Death of Kanye West’s mom exposes dark side of cosmetic surgery

Due to the proliferation of plastic surgery reality TV shows and the influx of non-invasive procedures, one would think that plastic surgery has become less dangerous than it used to be.

The era of lunchtime liposuction, Botox parties, and one-hour facelifts has paved the way for people to think that getting cosmetic surgery is just like getting one’s ear pieced.

However, the death of Kanye West’s mother, Donda West, has brought us back into the harsh truth. That plastic surgery is a major operation and if not done well, could be fatal. Kanye’s mom reportedly died during a cosmetic procedure this weekend.

Of course, plastic surgeons have their say on the issue.

New Jersey plastic surgeon Dr. Valerie Ablaza said that despite the hype caused by plastic surgery reality TV shows such as Extreme Makeover and Dr. 90210, people should not think that cosmetic procedures are without risks and complications.

“As a whole we’ve gotten more cavalier toward (cosmetic) surgery,” she said. “It really is about beauty and balance. It’s not about these extreme makeovers and getting 10 things done at once because you want an instant makeover. Things are out of control. It’s not about being the tightest and biggest you can be.”

Donda West’s publicist originally said that West died during a cosmetic procedure but later on she backed off and said that she received conflicting reports.

It is important that the actual circumstances of her death be known so that people would have a concrete basis on how to go about their plastic surgery endeavors in the future. It still isn’t known if Donda had high blood pressure or diabetes prior to the operation.

In order to curtail risks and complications, plastic surgeons make sure that they do check certain conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes during consultations and patients are encouraged to be honest and open about their medical history in order to determine whether or not they are fit for a certain cosmetic surgery procedure.

“We want to make sure that people understand it’s about safety, using a board-certified surgeon at an accredited facility and operating on a healthy person with medical clearance. You can’t eliminate all risks, but you can diminish them by not doing too many procedures at one time and by screening for medical conditions beforehand,” says Ablaza.