Yeah he is great man, he gave me life again! However I am fed up with his snotty, intolerant, non competent staff! I really despise his Medical assistant that all pt question go to and she always had attitude like you must be stupid! Not one time have I received a call back from them about my labs! I finally called and had them faxed to my GP and he is now following me and for a damn site less I might add. The Surgeon charged 2000, Yes TWO GRAND one set of labs. My GP just ran the EXACT same labs for 340! Can you say rip off????? Oh and for the 1700 savings I also received a phone call in 3 days telling me they were stellar. Now that is service!

When the Surgeons office called to confirm my appointment I told them I would not be back and they replied with well agreed to 5 years follow up care, not rude incompetent staff! She said I would still be charged for the visit and I replied to her, Oh, did I mention my attorney wants to talk you? Her is her number. Never got a bill nor a follow up call to see why I was so mad.

Yeah he is great man, he gave me life again! However I am fed up with his snotty, intolerant, non competent staff! I really despise his Medical assistant that all pt question go to and she always had attitude like you must be stupid! Not one time have I received a call back from them about my labs! I finally called and had them faxed to my GP and he is now following me and for a damn site less I might add. The Surgeon charged 2000, Yes TWO GRAND one set of labs. My GP just ran the EXACT same labs for 340! Can you say rip off????? Oh and for the 1700 savings I also received a phone call in 3 days telling me they were stellar. No that is service!

When the Surgeons office called to confirm my appointment I told them I would not be back and they replied with well agreed to 5 years follow up care, not rude incompetent staff! She said I would still be charged for the visit and I replied to her, Oh, did I mention my attorney wants to talk you? Her is her number. Never got a bill nor a follow up call to see why I was so mad.

You should report them to the BBB!

I liked my surgeon also but the staff was and is snotty. I hate calling to ask questions because they are so rude.

The receptionists at my office were pretty rude too. I would be standing in front of them for 10 minutes before they would even look up at me. My husband was pissed and we told my doc's personal secretary who does all the surgery scheduling and insurance stuff. She admitted that they had alot of complaints and that she was sorry and they were working on it. It got a bit better over the past few months.

LOVE IT ! ! !

When I was getting ready to fire my band surgeon, his wife/office manager/insurance coordinator, was such a b*tch when I wanted my complete medical records, I mean royal b(tch. I looked at her and told her "just because I allowed your husband to cut on me, you still have to go home with him and _ _ _ _ his _ _ _ _, I'm sorry you're so bitter over it, but y'all made 45k off my insurance in 3.5 months and I'm fairly sure that's nearly the annual salary for 1.5 of your office staff, be grateful all I'm wanting is my medical records."

Wow, Tiffykins, you are something else. I have noticed among those of us who are seeking fervently and even desperately for solutions - mostly surgical, to our WL problems, an alarming tendency to see the WL surgeon as a saint in disguise, a friend, or even a member of your family. Someone who's sole purpose in life is to address your need and made you feel better about yourself. The fact that far the majority of these doctors are men, and far the majority of WL seekers are women makes this projection almost impossible to break. In this fantasy the doctor can do no wrong, never needs to be questioned, nothing he says never needs to be challenged or examined.

This is not good. In reality, your doctor is making hundred's of thousands of dollars on simple one-hour operations. They are becoming millionaires. Once they have been paid for your operation, you just really become a drag if you have problems or surgery complications later on. They could be making another ten or twenty grand in the hour or two that they have to listen to your problems.

This may be precious stuff for us, because these are OUR lives and family's lives, but they have their OWN lives and family's lives that they need to attend to; send kids to college, plan for vacations, etc. As a group, I. believe that we, the WLS Consumer needs to get wise, and start taking taking names and kicking butt. We make a terrible error in not tracking accountability, costs, complications, recovery times and everything else that would benefit the hundreds of thousands of newbies who are and will be following in our footsteps. We tell these stories often leaving out important but maybe embarrassing details about what really happens in these incidents. I would like to see a more serious purpose develop in our sharing; Support, yes; sympathy, yes; encouragement, yes...but above and beyond that, real factual information; data, just the facts ma'am kind of thing that could be gathered, collated and be made useful, replacing just anecdotal information. Something to think about when sharing your story.

LOVE IT ! ! !

When I was getting ready to fire my band surgeon, his wife/office manager/insurance coordinator, was such a b*tch when I wanted my complete medical records, I mean royal b(tch. I looked at her and told her "just because I allowed your husband to cut on me, you still have to go home with him and _ _ _ _ his _ _ _ _, I'm sorry you're so bitter over it, but y'all made 45k off my insurance in 3.5 months and I'm fairly sure that's nearly the annual salary for 1.5 of your office staff, be grateful all I'm wanting is my medical records."

Wow, Tiffykins, you are something else. I have noticed among those of us who are seeking fervently and even desperately for solutions - mostly surgical, to our WL problems, an alarming tendency to see the WL surgeon as a saint in disguise, a friend, or even a member of your family. Someone who's sole purpose in life is to address your need and made you feel better about yourself. The fact that far the majority of these doctors are men, and far the majority of WL seekers are women makes this projection almost impossible to break. In this fantasy the doctor can do no wrong, never needs to be questioned, nothing he says never needs to be challenged or examined.

