Aesthetic & Reconstructive Plastic Surgery Plastic Surgery Center

In the beginninng of 2004, on Mothers Day my being over weight finaly took it's toll and almost my life. I went in the hospital with failing kidneys, conjestive heart failure, minimum oxygen and in need of a bllod tranfusion. When I left the hospital I made a decision to live. I did what was necessary for me and had the laproscopic bypass surgery.

I've have lost over 200 pounds and was in need of skin removal inmy stomach area. I had already attended Dr. Katzens seminar 2 years earlier and when I heard him tell his story I knew immediately that he was who I wanted for my surgery. I was so sure I wanted him that I held on to his portfolio for over 2 years. I was right about him. He was very sincere about his waork and had a way about making you feel comfortable yet confident. His bed side manor was great! He was always checking in and letting you call him even at his home, it was very personal for me. The communication between doctor and patient is very important and with Dr. Katzen you get it! I am a successful weight loss patient and proud of it. I am 59 years old and I feel greart.

My name is Gina Chaplin and I recently had an arm lift and a tummy tuck. Dr. Katzen was wonderful, he has an excellent bedside manner. Dr katzen was compasionate kind and very patient with me. I am the type of person who is very thorough with everything and having surgery was paramount to me. I decided on Dr. Katzen after a very long research on doctors. He was reccomended to me by a friend. I also had the opportunity of speaking with some of his patients and they all had to say wonderful things and Dr. Katzen prove them right. I was left with an hour glass figure and beautiful arms that I will be showing off this coming summer. I love going shopping and buying sleeveless clothes. Every time I look in the mirror I can't bleieve it. I will do it again and I will next summer when I will be doing my inner thighs. When people see me they say I even look younger. Dr. Katzen has the hands of an angel he gave me back my figure. My recovery has been awakenig in many levels and I am very glad that I did it.
I just wish I done it sooner. There is an enormous amount of butchers out there and I feel blessed to have found Dr. Katzen a real doctor.

I had several unsatisfying consults with other plastic surgeons prior to meeting with Dr. Katzen. I was told by them all that my needs could not be completely met. But Dr. Katzen told me otherwise. I had complete confidence in him, and he did not let me down. I feel like a brand new person now, after having had six procedures done by him. Throughout all of the steps, Dr. Katzen made me feel comfortable and took the time to answer my questions. When things got difficult, he was there to help and to listen. Not only is he a gifted surgeon, but he is a kind and considerate person. I appreciate all he has done for me and wouldn't hesitate to recommend him to anyone else. Dr. Katzen truly is remarkable!

After losing 100lbs because of radiation of my neck and not being able to eat, I was left with lots of excess abdominal skin and fat. I was 60 years old and was more than 150lbs overweight for most of my life. I was watching a TV show about a woman who lost over 400lbs and thats how I found Dr. KAtzen. I made an appointment and went in I felt right away that he knew exactly what he was doing. Dr. Katzen's staff is very friendly and caring and did an excellent job in obtaining insurance approval and scheduling my surgery. The Past year has been like a rebirth for me., including many firsts: wearing belts, tucking in my shirt, having space between my stomach and steering wheel(12inches to be exact). If you have any doubts, I say "Go for it" Dr. Katzen and his awesome staff will be the way to go.

I would highly recommend Dr. Katzen to all my friends, family and neighbors!!! He's absolutely wonderful. Dr. Katzen is very caring, supportive and understanding of the needs of his weight loss surgery patients. He's encouraging, confident, sincere, full of integrity, personable and never lets you leave the office with an unanswered question or concern. Dr. Katzen is the kind of the doctor you only pray for/dream about and you actually receive live and in person. Someone who really cares about you and makes you feel good about yourself.

As an obese person most of my life, most doctors made me feel small and insignificant. Not so with Dr. Katzen. From Day One, he treated me with dignity, love, respect and empathy. Having lost 230 pounds, I had a fatty apron of fat hanging down to mid-thigh. Thanks to Dr. Katzen and his miracle body lift, I had 30 pounds of fat and skin removed and suddenly I had a real body. I still need more work but when the time comes to having more surgery, the only doctor I will consider is Dr. Katzen. You could offer me a free Extreme Makeover with Dr. 90210, but I wouldn't give it a moment thought when compared to Dr. Katzen. That's how highly impressed and satisfied I am with him.

