the following article was written by John Hobbs, Editor, IN Magazine Los Angeles
Say what you will about cosmetic surgery - it’s the domain of the incredibly vain, it’s an external fix for an internal problem, it’s a slippery slope—but gay men are logging some serious time in the O.R., making up an ever increasing portion of the nearly 11 million cosmetic procedures done each year. And while a substantial portion of those are your run-of-the-mill nose jobs, BOTOX® injections or tummy tucks, some individuals, particularly those ravaged by AIDS-related lipodystrophy, are going under the knife to take back their lives.
“Thanks to you, I won’t be hiding from life anymore.” “I want to thank you for giving me back my face.” “Your help has changed my life profoundly.” The thank-you letters Dr. Harvey Abrams shares with me range from quick little missives to pages upon pages of handwriting, chronicling heartrending journeys that could kill lesser men. “These aren’t even all of them,” shares Abrams, with a shy smile as he thumbs through a huge binder bursting to full.
Abrams began his medical career more than three decades ago, starting in neurology before making a segue to psychiatry, a field of knowledge he continues to draw from even today. “Having had the experience of being a psychiatrist, and knowing how powerful the relationship between two people can be, is what I bring into the room,” he shares, before explaining that the most powerful transformational work he does with patients occurs before he makes one single incision. “By embracing intimacy, the patients’ ability to share personal things with their doctor, and not running away from it really makes all the difference.”
In 1990, Abrams, who had successfully worked through a variety of specialties in the medical field (“I always liked to reinvent myself and to try something new,” he shares), moved to Los Angeles and became the medical director at Wilshire Aesthetics. Now, 17 years later, the board-certified dermatologist spends his days performing a wide variety of procedures – BOTOX® injections, fillers and even lip plumping - but it’s his work with the HIV population, constituting 50 percent of his client load, that inspires the doctor the most. “Working with the HIV-positive population - and the gratitude that has been shown to me from that group - has been the most touching part of being a physician,” he explains. It is to that end that Abrams has been working since the late ’80s, when he first began taking on the noisome lesions and red itchy bumps common in many HIV-positive individuals. Currently, he spends most of his time injecting filler into the face of men who are experiencing facial wasting or doing liposuction on a “buffalo” hump, which can often restore his patients’ confidence, reduce their shame and even bring them out of years of social isolation.
But it’s not just HIV-positive individuals who are dropping by the Mid-Wilshire office. “I’d raise my eyebrows in salute, but I can’t—and isn’t that wonderful?” jokes one client, who dropped by for BOTOX®, in her thank-you letter.
How does it feel to have a binder of individuals you’ve managed to make such an impact on? “I honestly don’t give it a lot of thought. Every day is another day that I have to get to work and do something to prove my worth,” explains Abrams in his characteristic modest way.
But the gushing letters sent by his patients tell a different tale—which makes a huge difference considering word of mouth is one of the best ways to find a doctor, particularly in a time when we’re seemingly bombarded with radio and print ads from doctors all claiming to be Beverly Hills’ most sought after.
Sought after or not, it’s clear Abrams is most concerned with the altruistic thrust of his job. “I think giving back is extremely important. Those of us who have the opportunity to give back know what an amazing feeling it is. It’s a blessing unto itself. That look my patients get on their face when they see their results—it makes everything I go through on a daily basis very worthwhile.”
Published February 2008