This is not good. In reality, your doctor is making hundred's of thousands of dollars on simple one-hour operations. They are becoming millionaires. Once they have been paid for your operation, you just really become a drag if you have problems or surgery complications later on. They could be making another ten or twenty grand in the hour or two that they have to listen to your problems.

This may be precious stuff for us, because these are OUR lives and family's lives, but they have their OWN lives and family's lives that they need to attend to; send kids to college, plan for vacations, etc. As a group, I. believe that we, the WLS Consumer needs to get wise, and start taking taking names and kicking butt. We make a terrible error in not tracking accountability, costs, complications, recovery times and everything else that would benefit the hundreds of thousands of newbies who are and will be following in our footsteps. We tell these stories often leaving out important but maybe embarrassing details about what really happens in these incidents. I would like to see a more serious purpose develop in our sharing; Support, yes; sympathy, yes; encouragement, yes...but above and beyond that, real factual information; data, just the facts ma'am kind of thing that could be gathered, collated and be made useful, replacing just anecdotal information. Something to think about when sharing your story.

I followed through with complaints filed, reviews sent to the state board, and HIPAA for Florida state's agencies were contacted. I did my part to stop the madness with his office practices.

I've never made any man in my mind god-like, and any surgeon is being paid to provide a service. Above all, I took names, and reported the issues to the appropriate departments. I'm a huge advocate for my own health. This is why he was my surgeon for a mere 4 months before I fired him, and took my business elsewhere.

I'm not here to preach to people on how they need to handle their own issues with their chosen medical professionals.

He was a douchebag that ignored my complaints for months, I've shared that for over 2.5 years now and if people ask for facts and all the gory I'll be more than willing to share, but I simply added to this topic my experience with firing my band surgeon. His wife was his office manager, she was horrible to work with, and above all just not a nice person when people needed help.

So, I shared one portion of the story. When the topic is appropriate to share the intimate details of my trials and tribulations with a particular doctor, I'm more than willing to share. Other than that, those comments, issues, and details were NOT pertinent to this thread topic. I shared out of commiserating and celebrating with the original poster regarding her actions.

If I've misconstrued your reply to my comments, I'll apologize. BUT, from how I've interpreted your comments, I'll sum it up with the fact that I do not need to be lectured on what I can, should, or can not and should not share within a topic on a public forum, or that the information that I've provided is NOT pertinent.

Personally it is the anecdotal information that I'm here for. I don't ever expect to go to a public forum and get gathered and collated information. I go to published studies for that. And honestly... I enjoyed the heck out of Mirori's and Tiffykin's stories!

I followed through with complaints filed, reviews sent to the state board, and HIPAA for Florida state's agencies were contacted. I did my part to stop the madness with his office practices.

I've never made any man in my mind god-like, and any surgeon is being paid to provide a service. Above all, I took names, and reported the issues to the appropriate departments. I'm a huge advocate for my own health. This is why he was my surgeon for a mere 4 months before I fired him, and took my business elsewhere.

I'm not here to preach to people on how they need to handle their own issues with their chosen medical professionals.

Tiffykins, I was inspired by your independent thinking and direct action, not criticizing it.

He was a douchebag that ignored my complaints for months, I've shared that for over 2.5 years now and if people ask for facts and all the gory I'll be more than willing to share, but I simply added to this topic my experience with firing my band surgeon. His wife was his office manager, she was horrible to work with, and above all just not a nice person when people needed help.

So, I shared one portion of the story. When the topic is appropriate to share the intimate details of my trials and tribulations with a particular doctor, I'm more than willing to share. Other than that, those comments, issues, and details were NOT pertinent to this thread topic. I shared out of commiserating and celebrating with the original poster regarding her actions.

If I've misconstrued your reply to my comments, I'll apologize. BUT, from how I've interpreted your comments, I'll sum it up with the fact that I do not need to be lectured on what I can, should, or can not and should not share within a topic on a public forum, or that the information that I've provided is NOT pertinent.

That is why I LOVE Kaiser!!! I don't have to deal with the staff, I just email my dr. and he responds within 24 hours, but usually by the end of the business day!

I hate snotty office biotches!! Good for you!

Kelly

After reading these posts it made me feel very grateful for the surgeon I have and his office staff. They are the most compassionate people and always return calls. They are on top of everything. I had so many follow up calls from his staff after my surgery and for any questions I may have had they got back to me right away. When I go to the office they are always on time and polite. They have support group sessions for all of their patients and are always available at every meeting for questions. This includes the doctor, nutritionist, psychologist, a host of other support people too. We are able to talk to personal trainer and chefs and other professionals to keep us on track. They have helped me through this whole process and made sure I was comfortable and had everything I needed.

I just wasn't sure so I wanted to follow up. That's why I added the disclaimer to apologize if I misunderstand.

I know that voice inflection, and tone are not translated well over the internet so I just wasn't sure what you meant.

Many apologies for the misunderstanding ! ! !