Excerpt from Confessions of a Plastic Surgeon by Thomas T. Jeneby, MD

In Confessions of a Plastic Surgeon, Thomas T. Jeneby, M.D., or “Dr. J.,” takes readers behind the scenes of his successful plastic surgery practice and tells all, everything you want to know about plastic surgery and few things you’d rather not know (or see – there are photos). Not only does Dr. Jeneby invite readers into his busy San Antonio, Texas, practice, but he also shares some real life stories (some humorous, some horrifying) from his practice interspersed within his own compelling autobiography. Also note: Dr. Jeneby donates his surgical expertise in the form of free reconstructive surgery to victims of domestic abuse, and to help injured and disfigured soldiers.

In honor of October being National Domestic Violence month, Dr. J shared this excerpt from his book.

Trigger warning: abuse is described in the following passage.

Excerpt from Confessions of a Plastic Surgeon by Dr. Thomas Jeneby

Deandra was a young, beautiful woman–married to an abuser. One day he kicked her across the bedroom, and the trauma to her body caused her IUD to slice through her uterine wall. Unfortunately, she had no idea that she had suffered a grave internal wound. And for five months, she experienced internal bleeding–but didn’t even know it. Until one day, she fainted at work. “We don’t know how you’re alive,” doctors told her after she was rushed to the hospital.

The 25-year-old had severe sepsis–meaning life-threatening toxins and bacteria had poisoned her bloodstream. This infection could have easily killed her.

Thankfully, several surgeries saved her life. But they left a horrific scar on her abdomen. It was 2.5 inches wide and eight inches long, circling her belly button, and making the left side of her abdomen protrude 1.5 inches higher than the right side.

“For people who have the mark of their trauma on their bodies in a way they can see every time they wake up or take a shower,” Deandra said during an interview for this book, “every single instance was having to go back in time and relive exactly what happened to me.”

Deandra divorced and began saving money to finance expensive plastic surgery to reduce the appearance of her scar and hopefully flatten her stomach.

She was very disturbed that the scar and her uneven belly elicited questions from children and adults every day. Some asked why she had such a large abdomen, even though she exercised a lot. Still, she felt she could not lose the thickness around her belly.

Deandra’s scarred, disfigured body was embarrassing and depressing. She tried wearing clothes that camouflaged the scar. She tried a chemical peel to diminish its appearance. And she visited Spa Black to consult with an esthetician about CoolSculpting to reduce what looked like fat on her abdomen.

“This isn’t fat tissue,” the esthetician said. “You have a build-up of scar tissue that is pushing your abdomen forward. How did you get this scar?”

Deandra shared what happened.

“Let me tell Dr. Jeneby your story,” the esthetician said. “He’s been looking for someone like you.”

I had a consultation with Deandra, and she was thrilled that I would perform surgery free of charge to repair her scar. The procedure and recovery were very extensive, and Deandra was immeasurably grateful that I had removed what had been a constant reminder of her trauma.

“I would have been happy with the scar the way it looked fresh out of surgery–red and puffy with the stitches in–because that was better than what I had before.” Deandra said. “I could at least look at that and say, ‘This was an act of kindness instead of an act of rage and cruelty.’ Dr. Jeneby really did change my life.”