GORE-TEX, Not Just For Winter Coats Anymore...

After an extensive 17 year study of over 500 patients in Canada, GORE-TEX implants for rhinoplasty (nose jobs) appear to be a safe, inexpensive and remarkably effective replacement for tissue grafts from other parts of the patient’s body.

"GORE-TEX should be strongly considered for major and minor corrections of the nasal wall and bridge in properly selected patients," Dr. Krzysztof Conrad of the University of Toronto advices.

The implants “showed remarkable stability and tissue tolerance.” Complications that necessitated implant removal occurred only in 1.9% of patients and included infection, swelling, or the implant moved or was dislodged.

"The unlimited supply and natural feel of the GORE-TEX implant outweigh the disadvantage of occasional complications, all of which can be treated successfully as long as they are not neglected," say the authors of the review.

5 Things You Can Do To Avoid Plastic Surgery Blunders

Once you've made the difficult decision to have cosmetic surgery, you'll have many more decisions before you and choices to make. Many people, believing that a surgeon need only be technically proficient to produce a superior and pleasing result, neglect to place appropriate importance on making the necessary preparations in choosing a procedure, picking a surgeon and following through with thorough aftercare.

Following these five directives, you should be able to avoid some major pitfalls of plastic surgery - and hopefully avoid looking like an emaciated, alien bobble-head doll.

#1 - Know what plastic surgery can and cannot do

Plastic surgery can reshape and redefine you face or body's entire aesthetic. There are many things, however, that plastic surgery cannot accomplish. Perhaps most importantly, if someone suffers from a body image disorder (called body dysmorphia), the odds are they will not be pleased with the results of cosmetic augmentation. Body dysmorphia distorts one's mental perception of their own body. Ethical surgeons will refuse to operate on someone suffering from a body image disorder and refer them instead to a psychologist or psychiatrist.

Also, cosmetic surgery cannot hold back the hands of time, nor can it promise to erase decades of lines, wrinkles and sagging skin from your face. Certainly, plastic surgery can make a patient look fabulous and younger through the removal of certain lines and wrinkles, but there are no guarantees and surgery becomes progressively more difficult with each successive surgery - the surgeon will have less fresh tissue to work with and will have to deal with more scar tissue.

#2 - Have a plan and stick with it

If you have one or two things that bother you about your body or face, that's normal. To avoid having unnecessary surgery, you should make a list of everything you wish to address and stick to those areas only.

Cosmetic surgery is a big ticket item and, as with other high-priced items, there can be a great deal of sales and salespeople involved. If you go in not knowing what you want to address, then you may be sold on unnecessary procedures. You might also become more insecure as you will most likely be viewing images of former patients who have benefited from the surgeon's skills. It's important to maintain your individuality and not let momentary insecurity cloud your reasoning.

#3 - Consult directly with the surgeon before you choose to have the operation

Many clinics and surgeons today hire consultants and salespeople with little to no medical training to juggle their busy schedules. Sales is a part of capitalism and consumers, whether they realize it or not, are being pitched to several times each and every day. Still, it's the surgeons skill and talent you're paying for. You need to be able to speak to the surgeon before you choose to go under the knife. You need to be able to ask questions about what she or he will do if things go wrong, what sort of plan they have for giving you optimal results and what kind of guarantees they can grant you if you're not pleased with the outcome.

#4 - Follow all aftercare procedures you are assigned

Aftercare might the most important part of insuring a favorable result. The surgeon will almost certainly proscribe medication, give direction in changing bandages and their removal and give you tips on how to know if something is going wrong - i.e.: how to spot an infection in its early stages, how and when the incisions should heal, etc.

#5 - Be open and honest about your surgery

There are many benefits to being honest and telling others about your surgery. Most of these benefits are social; you can make it more socially acceptable to go under the knife and battle the age-old anti-body enhancement stigma and you may open a dialog about the condition that made you wish to have cosmetic surgery (premature balding, obesity, skin damage due to UV radiation, etc.) One of the personal benefits about telling others of your surgery is that it will enable you to better hold your surgeon accountable for the results. Some unethical surgeons depend upon the silence of patients to continue performing below expectations and, sometimes, operating in a dangerous manner. A surgeon that realizes you will be vocal about your operation and its results are more likely to perform at an optimal level and guaranty that, should you have less than desirable outcome, they will consolations and fix their mistakes.

