Last summer, Amy Beckwith went out in a bathing suit and didn’t wear a T-shirt over it. It was the first time in a long time.
Before then, Beckwith, who studied nursing at the Stark campus, wore one-piece suits with T-shirts over them. “I would never go swimming,” she says. “I didn’t want people to look at me.”
Beckwith’s chest was the issue. As a 36 DD, people looked at her differently. Although such reactions were unpleasant, her motives for having breast reduction surgery were health-based. The pull of her breasts made her neck and back sore. And now, even after her surgery, Beckwith has permanent marks in her shoulders from her breasts pulling on her bra straps.
During the surgery in January 2004 the doctor removed 6 pounds from her chest. Beckwith was 21 years old when she had the breast reduction. The surgery was something she had wanted since she was 12.
Now, Beckwith fits into a C cup. Along with an increase in self-confidence, her neck and back pains have subsided, and the recovery wasn’t as horrible as people said it would be. She couldn’t lie on her stomach for a month, but it was worth it. “I’m so happy. I do have scars and stuff, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.”
Manchester resident Sarah Hatch underwent liposuction last year and also says she would go through everything again — the bruising, the $6,000 loan and the six months of waiting — because having the surgery “made me feel a lot better about myself.” In the end, she lost 30 pounds.
Better self-esteem is probably the greatest benefit of undergoing plastic surgery, says Catherine Annandono, practice manager at plastic surgeon Gregory M. Fedele’s Cleveland office. The majority of people who have plastic surgery are correcting something that has bothered them their whole lives, she says.
The Burr is produced by students at Kent State University twice per academic year.No part of The Burr may be reprinted without permission.