Thomas Lavin Bariatric Surgeon MD, FACS, FASMBS

My first impression of him at the seminar was \"this man knows his stuff\". He was very informative. I had no doubt in my mind that I wanted him to perform my surgery.rnI met him at my pre-op appointment, he was very professional and answered my questions.rnHe encourages you to have your fills once a month. This is included in the fee. I barely remember seeing him after the surgery. I wish I would have been more awake when he came to see me.

Dr Lavin and his staff were wonderful. He has a very calming, nonjudgemental personality. rnHis staff is very knowlegable and dependable.rnI have not been good at post op follow up, so I can't comment alot on their follow up, but everything else was great.

Dr Lavin is a wonderful doctor. His staff is just as fantastic. I had research the sugery and interviewed people who had had the surgery for 2 years prior to deciding to have it. Dr Lavin's office makes you attend a 3 hour course prior to surgery telling you exactly what to expect. It not only verified what i already had learned, but also gave me even more information. After surgery, I took another class (again required by them) that lasted 1 hour and was with a dietician. Very informative. Everyone in his office and in the Fairway Medical center were extremely nice and made sure I had everything I needed. I would definitely recommend Dr Lavin and his staff to anyone.

He is very informative on WLS. I felt at ease with him and confident in his ablilites as a surgeon. His office staff are great. They are well informed on WLS and are able to answer any questions you may have concerning the surgeries. Aftercare is emphazied greatly and he has a wonderful aftercare program. I would rate him as excellent. His bedside manner and surgical competence are both great. I would recommend him to anyone thinking about WLS.

My research indicated he was the best in my area and is a national proctor. I met him at a seminar and was quite impressed. I've met with the nurse practitioner of his practice twice now. She is really great. My patient advocate is the best and everyone else I've spoken with is very helpful. rnrnI attended the pre-op education class, which I found very informative and thorough. They covered everything I could think of and I really had no questions afterward. They gave us some really great samples of many vitamins and protein drinks that we could use after surgery. rnrnI will be meeting with Dr. Lavin for discussion of my surgery and signing consents on October 12, 2006. I'll update after that.

Dr. Lavin has a very structured program with informational seminars, support groups, and follow-up care. Everyone in his office in Metairie and in Covington have been wonderful. They are nice and are genuinely concerned about your well-being. He also has patient advocates that can answer questions and will help to get your insurance coverage if this is a possibility. Risks are covered in the informational seminars as well as questions are anwered. There are usually post-op patients with rny and lap band there to answer questions as well. Dr. Lavin talked about risks again at pre-op appointment and his personal record for the most common complication, leaks. I think surgical competence is more important than bedside manner because that is where the surgical risk comes in. However, I found Dr. Lavin to have both, although patient's do not see Dr. Lavin very much as most of aftercare is handled by Nurse Practitioner Chris. While upset about this origninally, I can understand that this frees Dr. Lavin up for more surgeries and to keep the cost down, as 1 year follow-up is included in cost and I am a self-pay patient.

I was very impressed with his work. I had no problems with my surgery and he and his staff have been extremely helpful through all steps of my journey.

Dr. Lavin is a really cool guy. He did my wife's bypass as well in 03. I liked him the first time I met him. He is a guy's guy. He is upfront with everything and tell's you how the cow eats the cabbage. I was very impressed with him on our first meeting and I attended several of the seminars that they put on in Alexandria. I actually wanted to have the surgery first, but I went ahead and let my wife go first. I wanted her to reap the benefit first. His office staff is great. Especially Rachal , the insurance advocate. She goes to bat for you and really works her tail off to try to get it approved for you. I can't say that their was anything that I didn't like about Dr. Lavin, He explained everything to you, and he was like I said , upfront about every option or situation that could unfold. He got really upset on the first seceduled date, because I was on the preop table with my IV in ready to go in and I had a blodclot time of 9 1/2 min. The office had neglected to tell me in time to not take any of my medications for 2 weeks before and I had only quit taking my Naproxen for only 3 days prior. He wouldn't take me in there, because he didn't want to endanger me, I was trying to get him to go ahead and had even told him that my wife had taken off work to be with me and we didn't know if she could get off. He told me flat out, " That he wasn't going to put my life in danger just to not inconvience her".. And so we had to reschedule for that follwing Monday and this was on that Weds. The only thing I really hated about it, was that I would have to go another day on just liquids. I hated that part of it. But it was for my sake and like I said, he will not put anyone at risk. He is very upfront and will tell you what you have to hear, not what you want to hear. If it hurts your feelings, then that is your choice. We all have a choice to decide how to take things and he will give you the straight facts. He really stress's for you to follow-up and go back every 3 mths for your check-ups. He addressed everything that was a risk factor. You know upfront everything you need to know. Between 1 and 10 , 10 being the best, I give him a 15 ! ! ! ! He has a great bedside manner and has excellent surgical competence as well. I think Dr. Lavin is the best choice for a surgeon in this field. He has performed over 1500 of these procedures and has never had a fatality or a major complication. And that in my book is the best saftey record you can have.. I have nothing negative to say. He is super. These are just my personal feelings and I know each one has their own opinion, but I have been for check-ups, and I have never heard a negative word out of any of his patients. I disagree with that statement that says completley 100% positive are gennerally less informative or even suspect. If you have to find something "wrong" or bad, Then maybe you might catch one of his girls in the office in not such a good mood. But other than that, then I couldn't reccomend anyone else higher than him.

Dr. lavin is great. Seems he is one of the most experienced. My procedure was not easy. (previous abdomen surgeries, adhesions, 2 hernias). He seems kind of quiet, but as long as he is an expert, I'm wasn't to concerned of conversation. I know he was one of the best, I did alot of research, and worked with many people that had it done through him , post ops' 1year, 2 years. would recommend him to anyone.

Dr. Lavin is a wonderful surgeon. He answered every conceivable question I had. He's professional and has an excellent bedside manner.