Celebrities are not immune to making bad decisions, as is evidenced by Mike Rourke who is pictured above. If you make your choices in a wise and educated way, you can avoid the mistakes of others who've seen a surgeon's scalpel. Make the right choices and you can look and feel fabulous after your procedure.

5 Things You Probably Don't Know About Plastic Surgery

It may be the entertainment world's favorite pastime, but there's quite a few things the general public doesn't know about cosmetic surgery. While, plastic is fantastic, what you don't know may bite you in the end (your end... or your front, it terms of facial plastic surgery).

#5: A Surgeon Need Not Specialize In Plastic Surgery To Perform Cosmetic Procedures

One of the most frequently offered nuggets of wisdom dispensed by board certified plastic surgeons is to only choose a board certified plastic surgeon. This is, of course, a wonderful piece of advice as, contrary to many medical myths floating about, a surgeon need not be board certified to perform plastic surgery. Cosmetic procedures performed by non-cosmetic surgeons is on the rise - right along with the number of botched surgeries requiring board certified surgeon's expertize to fix.

That doesn't mean you can't get a quality operation from a non-plastic surgeon. Hair transplant surgeons are often dermatologist - some of the best, in fact. Still, even hair transplant surgeons have boards and coalitions to which they choose to belong to add to their reputation.

#4: Liposuction Is Not For The Obese

Many people refer, often derogatorily, obese people to liposuction. Unfortunately, liposuction is usually only performed on those with 24% (the CDC considers this and below - down to 18.5% - a healthy BMI) body fat or less. It takes 30% or more body fat before one is considered obese in America.

The liposuction process not only sucks away emulsified fat, but blood as well. The surgeon can only rid a patient of so much fat without stealing away precious blood. If the surgeon took away too much blood with the melted fat, he or she would be putting the patient's life at risk. Other complications caused by obesity make most elective surgeries (like liposuction) risky and unrecommended.

Even the newest forms of liposuction, VASAR and Smartlipo MPX™, are meant for ridding a patient of small amounts of fat (even smaller than tumescent liposuction). Smartlipo MPX™, for example, has a maximum area fat removal capacity for about 2 liters of fat. That's about the size of a coke can. That small amount is unlikely to make a major impact for those with significant amounts of abdominal fat. In the latter case, abdomenoplasty (tummy tuck) is more appropriate.

#3: Having Surgery On The Same Area More Than Once Will Make Each Progressive Surgery More Difficult And Lead To Diminishing Returns

A build-up of scar tissue, combined with less raw material with which to work will make each surgery performed in the same area more difficult for the surgeon. Surgeries that must be performed multiple times over the life of the patient may lead to complications, most notably visible complication as in the occurrence of dents between the tissues of the chest and a breast implant. Build-up enough scar tissue, and eventually, successive surgeries are unlikely to be any help.

#2: Breast Implants Typically Have A Maximum Life Of About Five To Ten Years

All devices fail at one point or another and breast implants are no exception. Patients that seek breast implants must, unfortunately, prepare for multiple surgeries - even if one surgery is to place the implants and one to remove them... Even if the implant doesn't rupture, all implants have a tendency to move with time, so they may need to be removed and possibly repositioned and/or replaced.

#1: As Many Have Observed Lately, Cosmetic Surgery Is At Its Best When It's Reshaping And Granting A New Aesthetic, As Opposed To Trying To Hold Back The Ravages Of Time

Time marches on and for many of us, it marches over our face. True, you can Botox-away some of those wrinkles and filler-out some of those frown lines. You can undo some of the damage caused by the sunny days of your youth. You can even make your skin appear tighter (sometimes too tight) and the science of anti-aging is evolving more every day.

Still, someone that tries to hold back the hands of time with a surgeon's scalpel is likely to end-up looking like a wax figure. There may come a day when a surgeon can grow entirely new skin to place on your face, but until then, you're going to have to settle for the fact that there is only so much you can do. You can look fabulous at forty, or fifty, or sixty; you just may not look twenty-five or thirty.

Surgeons Operating On Patients With Body Dysmorphia Causing Boom In Psychiatric Cases

According to the Australian paper, The Age, the cosmetic surgery boom has also been a boom time for psychiatric cases caused by what they claim to be botched plastic surgery, although the article focuses almost entirely on those with body image disorders who seek plastic surgery.

