YTF Cosmetic Surgery Patient Network  

 

 Who I Am...
It is kind of difficult to describe who you really are in a few sentences, but I will try my best.  My name is Marianne and I reside in sunny Southern California, where getting plastic surgery is as common as getting a half-caff, non-fat Venti caramel Macchiato in the drive-thru.  Fortunately my interests are widespread so I often have the opportunity to escape L.A. and obtain many views as well as change my own.  I always remain open-minded as life and technology continually evolve.  I believe that adaptation is the secret of success and happiness.

I have been researching and writing medical articles for web publications, magazines, books and televised media since 1998.  I believe that patients should have open access to quality information that include both the benefits and the risks of a procedure.  I feel that we should be able to know exactly what we are getting into and be able to research the background of the surgeon who will be holding the scalpel.  For this reason I pride myself on staying ahead of the curve when it comes to aesthetic medical technology while still maintaining genuine empathy and conveying a personable approach in supporting patients.

My interests are obviously plastic surgery but also psychology, quantum mechanics (intermediate), entanglement, biology and virology.  I am practically obsessed with the dynamics of the human body.  The human body is an extraordinary machine.  I am in absolute awe by its most primal mechanics and complex thought processes.  Everything about the human body amazes me, from birth to death.  The many stages that our chemical structure goes through are boundless, especially the mind. 

Personality and general psychological composition astounds me.  What one person sees as a strength or pleasure may truly be another's greatest fear; I am fascinated by this.  The mind is so limitless that I sincerely believe we will never, ever  fully learn its capability or recreate its true functionality.  For this reason, I also enjoy profiling.  You'd be amazed how what someone will tell you without saying a word.  It's a hobby, haha!

My Personality
 I have pretty typical Gemini traits. My friends would describe me as constantly evolving, adventurous, inquisitive and tenacious.  I live life as though I may die tomorrow and have no regret other than that I couldn't live longer.  Sometimes, I cannot help but feel overwhelmed by the complexities of life and the possibility of missing out on anything I was meant to do.  I am always willing to learn new things and am very open to trying just about anything that I find interesting.  I just want to be able to learn and experience everything that I can before I check out.  No matter how much one knows or think they know, there is ALWAYS more to learn about everything.  You will never hear me say that I am an expert in anything.  I believe one can be well-versed in subjects but defining oneself as an expert, in my opinion, is incredibly ostentatious.  

As far as my beliefs and what I am firmly involved in, I am heavily involved in charitable organizations such as SAFE (Stuffed Animals For Emergencies; I once ran the California Chapter up until 2009), SafeNest (which assists victims of domestic violence in Las Vegas).  I also support The Child Cancer Foundation, The Children's Miracle Network, Save The Children, and the National Marrow Donor Program.  I am a huge advocate of bone marrow, living donor and peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation and am currently on the bone marrow donor registry.  I also donate my platelets every month if I am able.  I urge everyone to do what they can to help leukemia and lymphoma patients win their battles.  We are blessed with the gift of health, let's help others with a gift of life.  I like to think of it as plastic surgery patients giving back.  Please visit the Bone Marrow Donor Support Network for more information.

My Most Fulfilling Accomplishment 
I had the opportunity to build an elementary school (grades 1 - 7) in Asia for 140 children who needed a proper place to pursue an education.  A lot of the children who do attend school in many under-developed countries must share a single classroom with other children who are in separate grades.  The children usually sit on a dirt, or wooden, floor with straw mats, and have very little one-on-one teacher time.  Plus, not all areas are fortunate to have even this little by way of education.  Clearly, most do not have the opportunities which many of us take for granted. 

In June of 2006 I met a very generous, and modest man who personally raises money for and builds schools.  He completely oversees the buying of the materials and the locals, mostly the families of school-aged children, build the structures themselves.  This way all of the proceeds go directly into the building of each school and none is pocketed nor trickles into unrelated 'projects'.  The school took about 3-4 months to build and was completed in early 2007--the inauguration was spectacular!  I have never been so humbled in my life, it was the most amazing experience I have ever been graced with.  If I could, I would build schools full-time but it takes a lot of money, and with that I have to work for it.  All children deserve an education and I will do my part to change even just a few lives if I can.

Unfortunately, Cyclone Nargis (2008) obliterated much of the area and killed almost 500 people in that town alone.  The school was used as a refuge for months until the residents could rebuild their domiciles.  My cousin lives there and is married to a woman who is native to the area and although we couldn't get in touch with them for weeks, I did later find out the status of the school and the general area.  The devastation was widespread but the rebuilding process began a lot faster than expected.

