▶ entertainment
▶ events
▶ issues
▶ music
▶ art
hilltopics
the university
daily kansan
friday ▲
4.9.99 ▲
eight.a ▲
Debilitating proportions
Despite a society that admires large breasts, some women are choosing surgical reductions to alleviate medical problems.
1 Incisions outline the area of skin, breast tissue, and fat to be removed and the new position for the nipple
2 Skin formerly located above the nipple is brought down and together to reshape the breast. Sutures close the incision, giving the breast its new contour.
3 Scars around the areola, or the outside of the nipple and in the crease under the breast, but are placed so they can be concealed by clothing.
Source: American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons.
By Katie Hollar Special to the Kansan
When Erin Callaghan, San Antonio senior, was in high school, she
was in high school, she had to have her prom dress specially made. Two different sized patterns had to be spliced together to accommodate her large bust.
"It was a 14 on the top and an 8 on the bottom," she said.
Wearing a 38E bra size. Callaghan had tremendous difficulty finding clothes. The average American bra size is 36C, according to a December 1998 article in the Salt Lake City Tribune.
"I was never really able to fit into T-shirts or anything," she said. "I turned 17, and I wanted pretty bras and underwear. I went to Victoria's Secret, and they really didn't have anything that fit me."
When Callaghan started to suffer from back pain, her doctor suggested a breast reduction.
When it comes to breast size, bigger isn't always better.
"It was really more medical than cosmetic at that point." she said.
Her breast reduction was her 18th birthday present.
Very large breasts can cause a variety of medical problems including neck pain, breathing problems, even skeletal deformities. Tight bra straps dig into the shoulders, leaving deep red indentations. But the most common problem is back pain.
"A large bust causes abnormal biomechanics," said Matthew Lewis of Lewis Chiropractic, 2540 Iowa St. Lewis said that a very large bust can shift a woman's center of gravity forward, overworking the deep muscles in the lower back. This can result in debilitating discomfort.
Large breasts also can hinder one's self-esteem. From playground taunts in junior high to frustration finding a bathing suit, a disproportionate bust can make a woman hate her body.
For many women, a breast
reduction can be a solution to these problems.
In recent years, the procedure has become increasingly popular. In 1992, the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons reported that 39,000 breast reductions had been performed in the United States. This number grew more than 60 percent to 64,000 in 1997.
"In the 18 to 22 age group, breast reduction is probably the most common procedure that I do," said Scott Thellman of Lawrence Plastic Surgery, P.A. "The only people that think big breasts are great don't have them."
areola are moved into a higher position.
The doctor then brings the skin from both sides of the breast down and around the areola, creating a new and firmer shape. Finally, the incision is stitched shut.
Thellman said the operation usually took two or three hours.
Though patients can go home the next day, they will be sore for several more. Thellman advises patients to take at least a week off school or work to recover.
"The only people that think big breasts are great don't have them."
Callaghan said her operation was painful. Four pounds of tissue were removed from her
Scott Thellman
Lawrence Plastic Surgery, P.A.
Before surgery, a woman will meet with a plastic surgeon to discuss all aspects of breast reduction. Thellman also shows patients a 45-minute video that explains the procedure.
The office then will contact the patient's insurance agency.
"Once we hear from them, we'll go ahead and schedule," Thellman said.
This process takes two to four weeks.
Breast reduction is a complicated operation. Surgery is almost always performed under general anesthetic. After being unconscious during the procedure, most patients stay overnight in the hospital.
First, the doctor makes a keyhole-shaped cut that circles the areola, extends downward and follows the underside of the breast. The nipple stays attached to preserve nerve tissue and blood vessels.
The doctor removes excess tissue, fat and skin. The nipple and
breasts, drastically reducing her bra size to a 36B.
For two weeks after the surgery, patients are required to wear a heavy-duty surgical bra. This special bra is designed to provide extra support and compression.
As with any surgery, there are side effects. Some women are not able to breastfeed afterward. Many women experience a temporary change in nipple sensation.
Breast reduction also leaves noticeable scars.
"They're always going to be visible. It's important that patients understand that there are going to be scars, and they will be permanent," Thellman said.
Excessive bleeding and infection are possible but quite rare.
"Most patients do real well with it," Thellman said. "It's common for me to hear, 'It wasn't as bad as I thought.'"
The average cost of a breast
reduction is $6,000, Thellman said.
Many insurance companies will pay all or part of the cost if medical reason can be documented.
"We try not to pay for just cosmetic breast reductions," said Graham Bailey, director of communications for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas.
Bailey said there were two situations where Blue Cross would pay for the surgery: mastoplexy and medical necessity.
