A Nip and a Tuck: Information for Writers Who Have Plastic Surgery in Their Plotlines.

Author, KIM CARMICHAEL

Today we are talking with the beautiful Kim Carmichael about how plastic surgery can twist a plot. Can you tell us about your background in this area?

Kim

Along with being an author, I'm in pharmaceutical grade skin care with dermatologists and plastic surgeons. I have worked in the aesthetic field for over twenty years either in the physician offices or in the field. I have seen many many transformations in the last two decades, and I have watched the field change from almost all cutting to a lot of less invasive procedures as well.

Fiona - 
I have seen some shows that show amazing transformations. My amazement doesn't always belong in the "Wow that's an amazing change for the better" Category. Sometimes it's just in the "oh, wow" category.  When someone is undergoing a major transformation what ethics apply to a doctor's decision to radically change someone's appearance?

Kim - 
I think that is a real issue today. We have a joke about people either end up looking like a lion or a goldfish if you get a physician that is not as talented as he or she should be. I think the physician needs to deliver what the patient wants, but within limits meaning not leaving them looking odd or deformed even. It's important to know when to not over-treat a patient even though a patent may ask for that. The first part of the Hippocratic oath is first do no harm. With the obsession with celebrities many people ask for certain looks, and I feel its the doctors responsibility to be honest about can actually be performed and be healthy. Surgery no matter what is a risk and should never be taken lightly

Fiona - 
When would a doctor say "no I will not work with you?"

Kim - 
When the patient is asking for an impossible or unsafe correction. I have watched a doctor turn away a patient when she wanted more filler and would have left her looking very odd, they told her they couldn't help and would not do the procedure.

Fiona -
Yes, well I guess that doctor's reputation is on the line, too. Can you imagine someone with over injected lips raving about her doctor and everyone else can see that s/he looks unnatural. That's just bad walking/word-of-mouth advertising. 

How long might someone take to recover from a surgery? How long would they be in bandages?

Kim - 
That depends. It is usually at least a week. Recovery is a process and dependent on the procedure, but just to be able to get up and be semi-normal can take more than a week, the swelling and final results is 3-6 months out.

Fiona -

That's a long time. So no quick stops to the local plastic surgeon to change a character's nose and jaw line to evade the police. 

Are the scars noticeable to the point that they can be seen and used as evidence that the person tampered with their face?

Kim - 
Nothing is ever one hundred percent gone, it can be masked and hidden in skin folds etc. It really depends on that patients healing (if they create keloid scars etc.) and the doctor's skill in hiding the evidence, as well as how the patient takes care of themselves after the procedure.

Fiona - 
What are the main reasons people become involved with transformations?

Kim - 
Well for me, I really didn't like certain things about myself. I think everyone has a part of themselves they want to change. At the end of the day we all want to look and feel good and its amazing how invigorating getting something corrected can be to someones mental state.

Fiona - 
What would surprise us about the field of transformative surgery?

Kim - 
Most doctors don't go for this huge transformation but they go for natural corrections that look like the patient only better. Also, plastic surgeons can be the kindest doctors on the planet, they truly care.

Fiona - 
Awww smile emoticon Have you ever seen a doctor fall for his patient?

Kim - 
No LOL (but it sounds like a romance novel)

Fiona - 
Let's say that the plot line involves a crime victim or an accident victim...

Kim - 
Most plastic surgeons do treat that, and they do reconstruction and these are very talented physicians who can give a patient their life back. I think that if I were a physician that would be one of the most fulfilling profession because you really change someone's life.

Fiona - 
What kinds of aftercare is needed?

Kim -
Every doctor has his own regimen, but for my recent surgery, I had a pre-procedure regimen that consisted of arnica, bromelian and vitamin k as well as a list of things I wasn't allowed to take. Then I had a prophylactic antibiotic. Afterwards, I was wrapped in foam so I didn't have to do any ointments or anything so that was nice. But there are ointments that keep the area clean and promote healing. if one was having facial plastic surgery there would be skin care products to help with facial redness, and to promote collagen production, etc.

Fiona - 
You have personal experience using a plastic surgeon, can you tell us what you had done, and the progression of your experience?

Kim -
I lost a lot of weight about 9 years ago. I had a lot of loose skin and a c-section scar. I had an abdominalplasty eight years ago and just this summer I had some additional body contouring. I have always been made fun of my weight, and I have issues with anything that deals with that. With the latest round of surgery, I felt like I had gained weight in areas I didn't want it just due to age etc. So that is why I opted for another surgery.

Fiona - 
How did you feel going into the surgery - any trepidation or do you have enough experience with others that this felt comfortable to you?

Kim - 
I wanted it gone so badly, I didn't care if I died trying to get rid of it.

Fiona -
How was your pain level and recovery time?

Kim -
Don't be fooled plastic surgery hurts. The first time, they cut off a lot skin and I was down for over a month. The second time, it took about 2 weeks to be able to get up and down as I wanted.

Fiona - 
What physical things were you precluded from doing and for how long?

Kim - 
Well the fist one I couldn't stand up straight for about six weeks LOL they tightened it so much. You just have to watch it. And no exercise, no getting the incisions wet, etc. Your body tells you what you can and cannot do.

Fiona - 
I'm interested in the pain and the ways that the doctors would abate that. Ice? Meds? How long - if medicated and any chance that in a book this might lead to addictions - as in it takes so long to overcome the surgery meds could be used as a plot twist. (Poor girl was attacked went through surgeries to build her face back she became addicted to opiates etc)

Kim - 

They will give you a pain reliever like a Vicodin. They limit the number they give you. Ice can be for certain things, I had a foam glued to me that kept the incisions sterile. I had some supplements, Vicodin and an antibiotic. Ff you need refills on the pain meds, they will normally make you prove why they are very careful to not allow you to have too much, and they stress they would rather you take Tylenol than the Vicodin.

Fiona -
What surprised you about the process - what details could an author include in her writing that would make this plot twist more real and interesting to the reader?

Kim - 
You don't walk in one person and out another person. Everyone thinks that. They also don't think that plastic surgery is real surgery, so they think they'll be partying that night. It is very far from the truth. It is real surgery, and you have to go in expecting realistic results. If the doctor is good, he will make sure you understand. 

Fiona -
What did I not ask you because I didn't know enough? What do you think writers should know so they can write this right?

Kim - 
Remember that you are down for the count after a procedure. You are not up and around that night watching a movie, especially if you were put under. Also, recovery is long and takes months to see the final results. And most importantly, you don't look like a different person. Those movies where people walk in looking one way and walk out looking another are false. When you see that it is usually the result of several surgeries over years and years.

Nothing is 100 percent

Fiona - 
Everyone on ThrillWriting is asked to share their favorite scar story. Will you tell us your tale?

Kim - 
I have a scar on my knee from when  I was about 7 years old when I was crawling across the front seat of my Dad's old yellow nova with flowers painted on it (true) and the car was old and the spring went through my knee. It hurt like hell ,and I survived with only a few stitches and got a puppy!

Fiona - 
Yay for puppies! Thanks so much sharing your information with us. 

Kim is a Kindle Scout Winner, her book is:

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Now, Logan tightropes between old loyalties and new love, while Ivy struggles to stay in reality with her ultimate fantasy.

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