“Hi my name is Ray. I’m a smoker for 40 years. I got a blocked artery in my leg and I’m an amputee now from smoking. I had an infection in my toe which they found out was blockage in my artery and down the road it cost me my leg.

You need to get yourself checked. I should have, but I didn’t. When Dr. Goldbach did check it, he found the blockage in my leg and my foot.

I met Dr. Goldbach at the hospital and he performed the test to find the blocked arteries. We knew what was going to happen after talking to Dr. Goldbach and Dr. Jones, we knew it needed amputation. There was no saving the foot. So I got a below the knee amputation.

After the procedure was done…they were excellent in the hospital, both doctors. Then I came to the office for weekly visits. The office staff is excellent. They greet you at the front desk and they are very friendly.

You are not sitting in the doctor’s office for five hours. They talk to you, you get everything done. If you have to reschedule or anything, they understand. My treatments are every two weeks now. It’s nice to come in and see a friendly staff. Everybody’s happy.

I recommend Dr. Goldbach for arteries or any vein issue…he’s easy going, he’s fun, he’s funny. He jokes, he comes in with a smile even though he might have had a rough morning, he still comes in happy. He’s just bubbly. When you meet a doctor and he’s friendly, bubbly…somebody you can talk to. He cares about what he does. He’s frank and tells you point blank what the problem is. But he does it in a caring way. He’s more of a laid back professional doctor. That’s why I like Dr. Goldbach at The Vein and Vascular Institute of Spring Hill.

I know they have other offices throughout the Tampa Bay area, which I haven’t been fortunate enough to visit. But I come to the Spring Hill office and if you do come here…excellent staff and you will really enjoy them. And they are caring about your problems.

My advice to people is to quit smoking and have your arteries checked by a vascular surgeon. If you don’t quit smoking and don’t have yourself checked, you could end up like me.

Or it could be worse, you could have a full amputation instead of just below the knee because sometimes the surgeries don’t work because it is blocked too badly or your arteries have deteriorated from the smoking.

I should have quit a long time ago honestly.

If it is not treated, the PAD and blocked arteries, it can get worse in your system. And it can be worse than amputation. The blockage can be in other parts of your body, like your heart.

That’s how they find it…through the test that the vein doctors do. You also have to find a good vein and artery doctor that you can connect to.

I recommend The Vein and Vascular Institute, I really do, because the doctors I’ve dealt with are excellent. And I have dealt with other vein doctors and they are not nearly as nice as these people.”