It came as a great surprise. Perhaps even more of a surprise is that the death rate has actually gone up in the past 13 years, according to de Jong, despite the introduction of new, less drastic surgical techniques. But it has been around for 18 years, and there is some tendency for us to forget the surgical reality. This is not popping in to get the hair done. This is surgery.
Patients have to respect that.
Along those lines, Erhardt says that patients ought to be very careful about who they choose for a surgeon. Unfortunately, patients aren't as careful about choosing their cosmetic surgeon as they are about choosing where to buy a new car or get their hair done. And patients have to be reasonable about expectations. Because a lot of people, obese people, come in basically to lose their girth. They don't just want a little bit out, they want a lot out.