Dr. Cirangle

I am curious to talk to a couple of people about Dr. Cirangle. I have been researching him and thinking about switching to him as a surgeon. I am currently on a waiting list for Dr. Balfour. So far Dr. Cirangle seems like exactly what I want. Laporscopic surgery, in my timeline, and his website and post op support pages seem great. But I wasn't expecting the uncovered by insurance portion. I would love to get your thoughts....is he worth it? I am going to have to take out a loan in order to pay it so I want to get some opinions. My other option is Dr. Balfour...later then i am hoping to have the surgery and it's open RNY surgery. But it's all covered by insurance accept for the dietician. I need help deciding.

Hi Jessica, I will be having surgery with Dr. Cirangle on Tuesday. I have 100% confidence in his experience and his expertise in Lap. $4000 is a lot of money to come up with but it is worth it. I have friends that have had surgery with Dr. Balfour and they seemed to like him. The only down parts of it is that he only does open RNY, and he has a long waiting list. He will tell you that it is safer. That may be true if you have and Dr. that is not experienced in Laproscopic surgeries. The post op recovery is much quicker, pain is less, and less possibility of a hernia. I decided to have surgery with Dr. Cirangle in August and now it is only Oct. and I will be having my surgery already. It was important to me that this whole proccess not take forever. Once I decide on something I have a hard time waiting so I am glad it did not take that long. There are other surgeons in Honolulu that do Lap RNY you may want to look into it a little more. Good Luck and I will talk to you on the other side. Michelle M.

Hi Jessica! I had lap rny by Dr. Cirangle on January 10, 2005 at Pali Momi on Oahu. I recommend him 100%+!!!!! I would not have had anyone else perform the surgery. He is not only knowledgeable, but really cares about his patients and provides them with all the information that you may need after the surgery regarding food, exercise etc. Also, if you have any questions or problems, you can either e-mail him or call him via his cell phone 24/7. I can't think of too many doctors that would do that. He is also one of the top in his field. I have talked with him extensively before and after the surgery. I did have to pay upfront costs of $6,500.00, but it was money well spent, and my insurance reimbursed me almost all of it. Either way it was well worth it. Give him a call, you won't regret it. Aloha, Pat 261/162/goal 125 (I'm only 5 feet tall)

Jessica, I had surgery in April 04 with Dr. Cirangle and there is not a day that I don't regret paying that out of pocket expense. I called his office on Feb 16 and spoke to his staff and they promised me he would call by the end of the week and Dr. Cirangle called me back on Saturday morning. My surgery was held on April 30th. I talked to Balfour and he is a great surgeon as well, but I DID NOT want to have an open surgery and wanted to do the lap band and Dr. Balfour does not do that. This is a decision that you must make on your own, so I say call Dr. Cirangle and see if you feel comfortable with him. I do believe he will be here mid November for our monthly support group meeting, so maybe you can chat with him in person at that time. You can email me if you have any questions. Linda M

Thank you all so much for your input. I most definately will choose my doctor on comfort, but I really do not want to have open surgery. I have a cousin that is a plastic surgeon (woohoo....I have an in for the saggy left overs after the weight loss) anyway...he said to choose a doctor that does lap. surgery and that has been my biggest concern with Dr Balfour. He seems very nice and knowledgeable, but only will do open. Besides...I decided to go forward with this almost a year ago...it took me 8 months just to get a consultation with him, I have already been waiting a month for surgery and not exactly sure what my wait time will be. I am guessing March, but don't know for sure. It looks like December would be doable for me in December which is when I would like to do the surgery. Ok...more info then you needed for a thank you. But thank you again for all of your info. It makes me feel better about the money. Now it's just a matter of getting it!