Most patients take their new self image and run with it to open new horizons and enjoy their new power over people. We have a four inch binder stuffed with Thank You Notes. We much prefer written tokens of appreciation rather than edible ones. We get way too much chocolate, cheese and wine. We have to watch our weight also. Here's a recent Thank You Note of special interest because the whole family of five came over 1000 miles for the makeover. They live in the land of the midnight sun..............Alaska.

At the end of a long day of performing three major cosmetic surgeries and seeing many poat-op patients the hospital emergency room called. There was an injured two year old whose mom insisted on the best plastic surgeon in town. I was way too busy to go there so I offered to repair the laceration in my office if they could come here. They did, but it wasn't just a conserned mom, it was a lady surgeon on vacation who wanted to preside over the repair like the concerned mom that she was. She did and I did (repair the facial laceration with her whole family of six in the room).

March 30 1842 was the first use of general anesthesia in surgery. Prior to that all surgery was done after the patient had a large amount of rum! Attendants were required to hold the patient down, and surgeon's were rated by their speed! Chloroform was first used to remove a big tumor from a patient's neck, then demonstarted again to other doctors using ether to remove a huge ovarian tumror from a woman's abdomen at the Mass. General Hosapital in Boston in 1846. The Barrow County Medical Society proclaimed march 30th as Doctor's Day in 1933, and the U.S. House and Senate in 1990 finally proclaimed March 3oth as national Doctor's Day.

The South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce awards local businesses who excel in customer service.

The overhead costs to run a certified outpatient surgery center are considerable. We outline the various fixed costs and show why we can do a top notch job at a significant savings to the patient.

There are some freaks but beauty wins.

There were many thousands of plastic surgeons and suppliers in Seattle last week. I go to the annual meeting at least every other year. i always expect nothing new, since I've been doing it for so long it's hard to believe anything could be better, but guess what?  every year I am surprised by the ingenuity of my fellow surgeons. This year a British surgeon figured out how to cross link hyaluronic acid (Juvederm/Restylane) to make it thick enough to be injected under breasts and take the place of breast implants surgery. The cost is about the same, it still requires a "surgical setting" for sterility and the size is limited to a one cup size enlargement, but I predict it will be perfected to include much larger sizes and many other body parts (like hips & buttocks). The variations in "powered liposuction" devices is emmense; There are laser, ultra-sound, radio=frequency, water jet and reciprocating devices all competing for the gullible surgeon's dollar.