How I Got Into This Career: It's Interesting How We Change
I began college with a plan.  I was to first get my AA in Administration of Justice, ending with a degree in Criminal Justice, minoring in Abnormal Psychology.   I had this crazy idea in my young head I would one day be like Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs.  I remember when I first started college I was told that I would change my major many times.  I never believed a word of it until it happened to me.  At 18 the world was not as I originally thought it would be nor did it change by the time I got on the local police department.  My initial introduction to the world of law enforcement started when I got a job dispatching for the city police which included not only law enforcement, but fire & rescue and 911 calls as well.  I really loved it so very much.  I know it sounds silly, but my biggest obstacle was actually my shyness.  I felt uncomfortable speaking over the radio to everyone.  Yes, once upon a time I was shy.  I had a soft voice and to be heard I had to get over it.  Trying to break in and be accepted, or taken seriously, was difficult at first, especially in a predominately male field.  But it was very challenging.  Everyone one who knows me knows I love a challenge!

I later attended and graduated from the auxiliary police academy (at that time, my police dept. didn't allow women on the street full time but they did allow us to take the reserve course).  I loved dispatching, but I had a plan!  I truly was gung ho and thought I'd change the world; I really wanted to make a difference and put away ' bad guys.'  But, I later felt that the department I worked for really held women back at the time and opportunities never manifested no matter how hard I worked, whined or demanded equal treatment.  My father was a sergeant for a police department in another state and is now retired from their Internet Task Force.  When I was younger, I thought for sure I'd do something in the investigative field so I pushed on.

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After a few short years I realized that I was one person who wouldn't make a difference in law enforcement.  I also realized that there were a lot of politics involved in my area as well as that particular career in general and found that being in law enforcement was not something I was interested in anymore.  Long story short, I resigned.  I later attempted to get on dispatch in another, bigger city and didn't get the job.  NO hard feelings, I took it as an omen.  The end of law enforcement for me.  You live, you learn.  I don't regret it one bit.  I wouldn't be here today had I a wonderful experience.

Discovering Plastic Surgery
 Several years later while wandering through various careers and states trying to find out where my puzzle piece fit, I wound up in California.  About nine months later (1998), I decided to have breast augmentation surgery, rhinoplasty (1998) and eventually lip augmentation (1999).  I had begun amassing a good amount of information and research materials during my preliminary days before surgery.  During my healing times and off-time for each procedure, I taught myself to handcode HTML and other languages (yes, people actually handcoded back then).  I began to document my stories for an online journal and well, a little AOL hometown web page (the black and pink days!) became numerous websites of patient education material.  I began spending even more hours online, researching and chatting with other plastic surgery patients, supporting them through their own recoveries, trying to find answers to their questions and so forth.  I woke up one day and realized I had better start making a living with it because it was taking up 12 to 15 hours a day of my time and a lot of my savings.  I started getting invited to appear on talk shows and in magazine articles, so flying back from New York after the John Stossel show, my ex-partner and I discussed the situation and Enhancement Media was born.  

Yes They're Fake! was our flagship website, and out of necessity eventually grew into 25 separate plastic surgery websites designed to cater to the individual communities of patients seeking like-minded individuals.  Due to a partnership dissolution, 18 of our patient education websites were sold in July of 2006.  However, YTF is still owned and run exclusively by myself.  I few years later,  partnership with another patient and Plastic Surgery Patient Solutions, I created several more procedure-specific websites, BreastImplantsCentral.com, LipoCentral.com, RhinoplastyInfoCentral.com and LipAugmentationCentral.com and I guess you could say, "We're back!"

What's With The Blatant "Yes, They're Fake! Nature?
You may have noticed the frank nature of the YTF website.  This is because we, as patients, need a place to unite and discuss the reality of aesthetic options and their risks and myths.  Our visitors are real people, looking for real answers from real patients who will tell them like it is, one way or the other.  Yes, I do take plastic surgery very seriously, but I just don't find the need for the site to be snobby and without personality.  That's just not me.  I become friends with a lot of people I meet through my websites and I like it that way.  Everyone who comes here to learn is very important to me and their happiness is imperative.  If I can do anything to help educate or just point the way, I will do my best. 

If you want your info candy-coated or biased, good luck!  Because you're going to need it.  I am not some "overly-opinionated know it all", but I am a realist.  If you find that you do not like it the YTF! attitude, the Internet's a big place and I am sure you will find your niche.  I do wish you well in your surgical endeavors.

