"When my husband died seven years ago - I thought it was a blessing. He'd been sick for five years and - after a failed liver transplant - had struggled with the pain, the despair and the knowledge that our nine-year-old daughter would be without a father... and that he was leaving awful financial burdens for me. In my innocent way, I thought that the nightmare was over - and for me - the person that I loved had died long ago and this was closure - but the hard truth is that my problems were just beginning.
It took years to pay off the debts and years beyond that to get my daughter through her bereavement, her abandonment issues and then her teenage angst... and so - after twelve years of taking care of others...I was ready to celebrate and have some fun.
I thought of myself as a courageous woman who'd done the right thing, been a wonderful wife and mother... overcome tremendous odds and found balance after a long struggle. But that was not how the world saw me.When I looked into other people's eyes I felt old and invisible. When I looked in the mirror I saw crepey lines around the eyes, and a little bitterness in the scrawls around the mouth. I found myself grown weary and not so pretty any more.
Dr. Roth... you changed that. You cut away some skin from around the eyes, and in doing that, you also erased the years of hardship.Inside, of course, I still carry the emotional scars, but no-one would know it to look at my face. I feel pretty again. I am as I was before the burdens weighed me down. You did what therapy could never do... and while this may sound like vanity, it's reflected in my attitude, and, instead of avoiding the mirror; I now have the courage to see myself as beautiful. So... thank you, Dr. Roth for your gifted hands and your caring soul... you do important work."
