WHAT IS THE BEST AGE TO HAVE PLASTIC SURGERY?
es to your body, do it in a thoughtful and deliberate manner so that you don’t regret it later.
Age is not the concern. The patient must be healthy enough for the procedure. The patient’s concern must be reasonable, and I must believe that doing the procedure justifies the costs, risks, and downtime. DO YOU HAVE PATIENTS WHO WERE ADDICTED TO PLASTIC SURGERY? No, I don’t. The whole idea of addiction to plastic surgery is an unfortunate media creation. The vast majority of people that come to my office are very normal people with a specific complaint, usually related to aging or from having kids. The media needs something sensational to sell so they often cherry pick the weird things! WHAT CELEBRITY WOULD YOU RATE AS A PERFECT CREATION BY THE PLASTIC SURGEON?
Of course, there is no single piece. There are so many! I have read more on the subjects of society, economy and the interactions between people than I have on plastic surgery. With respect to movies, I loved the Matrix trilogy as it sure seems to fit what we are seeing right now. With music, I am a rocker! WHICH WOULD BE HARDER FOR YOU TO GIVE UP: COFFEE OR PIZZA? Coffee! I like a low carb diet so I don’t have pizza very often. The biggest exception is when I make my own using the pizza oven in my backyard! You can’t pass up those pizzas. WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB?
Perfect celebrity??? HAHAHAHAHA! Are there any? I hope that we aren’t creating celebrities. It would be better if they became known for their talent. The celebrity plastic surgery chatter is similar to the addiction talk. It’s mostly media driven and perhaps not the most useful information for other people. WHAT IS THE CRAZIEST THING ONE OF YOUR CLIENTS ASKED YOU TO PERFORM?
WHAT PIECE OF ART (BOOK, MUSIC, MOVIE, ETC.) MOST INFLUENCED THE PERSON YOU ARE TODAY?
I’m fortunate to have a very interesting and fulfilling job. While being very heavily science and engineering oriented, it is also very artistic. This allows me to work on both sides of my brain! In addition, I get to interact daily with a wonderful staff and wonderful (and sometimes challenging) patients. The best part is that I am able make substantial improvements in peoples’ lives and make them happy.
When you make changes to your body, do it in a thoughtful and deliberate manner so that you don’t regret it later
Some years ago, a woman came to my office with an undesired sleeve arm tattoo. She asked me to cut all the skin off from her arm and use her legs to harvest skin grafts to repair it. Of course, for the rest of her life this would leave her arms terribly deformed and her thighs with significant scars. Yet, she was insistent and wanted to proceed. She told me about how she got the tattoos when she lived in San Francisco and was part of the “artsy-fartsy” scene. She thought it was cool at the time. More recently, she married a great guy who lives in the suburbs with two young children. She was very determined to make the marriage and family work. She felt humiliated at school when she saw the other moms. So much so, that she would rather have the life-long scarring than endure her own embarrassment. Fortunately, I was helping design and test a new laser for tattoo removal and we were able to get her done as a test subject. The moral of the story is that when you make chang-
IF YOU COULD RE-DO ONE DAY IN YOUR LIFE, WHICH DAY WOULD IT BE AND WHY?
I am in a great place in my life. My decisions, both good and bad, have provided a variety of experiences from which I have learned valuable lessons. I would not be who I am today without them. Therefore, I would not change anything. But I know that the future is always brighter, so I look forward, not backward. WHAT’S THE ONE SKILL YOU THINK EVERY SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR SHOULD HAVE? If it only took one skill more people could do it! Certainly vision, passion, measured risk taking, and ability to adapt are critical. Perseverance is ever so important. There will be obstacles and set backs. Problems are better viewed as experiences rather than failures. Learn and move forward!
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