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i feel the same way iam very sick of having surgery, i just want to look like my self(before braces/surgery) but with every surgery i get further away from it, and i cant stop getting PS because i know i wont be happy if i stay like this
because it looks nothing like the before.

I don't feel "fake" at all, but then again I have only had 2 cosmetic surgeries thus far. I am however tired of other people who find out about the invasive and non-invasive cosmetic procedures I have had done who think I'm "fake" because of it. I am 100% sick and tired of surgery, both the medical and cosmetic variety and am so finished with the terror and anxiety of anaesthesia and all the drugs and worrying that they might make me throw up. I do agree with Rust in the belief that we are evolving more into ourselves, each procedure taking us a little closer physically, psychologically and emotionally. Has it been worth the process? Hell yeah. One more rhino away...

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"My friends, love is better than anger.
Hope is better than fear.
Optimism is better than despair.
So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic.
And we’ll change the world"

Wear a yellow ribbon, March is Endometriosis Awareness Month!

They USED TO make me joyful UNTIL one of them screwed up (f/g to lower lid with PS). Then I got surgery 'shy'.

I've only had a chin implant ( done twice ). But I can't even get up the courage to have more done. It's always cool to look at before and after pics to see the improvement snd how far you've come . What other procedures do you need? After my chin implant revision I wanted my nose and checks done.Dr y comment was you gotta know when to hold em know when to fold em. It's hard knowing when to stop. I'm terrified of doing my nose as so many docs told me my nose couldcollse I saved up just enough money but still can't go forth I would hate to get on surgical treadmill of botched surgeries. Earl if your surgeries have made even a slight improvement in the way you like your self than that's encouragement in itself

I had silicone. I originally wanted porex and actually felt that porex shapes were a better fit for what I wanted aestehtically, but a lot of people from this board and other boards pm'ed me some stories, and I remember a lot of people on the old YTF that wanted them removed to get max fax but couldnt so I decided to go with silicone. Any plastic can remove silicone and the damage from removal won't be so bad.
I know most people say don't worry about negative possible things just focus on your aesthetic goals, but IMO you really cant do that. Getting facial implants is a huge decision for many reasons. IMO its a much more complex one then getting a rhino or a facelift.
No one can predict the future. A lot of people on here get facial implants at a young age (early/mid 20's- early 30's) and you just don't know what's going to happen in the future. You also don't know where you will be in life in the future. In the old days it was safe to say that a man or woman would be more financially comfortable/stable in their later years. In this day and age that's no longer true. Especially if you're in the corporate world where once you hit late 30's-early 40's your deemed too expensive and replaced for a cheaper/younger worker. The last thing I wanted to do was set myself up for an emergency porex removal in my mid 40's while unemployed (with or without a family). I know most of you would say I'm a worry wort but this scenario really isnt that far fetched in this day and age.

I'm not sure if surgeries have improved my life. I feel I look better. I feel better when looking in the mirror to an extent. I found my passport with a photos taken in 2002 and I still can't beleive I looked that bad. I was born with just about every single physical facial flaw in the book. What bothers me the most is that all those kids/adults who call/called me ugly really are/were just telling it like it is.
In 02 before any surgery naturally I had
1)nose: Hook shaped bridge, alar retraction on both, huge hanging columella, a wide frontal, huge tip
2)recessed jaw with small weak jaw angles
3)double chin (even when I weighed 110 pounds and was skin and bones on my body)
4) around an 11m deficiency in the cheek/tear trough area
5)Weak frontal brow bossing
6) ptosis in both eyes
7) gynecomastia since puberty
on top of that I'm short (5'8 on a good day, more like 5'7 3/4 most of the time)and am losing my hair. The costanza special I guess.

Since then I've had 3 nose jobs, ptosis repair(came back though), gynocomastia removal(very very worth it),liposuction(not worth it), BSSO, submental lipectomy, cheek implants. I do feel better about myself but one thing I'm learning is that PS has its limitations. IMO they can get you more into the normal range, but they really can't turn a frog into a prince.

I can relate to this. Have not been back under the knife since my nerve damage issue...would like to do more, but now I've already had the benefits and risks talk many times & i dont like my nose outcome from many years ago (never made peace with it) and dont like my numbness in the lip area. I want lipo badly but I dont know what disaster is waiting for me with that.

Wow. Lots of good insights here! Earl25, you've got plenty of company among us! I've had a laundry list of procedures done: MFL, upper eyelid bleph, endo brow lift, neck lipo & lift, Vaser High Def lipo, adult orthodontia, sclerotherapty, botox, juvey, facial lasering .... and I can tell you: I NEVER feel fake for having had it done.

Instead, I feel a vague sense of irritation that I seemed to have aged faster than my siblings (altho I am the youngest). So I feel kind of defective and weak compared to them.

I am SO grateful for the results I've gotten so far (except for that MixTo facial laser-burn in 2009 ... which I had when both Mercury & Venus were retro, dumb donkey!).

I also *know* that I'm going to want & need surgery down the line. Probably one more go-round with entire face (perhaps with Dr. Marten?); I'd love to have an arm lipo; realize that I have to re-visit getting Juvey injections some time next year.

It sucks. But I guess if one has the money, time, excellent surgeon, support group for recovery, and guts to do it, so be it! It definitely gets tougher for me to submit to "THE GREAT UNKNOWN" with each elective procedure. That MixTo experience rattled me, so I go much more cautiously now.

Just know that as you age, you will have real other health issues to deal with. So if you ever plan to get elective surgery done, GO FOR IT NOW.

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I Bug U

Earl - even if all your surgeries get you into "normal" and not "prince" - then you have won. Look around you - there are tons of normal, non-movie start looking people who have normal mates and a lifetime of love and happiness. You acknowledge that your surgeries have gotten you from "ugly" to "normal". And you did it with very methodical analysis and planning. Kudos to you. Now take the next step. Start seeing a therapist and work on how you feel about yourself and how you project to others. That's all that's holding you back now. You have a lifetime of conditioning to overcome, and it won't be quick or easy - but you must do it otherwise no surgery will ever make a difference.