Questions on (Cosmetic) Surgery

MumblingSage · Feb 18, 2009

This is for a science fiction story, so I have some leeway, but I still want the story to be overall plausible. So...

1. How involved are patients in decided what they want done in the surgery? How informed are they?

2. (Oddest question of the lot) Any idea how a patient could get a peek at the operation tools, equipment, etc?

3. I assume the patient would be completely unconcious during the surgery (which is on her face, if it makes any difference). What is it like 'going under'?

Thanks for any advice. Gosh, I'm so ignorant I'm not even certain what I don't know...

GirlWithPoisonPen · Feb 18, 2009

Plastic surgeons all work differently. Check out this Vanity Fair feature.

http://www.vanityfair.com/style/features/2009/02/plastic-surgery200902?currentPage=1

Tsu Dho Nimh · Feb 19, 2009

1. How involved are patients in decided what they want done in the surgery? How informed are they?

Patients are very involved in what they want the outcome to be ... what happens to produce that outcome is surgeon's choice, depending on the patients desired outcome and what they have to work with.

If you want something that is going to be impossible or ill-advised (perky petite nose on someone with a Sophia Loren bone structure, for example) they will usually try to talk you out of it.

2. (Oddest question of the lot) Any idea how a patient could get a peek at the operation tools, equipment, etc?

Some surgeons will let you tour the ORs ... empty ones.

3. I assume the patient would be completely unconcious during the surgery (which is on her face, if it makes any difference). What is it like 'going under'?

Minor surgery is done under sedatives and local anaesthetic.

You never see the truck that hit you. There is an IV in your arm, running saline at a slow drip, and the anaesthesiologist injects the sleepy-juice into it, may ask you to count to ten. There may be a slight burning tingle in your arm, and a funny taste in your mouth just before the truck arrives ... but it's truly "lights out".

brainstrains · Feb 19, 2009

I had rhinoplasty when I was 16. Surgeons advise against doing it earlier because until that point, you're still growing

When I went there, I told him exactly what kind of nose I wanted (ski-slope), and he said, "That'll look like crap on your face" and suggested something less drastic. I also wanted smaller nostrils but he advised against that as well as it would be more expensive and look weird.

I have no idea what the instruments they used LOOKED like, but I know what they felt like. When I went under, I ended up waking up halfway through the surgery to the feeling (I was numb so it didn't hurt, just a huge amount of pressure) of someone taking what felt like a huge hammer to my nose, over and over again. I also opened my eyes to see the skin of my nose kind of floating in front of me, in an amorphous blob. Not sure how much of this actually happened or if it was the anesthesia, but it seemed so real I tend to still believe it all actually happened. Then I started coughing on blood and the doctor kept telling me to swallow. Then I went out again. The first thing I did when I came to was vomit huge amounts of blood.

Um, but it was worth it

StephanieFox · Feb 19, 2009

I also had rhinoplasty when I was 16. I was awake through the entire surgery, but of course, I had been give drugs to 'relax' me. I didn't feel a thing since I was numbed up. This was many years ago and things may be different now. Brainstains (above) may have felt that she was hit by a hammer because she probably was. Many time, they have to break the mose to reset it so it will look different. The doctor also removed a hunk of cartlage. I requested that I keep it and he gave i8t to me in a bottle of preservation fluid. My mom made me throw it away after about a year.
I never asked for any particular nose; I trusted my doctor and have been happy with the results.

I wouldn't trust a cosmetic surgeon who let the patient call the shots. But the patient should be fully informed. HOWEVER, some people just don't want to know the detail. It freaks them out. I want to know everything, including where the doctor went to med school and how many of these procedures he or she has done.

Remember that, in any cosmetic surgery, the technicues depend on what kind of surgery you are getting. A rhinoplasty is completely different compared to a facelift or chin job or the removal of a scar.

If you want to see the instruments, just ask. This isn't going to be emergency surgery. The doctor should be able to show you the surgerical suite and the instruments and anything else.

Although I was a awake for the nose job, I've had other surgeries and have 'gone under.' You get wheeled into the surgical suite, already 'relaxed' from some fun drugs. The lights are bright and the doctors and nurses are all masked and ready. They put a needle in your arm and tell you when they are about to administer the drugs to put you out. They ask to to count backwards by sevens (or other task – I quoted Wordsworth since I'm lousy in math – both to see when the drug takes effect and to distract you.) It usually takes less than 10 seconds for me to go under. (The last surgery I had was last fall when they took out my appendix.)

I had a repair on a tendon in my finger and was awake for that. I asked if I could watch the operation, but the doctor wouldn't agree. He did agree to show me my finger when it was opened up. Very interesting. They put a nerve block on my entire arm, so I didn't feel a thing. I went home in a couple of hours.