What's the difference between a botched surgery and dissatisfaction with one's cosmetic surgical history as a result of an image disorder? A botched surgery is more the fault of an unskilled or careless surgeon - though the patients of these surgeons may not be entirely without fault, as they might have failed to research their surgery properly. Patients with body image disorders have long been turned away by ethical plastic surgeons and referred to psychologist or psychiatrists. Ethical surgeons realize those with body dysmorphyia are unlikely to be pleased with the result of any cosmetic procedure as their disorder distorts their mental perception of their own features. This is why dangerously underweight women will often insist they are "fat", even when faced with striking evidence to the contrary.

Professor David Castle of St. Vincent Clinic in Australia speculates that some 15% of people visiting plastic surgeons have body dysmorphic disorders, and yet some surgeons operate on them anyway. This may be a disturbing sign of the times and plastic surgeons in Australia (and possibly around the world) may be dealing with the sluggish global economy by performing operations on patients with psychiatric disorders.

Britain, Guard Your Daughters!

While men have become increasingly involved in plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures as they get older, women seem to have developed a reverse trend. Younger girls are increasingly desiring cosmetic surgery, especially in Britain where the cosmetic surgery market is booming.

According to a study conducted by Girlguilding UK, British girls as young as 10 are thinking about plastic surgery and are concerned with dieting. Many report feeling depressed because of their looks and wish to look older and garner sexual advances from boys. An increasing amount of young girls are getting their cues from teen fashion magazines.

One girl surveyed says, "When I was 11 I read a teenage magazine for the first time and that is when it kind of clicked, 'I should be like this'."

Emma Hughes, a 15 year-old girl from Britain reports wanting to have plastic surgery to be more like her idol, English fashion model, Jordan (Katie Price). Jordan has had extensive plastic surgery and has recently undertaken a "mommy makeover" and vaginal rejuvenation.

Emma's mother supports her daughter in her dream, not only in spirit, but also by working five jobs to pay for Emma's beauty treatments, tanning, and future cosmetic enhancements. Emma reports that she wants breast augmentation for enlargement, despite that she is already a 34F and her mother has already spent £15,000 on her daughter's spa treatments. Emma's too young to join a tanning salon, so her mother purchased a tanning bed for use in their home.

“I’m not worried about this tanorexia nonsense, or skin cancer from sunbeds. It hasn’t affected her health. It’s making her confident and beautiful. All the treatments will give her the edge. They’re going to help her be a star,” says Ashley Hughes, Emma's mother.

Although SFP is considered a pro-surgery site by some, we are, in actuality, a pro-patient site. We advocate making educated and mature decisions, and we feel that it's impossible to make a mature decision when your not mature yourself. It has been observed time and again, that young people have a very shaky grasp on the ramifications of their present actions on their future. While Emma may feel confident now, she may see that self-esteem plummet later if she or her mother are unable to maintain their extravagant spending. Perhaps the most worrying aspect of Emma's story is that her mother not only condones her daughters shallow behavior, but actively supports it. Not to mention the fact that neither of them are concerned with the possibility of Emma developing skin cancer from tanning - sun damage can be difficult to see, as it can occur at the deepest levels of skin.

Britain, it's time to open a dialog with your daughters. Not everything you see on TV, or movies, or magazines is appropriate behavior.

Credit Crunch Means People Are No Longer Keen To Trade Plastic For Plastic

As with other large ticket items like houses, automobiles and vacations, it was once common practice for Americans to pay for their cosmetic procedures through loans and credit cards - it's still a popular payment method for the British and other Europeans - but the sword hanging just above the global economy may soon burst that bubble.

Many plastic surgeons and casual analysts have attributed the dramatic fall of the number of Americans seeking cosmetic surgery to both the fear of financial ruin and the shrinking amount of discretionary income American households currently command, due to a crippled housing market, an anemic job market and the depressing state of inflation. But I would venture to say that most have overlooked the fact that many Americans could not afford the procedures even during the boom.

Only a few short years ago, creditors were extending lines of credit to people whom they knew couldn't really afford to buy the houses they were bidding on in the event of a financial crisis, gambling that the good times would keep on rolling. It's my feeling that cosmetic surgery financers have made and are making the same mistake. To add insult to injury, many cosmetic surgery loans are offered at outrageous intrest rates above 20% APR!

