As some of you might have heard, one of Santa Barbara’s excellent plastic surgeons, Dr. Russell Stokes, recently relocated to North Carolina. Dr. Stokes is a well respected peer, and I’m sorry to have had him leave town. The North Carolina opportunity is an excellent one, and as an avid golfer, Dr. Stokes is sure to enjoy his new location in Pinehurst- a golf mecca. As Dr. Stokes had a substantial patient population that came from Bakersfield for plastic surgery, we will be happy to provide the same high level of plastic surgery care to Bakersfield patients. In fact, we have seen a gradual increase of patients coming to our practice from the Bakersfield area, and I have very much enjoyed taking care of these very pleasant patients.
The additional advantage that our practice has gained from Dr. Stokes move is that two of his staff have joined ours! As we have become so busy over the past months, we have needed to add two positions- an operating room technician and a patient coordinator.
Our new operating room technician is Nena Santoyo, and she is fantastic. She has extensive experience in plastic surgery from both Dr. Stokes’ operating room and additionally work at the Santa Barbara Surgery Center. Nena is bright and pleasant and we are very fortunate to have her on board. She is a joy to work with and makes my job in the operating room so much easier- she seems to know what I need without me even needing to ask for it.
Our other new addition is Nicole Roden, our new patient coordinator. Nicole worked with Dr. Stokes for several years and comes with rave reviews. In addition to being a quick learner with our advanced MAC based electronic medical record, she is a great “people person” and our patients love her. But there’s more… Nicole is also a registered nurse, and I’m pretty comfortable saying that our staff is now comprised of the most qualified personnel around- With our long time outstanding nurse Susanne, we now have two full time nurses available to help our plastic surgery patients, answer questions, and facilitate an extraordinarily safe, comfortable plastic surgery experience for all of our patients- from Santa Barbara, from Bakersfield, or from overseas!
Today we did two breast augmentations and a rhinoplasty at our surgery center. I’m very grateful for the outstanding team we’ve assembled here- everyone got a great operation and should be very pleased with their results. Our newest team member’ Nena Santoyo, is an extraordinary operating room technician who has come to work with us after many years of working with Dr. Russel Stokes, who has recently closed his practice. Nena brings a great energy and abundant plastic surgery experience to the operating room, and we are all very glad to have her on board. She seems to be arriving just in time, as our operating schedule is packed with multiple face lifts, rhinoplasties, and a world of breast surgery. Yesterday’s face lift patient certainly appreciated everyone’s work- she was thanking everyone involved. Every day is rewarding for us all at Montecito Plastic Surgery in Santa Barbara- I’m a very fortunate plastic surgeon!
As many of you know, following Dr. Sheffield’s retirement at the end of last year, some gentle transformations have kept us busy at Montecito Plastic Surgery.New paint adorns the walls, and new furniture can be found throughout the office.This week, the finishing touches will be placed with new flooring in two exam rooms.Several new pieces of art will be received from the framers, and will be heading for our newly painted walls.
The hardest part, and yet the best part, has been that throughout this transition, we have remained clinically as busy as ever.Two and often three operating days per week have been filled through much of February by the ongoing interest in having plastic surgery in Santa Barbara by some old, but many new patients.I will be performing several face lift operations, rhinoplasty operations, liposuction, and breast augmentations in the coming weeks on both men and women from Santa Barbara and beyond.
We are thrilled at the response that patients have given on the new look to the office.It appears lighter, larger, and more aesthetic.Additionally, computers placed in each room allow increased access to the new electronic medial record, as well as plastic surgery imaging programs that aid in patient education.We couldn’t be more pleased with the enhancements to Montecito Plastic Surgery, and we invite you to stop by and see what all of the excitement is about.
Help fight a bad idea!! Â Congress is soon to debate the Health Care Reform Bill, which is a great move towards increasing the number of insured Americans. Â Unfortunately, it is filled with several bad ideas, like a taxation on patients who undergo cosmetic surgery.