So go ahead and check out other surgeons...I did. Trust me--you'll come back to Dr. Katzen in a hot minute :-)

Well, I guess I'm going to be a dissenter in all this group of "Katzen-adorers". When I saw him at a seminar, with an appt., I can't tell you how disappointed I was! There were only two people after me and no more. Yet, I was given a very rushed 5 minutes with the doctor. He wasn't even listening to me nor did he make any suggestions despite my asking for them. Having to meet him for the 1st time already in the nude with a robe wasn't the most ideal, either. He just gave such a "lack-of-caring" attitude that I was astounded and terribly disappointed. And it certainly wasn't due to a slew of others waiting to see him - we were the only three in early afternoon and the seminar was almost over, the room almost empty by then. To add insult to injury and probably due to his lack of listening, the application to my insurance company for authorization (he doesn't accept ins. but I need prior auth.) totally left out a key item we discussed and very pertinent to getting authorization. I WAS approved but with that one area omitted so I will have to reapply. I'm sorry - but he is not for me whatsoever. His prices are enormous, too, in my opinion. But, more importantly, just look over these "reviews" VERY carefully. Most doctor's have 4-6-10 reviews, he has "102" at the moment. Then click on each of the reviewer's names: about 80-90% (yes, not all!!) just "happened" to sign up here on OH the VERY day they left their review and have never returned! There's no history, no prior or current messages, no profile, no nothing - as though they went through the trouble to join OH JUST for the purpose of writing a glowing review of Dr. Katzen. Sorry folks; I'm not buying it. This is all just my opinion, of course. I looked at at least 30-40 reviewer's names, or more, and have found the same situation for most of them. How many people sign up just to leave a review and then never return to OH again? Does that make sense? Xln't marketing campaign, I'll say that! And in all honesty, there's a couple of other doctor's here with an extraordinary amount of reviews and the reviewers in those cases have the same result: no further communication by them ever again and just joined the very day they left the review. Just consider all reviews of any doctor with a grain of sand.

This note is regarding my experience with plastic surgery and Dr. Katzen and his terrific office staff. All my life, I was morbidly obese and had literally tried everything to lose weight but was never successful long term. Finally, I was looking at being wheel chair bound because my feet could no longer hold my weight. In desperation, January, 2004 at the weight of 334 lbs, I had stomach stapling and thus my whole life changed.

I lost 110 lbs and was indeed smaller but left with an enormous sagging apron of fat around my waist, severe stretch marks on my abdomen and multiple unsightly, old, and long, well healed surgical scars. My thighs remained large, flabby and out of proportion to my lower legs. I had lost weight, was remarkably healthier but looked even worse than before.

I then met Dr. Katzen and had the lower body lift and liposuction February 2007. Twenty seven pounds of skin and fat were removed, along with my old scars. I had a new body. I had never imagined that kind of "instant" weight loss and as thrilled as I was, it was also disturbing to my body image. All of a sudden, I had no huge stomach, my clothes hung well and no longer did I have to wear shirts on the outside to hide my belly. It took a while to absorb the change.

But, although life is fabulous now, it wasn't right after surgery. I went home after surgery but continued to have pain and did not heal. I knew something wasn't right but didn't want to be "a bother" and thought I could get through it. After three weeks of misery, I called Dr. Katzen's office, explained how I was feeling and they had me immediately come in. Dr. Katzen just happened to be out of town that day, but Dr. Eby saw me immediately and even faster, put me back in the hospital. I had developed a massive infection and wasn't healing.

I went directly to surgery again to clean out the infection and then days of IV antibiotics. I went home wearing a Wound Vac machine- a state-of-the -art something to create negative pressure to make the wound heal faster from the inside out. It was like a Whoopee cushion but not as fun. I became a frequent visitor to Dr. Katzen for awhile and he was just wonderful, patient and so very knowledgeable. It was a long process but I healed very well and now am so totally pleased with the results!!

