NEWPORT BEACH : She Counsels From Tragic Experience

While sitting in her stalled car on a rainy morning in 1989, Susan Ramsey--a licensed psychotherapist and nutritionist--was hit from behind and catapulted through her windshield.

“The irony was that I was on my way to school to get licensed as a facialist,” said Ramsey, who had also worked as a dermatology paramedic. “Now here I was, waking up on the pavement with part of my own face gone.”

Today, after a series of pessimistic prognoses, conflicting medical opinions and multiple reconstructive surgeries to repair a displaced eyebrow, partially severed ear and damaged facial and hand tissue, Ramsey shows no sign of deformity.

As a result of her difficult experiences, the Corona del Mar resident one year ago started the free Plastic Surgery and Dermatology Referral Service.

The service offers private consultations about plastic surgery options and referrals to about 50 Southern California board-certified specialists, in addition to helping locate specialists across the nation.

“Even though I had confidence in my hospital’s plastic surgeon, I knew from my clinical experience how important it is to have consulting opinions on any kind of surgery,” Ramsey said. “Most lay people just take the first doctor’s word and later regret it.”

In her own case, Ramsey said, she spent months just trying to get opinions that matched.

“I was horrified when I saw my face,” she recalled. “One doctor told me I’d never look normal. Others recommended entirely different types of reconstructive surgery. It took seeing nine doctors to get three opinions that were in agreement.”

The referral service--for which Ramsey said she receives no referral fees from doctors--consists of counseling and matching patients with several board-certified doctors.

“Anyone who looks into this is anxious and needs reassurance and solid, unbiased information about the financial, emotional and physical aspects of surgery,” Ramsey said. “Most plastic surgeons will work on the body from head to foot, but they tend to be better in one area than another, and rapport with patients is just as important as technical expertise.”

The service, which is advertised through word of mouth, has assisted about 45 Orange County residents who need help with decisions ranging from elective plastic surgeries to dermatological and reconstructive surgeries after illnesses or accidents. About 70% of the patients do later use Ramsey for pre- and postoperative skin care or counseling, but profit is not her motive, she said.

“I do it as a public service because there I was, with all my experience in the field, terrified and confused,” Ramsey said. “I could only imagine what the lay person with no experience in needing such surgery would feel.”