Adam Goldstein, D.O.

Hi Michele. Dr. Kipnus is newer to the practice...so far I've heard good things...and he's supposed to be easier to see since he doesn't have as many patients needing follow-up care yet. I'm not going to really be able to help you out with suggesting other surgeons for lap-band because I went the RNY route and didn't search for surgeons on that basis.  Of course, my surgeon does both and he's AWESOME but he's in W. Orange (almost 2 hrs from the Voorhees area) As for attending New Beginnings...support group is on Thursday nights (every Thursday except the first one of the month) from 8-9pm at the Roher center in Voorhees.  If you'd like to meet there and have someone to sit with let me know...I try to make it at least a couple times a month.  You'd be able to really hear from patients of Dr. Goldstein and Dr. Kipnus there...I'm sure you'd find it helpful. Heather

Heather, thanks again. I will definitely let you know if I plan to attend the Thursday night support group.  I'm researching another surgeon, Dr. Ing, of Rancocas Surgical Group.  Their support group is this coming Monday.  Michele

I went through Dr. Wasser of the same practice and I can tell you my experience was great. Everyone is very pleasant, thorough and helpful. Also, the hospital (Our Lady of Lourdes) is now a bariatric surgery center of excellence. You will be pleased with them

Hi- I too had tried to go through Dr. Goldstein, my insurance would not pay for it and when I tried to find out what it would cost, the office girl practically screamed at me that 'you need $30,000--you need $30,000' and on and on. I just wanted to pay whatever the insurance would pay--what's the difference? he would be getting the same, just from a different person. I agree with one of the posters about the head nurse--she can be a little brusque, but when you are able to get hold of her and understand that that is just the way she is. In any case, I ended up going to Dr. Samuel Wasser in Willingboro NJ because he accepts self-pay patients (for about $15,000) and you can get loans for that through Capital One. He was wonderful and Tina (bariatric scheduler) is so nice and pleasant and a joy to work with. Dr. Wasser was professional, explained everything and  my experience was wonderful and I would highly recommend him to anyone. Hope this is helpful to anyone who cannot get insurance approval.

Thanks, Carol.  This is truely helpful.  Did you have the lapband?  If so, how many times did you need a fill during the first year?  Thanks.  Michele

I had the lapband on Feb 19th. I was just there for my 6 week follow up and did not get any fills yet. I lost 7 pounds this past month and he said the target loss is 4-8 pounds monthly and the longer you can go without getting a fill the better. he said if I really felt I needed one he would do it. I said I would wait another four weeks and see how I was. I feel that it is still working in its current state, and I figure I will get a fill when I am not losing any more or not losing fast enough. I now realize that the '20 lbs a month' weight losses are from the people with the gastric bypass and that the band is more slow and steady. the advantage to the band is it can be adjusted, if the bypass patient stretches out their stomach they have no option to be adjusted. I am very happy I chose this and do not for one minute regret it. Plus 7 lbs a month is 84 lbs a year! good luck to you :)

After one final phone call with Goldstein's office today, it's definite that I have to find another surgeon. I sort of think it's a shame cause I still feel like he would be a great surgeon -- seems his whole practice is built around minimizing risk -- which is good -- but can also be a drawback. For instance in my case, during my consultation it came out that I had recently had a gallbladder attack. He said he would only do the lapband if I had the gallbladder removed first and he would not do them in one procedure. He said there would be added risk of infection, cause GB is considered 'dirty' and Lapband is considered clean. But I also see the other side of the coin which is increased risk for me by undergoing 2 procedures -- 2 anesthesias, 2 sets of incisions to potentially become infected, etc...Plus, I realized what if it turns out that something (post gallbladder surgery adhesions.????.)...make me not a good candidate for LAPBAND? Then I'll have to find a new surgeon anyway to do the WLS because Goldstein only does LAPBAND. Plus, on the day of my consultation the doc and his nurse noted on a checklist that I needed to have a "sleep apnea test". I told them my cardiologist had already written an Rx for a sleep study (cause I snore) and they said "great!". Now the nurse says the sleep study is not sufficient. She says that I need a Pulmonary consult -- a visit with a pulmonoligist to get clearnace for the gallbladder surgery -- to make sure I'll be able to handle the anesthesia. (I told her I had general anesthesia at Pennsylvania Hospital about a month ago for breast surgery but that didn't seem to matter ....)  My original consult with Dr. Goldstein was on 3/18. My sleep study was on 3/26. the results won't be back for another 2 weeks and the pulmonologist doesn't have an opening to see me until May 6. All this means that even in the best of all worlds I wouldn't have the gallbladder removed until early June! How bizarre is that??? I had the gallbladder attack on 2/28. Seems to me if I had gotten an appt (unrelated to WLS) with a general surgeon  a week after that gallbladder attack, I'd already be recovered from the surgery.  Sorry for the rant. Thanks for listening. If anyone knows of a bariatric surgeon who willingly does the simultaneous gallbladder and RNY or LAPBAND, I'd be very interested in hearing about it. Thanks again, Shelby.

I am so sorry to hear about the frustrations you are experiencing Shelby.  I live in Blackwood.  I have NOT met with Dr. Goldstein.  I'm not able to comment on how he is as a surgeon.  However, it sounds to me that you need access to office staff that are easy to speak with as well as committed to working with their patients.  I think some offices work according to volume rather than quality.  Those are the practices I stay away from.  I think you are referring to the "Fit Smart" program at Virtua Hospital in Voorhees?  I'm familiar with that program.  It is an enormous financial commitment.  However, they produce wonderful results and I have heard a lot of wonderful things about them.  I know for me, I am not investing that much money in a weight management program prior to the surgery.  Some surgeons take the attitude that its best to see how you would respond to the dietary, and behavioral changes prior to surgery, so that when you move forward with it in the end those changes are not so challenging to implement.  I still think that there is a monetary drive there.  This is america and doctors are about maximimzing their financial well-being.  The sad thing I see in this is, that if our true motivation and passion is to see people get well then why not have the costs affordable.  I could never afford a program like that.  Sounds to me like this practice is not only trying to bilk people for as much as they can, but they are also "weeding out" those that are not capable of paying these sort of outrageous costs from the start.  There's a psychology to this.  Not to mention, he is affiliated with Virtua and Virtua obviously is enhancing its reputation by virtue of having a "integrated" weight loss program.   I personally am considering a surgeon in NYC.  I prefer the hospitals there due to the research they do, their dietary guidelines are posted on their website, they do not charge these "participation" fees or "program fees" that are huge from the start.  They do charge you seperately for your psychological consult, as well as your nutrition consult, and that is fine but the surgeon I'm using is very accessible. 

WidenerGuy -- what NYC surgeon are you using?

you might also want to check out the surgeons at PA hosp  it is a team of 3 surgeons who do all the different types of WL surgery  free support groups  think it's still $200 for the Nutritionist -- but you have him for life after think it's still $200 for the psych eval  they will do a cardio clearance they will do a pulmonary clearance  and then whatever other test they feel your particular case calls for -- and all these specialist are right at 8th and spruce in philly -- no driving around here and there -- no tryng to find your own doctors or nutritionist or psych appt's  oh and FREE support group once a month -- and they also have a separate support group for ppl who are over a year post op -- FREE  we had Matt Kirkland -- we both had open RNY and we were actually open on the table for an average of 25 minutes --  others here have had good success with this team also  and Kirkland did ross's hernia repair a year later -- it's nice to have a gastrentestinal surgeon when you need one close by :)  roberta