Kim K's Story
“I had gastric bypass surgery in October 2005. I had done most of my research on the Obesity Help website. I went to meetings and spoke with others for referrals. Dr. David Lourie did my bypass surgery at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena. I was topping the scales at 270 lbs before the surgery. Having the gastric bypass surgery was the best decision I ever made. It gave me my life back. My next problem was all the excess skin I was carrying around and my awkward looking figure. Although I had lost over 150 lbs., I was embarrassed by my hanging skin around my waist, thighs, bat-wing arms and thighs. My breasts were just sagging skin without any “filler”. I couldn’t even buy a bra to fit me properly because skin would just flow over the side of it and I had nothing to keep them inside the bra.I had heard many wonderful things about Dr. Katzen through others on the Obesity Help website. Many of them had their plastic surgeries with him. They all raved about him and I immediately knew he was the “go to” guy. I then learned that he was going to be having a meeting in my area at someone’s house with other post-gastric bypass patients. I wasn’t going to pass up this chance to hear him in person.
At the meeting he explained all his procedures along with a slide show. He answered questions and gave handouts to review. I was very impressed. I made an appointment with his office the next week. I am usually a very modest person and would normally feel very uncomfortable standing in front of someone naked. He really put me at ease. He listened to all my concerns and to what I wanted to have done. He was kind, professional, answered all my questions, told me what results I could expect and I had a good feeling that he was the right surgeon for me. Dr. Katzen told me he would stage my surgeries for 3 separate surgery dates. I was going to do the circumferential body lift (which he is known for) first, along with having a double hernia fixed. The next surgery would be on my arms and breasts, and the third would be an inner thigh lift.
His support staff is wonderful. All his girls at the office were helpful and anytime I called them, they were happy to help and answer my questions. They worked with me on dates to schedule my first surgery and even called me to see if I had any questions before my surgery.
My first surgery was in April 2007 at the Beverly Hills Surgery Center. I could not believe the results! It was a thousand times better than I even imagined it would be. The scars have faded a lot and I went from size 6 jeans to a size 0 or 2 just from the removal of excess skin! I never thought I would be that small. My second surgery was in November at Century City Doctor’s Hospital. (I didn’t want to wait so long between surgeries, but I had an ill parent at the time). I was very comfortable going into my second surgery knowing my life would be in Dr. Katzen’s hands. Again, I am amazed at how good my arms and breasts look. I feel so much better that I will be able to wear short sleeve shirts and not be embarrassed by my arms. I still have my last surgery to schedule.
I cannot think of any other doctor I would ever trust doing my surgery after having experienced the magic hands and expertise of Dr. Katzen. His experience, knowledge, bedside manner and compassion of working with post-gastric bypass patients, far outweigh any other plastic surgery doctor out there.”