Information About The Breast Augmentation Procedure example essay topic

Breast augmentation, technically known as augmentation mammoplasty, is a surgical procedure to enhance the size and shape of a woman's breast. This procedure may be done for many reasons: To enhance the body contour of a woman who, for personal reasons, feels her breast size is too small. To correct a decrease in breast size or shape after pregnancy or weight change. To balance a difference in breast size. As a reconstructive technique following breast surgery. By inserting an implant behind each breast, or in special cases just one breast, surgeons are able to increase a woman's bust line by one or more bra cup sizes.

Breast augmentation can enhance your appearance and your self-confidence, but it won't necessarily change your looks to match your ideal. A breast implant is a rubber shell filled with either silicone gel or a salt-water solution commonly known as saline. Because of concerns that there is insufficient information demonstrating the safety of silicone gel-filled breast implants, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has determined that new gel-filled implants, should currently be available only to women participating in approved silicon implant studies. Breast augmentation is now regarded as a routine procedure, but as with any operation, there are risks associated with surgery and specific complications associated with this procedure.

The most common complication, capsular contracture, occurs if the scar or capsule around the implant begins to tighten. Capsular contracture can be treated in several ways, and sometimes requires either a removal or "scoring" of the scar tissue, or in severe cases replacement of the implant is itself. The texture of the implant selected for the patient and its placement under the muscle can reduce the likelihood of capsular contracture. Personal narrative is very important when it comes to breast augmentation due to the importance of educating patients on the procedure. The narrative between patient and physician is considered to be one of the most important steps in the entire augmentation process because of the information shared between the two.

Through personal narrative, patients learn the many risks and benefits that are included in the augmentation process and are instructed by the physician on whether or not a procedure is necessary. When my group came to the consensus of breast augmentation, I was very concerned about finding somebody who was interested in having the procedure done. To find a person, I started asking close friends that were members of local sororities on the U maine campus. I requested they discretely ask their sisters if any were showing interest in having a breast enlargement and would be willing for me to ask them a few personal questions about their thoughts on the procedure. A few were found, but at my disappointment none were willing to be interviewed. Fortunately, one of the refusing girls had a friend named Sarah who attended Husson College in Bangor and would be willing to talk to me.

I was given her number and contacted her that day to make arrangements for me to go to Husson that week. Upon my arrival I was very nervous, I had never met Sarah and had no idea how cooperative and open to questioning she would be. The interview took place in Sarah's dorm room where she had set up a card table for us sit at. It was obvious upon arrival that Sarah was uncomfortable about disclosing such personal information to somebody that she did not know.

My main concern was for her to feel comfortable talking to me, so it was decided that I would not ask any questions until she was relaxed. It was not long that Sarah and I warmed up to one another and the interview could start. Before the interviews, our group compiled a list of questions we would be asking our interviewees interested or planning to have breast augmentations or reductions. We hoped that our questions would make informants think and respond with lengthy answers, or maybe even relative stories that would relate to breast augmentation. Unfortunately this was not the case with Sarah, she consistently responded with short answers not revealing the information I anticipated. Because of her abruptness I tried asking improvisational questions hoping to learn more, but she again answered with short responses.

It was not until weeks after the interview I learned that she was uncomfortable with the entire interview situation. She had second thoughts about revealing such personal information to a stranger, and decided to withhold her most personal thoughts about the enlargement. She later explained to a friend, who then explained to me, the information she told was true but it did not reveal her biggest reasons for wanting to have the breast augmentation procedure. Because of the relationship between Sarah and I, meeting only 15 minutes prior to the interview, it was obvious to her revealing the person information I was requesting was inappropriate. Would it have been easier for her to talk to me if we had been friends? Would she have been more comfortable if I were female?

Interviews are shaped by the people that are telling and listening to them. If a story is being told to a particular person, and then the same storyteller tells the same story to a different person, the form of the two stories will be different because of the listener. The approach of Bells linked model of analysis for personal narrative was to ask open-ended questions. She would listen to stories and interrupt as little as possible.

