Association Of South Bay Surgeons Bariatric Center

I'm a 9-year+ graduate of bariatric surgery performed by Dr. Takahashi. I was referred to Dr. Takahashi by my primary care physician after battling my weight all of my adult life. Best referral ever! After 9 months of testing, consultations, and other preparations, Dr. Takahashi performed my gastric by-pass surgery (RNY). She has been with me every step of the way. She is easy to talk to, extremely knowledgeable and an excellent surgeon. The surgery is only the first step to a new lifestyle which admittedly, is a daily challenge. The surgery was a Godsend for me and I am so thankful that Dr. Takahashi was/has been there for me. I highly recommend this fine doctor.

Met with Dr Solomon and found him to be a caring, professional doctor. I needed lap band removal surgery and we set a date. The staff, however, failed to scheduled the surgery, pre-tests or send the lab request. When I didn't hear from them I called and learned they failed to schedule any of it. A staff member was supposed to expedite it and call me back and no one ever called me. Finally, after not hearing back, I called and told them to forget it and i would find another dr. Then, on a Friday at 1p I got a call saying, "they let you know surgery was scheduled for Monday, right." No, no one had ever called me. She wanted me to go immediately for tests on a Friday with no notice. I told them I had left a msg saying to NOT schedule it since no one would call me back and I would find another doctor. She said they would cancel it but I received a call later from the hospital to confirm surgery, meaning the office never even cancelled it. Dr Solomon seemed like a really great dr but his staff is just unbelievably bad!

I have been coming to this office since 2012 when I began my process in weight loss surgery. The staff does an amazing job and making sure everything gets taken care of. Dr. Solomon is an amazing person but also a awesome doctor. He performed the lap band surgery in July of 2013 and everything went smoothly. I've lost 60 pounds since that surgery but I gained it all back because I went back to my old eating habits and stopped working out. After being in denial and gained back all my weight plus more I knew I had to do something because my health was getting worse. I went back to Dr. Solomon July of 2016 to get help for weight loss. Then in April of 2017 I had the gastric sleeve and everything has been good. I changed my eating habits to healthy food and exercise 5-6 days a week. I am down 150 pounds and couldn't be happier with my health. Dr. Solomon has never given up on me even when I failed myself. He believed in me even when I wasn't believing in myself. He has changed my life for the better and id love to do the same for others who are struggling with weight loss!
You can follow me on Instagram @shellymarina to see the progress of my weight loss journey.

I visited Dr. Solomon's office on a Monday after my primary doctor ordered an ultrasound and a CT scan with contrast, both on the previous Friday, when I complained of severe pain below my ribs, right above where my lap band is located, as well as skin sensitivity over the area (sudden onset, lasting 3 days). My scans returned normal, and she suspected it was likely related to my lap band and advised me to see a bariatric surgeon ASAP. Over the weekend (before I could contact Dr. Solomon's office for an appointment), my pain worsened substantially, and I went to the ER at UCLA, where they did a chest x-ray, but again saw nothing of concern. The two ER physicians said the symptoms pointed to a lap band problem, admittedly beyond their level of familiarity. On Monday, I contacted Dr. Solomon's office, and was told he was on call all week, and unable to see me. I was in a lot of pain, so I proceeded to call other doctors to see if anyone else could see me, when his office finally called me back in the afternoon and told me I could come in. Dr. Solomon was flippant, rude, and did not even bother to review the scans I brought (at his office's request) because he said he "didn't need to", insisting that my symptoms couldn't have been related to the lap band, and I probably had a "cracked rib". The chest x-ray ruled out a cracked rib and my other scans ruled out the majority of other potential organ issues, but he was too arrogant to even try to help me. He repeated several times, "I don't know what you want me to do." He offered me pain meds to mask the pain, which I did not want - I wanted to find the cause. I asked him if an endoscopy would be possible just to make sure the band isn't eroding or perhaps had slipped; he refused both, but offered to "order a bunch of [other] tests if that would make me feel better". I walked out of his office angry and frustrated, after days of intense pain. I was able to see another bariatric surgeon the exact same day, who is very concerned about my band possibly having flipped vertically due to stomach stretching, and who is also further scoping my gallbladder. If you want a doctor who takes their time and listens to you, my advice is to find someone else; someone who is not rushed, and completely unwilling to explore possibilities and find the cause of your pain. I could not have been more disappointed or angry after seeing Dr. Solomon. Note, he was not the doctor who performed my surgery initially (I've since moved), but the refusal to even entertain the idea of a band failure tells me he is more concerned with charging for a visit than with seeing his patients comfortable.

I had visited Dr. Solomon for a band adjustment on one prior occasion, and he was friendly and the appointment went very well. However, I scheduled that appointment only after his staff verified that they were in network and that the adjustment would be covered by my PPO. Once confirmed the adjustment was covered and in-network, they proceeded to bill me an astronomical amount, claiming it was not covered, and it took them 10 months to adjust the amount owed, as initially stated. This office is terribly disorganized, and unfortunately one of the few local to me who accepts Anthem Blue Cross. I would rather pay an out of network doctor for genuinely good care than visit this doctor again. When he was taking his Hippocratic oath, he must have been preoccupied; very unfortunate for his patients.

