Beauty from Afar

DEDICATION

For Kellen Michael Schult,
the best son a dad could have
— then,  now and always.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I’d like to simply ask anyone who’d like to be acknowledged to bop over for dinner some night as soon as I’m settled in again somewhere, assuming that you don’t mind eating take-out. We can sit around and talk and I can thank you properly and fulsomely. But it would be a pretty empty gesture unless I left some directions or at least an address, neither of which I can anticipate right now. The only thing I know for sure is that we will do this again some time. That?s fair warning for those who found that me writing a book turned out to be more entertaining than they would have thought.

I started writing acknowledgments when the book was only half done, which seems pretty presumptuous, but it was about at that point that I realized that there really would be a Beauty from Afar and that there would be people to thank for that. First, thanks to everyone who always believed that I would write a book — Mom and dad, my brothers, assorted girlfriends over the years. That was a lot of damned pressure, you know? No wonder it took me until I was 49! But it’s okay, I forgive you enough to thank you lots, for everything, all along the way. In particular, I owe Frances Kuffel for saying that I would be good at this in such a way that I believed her, and for her encouragement, faith, and support as a friend. I have called this faith a curse, on occasion, but thank her for it regardless.

More graciously, perhaps, I’d like to thank Susan Campbell, who gave me the idea that going to Costa Rica for dental work might be a fine magazine story, which it was, and Stephanie Summers, the best managing editor that the Hartford Courant Northeast magazine could hope to have had, for publishing that really long story. Whoever heard of a 10,000-word piece about dental work?

Next, chronologically, I want to thank Beth Bruno for introducing me to my agent, Linda Konner, and Linda for persevering on my behalf through the perhaps inevitable 20 or so rejections, until finding an editor who agreed with us that this book was a good idea. That editor, Debora Yost at Stewart, Tabori & Chang, later told me that there are a lot of books about cosmetic surgery and that they say all the same things (which explains, somewhat, the rejections). But she was the only acquisitions editor who read my proposal and realized that my book was not about cosmetic surgery, but was much more about traveling abroad for medical care, a topic about which she knew almost nothing. She warmed to it, and I am grateful. Many thanks also to Lisa Andruscavage, whose questions and assiduous copy editing both sharpened and smoothed my best early efforts.

I am humbly grateful to all the surgeons, doctors, and medical professionals around the world who contributed to this project by sharing their knowledge and experience, and hope that they find the result did them justice individually and collectively. I have a heightened appreciation, in particular, for the deep, shared commitment to well-being that they hold universally, wherever they may practice, under whatever conditions.

Finally, I’d like to thank the patients, too many to count, who shared with me their experiences in traveling abroad for medical care and cosmetic surgery; and I hope, as I know they do, that the publication of Beauty from Afar will illuminate the path along which they traveled and show the way for others to come.

(9-15-09) added original Table of Contents

(9-14-09) Since it is increasingly apparent that physical copies of Beauty from Afar are becoming more scarce, I’m commencing to put the text online. Like, starting now, really.

I do not yet have pretty e-books made up. I’m working from an ugly Acrobat document I managed to make out of the original Quark document of the book that I wheedled away from my publisher in 2006. I don’t even know how I managed to get that far, since neither version of Quark I have will open the publisher’s file now. InDesign won’t do it either. If someone with a Mac and Quark 6 or so wants to see if they can help me out with a conversion … well, I’d be grateful.

Meantime, I’m pulling the text out and pasting it to a text file that will eventually work great as a flat format e-book. And, as I go, I’ll post pages. Today, we have the original author’s note and the foreword.

That’s the cover of the book, at right. I didn’t pick it. And, in fact, I’m still a little embarrassed by it, for obvious reasons. I’ve been told by a lot of people I shouldn’t be and they’re probably right. “Sex sells.” What’s to be embarrassed by?

Still …

Here is the never-before-published cover sheet I did for the original book proposal. You can tell I had a different notion of what the book was about.

(February, 2006)

At first blush, it may seem a bit odd that a board-certified plastic surgeon living and practicing in the United States is writing a foreword for a book detailing the ins and outs of getting cosmetic treatments outside of this country. What’s next? Major airlines offering insight into bus travel? At the risk of being called a heretic, however, there are several reasons why I think education about cosmetic medicine abroad is useful and why this book, Beauty from Afar, can be helpful for people considering surgery outside the United States.

First, let me say that I support the cautious position of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), detailed in this book, on travel abroad for cosmetic surgery. It is sound advice that I feel is inarguable. At the same time, the ASPS has been very good about including and cultivating the input and instruction of very talented surgeons from around the world. Their techniques are frequently included in ASPS journals and educational meetings.

On a personal note, I have been extremely fortunate to have spent time training with very gifted physicians practicing outside the United States, among them Dr. Ivo Pitanguy in Brazil. The techniques that I acquired while observing these doctors are an integral part of my practice today and are used on an almost daily basis. I have personally seen quality surgical skills outside of our borders.

When we talk about travel abroad for medical services, we are almost always involving an aspect of medical economics. We Americans know that we have an extremely competent medical system. But we also know that in relation to the rest of the world, we have the most expensive. Health care in America can come at a very high cost. This means that, at times, many Americans are unable to afford the highest level of health care services that they feel they may want or deserve. This is true of the aesthetic medical field as well. While my advice would always be to have your surgery done domestically if you can afford it, there are many people who simply would not be able to have a procedure done if they had to pay U.S. prices. In today’s global market where multiple companies and individuals are outsourcing to save on costs, it comes as no surprise that this phenomenon has surfaced in the medical industry.

Ultimately, however, quality and safety must be the top priority, whether you are seeking medical attention here or abroad. Unfortunately, in the United States as well as in other countries, there seems to be no shortage of unscrupulous practitioners who portray themselves as experts in their field, but who have never completed a recognized training or credentialing process. The medical experience for a patient is daunting enough, even in a qualified and legitimate familiar environment. Stepping over the border for equally qualified and legitimate care requires guidance. That’s why Beauty from Afar is so essential. This book provides individuals the necessary tools to make an informed decision when seeking out individual health-care options. Its solid principles apply to anyone searching out quality health care, whether across town, a border or the ocean …

John J. Corey, M.D.
Aesthetic Surgeon in private practice
Scottsdale, Arizona
U.S.A.
www.doctorcorey.com