Dear Dr. Abramson

I am writing to let you know that I fell you are a very talented doctor and truly in a league of your own. I am so grateful I found my way to yo and I wanted t let you know why.

As you know I lost a tremendous amount of weigh and there was a lot of hanging body fat. The worst to me was my tummy and arms but my breasts were also an issue. There were other parts that needed tucking but I had to prioritize.

I interviewed three plastic surgeons. You were the second interview.

I went to the first doctor(Dr A) with the hope he would do my tummy and arms. He told me he would only do my tummy and he insisted on also doing the rear. He was adamant that he had to “contour” everything. I was told this alone was a 6-7 hour surgery. As it was a bloody surgery, he even said he wanted me to give blood and have it stored. This doctor said the arms could be done in a second surgery, and I could then have the breasts as well. I hated my arms and was upset to think that they could not be done in tandem with the stomach, and that it would be two surgeries, double the expense and double the time off from work.

I was so upset I called my best friend who knew one of your patients, She said to get all three done in one surgery(tummy, arms and breast) and that you did this for her. I made an appointment to see you and sure enough, you felt all three could be done safely in one surgery in 3 ½ hours.

I questions how your approach could be so different than Dr, A? He would do the tummy/rear in 6-7 hours, you would do the tummy, arms and breast in 3 ½.

I then went to see the third doctor (Dr C). I thought – if you and Dr. A were so different where would Dr. C fit? Initially Dr. C was on the same page as Dr. A- doing only the tummy and rear in the first surgery, with arms/breasts in the second operation. Confident from your office that the three could be done in one, I pushed further. In the exam room, Dr. C realized that my rear was not that much of an issue so he relented that he could do the tummy and one other area, either arms or breast. He said that was it. It would be nearly a four hour surgery and that was all he could do. Now I;m not sure if it was capped at four hours because the surgery was done in his office- in a certified surgical suite- and he couldn’t operate longer than that, or if he just personally didn’t like to operate longer than four hours.

When I told Dr. C that I had seen another surgeon who felt all three could be done in 3 ½ hours, Dr. c felt this was questionable. His only explanation was that you were not alone in the surgical suite and that you had help. As I pushed and pushed about getting them to do all three areas, from a perspective of not being able to take time off work for two surgeries, it was actually suggested that I come in first for the first surgery( tummy and arms) which takes two weeks to heal, then come back for the breasts which take one week to heal. Hence, all the healing could be done in two weeks. (Now that I’ve had the surgery, I could not possibly imagine going back a week after tummy tuck and arms for another round of surgery!)

Obviously at this point I was very confused. How could two doctors say what you were proposing couldn’t be done. I called SM and told her what the other doctors were telling me. SM had me meet her at her office and we went into the ladies room. She bared all so I could see that you had done for her. I was and instant believer. When I called you r office to say “let’s do this”, I told Pat “I want SM’s body”

It utterly astounds me the difference in approach between you and Drs A and C. I am so grateful that I knew SM who got me to you. You are a gifted doctor who knows what he is doing, and to that I say “Thank God!: for I wouldn’t be sitting here today-not quite five weeks post-surgery- a little sore but with a flat tummy, less flabby arms and breasts that haven’t been so lifted in a very long time.

I think what’s really scary is that with the proliferation of the gastric bypass, there will be so many more people in the same shoes that I was. It’s troublesome that there are plastic surgeons out there that would put people through multiple surgeries when it is totally not needed. Thank you for doing the good that you do.