Caitlyn Jenner's Plastic Surgeons Explain 10-Hour Facial Feminization Procedure & Post-Surgery Panic Attack

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Caitlyn Jenner completed her transition with a 10-hour facial feminization surgery that, according to Vanity Fair, took place on March 15. Now, the 65-year-old reality star's plastic surgeons are opening up about the life-changing procedure.

Dr. Harrison Lee -- the plastic surgeon in charge of Jenner's facial surgery -- recently talked to E! News about the intense process, which included a brow lift and reshaping the jaw bone.

"Men tend to have a prominent brow bone, so you do a little bit of a brow lift, just to soften the image," Lee explained. "We go inside the mouth and actually take off the outer portion of the [jaw] bone and soften it."

WATCH: Everyone Thinks Caitlyn Jenner Looks Like Jessica Lange, Lange Responds

Most importantly, Jenner's fitness helped the recovery process a lot.

"She healed remarkably fast," Lee shared. "Maybe because she's an Olympic athlete... I mean, at 65, she is in remarkable health."

The results of the facial surgery -- combined with the efforts of Dr. Gary Atler, who performed the work on Caitlyn's body, including her breast augmentation -- have been widely praised. Jenner even showed her gratitude to Lee by gifting the surgeon with a signed copy of her now-iconic Vanity Fair cover.

"I don't want to show off, but I think she's ecstatic with the results," Lee said.

While Jenner's recovery was remarkable, it wasn't without complications. In her Vanity Fair profile, it was revealed that she suffered a panic attack following the procedure.

"It's difficult to suddenly get the realization, I guess, that you're getting fulfillment of what you've always wanted to have done," Atler explained to E! News.

"You know, long surgery, a lot of changes -- so there was a little bit of a panic attack. But it could happen to anybody. It can happen to the housewife that gets a facelift, it can happen to a young girl who gets a breast implant."

According to a Page Six estimate, Jenner facial procedure reportedly cost around $70,000. Some in the transgender community have noted that Caitlyn's experience is far removed from the reality of most transgender people, who aren’t nearly as wealthy as the reality star.


CNN
notes that transgender people are twice as likely to be unemployed, and four times more likely to live in poverty compared with the general population.

"And these disparities are much greater for transgender black and Latina women," Kylar W. Broadus, director of the group's Transgender Civil Rights Project, told CNN. "Caitlyn's coming out is relatable to mainstream American society because she is white, Republican, rich and famous. "Her celebrity status is great for visibility, but it can and will be used as a distraction from the lived experiences of trans folk who continue to battle discrimination when accessing basic needs such as housing, employment, education and health care."

Earlier this month, Vanity Fair contributing editor Buzz Bissinger sat down with ET to talk about his much-read profile on Jenner, and recalled how her transformation into a woman was startlingly immediate after undergoing 10 hours of plastic surgery on March 15th.

"I saw Bruce for about two, two and a half months. Bruce is over here, and then bing -- literally, overnight on March 15th -- he goes in for 10 hours of plastic surgery, and Bruce is gone," Bissinger explained. "Now, Bruce will be in him somewhere, but now it's Caitlyn Jenner, and it was spooky."

WATCH: Kids Reacting to Caitlyn Jenner's Transition Will Restore Your Faith In the Future

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