Dr. Michael A. Epstein
Plastic surgeon, 47, Northbrook
One memorable case was a young lady that came to me with a condition called pectus excavatum. One breast basically never grew, and her chest wall was deformed. She was an otherwise very attractive young lady about to go to college, and of the age where she wanted to one day be intimate with men, and couldn’t. We essentially reconstructed her chest and the right breast. She couldn’t afford it, and we made it happen by waiving most of our fees and getting the implants covered. The young lady was ecstatic. That’s the reason I became a doctor and why I love what I do.
Burt Reynolds comes to mind when you think of bad plastic surgery. I’ll tell you who’s had incredible, phenomenal plastic surgery—Roseanne Barr, the comedian. She looks incredible. She has a very natural result, and it’s actually one of the few times that facial plastic surgery has truly made a celebrity look great.
Burt Reynolds comes to mind when you think of bad plastic surgery. I’ll tell you who’s had incredible, phenomenal plastic surgery—Roseanne Barr, the comedian. She looks incredible. She has a very natural result, and it’s actually one of the few times that facial plastic surgery has truly made a celebrity look great.
Reality shows [like ‘‘Extreme Makeover,’’ ‘‘Dr. 90210’’] are a lot of fun if you take them for what they’re worth — drama. And they drive the plastic surgery market, which is good. What’s bad is that they’re overdramatized, and people don’t realize these shows set unrealistic expectations. What they don’t see are the patients who don’t make the TV cut because of the way the surgery turned out. I know this because I’ve seen a couple of these patients who came to me less than satisfied with work received from the doctors on a couple of these shows.
Reality shows [like ‘‘Extreme Makeover,’’ ‘‘Dr. 90210’’] are a lot of fun if you take them for what they’re worth — drama. And they drive the plastic surgery market, which is good. What’s bad is that they’re overdramatized, and people don’t realize these shows set unrealistic expectations. What they don’t see are the patients who don’t make the TV cut because of the way the surgery turned out. I know this because I’ve seen a couple of these patients who came to me less than satisfied with work received from the doctors on a couple of these shows.
How much surgery is too much? The short answer is, “When reasonable expectations can’t be met.” If a patient comes to me with a complaint, and I can see the problem, then it’s usually realistic. It’s usually unrealistic when there’s an obsession about a specific body part or facial feature that I have a difficult time recognizing, or it’s overdramatized, i.e., they think that small problem is ruining their lives.
I couldn’t see doing anything else, but if I had to, I would have loved to have been a baseball player, possibly a catcher for a major league baseball team. It’s what I played in high school. Chicagoans will probably hate this, but I’m a Tiger fan, and they’re probably the White Sox’ nemesis this year. I grew up in the Detroit area, and in fact, about half of my operations, I wear a surgical cap with Detroit Tigers on it.