IMPORTANT SHOW about plastic surgery

[Guest guest]

Just wanted to update everyone on the air date of the documentary

that I am part of. It will air, Monday Aug. 4th @ 10 PM on The

Learning Channel.

The program is called The Body Sculptors: The History of Plastic

Surgery. It was filmed by a UK TV production company.

The air date in the UK is Aug. 25. The UK edition is edited different

from the US as there are graphic photos that cannot be shown in the

US. This is what the Producer wrote me,

>>>>Your story is told more strongly in the UK version (which is

called The Plastic Surgery Story) and we use the shots of the implant

coming out. I really fought to make that happen because I do believe

it may stop young women thinking of having it done.<<<<

So, all of the silicone sisters in the UK.. let me know how it is

over there.

My section deals with breast implants (Part Five). It tells the story

of when I was implanted in 1968, at age 22, after a bilateral

mastectomy, and the problems I had in my 35 year history with the

implants.

Take care,

Kathy Nye

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The Body Sculptors: A History of Plastic Surgery

TLC Program Description

The flourish of a surgeon's knife now promises eternal youth,

timeless beauty and the perfect body in an instant - but plastic

surgery isn't just a modern phenomena, this film reveals it's as old

as vanity itself with its roots in Ancient India. Shot on location

in Rome, New York, London and San Francisco, this one hour

documentary tells the history of plastic surgery through the stories

of the body sculptors - the men who devoted their lives to developing

and perfecting surgical techniques. Each part of the film follows a

contemporary cosmetic patient undergoing a procedure, and uses their

story as a narrative backbone into which it weaves the testimony of

early guinea pigs of the same surgery, dramatic reconstruction and

expert interviews.

Part One: Liposuction

25-year-old 's story is typical of many - she wants to lose the

extra pounds she hasn't been able to shift since the birth of her son

so she books in for a liposuction operation with New York based

plastic surgeon Dr. Lawrence Bass. The instant weight loss without

scarring promised by liposuction has made it America's most popular

cosmetic operation, despite it being the most recent plastic

procedure to be developed. The technique of sucking fat cells out of

the body through tiny keyhole incisions was invented in 1974 by

Italian surgeon Professor Giorgio Fischer. Fischer explains the

origins of his invention, introduces one of his early patients and

shows his latest liposculpture innovations in his surgery in Rome.

We then re-join to see the amazing and immediate results of her

operation.

Part Two: The Face-lift

In a world that worships youth and beauty, 52-year-old college

administrator Sandy from New Jersey wants the total rejuvenation that

can only be achieved through a face-lift and is prepared for her

operation in Dr. Lawrence Bass's Manhattan surgery. But the origins

of facial surgery lie not in vanity, but in the carnage of World War

One when trench warfare led to young men suffering horrific facial

injuries. Based at Queen 's Hospital in southern England, Sir

Harold Gillies became the father of plastic surgery by developing

innovative techniques to repair thousands of soldiers' terrible

scars. After the war these surgical procedures were refined and used

in cosmetic operations, but with the opportunity to make money - the

quacks emerged. Dr. J. Crum became the most infamous, and the

film dramatises his performance in 1931 when he gave an aging actress

a face-lift in front of an amazed audience at New York's Hotel

Pennsylvania. Journalists and professional surgeons were outraged -

but Crum's patient seemed pleased with the results of her surgery -

as is Sandy with her 21st Century face-lift.

Part Three: The Nose Job

When she was 16-years-old London based Chantal had a nose job, which

transformed her hated Roman nose into the delicate, upturned shape

made fashionable in the 80's by . But twenty years

on, Chantal's nose has too much in common with 's -

it's begun to collapse. Chantal signs up for surgery with Harley

Street plastic surgeon Ross. The techniques Ross will

use to correct Chantal's nose have a very long history and we

reconstruct a typical early operation as it was recorded in Ancient

Indian manuscripts over two thousand years ago. But the real

breakthrough in nasal surgery came in Nazi Germany. Using dramatic

reconstruction, archive and expert interview we tell the story of

Berlin based Jewish doctor Jacques ph who became an experienced

plastic surgeon treating Germany's wounded during World War One. In

the 1920's and 1930's ph specialised in nose jobs - and many of

his patients were Jews attempting to disguise their identity from the

Nazis. It was vital their surgery left no scars, so ph developed

new techniques of changing the shape of the nose by operating within

the nostrils. His methods are still used today, as Ross

demonstrates during Chantal's surgery, in which he successfully

repairs her collapsing nose with a cartilage transplant.

Part Four: Sculpting Men

Steve is 30-years-old and typical of many 21st Century men in being

concerned about his body shape. He's decided to opt for a

liposuction operation. The pressure on men to enhance their looks

through cosmetic surgery began in the 1950's and has increased year-

by-year ever since. Haiken, author of 'Venus Envy', a

history of cosmetic surgery comments on the importance of film and

television explaining how the televised debate between Nixon and

Kennedy proved to be a turning point in the importance of physical

attraction in men. Steve sees his surgery as a treat rather than a

cheat, and is pleased with the results.

Part Five: The Boob Job

Zara, a young New York artist, has decided to enlarge her breasts

through an implant operation and consults Dr. Lawrence Bass. But in

the early years of plastic surgery, smaller rather than larger

breasts were fashionable, so as we illustrate with unique archive

from 1931, the first operations were to reduce the size of the bust.

After the Second World War fashion changed and every woman wanted an

hourglass figure. In Japan, doctors experimented in a new way to

enlarge the bust by injecting the newly invented silicone directly

into women's breasts. Californian Carol Doda was already making

waves as America's first topless dancer when silicone arrived in

America. Carol describes how in 1962 she became one of the first

Western women to have her breasts enlarged with silicone injections

and our archive reveals how she became front-page news. Carol hasn't

suffered any ill health as a result of her silicone injections, but

other women weren't so lucky including Kathy Nye who was offered

silicone breast implants in 1968 after a double mastectomy. Kathy's

body reacted badly to the silicone and she became ill almost

immediately. In 1992, so many women had reported serious side

effects that the FDA banned silicone implants saying manufacturers

had failed to prove they were safe. But Zara decides to go ahead

with her saline implants despite all the bad press - and is thrilled

with her new body shape.

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I don't like the sound of the ending, but this is what is happening

these days. The women know of the dangers and still go ahead with it.

It is so sad that America is so obsessed with breast size. And the

women feel that they have to increase their breast size to be

acceptable in society. So, so sad....

Kathy Nye