It's important for every potential patient to ask themselves whether or not they can afford the procedure they want, performed by the surgeon they choose. Allowing an outside force, even a creditor (creditors often have a network of doctors that the patient must choose from and will only cover the procedure if they choose someone with their network) to choose your surgeon is inviting disaster. Out of all the plastic surgery horror stories I've heard, a good 90% always involve the patient having their doctor chosen for them.

Of course, the best way to pay for your cosmetic surgery is 100% out-of-pocket, in cash if you can. If you cannot, the second best option is to wait until you can. Failing that, should you be keen to have the surgery right away and cannot afford the cost out-of-pocket, then you also have the option to take out a loan from your chosen surgeon's choice of finance company only for the portion of the surgery that you cannot afford and pay for the rest with cash or credit - credit cards can be a better option over loans, as you will have more control of interest rates and fees. The last thing you want to do is take a loan to cover all of a procedure, or procedures. The best of the bad situations that decision may leave you in is the instance in which you cannot afford to pay the monthly payments, or you fail to pay on time and damage your credit. The worst situation is one where your surgery encounters complications, or is botched and you have to cover the cost of a surgical failure while living with its consequences.

10 Questions To Ask Before You Opt For Plastic Surgery

The cardinal rule of cosmetic surgery is to gather as much information as possible before making your decision. It's never been easier to access a wealth of knowledge than it is today with the Internet. It shameful to think that, with so much information available, most people still make a pretty uninformed choice. You cannot close your mind to any possibility without researching all probabilities.

You should be able to answer all of the following questions before you go under the knife:

1. Am I ready for plastic surgery? (Be sure to ask yourself why you want to pursue cosmetic body alteration - much like weight loss, or any other body alteration, the people who are most pleased with their undertaking are those that made their initial decisions to do it with their own happiness in mind and not that of any outside force.)

2. Do I know what the procedure entails? (Once you have chosen a procedure, you may still have many options available - the worst thing you could do is let the surgeon choose for you; you have to live with the results, not them.)

3. What are the complications? (If the procedure is performed under general anesthesia, there is a risk of a possibly fatal complication, though that risk is rare - less than half of a percent, or 1 in 57,000 procedures ends with a fatal complication. Still, the risk is present.)

4. What are the arguments against the procedure?

5. Will the procedure work, even if the circumstances are not ideal?

6. Have I gotten a qualified surgeon's opinion? (You would do well to reinforce that opinion with a second and third opinion. Many non-cosmetic surgeons and other medical professionals can and will refer you to a quality surgeon, so ask!)

7. Have I chosen the right surgeon? (Locating a qualified and talented surgeon should be your priority. You should search for the very best that you can afford; if that means traveling elsewhere for a surgeon who produces results that you like, then you should consider traveling as a part of your plan. If you cannot afford the surgeon who you believe will produce the best results, then perhaps you should reconsider having the procedure until such a time when you can afford their services. After all, can you afford it if the surgeon makes a mistake? Above all, always remember that you are choosing a surgeon, not a clinic or a hospital - one is not just as good as another.)

8. Will I ever need a follow-up procedure? (Several procedures, including most implantations do not last a lifetime - most implants have a maximum life of about ten years before they'll need to be removed or replaced).

9. What kind of guaranty does the surgeon provide for the procedures? (The doctor cannot guaranty that something will not go wrong, but you should remember that YOU are the consumer and YOU are paying a great deal for your procedure. You should be satisfied and if you are not, the surgeon should make every reasonable consolation to ensure your satisfaction).

10. What is the after-care procedure? (some procedures will leave you out of commission for a while, and you may still need to follow instructions to ensure a quick and successful recovery).

Do your research and don't take the decision lightly. Death, although a freighting consequence, is but one possibility and the odds may be much greater that you will not be pleased with the aesthetic that the surgeon produces.

SFP often reports on celebrities, many of whom have made the wrong decisions in cosmetic surgery. We do this not out of malice, but illustrate the point that celebrities are people too. They make the same mistakes that you or I make, in and out of the operating room. These celebrities are, in my humble opinion, the exception and not the rule. Many celebrities, just like the millions of people that opt for cosmetic alteration every year, are satisfied with their procedures and look fabulous. If you make the right choices and ask the correct questions, you'll be able to say it along with us: plastic is fantastic!

