November 14, 2007

"He told me I'd be running on the beach within two weeks of my surgery."

Said Bonita Hovey, 61.
Within a week of her procedure, Hovey said she had an infection and a gaping wound on her belly.
Her doctor, Jan Adams, is the man who performed the "tummy tuck" and breast reduction surgery that preceded the death of Donda West, the mother of Kanye West.

"Tummy tuck" sounds cute, but it's serious surgery, and no one should take it lightly. It's not like getting a haircut. The doctor is slicing deeply into your flesh and removing a slab of you. Hovey describes a 16-inch wound in her abdominal wall.

I've had my abdominal wall cut through twice — to carve an escape route for an oversized infant. It was hard for days just to stand up. And I still remember thinking it was a triumph to walk to the end of the hallway and back.

Yes, we long to have our abdomen restored to the sleek look it had when we were 23, but abdominal surgery is a risk and an ordeal. Don't let the words "tummy tuck" fool you into thinking it's easy. Reconsider situps and eating less.

14 comments:

MadisonMan said...

Let me guess. Bonita is suing.

Bob said...

But Ann! How can we remain doughy if we have to do situps?

Ann Althouse said...

It used to be thought that women needed a layer of fat to smooth over the appearance of muscle, so maybe do the situps and have an appropriately feminine layer of fat on top. You can have both.

That's advice for women.

For the men: we'd like to see muscle definition.

Maxine Weiss said...

Natural childbirth yields better children who are more well-adjusted on into adulthood.

Maxine Weiss said...

There was a study done that compared the IQs of adults born of natural birth, and those born of caesarian.

Ann Althouse said...

"Natural childbirth yields better children who are more well-adjusted on into adulthood."

Yes, and what's so unfair is that if you try to compensate by squeezing your infant's head with the force of a contracting uterus and the smush of a narrow vagina ("birth canal"), people will accuse you of child abuse.

Gray said...

Yes, and what's so unfair is that if you try to compensate by squeezing your infant's head with the force of a contracting uterus and the smush of a narrow vagina ("birth canal"), people will accuse you of child abuse.

Nice show of black humpour, Althouse! But, back to the important issues: Is there are a record of your daily workout somewhere? Like those Sidney Rome aerobic videos?
:D

KCFleming said...

I have mixed feelings about this. The surgeries are well-tolerated, but they are big procedures and shouldn't be approached lightly. Sounds like he has a poor track record.

Another good reason to have some kind of acceptable scorecard to help patients choose MDs, outcome records that account for case complexity and age.

jeff said...

"Adams has been sued for malpractice at least 10 times in Southern California since 1996, including six suits in Orange County in the last two years. He's been ordered to pay six-figure judgments on at least three, records show."

Hmmm. About 4 times in 9 years and then 6 times in the last two? Maybe this doesn't belong on the gossip page of the Daily News.

Maxine Weiss said...

"squeezing your infant's head with the force of a contracting uterus and the smush of a narrow xxxxxx ("birth canal")---Althouse

The birth friction stimulates the baby's brain...that's why they have higher IQs.

I didn't say they were better looking, with smashed features and all. But they are smarter!

Ann Althouse said...

I know you were talking about stimulating the brain. That's what I meant. If you try to squeeze the head of your C-section baby to make up for the lack of squeezing during birth, you will be committing a serious crime. But perhaps we ought to be asking whether the child has a right to a C-section birth, since we have the medical skill to spare the baby the abusive treatment nature has in store. I should think you'd support me on that. The child's right to be born by C-section.

Anonymous said...

Oh please don't worry about brain development and IQ in babies who are born by c-section or spontaneously.

"A mean IQ of 114.4 was found for those delivered by section, 116.6 for those by forceps, and 117.7 for thos delivered by vacuum. The spontaneously-born children had an IQ of 108.7. The IQ results determined were correlated with the following data: EPH-gestosis, alteration in the child's heart sounds, protracted birth and Apga. No significant differences in the intelligence or any delayed motor development could be found in relation to the comparative group."
"Psychomotor development of children born operatively by Caesarian section, vacuum or forceps in the period between 3 and 7 years"
from Z. Geburtshilfe Perinatol 1979Oct:183(5):375-373.

rhhardin said...

"A mean IQ of 114.4 was found for those delivered by section, 116.6 for those by forceps, and 117.7 for thos delivered by vacuum. The spontaneously-born children had an IQ of 108.7.

Hey, all the children are above average!

rcocean said...

I didn't know babies could take IQ tests. I just wanted to stay in my crib and sleep/eat.

Kids sure are smart today.