My story is about how nice it is when things go as planed. More important is what happens when they don't. I was in pain, afraid, not adjusting quickly to my new size mentally and miserable. Dr. Katzen and his entire office staff were supportive, up beat, ALWAYS professional and caring. I was never made to wait or feel rushed. I was followed at both offices over the weeks and they were organized and did whatever they could to help my discomfort. As a bonus, they were funny and told me jokes. It worked! I healed just fine!

Now I will have the upper body lift in two months. I am so very pleased with the way I look from the waist down and now will complete the job. I am looking to get rid of the excess skin on my arms and upper torso. No matter what happens, I know Dr. Katzen will do whatever is needed to help me be successful as he has already proven his integrity and character in adverse situations. By the way, I am a registered nurse and advanced nurse practitioner with a background in surgery, so I think I am a pretty good judge.

My experience with Dr. Katzen's office was great. I had surgery about a month ago and I had the greatest experience. The office staff was always helpful and Dr. Katzen was very pleasant and has wonderful bedside manner. After surgery I felt like I had a million and one questions, but every question I had was always answered and never felt like I was a bother. They made me feel completely comfortable. I would recommend Dr. Katzen to all of my friends. Although I am not 100% fully recovered I know Dr. Katzen and his staff will be there to guide me through the recovery process. Thank you all.

I have truly been blessed since Dr. Katzen and his staff has come into my life. Dr. Katzen is the most caring and skilled “healer” I have ever known. Yes, he is a fantastic surgeon, but he heals souls as well. I look upon my gastric bypass surgery as my first step to my new life, but Dr. Katzen has truly brought me to the point of healing and becoming the person that was hidden under many layers of fat and excess skin. His surgical skill is only surpassed by his care and compassion. I have never felt that I was just one in a long line of patients. When he is with me, he is truly with me – whatever I need, however much time he needs to spend with me, no matter how many questions I ask, I have always had his undivided attention (and he gives great reassuring hugs when needed). As we have talked during my many appointments, I’ve come to know him as a remarkably balanced human being -- he’s a dad, husband, brother, son and supremely talented surgeon. I can’t thank him enough!

I’d like to express just how satisfied I am with the results from the procedures Dr. Katzen has performed. Prior to meeting Dr. Katzen, I researched and looked into many other doctors until I heard from some people about this great doctor and I wanted to find out who he was. I was looking for a doctor that specializes in removing an excessive amount of extra skin due to weight loss.

I’ve lost 170 pounds and I was left feeling so uncomfortable with all my loose skin and I decided that I needed to undergo some reconstructive surgery. It turns out the doctor they had been talking about was the same doctor I wanted to meet………Dr. Katzen. I then knew he was someone I can trust. Once I met Dr. Katzen, I saw how much he cared about his patients. His sincerity, honesty and friendly disposition were evident from the very start.

I want to thank Dr. Katzen for explaining all the risks and benefits of the procedures I needed. He took as much time with me as necessary to explain all the aspects of the surgery. I was well prepared for all three of my procedures by the detailed literature and instructions I received from Dr. Katzen and his office. He made me feel very comfortable. His staff has been incredible through the entire process. They have all been so caring and thoughtful. What a great team they all make!

Dr. Katzen and staff are wonderful to work with. I would recommend this office to anyone. All the staff was very courteous and professional. They will take as much time with you as needed to address any questions or concerns you have.

This is the happiest I have ever been in my whole life. I went from a size 34/36 to a size 9/10. Dr. Katzen has sculpted my body and now I have an hour glass figure that I never imagined I would ever have. The first surgery I had was the circumferential body lift. The second surgery was the removal of excess skin on bilateral thighs. The last surgery was a breast augmentation with lift and removal of excess skin on the under arms.

I can’t thank you enough Dr. Katzen for helping me achieve the results I had been looking for. You gave me a new beginning. I would go through this again tomorrow. No regrets!!!