Presidential Plastic: Can The Elder McCain Hope To Beat Youthful Barack Obama Without Plastic Surgery?

Since the televised debates (the first televised presidential debates ever) between Kennedy and Nixon in the fall of 1960, Americans have made it evident that the president's personal appearance is a major factor when they consider for whom they cast their ballots. Throughout those historic debates, JFK projected a calm and confident exterior, while Nixon looked tired and unprepared, many Americans thought it looked as if the uncomfortable Nixon was lying. Next to the youthful and exuberant Kennedy (to whom Barack is often compared), Nixon looked rather, well... old.

The Nixon/Kennedy conundrum is not the only example of the public preference for youthful, strong-looking candidates. FDR often tried to hide his polio-withered legs by developing extreme upper body strength and holding himself up when addressing the public. There are still legends of Ronald Reagen dying his hair and political historians have often observed that Americans rarely choose to elect bald candidates.

At seventy-one years old, one wonders how McCain will fair in the court of public opinion (and its apparent ageism) against the forty-six year-old Barack Obama. The numbers aren't the only problem for McCain, even if we only consider the superficial differences of appearance and age. Namely, McCain has had fairly recent medical issues (skin cancer, to be exact) which may present a further PR problem when facing the healthy and outgoing Obama. Perhaps it is a result of his POW experience, or his political service, but the years have not been as kind to McCain's appearance as they have been to others. Judging only from the previously stated public prejudice against older and older-looking candidates, he may have a long and difficult battle ahead.

Still, the voters' interest in youth seems to be only skin-deep, as they seem to be able to overlook any actually flaws if the candidate appears young and healthy. Perhaps plastic surgery might be a good option of John McCain.

Plastic Is American

Today is American Independence Day, when we Americans celebrate both our Declaration of Independence from England and the freedom our forefathers fought for and won. Being that this is an American holiday and this is an American-made (or authored) blog - no offense to our friends in other countries, by the way - I thought it only fitting that I publish a declaration of our own: the Declaration of Independence from Deceptive Marketing Practices and Poor Results. What is a declaration, after all, if not a statement of who you are and what you stand for? So, in honor of that thought, I bring you some information about what Super-Fantastic Plastic stands for, why it exists and what I intend to do with it.

Where did you get the idea for "Super-Fantastic Plastic"?

There were two conversations that inspired the idea:

1) I mentioned a mutual friend's upcoming cosmetic procedure to another friend. I could see the disgust in his eyes and I mentioned off-hand that I was considering having a procedure, myself and he replied, "if you do, I won't be your friend."

2) Another friend has just had the LAP-BAND procedure. Through this surgery, she has improved her health, her self-esteem and her general outlook on life. She wrote about her decision in her blog and said that she was not going to telling everyone because she knew their reaction was going to be unfavorable.

Frankly, I think it's horrible that people would be shallow enough to believe that our outsides matter so much more than what is inside. Our bodies are simply the vehicle for our minds and spirits, they're bendable, stretchable and changeable. None of what we do on the outside, however, affects who we are on the inside without the intervention of our own freewill.

So, what is a patient advocacy site and why do we need one?

A patient advocacy site is created of the people, by the people and for the people... that have had, will have, or want more information on cosmetic surgery. Although there are many ethical and talented surgeons operating throughout the world, there are also a number of unqualified, unethical and downright criminal surgeons and clinics that prey on the unsuspecting public. There are surgeons that claim to be plastic surgeons though they're not Board Certified Plastic Surgeons. Some cosmetic surgeons work with clinics that 'create' surgeries that don't exist and sell out-dated and possibly dangerous procedures as "state-of-the-art". Most of these scalawags don't stand by their results and leave their patients disfigured - the law in most states is on their side, stating that a surgeon does not have to guaranty results.

Together, as patients, we can put unethical surgeons out-of-business by dispelling their deceptive marking practices. We can hold doctors accountable for their results. Most importantly, we can educate consumers on making the best possible choices to ensure that they garner superior results and do not regret their decision.

Have you had cosmetic surgery?

Yes, I have had cosmetic dentistry (four all-porcelain crowns) and rhinoplasty after having my sinuses restructured for better breathing. I do not regret my decision and I feel wonderful, especially since my surgeon was able to fix the bump on the bridge of my nose.

