Certainly not the first one, the second one, or even in the first five years.
BUT, in my lifetime, and probably in yours, we have gone from cosmetic surgery being only available to the extremely wealthy to a point where the average man or woman is able to finance it on a credit card. Breast implants and nose jobs are available to the average working woman today.
Not that long ago, laser vision correction was the exclusive province of the very wealthy. Today I can put it on a credit card, and have it scheduled for next week.
15 years ago, my best friend had a liver transplant. He had a good job and an upper middle class income up until about 2 years before the surgery. At the time of the surgery he had almost no money, no job, and no prospects for the future. He still got the transplant.
The reality is that the desperate wealthy are the experimental subjects for the rest of us. The very first operations are usually much less successful than the later ones, which ARE available to the common man and woman.
“The reality is that the desperate wealthy are the experimental subjects for the rest of us.”
Great point, I haven’t thought about it in that way.