Surgical Procedures I've had

  • Breast Augmentation (Jeffrey Friedman, MD, June 16, 1998)  First procedure

  • Rhinoplasty (Jeffrey Friedman, MD, Novmeber 4, 1998)

  • Lip Augmentation with 3.5mm Gore-Tex tubes (Jeffrey Friedman, MD, February 19, 1999)

  • Revision Lip Augmentation due to infection, changed to 3mm Gore-Tex tubes (Jeffrey Friedman, MD, July 27, 1999)

  • Breast Implant Exchange with Benelli Breast Lift/Areola Reduction  (John Rusca, MD, May 5, 2004) for Discovery Channel

  • Liposuction to flanks, hips, inner and outer thighs and abdomen  (John Rusca, MD, May 5, 2004) for Discovery Channel

  • Modified Brow Lift  (John Rusca, MD, May 5, 2004) for Discovery Channel

  • Fat Grafting to Cheeks  (temporary, John Rusca, MD, May 5, 2004) for Discovery Channel

  • Finesse Liposuction (mild touch up to inner thighs and fat grafting to outer thigh contour irregularity from first lipo procedure), Breast Lift Scar Revision   (John Rusca, MD, February 22, 2005)

  • Breast Implant Removal  with peri-areolar breast lift due to prior breast lift complications; Gore-Tex lip implant removal, plus a little bit of fat grafting to undereyes, chin, nasolabials, temples, brow bone, nose and lips. (Fat was temporary, breast lift came out awesome, Dr. Chia Chi Kao, April 12, 2007)

  • I have not had surgery since 2007 (see last surgery above)

Mini Procedures I've had

A Few Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Are you having anymore surgery?
A. Never say never.  I am sure now that I have had the surgeries I wanted, upkeep will be necessary as the years go by.   I haven't had any surgery since 2007.  Sure, there are things I'd like to do but they are all non-surgical.  Such as tattoo removal completion, and temporary fillers and Botox for maintenance.  I suppose I'd like to get a light peel.  If I were to do anything surgical it would be breast re-implantation (small implants, just for upper pole fullness) but I'll admit, I am on the fence about it.  I like sleeping on my stomach sometimes, or not worrying about deflations, I like the lack of weight, or attempting to find bras which fit my implants.  My natural breasts also don't get in the way during sports and can be squished into a sportsbra with no problem.  But I do admit, having breast implants makes breasts look better in my opinion.

Q. Do you have Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD)? 
A. NO. I do not have an image disorder.  People can improve their appearance and mind without needing therapy.  However, I definitely wouldn't have had as much had I not been in this business.  I do a lot of television and other media for plastic surgery and feel that I must keep up my appearance more than I would have otherwise.  Not to mention some minor procedures I have simply had just to gain first hand knowledge to tell others about it and let them know what to expect.  Many were temporary. I know that sounds crazy but, they weren't really invasive.  I only do really invasive things because I want to, not out of peer pressure.  I have not had any surgery since 2007, but I do like to get Botox 1 to 2 times a year and Restylane about once a year.  It's funny, when I do relax and "let myself go" a little, people online make comments about how I am ruining my results.  But when I get something done, they say that I am addicted.  I have found that you can't win for losing and should just do what makes YOU happy. Which is really what I have always advised others.  But, sometimes it is difficult to take your own advice.

Q. Why did you start getting plastic surgery at such a young age?
A. I believe in prevention and maintenance instead of waiting until you are bad off and need an overhaul.  I look at it this way, you don't drive your car into the ground and then once it breaks down you fix it.  You take care of it so it takes care of you.  If you maintain your appearance and take care of yourself will look and feel far better for far longer.  Besides, I started off with procedures to improve what I had, didn't have anything age related until 30 (Botox) and age-related surgery (brow lift) at 32 and from now on the procedures will be to maintain what I have.

Q. How can you afford this?
A. Just like you, I have to work for my money.  However, for my first 2 procedures I had a settlement from a near death accident, so after a two year stint in physical therapy I said I DESERVE this!  And so I spent the money on boobs and a nose!  The lips were a Valentine's Day gift.  I also quit smoking right before my breast augmentation and the money I save on that alone was enough to cover anything else for years to come.  I have remained a nonsmoker since 1998!   It is honestly THE best thing I have ever done for myself.  I also work about 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.   I have had discounted procedures (and some no charge) because I agreed to be filmed on television while having the procedures.  And of course, I skimp in some areas so I can spend in others; people sacrifice some things so they can have others.  If there is a will, there is a way my friends! 


 

 

 

 

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