I have been told about Spivak and Spiegal many times. Those who have used them, could you tell me more about their practice, costs, insurance, skill, pre-testing, office, etc? Anything you can thinkof would be helpful (to me and to others I think).

P.S. Is one of them involved in something called a "cattle call" and what would that be?

Dr SPiegel seminar IS FREE. It's the consultation with him (ONE ON ONE) that he collects the Co-pay for. It's an office visit, so of course we expect payment.

Everyone here in his office is banded & he has done more than 4000 surgeries. Feel free to visit his website if u have access to a computer, @ FELIXSPIEGELMD.COM. :clap2:

Of course you are going to get better care if you work in the office, frankly I am not surprised at all that you have only good things say.

In the link to the thread they never talked to the doctor. It was always the surgicenter staff or his office..... I'm just saying how do we know he was made aware of the problem?

If I call any Doctor.....my PCP, my GYN or my Oncologist and speak to the office staff or a nurse, it is their professional responsibility to communicate to the Dr., why wouldn't you expect the same from your LB surgeon?

Also, 4000 surgeries completed means nothing to me, I would rather know how the Dr., his office staff, his nurses and his surgery center handle complications and problems, to me that is the "nitty gritty truth" that I would need with my life on the line to make a decision which Dr. is "right" for me.

Dr SPiegel seminar IS FREE. It's the consultation with him (ONE ON ONE) that he collects the Co-pay for. It's an office visit, so of course we expect payment.

Ha Ha funny size8beauty all 6 of your posts on this board are promoting Dr. Speigel, how great he is, his phone number and website and nothing else.....

Take your advertising elsewhere, it has no place here.

Ha Ha funny size8beauty all 6 of your posts on this board are promoting Dr. Speigel, how great he is, his phone number and website and nothing else.....

Take your advertising elsewhere, it has no place here.

Faybie, I was banded by Dr. Speigel, and I am interested in what size8beauty has to say. Is this your personal forum? I thought Alex was the owner. Are you even a moderator? I don't think so, I don't appreciate you acting like you are something you are not. I don't want to get in an argument with you. Im just feeling a bit annoyed. You didn't go to Dr. Speigel and that is fine, but I did, and so did others. We aren't trashing your doctor, please don't trash ours.

Just to set the record straight, I WAS Dr Spiegel's Patient BEFORE I became HIs employee.So, call me impartial, but I do think he is an excellent surgeon. Just ask anyone that has had the surgery that work at the one of the biggest hospital's in Houston. METHODIST. This is strictly my Opinion, as you have your own. But you know what they say about opinions & other parts of your anatomy.

Everyone has ONE!

Faybie, I was banded by Dr. Speigel, and I am interested in what size8beauty has to say. Is this your personal forum? I thought Alex was the owner. Are you even a moderator? I don't think so, I don't appreciate you acting like you are something you are not. I don't want to get in an argument with you. Im just feeling a bit annoyed. You didn't go to Dr. Speigel and that is fine, but I did, and so did others. We aren't trashing your doctor, please don't trash ours.

Karik, Link me a quote where I allegedy trashed "your Dr." Dr. Spiegel please.

Advertising is not allowed on this forum and size8beauty has obviously been advertising Dr. Spiegel. This forum is for people to support one another going through the same experiences.

Karik,

You are not obligated to appreciate my point of view nor are you obligated to think that my experiences and support are helpful to you. You had a great experience with your Dr. "I get that" however that does not in anyway shape or form mean that my experience with the Dr.'s that I researched and interviewed is less worthy than yours. "I get" that you don't appreciate that I am not supporting your Dr. however just because you don't appreciate it, doesn't mean that someone else would.

I apologize if u think I'm advertising. I just feel so great with my weight loss that I want to shout it from the mountaintops, becuase I have been so successful with my Dr.

Well praise him for changing his technique but what about the 3 of us that wasted money getting banded by him? And then having to pay to have it removed?????

I want to put my foot in this.

Why not to use Speigel::bandit

1. He charges for fills. Most surgeons give you the fills free for the 1st year if you are self pay.

2. If you get an infection in one of your incisions, he acts like you are going to take him to court and tries to convince you that you caused it.

3. He is not forth comming with info either. He would not tell me what size band I had or if it was partially filled when he put it in. Important to understanding why I could not eat and apparently is part of his practice.

