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LINDA HELPS YOU FACE UP TO
SURGERY
Written
by Anethea
Gerrie
Picture
by Alban
Donohoe Linda in the
MIRROR
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November
17th 2000
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Nervous but
excited about the prospect
of a new, younger look,
Linda let the
nurse prepare her for the
facelift operation.
She might have run out of
the room if she’d known
more about the man
wielding the scalpel.
Unbeknown to Linda,
thousands of women had
complained about botched
operations by the very
same surgeon.
As it turned out, Linda’s
facelift was a success.
She says: “Perhaps it was
because he knew I was
writing about it for a
magazine, that I got a
good one.”
But consumed by guilt for
publicising a doctor whose
competence turned out to
be suspect - and who is
now under investigation -
Linda resolved to set up a
web site to try to steer
other women towards a
safer pair of hands.
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She had another purpose
in launching
www.lindabriggs.co.uk
“to provide first hand
information about cosmetic
surgery, which is almost
impossible to find.”
Linda’s site
is currently a
grass roots
set-up and her
services are
free. But as a
former
patient, she
is a mine of
useful facts -
such as how
quickly you
can go out
shopping after
a nose job
without
looking like
an accident
victim and how
much pain is
involved in
getting your
eyelids
tightened.
Linda believes she
can even save
women money by
telling them when
they can get away
with less radical
procedures than
the facelift they
imagine they
need.
But she found
official
opposition to
her aim of
providing
impartial
advice - which
she dispenses
in person
rather than
online. “When
I tried
putting up
links on my
site to the
British
Associations
of Plastic
Surgeons and
Aesthetic
Plastic
Surgeons, I
was told to
remove them
immediately.
”Yet that
would have
listed all the
Board’s
certified
doctors
practicing in
Britain.”
Instead she
uses her web
site as an
information
site about
products and
peripherals,
as well as an
introduction
to her off
line
consultations
in London and
Norwich. Here,
along with
advice, she
offers
referrals to a
handful of
surgeons she
has personally
vetted.
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“I am not available for
automatic hire, however,”
insists the 46-year-old
Legal Executive who has
maintained her day job
conveyancing, to allow her
to keep her independence
and run a site that is a
passion rather than a
profit centre.
"Although I
would have made good
money, I have turned down
the chance to promote
doctors who I’m not sure
about.” “The point
is that no one should be
exposed, as I was, because
they didn’t know there are
charlatans out there.”
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One woman who found the
site a godsend is
43-year-old Annette.
Annette says she was
desperate for a face-lift
because people assumed she
was a grandmother rather
than the mother of her
young second family -
Shannon, five and 18 month
old Alisha.
Annette says; “I’ve
looked older than I was
for a long time, with deep
jowls and bags under my
eyes.”
Surfing the web for first
hand information earlier
this year, Annette found
only one source - Linda’s
site; “I had been so
dissatisfied with the
answers I was getting from
doctors I
interviewed.”
“They refused to provide
patient testimonials and I
felt their estimates of
recovery time seemed
impossibly optimistic. I
thought it well worth
paying Linda £35 for a
consultation in Norwich,
not far from my home, that
told me what I could
really expect.” Cautious
Annette did not accept
Linda’s first choice of
surgeon; “you’ve got to
feel comfortable and I had
already been checking
doctors out for several
months.” “But I chose the
2nd, who last month
performed a mini-facelift
and removed eye bags and
wrinkles on my top lip.
I’m delighted with the
result.”
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There are some good
general information sites
dealing with cosmetic
surgery, such as The British
Association of Aesthetic
Plastic Surgeons
www.baaps.org.uk. And there are the
blatantly commercial sites
touting for
business.
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Don’t discount
individual
doctors as a
source of
good, free
information.
Plastic
surgeon
Patrick
Hudston’s site
www.phudston.com
tackles
important
peripherals
issues - such
as anxiety and
the problem of
family not
being
supportive
after the op -
in a series of
concise, free,
on line
articles.
Some American
sites even
show the
operations
which, tacky
as these are
in concept, do
give an
indication of
the grisly
going over
patients may
be letting
themselves in
for.
While
www.celebritydoctor.com
contents
itself with
broadcasting
the facelift
of American
daytime soap
star
Christopher
Templeton,
www.onlinesurgery.com
shows a whole
gamut of gory
goings on in
the OR - from
brain surgery
to breast
cancer ops,
hernia repairs
to thyroid
removals.
By
contrast,
www.lindabriggs.co.uk
is a model of
low-tech
restraint,
restricting
itself to
offering
information on
products such
as Botox -
used in
beautifying
procedures -
and cosmetic
surgery
insurance,
which Linda
says few women
know about.
“For example,
most think
they would
have to fund
the removal of
troublesome
breast
implants
themselves.
But coverage
is available,
even if the
operation was
done
abroad.”
It would be an
invaluable
service to
women seeking
surgery if
organisation
such as The
British
Association of
Aesthetic
Plastic
Surgeons did
encourage
links to the
site. Without
a doubt, the
best guide to
getting a
decent op is
still
certification
by the
appropriate
boards, who
maintain
rigorous
standards.
Meanwhile,
it’s
wise
to
follow
Annette’s
advice
and
use
online
services
as
an
introductory guide,
interviewing
doctors
yourself
and
trying
to
obtain
testimonials
-
for
which
word
of mouth
is
probably
the
only
reliable
root.
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