MumblingSage · Feb 19, 2009

Plastic surgeons all work differently. Check out this Vanity Fair feature.

http://www.vanityfair.com/style/feat...?currentPage=1

Thanks for the link. It's interesting reading, and the information on preliminary interviews was enlightening.

I had rhinoplasty when I was 16. Surgeons advise against doing it earlier because until that point, you're still growing When I went there, I told him exactly what kind of nose I wanted (ski-slope), and he said, "That'll look like crap on your face" and suggested something less drastic. I also wanted smaller nostrils but he advised against that as well as it would be more expensive and look weird.

I have no idea what the instruments they used LOOKED like, but I know what they felt like. When I went under, I ended up waking up halfway through the surgery to the feeling (I was numb so it didn't hurt, just a huge amount of pressure) of someone taking what felt like a huge hammer to my nose, over and over again. I also opened my eyes to see the skin of my nose kind of floating in front of me, in an amorphous blob. Not sure how much of this actually happened or if it was the anesthesia, but it seemed so real I tend to still believe it all actually happened. Then I started coughing on blood and the doctor kept telling me to swallow. Then I went out again. The first thing I did when I came to was vomit huge amounts of blood.

Um, but it was worth it

Thanks for the information from a personal experiance! Yikes, waking up in surgery doesn't sound fun 0.o. But I'm glad it worked out.

I also had rhinoplasty when I was 16. I was awake through the entire surgery, but of course, I had been give drugs to 'relax' me. I didn't feel a thing since I was numbed up. This was many years ago and things may be different now. Brainstains (above) may have felt that she was hit by a hammer because she probably was. Many time, they have to break the mose to reset it so it will look different. The doctor also removed a hunk of cartlage. I requested that I keep it and he gave i8t to me in a bottle of preservation fluid. My mom made me throw it away after about a year.
I never asked for any particular nose; I trusted my doctor and have been happy with the results.

I wouldn't trust a cosmetic surgeon who let the patient call the shots. But the patient should be fully informed. HOWEVER, some people just don't want to know the detail. It freaks them out. I want to know everything, including where the doctor went to med school and how many of these procedures he or she has done.

Remember that, in any cosmetic surgery, the technicues depend on what kind of surgery you are getting. A rhinoplasty is completely different compared to a facelift or chin job or the removal of a scar.

If you want to see the instruments, just ask. This isn't going to be emergency surgery. The doctor should be able to show you the surgerical suite and the instruments and anything else.

Although I was a awake for the nose job, I've had other surgeries and have 'gone under.' You get wheeled into the surgical suite, already 'relaxed' from some fun drugs. The lights are bright and the doctors and nurses are all masked and ready. They put a needle in your arm and tell you when they are about to administer the drugs to put you out. They ask to to count backwards by sevens (or other task – I quoted Wordsworth since I'm lousy in math – both to see when the drug takes effect and to distract you.) It usually takes less than 10 seconds for me to go under. (The last surgery I had was last fall when they took out my appendix.)

I had a repair on a tendon in my finger and was awake for that. I asked if I could watch the operation, but the doctor wouldn't agree. He did agree to show me my finger when it was opened up. Very interesting. They put a nerve block on my entire arm, so I didn't feel a thing. I went home in a couple of hours.

I think you have a stronger stomach than I do...but it's interesting information. Thanks.

GeorgeK · Feb 19, 2009

There's also a lot of fudging with regard to what "plastic surgery" and what "plastic surgeon" means. On one extreme it is reconstructive surgery after some sort of significant injury performed by MD's or DO's who have completed a Plastics and Reconstructive Surgery residency or fellowship (6plus years post doc) and work out of a hospital with anaesthesiologists, ICU's, Hyperbaric Chambers etc.. On the other extreme it could be a Chiropractor who has taken a 3 week course in a particular single procedure and he works out of his office. Most of the population don't know the difference.

StephanieFox · Feb 19, 2009

MumblingSage said:
I think you have a stronger stomach than I do...but it's interesting information. Thanks.

The next year, my dad let me come and watch him do surgery. It was really interesting. If I weren't such a klutz with no eye/hand coordination, I might have wanted to go into the field. But, alas....

Questions on (Cosmetic) Surgery

MumblingSage

Inarticulate Herb

GirlWithPoisonPen

Mata Hari

Tsu Dho Nimh

brainstrains

4-8-8-4

StephanieFox

Maybull the Bulldog

MumblingSage

Inarticulate Herb

GeorgeK

ever seeking

StephanieFox

Maybull the Bulldog