TV, Radio and Dr. Cruise's 48 hours that changed 25 years of my life!

[mediafocus]

 BACKGROUND: 25 years ago, someone told me "hey, have you ever seen a doctor?" For what? I asked. He said "your chest!" The rest of course is history. That's right, that was the first time I became aware of the fact that there was something wrong with my chest. The polo shirts, tight shirts and T-Shirts became a sick taboo and the beach was a forbidden place. You stood a better chance of catching a cat updating his facebook page than catching me without a shirt on. In college, I took TV Broadcasting. It wasn't an issue until after graduation. Joining Hollywood was a wake-up call. There, before you even open your mouth, how you look would determine the future of your career. I was being passed for on-air assignments/promotions and I could never figure out the reason. I mean I was a was a good reporter. I thought it was because I was a minority. That all ended when other minorities who found me there hit the airwaves before me. Fed up, I left the network to another one. On the last day, my boss pulled me aside and said "now that you are leaving, I can tell you that you might want to have that chest fixed you know? It wasn't my call here but where you go, it might still be an issue," he insisted. Frustrated, I left TV for radio where I became an overnight star. My confidence was high because I knew no one could see me, they could just hear me. But I still had a problem to deal with. Deep down inside, I knew there was an unfinished business that I had to take care of.      

THE SEARCH FOR THE RIGHT PLASTIC SURGEON: One year of research ended this summer – last week. My background in investigative journalism, my experience in software technology and my dad being a medical doctor all served me well when I decided to begin the search for the man/woman who would ultimately treat my condition. I was very methodical. First do a random search. Then do a scientific search and finally do a search based on qualifications and experience and then start the process of elimination. I had my criteria and so it was a matter of check marks and voting in and out. Simon Cowell had met his match!  The random search gave me a lot of Doctors who apparently were 'gynecomastia experts.' the scientific search gave me a list of doctors who were both gynecomastia experts with a proven record of impressive levels of success from surgery to complete recovery and a high volume of successful cases overall. The final search based on qualifications and experience was the most interesting of all. First I picked only the ones who were members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. I saw 2 from the first category, 2 from the second and 5 from the third, a total of nine. The plan was to see 10. Orange County plastic surgeon Dr. Dr. Cruise was the last one to see. His name kept coming up when I up the research intensity to advanced levels. Four doctors in the east coast kept mentioning Dr. Cruise as the best man for the job. When I asked about his best recommendation in the west coast, the best doctor in the NY area immediately said Dr. Cruise was one of the five top gynecomastia experts in the country. From the minute Dr. Cruise walked into the room, I knew the search was over. Back when I was seeing those other doctors, one of them, I think it was number six, told me that I was wasting time when I told him that I had seen five doctors to date and that I was planning on seeing four more! He said he had never heard of anyone before seeing that many plastic surgeons for second opinions. Say what? I thought, this was my life here! Was he ridiculing me for doing my research? Wow! When I told Dr. Cruise that I had seen nine doctors, he said, "good, may be you can teach me a thing or two." Forget teaching him, he got the job! With 14 years of doing gynecomastia procedures, Dr. Cruise is not only humble but a true professional with no BS. He was straight with me about the risks, the success ratio, the process and what to expect. He's surrounded by a group of very professional and capable staff members. They took care of me, always called me and followed up pre, during and post procedure. I felt the individual attention as opposed to an assembly line feeling you get from some other facilities. There was normal bruising and a bit of swelling but that is normal. But the miracle was when you look in the mirror and notice that someone who knew what they were doing did something on your chest. I wanted to jump up and down but for obvious reasons, I could not! Two days after the surgery, I was back to see Dr. Cruise. One of his staff complimented me on the nice polo shirt I was wearing. I remember telling her that she would have never caught me wearing that shirt just 48 hours earlier! That's right, in a matter of 48 hours; Dr. Cruise had completely changed my life of 25 years. I said to him; Dr. Cruise? You are a genius!