Warning: THE VERY IDEA OF THIS STORY IS MIND-BOGGLINGLY GROSS!!!

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/1...ng-womans.html

Just when you think anybody can't be any more stupid ...

Wow!

That is absolutely horrifyingly appalling!

I saw this story the other day on an internet news program I watch. Just horrifying what people will have done to themselves to save money/look good.

are you sure this article wasn't from The onion? that's just insane

That really freaked me out.

It was from the Miami Herald (and a quick search online shows that other newspapers have picked up the story).

Also, it's not a "new" story, as this trend has been going on for several years, so long that there have been several crime drama show episodes based on other true stores (on shows like CSI and Criminal Intent), and it has also been featured on several daytime talk shows such as Tyra and I believe The Doctors.

A few of the offenders were actually board-certified( or formerly certified) plastic surgeons who used commercial grade silicone because it was cheaper and would show up at these "pumping parties" as if they were throwing a tupperware party.

One guy had been a board-certified plastic surgeon who lost his license because he was using a caulking silicone product from a hardware store - and the news article reported that he actually made more money after losing his license because he started doing these "pumping parties" full time, and no longer needed to pay any of the expenses of having a legitimate practice. Apparently it was also difficult to charge this guy, because very few of his patients ever complained.

Most of the time though, the offenders have little or no medical training, and are doing DYI cosmetic surgery (here are supposedly online websites devoted to DYI cosmetic surgery projects) Apparently (from what I've read) it's quite common in the trans-gendered community (there are several documentaries on Netflix), because gender-reassignment and cosmetic surgeries are rarely covered by medical insurance, and even without insurance most doctors won't give surgery on demand, they require the person to go through counseling first - so cheap "street" surgeons are cropping up - some of them have some medical training (though they may be nurses, CNA's, or veterinary assistants) but many aren't. Some have experimented on themselves and their friends, and then start offering their "treatments" to others.

You can see from the mug shots that the person who did this woman's injections has had some DYI work done him/herself (per the reports it's unclear whether she performed the same procedure on herself with the same products, or whether she had gotten her work done from someone else. But it's cleary not a professional job, because her proportions don't even look human).

I feel like it was a matter of time before something like this would happen. But cement..

It wasn't "concrete" cement, it was a silicone cement (in essence, silicone caulk)

That doesn't make it "better" but the ingredient is commercial grade home-improvement store silicone... it's pretty much the "standard" for these "pumping parties," as is using super glue instead of stitches.

Though it's occurring on a smaller scale, the situation seems similar in several ways to the so-called "back alley" abortions that routinely took place when abortion was illegal. Not trying to bring up a political/ethical issue here or express an opinion on one; I just find it interesting.

I am amazed with myself on listening to Thumper's mother's advice and keeping mouth shut because I don't have anything nice to say. There are a million, rather mean, one-liners I really want to say but I feel bad for this poor woman and she's probably been through enough without adding cyberbully comments on top of it all.

As for the "doctor," no bad deed goes unpunished.

Not to defend her, but I don't think the woman was claiming to be an actual doctor, and it seems that she very possibly may as as much a victim of this trend. It looks like she may have done these injections to herself (or had someone teach her after she had it done to her).

The point of these "pumping parties" is to avoid the expense of going to a real doctor - and mostly the people doing the injections are self-taught and everyone at the party knows this (in fact, it's a bit of a "you do me, then I'll do you... affair).

The victim in the case was afraid she had done something illegal and didn't tell the doctors what had happened to her for fear she would get into trouble.

I'm not blaming the victim, I'm just saying she has a good deal of responsibility in this case.

The phenomenon of the plumping party is essentially a group of friends getting together and injecting each other with botox and silicone for DYI cosmetic surgery.

The person doing the injecting is the one breaking the law (performing medicine without a license), but often at these parties, everyone who isn't squeamish may take a turn. So the victims are often also the perpetrators.

I think this is one of those things I could have been perfectly happy never knowing about.

Two thoughts on this.

First, if the doctor looked as bad as she does in her own photo--wth would you let her do that to you? LOL!

Secondly, this poor woman. I bet she was an immigrant concerned about being deported thus, delaying her own medical treatment.

This reminds me of "inking parties" where people do tats. My first impression of those types of parties, which makes it all the more scary, is that alcohol is probably involved. I can't imagine doing anything like this with full brain function. I also think that anyone with self-esteem that low and to be that desperate needs help. I can understand cosmetic surgery and why people do it, but that has risk enough with professional doctors. To go and have a hack do it because its cheaper and possibly other reasons is just dangerous and your medical bills to clean up the mess might wind up being more costly than the procedure.