She then tied questions asked to the responses received which "revealed a logic that links the stories, how when analyzed together the stories show how individuals changing their consciousness about a health problem and becoming politicized". (Riessman) During my interview with Sarah I did not attain the information needed for me to do an analysis of our interview. Because of this I will be focusing my paper on the idea that stories are shaped by the audience that the story is being told to. I will discuss how Sarah was reluctant to disclose all information about the breast augmentation procedure because of our relationship.

I will interpret Sarah's reactions to questions and how her body language indicated her uneasiness about revealing information about her breasts. Besides hesitations in speech, uncomfortable pauses, and a shaky voice, there were many other indicators that I was not aware of during the interview that would have hinted to me that Sarah was uncomfortable of having me as an interviewer. I started our interview with a very broad question about breast augmentation, hoping it would be a good way to ease into the interview. I plainly asked", How much do you know about the procedure itself"?

Her response was short and inconclusive, but her answers to this question, and to questions that followed were not what intrigued me. While Sarah responded to my questions she did not make eye contact with me. Her eyes wandered aimlessly around the room focusing on anything other than me. Initially this led me to believe that Sarah was lying. If it hadn't been for me recently studying the Interpersonal Deception Theory of David Buller and Judge Burgoon I would have undoubtedly thought what she was saying was nothing more than a lie. Buller and Burgoon state: "When people won't look us straight in the eye, we assume they have something to hide.

We also tend to believe that nervous laughter and hurried speech reflect the fear of being caught in a lie. The bulk of deception research shows that these particular nonverbal cues are not reliable indicators of deception. Weeks after the interview when I learned that Sarah had not been completely honest with me, I realized why it was hard for her to make eye contact. A close friend of hers told me she acted this way because she was uncomfortable talking to me about her body. Because she was uncomfortable with me, the answers she gave were tarnished causing her to.

This is a great example of how an audience can effect the teller. When I learned about Sarah's stories not being one hundred percent truthful I went to a close friend who was also a friend to Sarah. I was interested to see if Sarah would be willing to reveal different information to my friend who was female, the same age as Sarah, and already a friend of hers. I asked her if she would ask Sarah questions about wanting to have her breasts enlarged and to pay attention to Sarah's body language as well as eye contact. When I learned how their interview went, I was not surprised.

Sarah opened up to her female interviewer. She revealed information that was more personal and had more meaning to every response than what was told to me. Though I am not sure what exactly Sarah told, I do know that the answers given were much different than the ones given to me. There is no better example that shows how a person is affected by the audience than the interviews given by me, and the interview given by my friend.

They show directly how a person is affected by the audience they are talking to. But what caused Sarah to be this way? Was it because I am male and was solely there for the purpose of interviewing? Did Sarah feel more comfortable talking to a female friend who was informally asking personal questions? In Reiss man, Bell told her experiences from the beaches of India to friends which she commented on: "My friends listen, question, urge me to say more about particular aspects of the exchange between men and women; I, in turn refashion the events in response to their cues and, to make the importance of the scene real for them, expand on what the moment means in the larger context of my life plans for living and working in India. By talking and listening, we produce a narrative together".

The narrative she spoke of, and the words used to describe her experience created a self-representation for her. She used words and word pictures to persuade listeners to think and feel a certain way. "I seek to persuade myself and others that I am a good person". (Bell) During my interview with Sarah she gave responses and told stories that persuaded me to think a certain way. She used words that created an image of a person that was not her. Sarah did this because she was afraid and uncomfortable revealing her "true" self to me, an audience of one.

Because of the situation with Sarah, I was able to use this paper as a better way to understand the narrative process. Unfortunately the information I provided is limited due to the fact I was bounded on the information I was able to interpret. I was able to look back at the interview and interpret the visible characteristics of Sarah that showed my presence as an interviewer, as well as her audience that made it hard for her to reveal personal information. Fortunately I was able to learn about Sarah in a different interview situation dealing with the same topic. Because of the great difference between the two taught me that audiences do greatly effect the way a storyteller tells a story. Because of this narrative paper, I have become much more aware of conversations with people and more aware of the way I communicate with different sexes, races, and ages.

I have been very intrigued by the information learned through the narrative process. It has opened my mind to different aspects of the communication field and I am looking forward to future projects with narration. Narrative Analysis Com. 466 December 3, 2001 Joseph E agers.