Great Expectations

   I went to see the plastic surgeon this past week for my two-month visit after the last surgery. Poor Dr. Askren was grateful for the story in the newspaper but embarrassed at the same time. He says I've made his job more difficult now because everyone expects him to be absolutely perfect. Another patient, he told me, came in waving my story and asking, "Well, if you really do make boobs better than God, how come she had to have surgery twice?" He laughed. He's taking it all in good humor!
   I did have to have surgery twice, but it's not that abnormal. There's no way the plastic surgeon can know from the get-go how the implants will rest in the skin that's been stretched (or in my case, some cadaver skin was added). And if you're going to have brand-new boobs, you certainly don't want droopy ones.
   Dr. Askren insists I wait another month to see how the implants settle. I can't imagine them moving, I told him. They feel hard as rocks now and pretty darn tight. He checked them out, told me to massage them so there's movement of the implants and he'll see me in a month. That was just a few days ago and I can already feel a difference in the two breasts. One is definitely looser than the other, but they look pretty good to me. Who knows what could happen in another month. Dr. Askren says there's something about the three-month wait...that certain things seem to change about that time.
   Who could have ever imagined that doctors would be able to totally re-create a woman's breast like this? It truly is amazing when you think about what goes into it. I'm grateful the science is there for me, and grateful for doctors like Dr. Carl Askren who've made it an art.