Nip This Tuck That

Monday 2/27/06: Well here we are. The inaugural launch of a glimpse into my life….wow, no pressure. I have so much that I want to share with you, that I don’t know where to start.  Hopefully, I can give you some insight into what it’s like to be me. Christian, family man, father of 2 teens (please pray for me), artist, writer, aspiring TV Star (that’s an entire story in itself) and the gatekeeper to my patients beauty…their identity…an awesome responsibility that I take very seriously. I believe that a truly gifted Plastic & Cosmetic Surgeon must have: The Eyes of an Artist, The Hands of an Angel and The Heart of a Lion. The artist must know how to make you more attractive. The Angel treats your tissue gently and with respect. The Lions Heart gives me the strength to hold someone’s identity in the palm of my hands and allows me to cope with this awesome responsibility. Welcome to my world! I am wrestling with my son one moment and the next, I am laying open the face of a 45 year old lovely woman who wants nothing more than for me to make her look more attractive. She has a loving family that cares deeply for her and wants only the best for her…and the pressure mounts!

I was contacted by another talk show wanting to do a makeover. The woman, for the makeover, had lost a great deal of weight, had a ton of surgery elsewhere for sagging skin “everywhere” and still wants to look better. This breaks my heart, but she’s never going to look good and I’m not sure that another tummy tuck, thigh lift or arm lift will make a significant difference. The tough part is breaking the bad news to the patient, who desperately wants to look normal, and to the TV Show Producer, who wants to put together a dramatic show. I feel badly, but I think I’ll have to pass on this one.

Robyn, had me look at numerous photos from potential patients, from all over the world, asking for plastic and cosmetic surgery via e-mail. I am still amazed at how many hundreds of e-mails we get each day. It floors me every time I think about the number of these initial contacts that wind up having surgery with us. I never imagined this would happen. Not in my wildest dreams. I wrote the original material for the website over 8-9 years ago just as a way for people to get a sense of who and what I was. Maybe, that’s why it works? It’s like speaking with me…only from the comfort of your house computer.

Saw a very hip woman, doctors wife, in her late 50’s who hasn’t done any plastic surgery to this point in her life…she’s looking for a little “spruce up” and wanted to speak with me about Contour Threads

Thread Lift This is always an interesting conversation. Patients don’t want any incisions but are amazed when I go through the logic of that means ”no skin is removed as well”. She finally realized that one of my custom Minilifts Face Lift with lower Bleph Blepharoplasty was the ticket. She’s going to look amazing…..7 years younger…what a cool job I have.

Assisted on a Rhinoplasty this afternoon. The patient wanted the bridge of her nose built up, so we used a dorsal solid silastic (silicone) implant. I personally would have asked the patient to consider using Radiesse. Radiesse would have been done as an office treatment with a simple skin injection. No surgery, no anesthesia, no recovery and the material lasts up to 2 years. Not my decision however. That’s what makes Plastic Surgery an art and not cookbook…the way each surgeon looks at each individual patient and decides what to do or not do. No 2 decisions will ever be completely alike.

Drove down to Irvine to review the prototype device for the think tank group. If this thing works, the way we think it will…we are going to make a whole lot of people very happy. I am hired by an East Coast think tank that brings emerging new technologies to physicians and the public in the field of Plastic Surgery and beauty. The latest project is nothing short of remarkable….sorry, can’t share anymore at this time….confidentiality agreements…stay tuned!

Dr. Francis R Palmer, III