The NYT reports about a new trend in plastic surgery:
“We’re seeing more of the sympathetic buddy,” said Dr. W. Grant Stevens, the medical director of Marina Plastic Surgery Associates in Marina del Rey, Calif. “I think over all there is more curiosity about plastic surgery in general. The buddy may have his or her own curiosity. It is a nonthreatening way for the buddy to have the plastic surgery experience.” In certain situations and with appropriate behavior from friends, the buddy can ease the fear and tension of consultations, as happened when two women entered Dr. Stevens’s office together, all giggles. “One wanted a breast reduction and one wanted a breast augmentation,” Dr. Stevens recalled, “and of course the joke was, ‘Can you take them off of her and put them on me?’ It breaks the ice a little bit.” It also can help if the friend will be the primary caregiver after the surgery.