have interviewed Coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs.In Other News. June 13, is National Bring Your Personal Problems to Work Day, so it may not be a bad idea to ask for the day off.
Trista Sutter
This is the fourth installment of a four-part series.
The author on a walk with her son (Photo by Karl H. Jacoby)
I call it “The Pull”. It is a setup for problems; a sign that the patient has unrealistic expectations. “The Pull” is the sign of a patient wanting something that is not possible. this is when a cosmetic surgeon’s job now becomes “more” important. he has the added responsibility of explaining realistic recovery and realistic results to a person who might not truly understand what cosmetic surgery can and can not do. The surgeon must explain what can realistically be achieved with surgery and what cannot be achieved. Some patients want results from surgery that are not possible. It is critical to understand what “can” be achieved through cosmetic surgery and what “cannot.”
Photo: WENN.com/FayesVision
Photo: Wenn