I was in constant pain for a while. Right after the operation, I felt like I was hit by a Mack truck, or in my case, a M.A.C. cosmetics truck (I felt horrible and fabulous at the same time). Soon enough, about a week-and-a-half later, the pain faded and I love my new nose. Wonder of wonders, I can now breath better than I ever in my life.

Are you planning to have any other work done?

I'd like to have blepharoplasty on my under eyes and VASER liposuction on my abs. I've considered facial restructuring, but I'm not sure. Many surgeons advocate the placing of implants in the cheeks and/or the chin for facial contouring and I'm personally against facial implants (speaking only for myself).

Why do you make fun of celebrities on "SFP"?

I like to poke gentle fun of celebrities and plastic surgery in general because I think that our society's obsession with youth and beauty is a little silly. The more I learn about cosmetic surgery, the more I realize that we are greater than the sum of our parts. Our bodies are mostly mailable, the most important parts of us are inside and not at all visible to the eye.

That being said, no matter how silly it may be, we do live in a very image conscious, youth- obsessed world. Celebrities are, of course, ground zero for this obsession, as they spend most of their lives in front of the general public. Celebrities are people too.

I write about celebrity plastic surgery in the effort to get people to talk about it. Part of the reason unethical surgeons are able to do so much damage is that the public is very closed-lipped on the mater of body alteration in any form. This lack of conversation and openness breeds the shadows in which unethical surgeons hide.

Aren't you calling people ugly?

NO! That's the clear and simple answer. There are several cruel and unnecessary plastic surgery-oriented or themed sites that make a living off of making others feel bad. I find this practice to be morally reprehensible.

I want to make it perfectly clear that cosmetic surgery is a choice and it's not for everyone. Cosmetic surgery, like weight loss, must be done for the right reasons if the patient is to be satisfied with the outcome. One of those reasons must be that you (and you alone) want to change something about your appearance. If you are happy and confident in your appearance, it will show. Plastic surgery can do many things; it can give you an entirely new face, but it cannot change who you are at your core.

Aren't you afraid of being sued?

Not really, no. We live in a sue-happy world. Anyone can file suit against anyone else for any reason. If it happens, it happens. All that aside, I do my best to be fair to everyone. I don't publish something I know to be untruthful and I don't claim that rumors are correct. I do publish speculation, but I will never state that this speculation is fact.

What do you want "SFP" to become?

I want people to visit Super-Fantastic Plastic and be entertained, but also educated. I want people to be able to share their experience and help other readers to make the best decisions possible. I want us to be able to demand superior results and ethics from our surgeons. I want lively and interesting conversation. I want the world to be just a bit of a better place because we are all here, being open and honest.

Has Mr. Ashlee Simpson Had Cosmetic Surgery?

Rumor has it that emo-rocker Pete Wentz, husband to Ashlee Simpson-Wentz has had a cosmetic procedure to enhance his eyes. The Fall Out Boy bassist's early career trademark guyliner disappeared rather suddenly. Wentz once mentioned that he had adopted its use to cover the wear-and-tear from long hours on the road. He soon halted the practice after becoming involved with Ashlee, leading some to believe that she had convinced him to quit.

When asked of his new wife's cosmetic surgery - her nose job, to be exact - Pete replied that it "looked good" and that he would consider having such a procedure. That indicates that he's not adverse to the idea of cosmetic enhancement. Husbands and wives having cosmetic surgery together is also a new trend, as it has been reported by MakeMeHeal.com that David Beckham and Posh have botox injected together in their L.A. home.

If you ask me, however, I believe that Mr. Wentz is just wearing makeup in recent outings, making the lines around his eyes appear smoother. Perhaps Mrs. Wentz has introduced her metromo husband to the wonders of mineral makeup.

And, just for fun:


Mr. Wentz, your new face will read Parking In Rear.

Side Note (to the front): I was browsing a book store with a friend the other day when she suddenly stopped in front of the magazine rack. She was spying a magazine cover rather curiously when she shouted, "You're on OUT's cover!" Of course, there's no way that could be, but she had peaked my interest. It all made sense very quickly: Pete Wentz (my emo double) is on the cover of this month's OUT magazine. It's not the first time I've been mistaken for for Wentz. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, or for whom...