Famed surgeon a credit to Oprah – and his fans

NORFOLK

“My husband lost 40 pounds because of you.” 

“You changed my life.”

“He makes me want to be a better woman.”

“I’m speechless.”

“I love you.”

Welcome to the world of Dr. Mehmet Oz, where – at book signings Friday in Norfolk  – people professed to the cardiac surgeon and Oprah phenomenon everything from undying gratitude to, well, “I have a remedy for cellulite.”

That came from a woman who then invited Oz to look at her rear for proof. Another woman joked that she’d like him to sign her book:  “Just put, 'Thanks for last night.’ ”

This to a man who just a half-hour earlier had taken a sold-out lunch crowd of about 400 at the Norfolk Marriott Waterside through a fairly gruesome video tour of what happens to food in the digestive tract , particularly if you don’t get enough fiber.

“If you’ve got belly fat, you’re not coping with stress,” said Oz, who gave his fans countless health tips throughout the day. Regarding the belly fat issue: If your waist in inches is more than half your height, you’ve got too much and it will hurt your health.

Oz is best known for his regular appearances on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” but he is also the co-clinical director at Bon Secours Heart Institute at Maryview Medical Center in Portsmouth. The institute has a partnership with Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where Oz is vice chairman of surgery.

He also is  co-author, along with Dr. Michael Roizen, of a popular series of health books. Their latest: “You:  Staying Young: The Owner’s Manual for Extending Your Warranty.”

Oz has been in town before to speak with Bon Secours physicians and staff, but on Friday, he made his first public appearances at the luncheon lecture and two book signings.

The $40-a-plate luncheon sold out almost immediately after it was announced in November, and a waiting list of 340 people was kept, said Lynne Zultanky,  Bon Secours spokeswoman .

They’ll get another chance when Oz comes back in  fall  2008.

“Some people have cried ” when they learned they couldn’t get tickets for Friday’s luncheon, said Zultanky, who also has  spent the week fielding  and rejecting  numerous requests for private meetings with Oz.

“It’s like being in Disney World. That’s how excited I am,” said Cheryl Douglas  of Virginia Beach, who did manage to get a ticket to the luncheon. She said she has seen Oz on Winfrey’s show purging people’s pantries of bad foods. “I want him to come to my house and do that.”

Douglas was sitting at a table with Joan Mercer of Chesapeake, who had cardiac bypass surgery in 1994 and credits Oz with motivating her to exercise.

“I honestly feel better than I have in five  years. I’m walking. I’m doing Jazzercise,” said Mercer, who added that she’s still struggling with eating a healthy diet. She and Douglas wondered if the apple pie at the table wasn’t some sort of test, but it looked too good to pass up.

At the book signing after  the luncheon, Douglas asked Oz if he ate the pie. “Of course not,” said  the doctor, whose main message of the day was that people have the ability to take charge of their own health if they’re armed with the right information … such as avoid simple carbohydrates like those in the pie’s sugar and crust.

“As beautiful and psyched as you are, I see an army,” Oz told the luncheon audience. “Take these messages home to your communities.”

 While women made up most Oz’s audience, he has his share of male fans as well. Scott George of Hampton took his place in line at 1 p.m. for the 2:30 book signing at Barnes & Noble  at MacArthur Center. After Oz arrived, George  let others go ahead of him in line as  he waited for his wife, Lydia, who had been in Richmond for a business meeting.

“I don’t watch Oprah much, but she calls me in whenever he’s on. I love watching him,” said George , adding that he especially likes that Oz doesn’t push medicine as the answer to everything,  favoring diet and exercise instead. Just then, a breathless Lydia made her way to her husband and then to Oz.

“I sped. I was like a crazy person,” said Lydia George. “But I wasn’t going to miss it.”

Nancy Young, (757) 446-2947,  nancy.young@pilotonline.com