Mastoplexy is a corrective procedure for women with breast cancer. After cancerous tissue is removed from one breast, the other is sized down for symmetry.
Blue Cross will pay for surgery to alleviate medical symptoms caused by a large bust, such as severe back pain. In these cases, the agency will work with the patient's physician to confirm need.
Bailey said quite a few claims for breast reductions were processed in the Blue Cross office.
"We're glad to be here for the ladies who get this done," he said. "That's what they pay their premiums for."
Thellman estimated that 95 percent of breast reduction patients felt a substantial physical improvement after surgery. They also feel better about themselves.
"The benefit that these patients get, to feel like they don't have to hide their figure anymore, is a real boost," he said. "This is an operation that makes people like the way they feel and the way they look."
For Callaghan this certainly was the case.
"The first time I went shopping afterward, I was almost in tears," she said. "I could fit into clothes without the buttons popping open. It's so much better now. I can find clothes that fit."
"I feel so much better about myself than I did before," she said.
Go is no talk and all action
GO
Rating : B.
By Brendan Walsh Kansan movie critic
If all it took to make a great movie were a pair of beautiful doe eyes, Katie Holmes would be a $20 million actress. Fortunately for Holmes, doe eyes do ensure a starring role in Dawson's Creek and the occasional chance to make the jump to the big screen.
Go tells the story of a set of teenage hooligans involved in a drug deal gone wrong, told from three different perspectives.
Ronna (Sarah Polley) volunteers to fill in for low-level drug dealing friend Simon (Desmond Askew) while he's out of town. She buys the drugs on credit and is ready to make the deal when she realizes that the buyers (Scott Wolf and Jay Mohr) are part of a police sting. She avoids being busted but has to get rid of the drugs in the process. This leaves her without the drugs and without the money to pay her dealer back.
Meanwhile, Simon is yukking it up with three of his friends (including Taye Diggs of How Stella Got Her Groove Back) in Las Vegas. Simon and Diggs' character gamble, steal a car and then shoot a strip club bouncer. It's never explained why the bouncer doesn't call the cops, but he and his friend decide to go on a
vigilante hunt for his assailants.
The third take on the whole situation follows Wolf's and Mohr's characters after the drug deal. It is the most personal and compelling of the three escape, because action doesn't get in the way of character development.
All this ties nicely together in the end, in a somewhat Altman-esque weaving of characters and lives.
Director Doug Limon also directed Swingers. The inevitable comparisons between Go and Pulp Fiction and Swingers are misguided. The conversations about fast food hamburgers in Pulp Fiction were new and entertaining, where as similar attempts at the same type of humor come off as forced, dull and worst of all, just the cynical rants of jaded teenagers.
Problems with character development and the script aside, *Go* provides several fabulous action scenes. The car chase in Las Vegas is exhilarating and clever, and the scenes inside the rave are done well. But the best scene of the entire movie is a drug-addled character conversing with an all-knowing cat. It's the best talking movie animal since Babe.
EVENTS CALENDAR
Matt Merkel-Hess
Fridav. April 9
Faculty colloquium. "Cindy Sherman and the Performance of Gender." 10 a.m. Kress Gallery, Spencer Museum of Art. Sponsored by Hall Center. Pere registration required. Call 864-4798.
Theatre lecture, Kate Bornstein, playwright of "Hidden: A Gender." 1:30 p.m. IGue Theatre, Murphy Hall. Sponsored by University Theatre, Call 864-3381.
spring concert." A Tribute to the Pre-
Millennium," KU Symphony Orchestra.
Brian Priestman, conductor; Delores
Stevens, piano soloist; 7:30 p.m. Lied
Center. $5 adults, $4 students and childen.
Tickets at Lied Center, 864-ARTS;
Murphy Hall, 864-3982; and SUA, 864-
3477.
Sunrush with Nine Mile Burn. Sponsored by West Side Folk. $12 adults, $9 students. 7:30 p.m., St. Margaret's Episcopal Church, 964 Hwy. 40.
Saturday, April 10
Concert Series. Izakh Perlam, violin, 8 p.m. Lied Center. Tickets at Lied Center, 864-4RTS; Murphy Hall, 864-3982; SUA, 864-3477; and TicketMaster.
Sunday, April 11
Trombonanzu. 11 a.m. Swarthout
Recital Hall, Murphy Hall. Call 864-3436.
Exhibit. MFA thesis show. Art and Design Gallery. Hours: 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 8:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Fri-
day, 1:40 p.m. Sunday. Closed Saturdays and holidays. Ends April 16. Call 864-4401
Comedy, Paula Poundstone. 8 p.m. Lied Center, Tickets at SUA, 864-3477.