Hello my name us Terri and I have decided to Change my life by having the Weight lose procedure. My Dr's name is Dr Solomon in Torrace California . I went to hid seminar and he explains very good, he answered every question very well. His staff was very friendly and helpfull . I started my journey march 1st 2014

My first impression of Dr. T was that she was very knowledgable about WLS, as well as all the different procedures there are. She was very informative of what I needed, (gall bladder removal, hiatel hernia repair, as well as the RNY procedure) She was concerned about my weak esophagus and that the sleeve procedure was not a wise decision, (that was my 1st priority procedure).

My surgery took place in early Feb. this year. It was very hard for the nurses and dr. to wake me up after anesthesia. They were yelling at me to wake up. I felt Dr. T was angry that I wouldn't wake up, (it wasn't my fault, too much anesthesia was given to me). Also, again she'd chastised me for not drinking my fluids fast enough while in the hospital. (I stayed 3 days). All in all, I felt that she was cold and unfeeling.
I feel that if I do have problems with my diet, I don't dare go to her for fear she'll blast me for not carrying out the strict rules on dieting. I know, it's very bad for being so sensitive. I am very sensitive as you can tell!

She was very thorough on after care and complications which I have not had. I give her surgical ability a 5*, but her bedside manner a 2*. Her staff rates 5*

All in all, I'm so glad I've had this surgery. It is so much easier to go thru than I could have ever imagined!

I have had nothing but great care with Dr. Solomon and his staff. I first met him in the orientation class and he was very helpful and took a lot of time to answer everyone's questions. I have since had two one-on-one meetings with him and he was very thorough with explaining my options, possible risks, and he made sure to emphasize that WLS was just a tool. I really liked the thorough testing that was required by the surgical group. During the testing it was found that my gallbladder needed to be removed, he does not do both the gastric bypass & gallbladder removal at the same time so I just had surgery with him 3 days ago to remove my gallbladder. He does have great bedside manner and a pretty good sense of humor. I feel great from that surgery and I am scheduled for my gastric bypass on May 11, 2012.

If you are looking for a Dr. that is sensitive and wants to hold your hand, then Dr. Takahashi is not the Dr. for you. But if you're looking for a Dr. that is competent, knowledgable, thorough and skilled at what they do then she's your Dr.

The requirements for getting to a surgery date are many. You MUST lose 10% of your initial weight, weigh in every other week, attend several support group meetings and if you're a smoker you must quit (they'll test for nicotine before scheduling surgery...whether you smoke or not).

My only complaint about the practice (not Dr. Takahashi) is that the time between appts. can be much longer than what they tell you initially. I was told at my initial consult that my surgery date would likely be 4 to 6 months later but in reality, it's about twice that time because the Dr.'s and N.P.'s are so booked up. It is possible to get on a cancellation list which I've done on more than one occasion and I did end up being seen pretty quickly.

You also need to stay on top of the office staff when it comes to follow up and if you need to contact the office you should keep calling back if you're placed on hold for longer than a couple of minutes

Overall, I would give the practice 3 stars and Dr. Takahashi gets 5.

My original Doctor was Dr. Mun. The first time I met him was in orientation. He explained the 3 types of weight loss surgery. I was very impressed by his knowledge and that he covered everything. I felt that I was doing the right thing and that my life was safe in his hands. I was happy to know that he was my Doctor. I just recently found out that he is no longer going to be my doctor and feel kind sad. The info above is for Dr. Mun who recently relocated.

I believe that he did leave his patients in great hands. The first time I met Dr. Takahashi, I taught that I was going to feel intimidated by her due to comments of other people saying that she is very strict. Of course being strict it is good specially when it is your life which she has in her hands during surgery. I had also heard that she was one of the best Dr's. Well when I met her I was chatting up a storm that I think she must of taught that I was a weirdo LOL but anyways. I see that she is great Dr. I feel safe in her hands.

The first time I met Dr. Takahashi was on March 15, 2010. I was open to anything and had read a couple surgeon testimonials on this site. Most of the reviews were good but a few described her as cold and having no compassion. From the moment she walked into the room, I knew that she was a great surgeon. Contrary to what I had read, she was genuinely sweet, straight-forward and wasn't condescending at all. I am very blunt myself, and I felt like I was dealing with someone who had a similar personality to mine; we just clicked. She had an honest smile and I felt that I could trust her instantly, which is rare for me. I liked the way she explained every surgery type to me and told me that I had plenty of options. Also, I'm a bit of a stickler when it comes to appearance and her office was modern and very clean! Most of the office staff were friendly except for the first woman who took my weight and vitals, but she could have just been having a bad day, we've all been there! This is probably trivial information, but the coffee was wonderful too; they have one of those Keurig "One Cup" makers that I've been dying to have and every cup comes out so fresh and tasty. :) Dr. Takahashi was unknowingly helpful in my decision on what type of surgery I want. At first, I was pretty much set on LAP-Band but with all of the information she explained to me and the materials that her office staff provided me with, I am almost 100% decided on having an Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass. I look forward to my growing relationship with Dr. Aileen and hopefully, to my surgery day!