Does anyone know of Doctor Melniczek in Colorado? I have a wonderful friend on this site who recommended me, but I was trying to get some stats on the amount of surgery he has preformed.

Had surgery with him and absolutely love him. Has a lot of bariatric surgery experience and knows what he's talking about. Split from another group in town to go off on his own. Have not met a patient that hasn't been fan.

I just saw this thread. I love Dr. Mel. I had my surgery by him in February this year. He is a very experienced and skilled surgeon. His experience with the band is more recent, I think he's only been doing Lapband since about February. He has tons of gastric bypass surgeries under his belt, which according to him is much more complicated a surgery. I felt like I was taking a bit of a risk with him since he was newer to the Lapband, but I haven't been disappointed. His follow-up care is great. He even calls me personally from time to time to see how things are going. I would recommend him, absolutely.

Hi Ladies! I loved Dr. Mel, too. I was very sorry to see him move. I had just completed my packet for submission to Cigna when he announced he was moving. Now, I have had to start again with Dr. Chae. I have been on this journey since February and am still waiting for approval. I am trying to stay positive, but really thought the surgery would have happened by now. Anyway, I look forward to learning from everyone here!

The fact that my recommendation for Dr. Melniczek is sitting here on this thread has been bothering me. It breaks my heart a little because he gave me this band and things have gone so well for me. Plus, I like the guy. But, since I wrote that I have found out a lot of things that have changed my mind and I have come to the point that I would not recommend him for LapBand surgery. My personal experience with him has been fine, but many of his other patients have had troubles with his aftercare--Serious troubles. In my opinion, Kristin in Co, you dodged a bullet. If anyone wants or needs specifics I can provide them privately. I don't want to bad mouth him publicly, but I just had to withdraw the previous glowing recommendation because I no longer feel that way.

He is leaving Colorado, but will be practicing again soon in Pennsylvania.