Dr. Katzen Info/Plastic Surgery

Hey Guys, As you know I am still in CA until Monday. Dr. Katzen spoke last night, and said he would fly out to Charleston to do a meeting for us, VERY good info and SUPER doctor. We need to find him a good place, like a conference room where he can do a slide show, and examine patients in a side room....hotel?? Columbia people should plan to come too. Lots of men last night, so men and women welcome!!!!!! www.bodybykatzen.com last night was really fun, and VERY informative. They are doing support groups for gastric bypass/plastic surgery pre and post ops. They had a vitamin guy and also a supplement/protein guy there that Dr. Katzen recommends. It wasn't like he was hawking stuff, because he said he has no benefit monetarily to support these guys. He said he probably could have 40 people come in, and gets lots of calls from people asking him to let them sell or show their stuff, but he has a nutritionist on staff because he said RNY people need extra things that other cosmetic surgeons...not plastic surgeons know about. He said he has nutrients in our IVs like thiamin and other things to help us heal faster, and you won't get that anywhere else when you have surgery. Anyway, he said about one or two months prior to surgery he wants us to get 100gms of protein a day at least!! This guy had a product last night called egg whites, but they have been heated to kill the salmonella and bad stuff and by heating them up and pastuerizing them it kills the alvemin in the whites which will then allow your body to use 100% of the protein not only 70% like powders that we use. You use the egg whites (by the way its not like egg whites, its like milk) instead of milk in drinks, cereal etc....and it stays in your body longer. I had a sample of plain and with a protien pwdr in it and it has absolutely no taste at all, just gotta get by the mental thing of you are drinking egg whites, but it really isn't like that, not slimy or gross like a real egg white. http://www.eggwhitesint.com/ Then he said those pts that do at least 100gms will heal quicker, faster, and less scarring, so that is why he supports this nutrient guy/egg white guy. The vitamin guy was from bariatric advantage...vista is similiar. He had free samples of nutrients too. He gave 1.5 hr speech with slide show that was incredible, he ONLY does plastic surgery on gastric weightloss and banded weightloss or exercise on your own and lose weight patients, not a hollywood doc. SO, he is now the only person I would even consider to do my surgery. You should have seen the before and afters, very reasonable, conservative in his approach. He likes to do surgeries in stages, he really cut down the docs we all see on tv. Now I know why Rey won't do gastric patients. He did not say him by name, but we knew who he meant. He said remember, tv is for entertainment, and he has had to redo a lot of a famous dr's work who we all know from the show....it was rey. So, this guy is the bomb, the top dog of weight loss surgeon's for plastics. He is like the dr. Byrne of plastics, will do it when other docs say no. I know God brought me here. He said I needed the thigh lift, thanks...knew that, and that he would re-do my tummy tuck, and go around to my ass and pull everything up, and the only part I don't like, but it will give me 6 pack abs is the huge amount of flesh he pulled out from my body showing me that if he cut from the sternum down, and he could reduce my waist by a lot, almost 10 inches of flesh came out when he pulled....gross. He will even lipo my calves when other docs have told me no way. He said he would do the boobs and my arms, which he said only needed lipoing later, as he does not like to do arms and legs together. That way you can help yourself walk using your arms, otherwise you would be a mess. I have no idea of the cost, but they work with insurances and he said to start going to the doctor now, and taking pictures yourself of rashes, and get lots of rashes and problems. He took up close pics of me of my scars, rashes and to get everything documented. Go to the doc 2x or more a week now, complaining so that when he submits his 13 pages of proof, you have other docs saying you need this. Also, if you have a large apron of skin, to get documentation of back problems, and knee problems. That will make insurance pay. Now Dawn and I have tricare, so it may be different, but he will help submit all that too, and he is usually good about getting insurance to cover it if you get the other supporting documents. His girls will figure up the costs and then they will email me today the costs. I bet it will be at least $20k, my guess, because he said it was going to be 8 hrs in the OR. So, HE HAS got to come and do a seminar with us!!!! For us!!!

Thanks for the info Deb! Have a safe trip : ) Susan