This has been attempted previously in New Jersey, and has failed miserably- A government auditor will be the one to decide whether your surgery is cosmetic or reconstructive, a necessity or a luxury. Â This tax additionally discriminates against women and the middle class, who are the two groups most likely to undergo aesthetic surgery. Â Finally and most concerning, this taxation will encourage more patients to go overseas for their plastic surgery, inevitably resulting in more complications in patients returning to the US. Â With treatment of these medical and surgical complications, health care spending with respect to these botched plastic surgeries is likely to INCREASE, rather than decrease.
Please- email and call your congressional representatives and Senators, and encourage them to oppose this taxation- it’s not only unfair, but unsafe for Americans.
Effective ways to reach your Members of Congress include:
1. Call your Senators and Representative’s District Office this week. Most legislators are home this week for the holiday break.
2. Call Your Senator and Representative’s Washington, DC Office (early and often).
3. E-Mail Your Senators and E-Mail your Congressperson.
4. For Patients: The U.S. Capitol switchboard is 202-225-3121 where your patients can be connected to their Senators and Representatives. NOTE: The patient must know the name of their Senator prior to calling the switchboard; this information can be found at www.senate.gov (scroll by state). They can determine the name of their representative by going to www.house.gov where they can enter their zip code.
As many of you have heard, Dr. Sheffield is planning on retiring at the end of the year.His presence will, of course, be missed by all of us in the office, as well as so many of his patients who have worked with him here in Santa Barbara for over 15 years.Dr. Lowenstein will certainly be looking forward to providing ongoing plastic surgery care for all patients in Santa Barbara, and we anticipate that there will be a seamless transition at Montecito Plastic Surgery.We have hired some new staff (like me!) to aid in patient coordination, and many of our staff, like our outstanding nurse, Susanne, will remain with us (forever, we hope!). We are also not letting our front desk receptionist, Hayden, leave as we are unsure how we would cope without her!
We do want to remind our plastic surgery patients that as the end of the year approaches, both Dr. Sheffield and Dr. Lowenstein are trying to accommodate all of the patient requests for surgery that we can.The schedule is filling up, however, and so we encourage our plastic surgery patients to plan ahead and accordingly, especially if you are looking to have your plastic surgery before the end of the year.In fact, as January is a popular month for plastic surgery in Santa Barbara, Dr. Lowenstein’s plastic surgery schedule is getting filled already.
Please feel free to call us with any questions or requests and we will do our best to accommodate you!
Next week is the national meeting of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons which is in Chicago this year. This is the largest national forum for plastic surgery, and a great educational opportunity for everyone who comes. I haven’t missed one of these meetings in nearly 10 years, and every time I learn something new. As I’ve matured in my practice, I’ve had the opportunity to go from student to teacher in various forums, and I’m very much looking forward to this year’s programs. I’ve been asked to once again present a panel that I’ve been doing now for 6 years, called “Fresh Faces, Real Cases”- this is one of the most popular events of the meeting, and as director and moderator for this panel, I’ve put together a great program that should produce some very good discussion on breast augmentation, breast lift, body contouring, lower extremity reconstruction, breast reconstruction, and neck lifting. The breadth of the subject matter makes this one of the most enjoyable parts of the week for me, and the opportunity to interact with hundreds of plastic sugeons at one setting is a real highlight. Additionally I will be involved with another aesthetic panel, as well as several of the events involving the YPS (Young Plastic Surgeons) Forum- a subdivision of the ASPS which I used to head up when I was younger…. oh well. As the grey creeps into my head of hair, I’m less eligible to be seen as one of the young crowd.
Beauty for Life is a fantastic source of plastic surgery information, developed by the ASPS/ASAPS joint Cosmetic Medicine Task Force. This program has been designed to help you learn about procedures that can help you meet your personal beauty needs, at any age. By clicking on the link above, you can download the information to review on your computer, and feel free to discuss your thoughts with me during your appointment in Santa Barbara.
This video runs through photos pretty fast, but is entertaining nonetheless. Use the “pause” button to examine closer! Some of it is pretty scary… ‘Extreme LA Women’ - Dillon