4. If you decide you need someone else to do your aftercare, good luck because changing from him to someone else is a real begging job. The other doctors are super loyal to him. Mostly because he does so many and has the money. I suspect he opened the Surgery Center and is Chairman on the board. :tired

I suggest Dr. Matthew St. Laurent. He is good and treats all patients like royalty. He believes in good after care.

Spivak would not even consider me and I had an infection that made the lower half of my left breast rock solid. St. Laurent went against Speigel, I suspect because he is also friends with my GP, and saved me. :clap2: I have a higher price to pay for my fills but if I had just gone to him to begin with my fills would be free for the year.

This is how it goes, right? :phanvan

Please listen to everyone and think twice.

Tanya

Just so everyone is clear - they all practice at the same Surgicenter. I think there are 6 of them and they all have an interest in it. Each doctor has their own instructions for how they want the fills to be handled and what the patient is to do after the fills. I know that Spiegel and Spivak have different aftercare policies concerning fills.

I guess I view all of this a little differently. I went for what I considered the best surgeon. I wasn't as concerned about the aftercare. Maybe I should have been. I just made what I hoped was the right decision for me.

Each of these doctors have different styles. You need to find what style works the best for you and choose accordingly. I think, my personal opinion, that all of them are getting greedy in this money making machine called lap band. There are TV commercials, bill boards, radio ads, newspaper ads, etc. They all do it so one is not better than the other when it comes to the commercialization of this procedure.

Do I wish that Spiegel was more compassionate? Yes. Do I wish his office was more supportive? Yes But I'm happy with the results and with the surgicenter. Did I seek out other doctors? Yes . Did they have ineffective office staff? Yes. Have I looked at my file while at the surgicenter? Yes. Do I ask them questions and play a role in decisions about my fills/unfills? Yes.

I have commented here on my personal experience, my personal thoughts. That's the only information I have to go on. I did my research and made my decision. When others are looking for information I will give my two cents. However, the final decision is theirs.

Oh and as an afterthought. I'm so glad reps. from the various doctor's offices are looking at this thread. Maybe they will take some of the comments back to their offices and make some changes. Wouldn't that be a great side benefit?

Was the band removed due to a malfunction? Why was the band removed if u don't mind my asking. I don't consider a waste of money if U didn't follow the directions in order to lose the weight well then it's your own fault. Like I said I know of several people who have had the lap band & HAVEN'T experienced ANY problems. Again, every situation is different!

Wow, I almost fell out of my chair trying to laugh which I cant do since I can barley breathe, but that's another thread. Dr Spiegel and his "cell phone". Let me tell you about my experience with that... every time i called it (4-5) times a nurse picked it up... not he himself. (which for his fan club whom would excuse this as a fluke or whatever dignified/ glorified answer they need to tell themselves) happened every time. 10 day stretch.

The only day I got to speak to the dr was the day i was coughing up blood, called the emergency number and surprise got the nurse again, then almost 2 hours later when i called THEM back I got to talk to him, which is when I was personally told that it was not anything to worry about and If I wanted to per sue it I could take it up with my family Dr... it was very obvious this was not their problem anymore. So I guess that's what we have ER's for.

I am sure that he is a great surgeon and I have nothing against that, my incisions are tiny and will probably go away quite well, its just all the other escalating things that have driven me over the edge with the place. I'm sure my case is one in a million, but they need to just be aware that not everything is what meets the surface, but I have concluded that they walk around that place like brainwashed robots.

No offense, BUT anytime I am in fear that something might be TERRIBLY wrong with me, or something within MY OWN body doesn't FEEL RIGHT. Because no one knows your body better than you, well then I would have been in the ER. Understandably it could have been related to the lapband, it could have NOT been related. But, why wait until the WORST THING to happen to you before U UUUUU react. Understandably yes, it might have been related to the band, know one can know for sure. But, again:

Anyone with COMMON SENSE would know that IF IT DOESN"T FEEL RIGHT, either go to the ER or call your FP.

Thanks for the clarification. Thank goodness I haven't had to use the cell number or go to the emergency room. I just "assumed" they worked. I based that on talking to another doctor who shared the "on call" with Spiegel. I'm so sorry for your experience and it certainly is one well worth mentioning.

I have had experience with the office staff of two of these doctors (not spivak). While both were friendly, neither got it right. Both gave bad information and dropped the ball. They were not medical matters, but insurance.

Hope you are on your way now and can have some success with the band.