Marvin Tackles Breast Problems
Marvin Zindler is focused on breast problems in Houston this week:
A young teenager is embarrassed by an unusual problem. But he had courage enough to seek help from Action 13.I actually saw this report on television a couple of nights ago. I can't really speak to whether or not the young man in question had gynecomastia, but he was certainly obese. Not to be mean, but one wonders if his breast problem and general health might not have been better addressed, at least initially, by a good diet/exercise program, instead of going under the knife.I've done stories on this problem before, and I understand why the boy is embarrassed. So I called in a new "Marvin's Angel."
Josh is a normal 15-year-old in every way, except he has an embarrassing physical problem. It's one that's caused him to be withdrawn and shy and quit sports. Josh is a strong enough man, however, that he sat down and wrote me about it. He said, "I just want to be normal again."
The problem is the young teenager has developed breasts. Needless to say the kids taunt him.
"I don't really like it so I just walk away from them 'cause I don't want to give them trouble," said Josh.
My new Marvin's angel is plastic surgeon Dr. Franklin Rose. I showed him the letter Josh wrote.
"This happens in a small percentage of otherwise healthy teens," said Dr. Rose. "It's obviously a source of great frustration."
Having seen this problem during his two decades of practice, Dr. Rose knew what had to be done.
"We have treated this on multiple occasions. We treat somewhere between two or four patients a year with this condition. It's called gynomastia, which is simply male pattern overgrowth of the breast and we'll treat this quite successfully either with liposuction or incision techniques," Dr. Rose explained.
I know Josh will be happy with the outcome. And, thanks to my new Marvin's angel Dr. Franklin rose for his help.
The next night, Marvin was working on another breast issue:
A young Houston mother is tired of people making fun of her. So she took matters into her own hands and wrote Action 13.Who will be the first reader to offer the obvious smartass response to these stories?I get a lot of mail from folks with unusual medical problems who need help. Thanks to my Marvin's angel, a young lady gets that help.
More people than you might think have birth defects -- Crystal Serna for one. The 20-year-old mother was born with one breast. Can you imagine the embarrassment that caused her? It made it very difficult for her growing up.
"They made fun of me, and it just hurts inside," recalled Crystal.
Many women have breast implants for cosmetic reasons. But for Crystal, it's total reconstruction surgery. She has seen doctors about the problem.
"They wanted between 5 and 6 thousand dollars and I just don't have the money for it," Crystal said. "I'm a single parent and I just don't have the money right now. I just have trouble right now trying to do everything for my daughter."
Now it's time to do something for Crystal. I called in Marvin's angel Dr. Franklin Rose to take care of Crystal's rare concern.
Dr. Rose said, "It might be on the order of 1 in 100,000 to 200,000 births."
Dr. Rose will perform surgery that will make Crystal look like everyone else.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/01/04 17:32 | Other | Technorati
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Comments
Before I had breasts, I wore a training bra and stuffed it with cotton balls. Why this woman couldn't have done the same thing and avoided all the teasing, I don't know.
Also, if I had only one breast, I would call myself "The Uniboober".
Normally having some sort of deficiency builds character (I believe myself to be an example of this) but these days it seems to just turn people into whiners.
I gotta agree with the thing about trying to lose weight first. That is odd.
Posted by Evelynne @ 18:30 on 04/01/04
two words: mastectomy bra. No one needed to even know.
Posted by steph @ 21:22 on 04/01/04
Wasn't there a 1993 Bear Review quote from Linda Ellerbee, after she'd had a mastectomy, where she was yelling had her dog to bring back her, uh, falsies?
Posted by R. Bryan @ 22:05 on 04/01/04
damn!!! i'm too late.
Posted by tonto jones @ 08:30 on 04/02/04
Not at all! There's so much more potential with this one. Come on commenters!
Posted by Kevin @ 08:50 on 04/02/04
You're so mean.
But so am I:
Why doesn't Marvin arrange the ultimate sweeps-month radical plastic surgery operation: a boob transplant from Josh to Crystal???
Posted by Scott Chaffin @ 09:50 on 04/02/04
DING DING DING DING.
Scott wins for guessing the smartass comment that I wanted you (the mean readers) to say instead of me (the less mean proprietor).
But there's so much more to work with here, people. Come on, it's like a telethon (except there's no charge). We NEED your help here. :)
Posted by Kevin @ 09:53 on 04/02/04
well, i think the woman with one breast is actually tragic, especially when there is so much emphasis put onto a woman's breasts as a part of her femininity. i think for her to want to fix that problem isn't whining and a falsie is only a temporary fix. imagine you're the guy who gets into the sack with her and you take off her bra to find only one breast. how would YOU react?
though i wonder, she was able to have a baby by the time she was 20, so there was one guy who didn't seem to have a problem with it.
as for the boy with breasts, if he were truly obese (i haven't seen a picture of the kid, so i can't comment) then i think a doctor who didn't address that issue should look at going into car sales instead.
Posted by jonni @ 20:22 on 04/02/04
by the way, marvin looks scary! and you people make fun of californians!! ;)
Posted by jonni @ 20:23 on 04/02/04
Marvin IS scary!
Do you remember the Dom Deluise character in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas? Based on none other than our Marvin.
Posted by Kevin @ 20:39 on 04/02/04
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