Dolittle

Also,, that Doctor in Vegas really sales the crap out of that mini by-pass. He's had some things posted at other forums if I remember right. I'd be checking him out and doing some hot and heavy web searches.

It would be cool if all of you bandsters that are coming to the OCC in May, June, etc, for either your band surgery or fills, could use the forum's "CALENDAR" feature and post the day your going to be at the OCC. This way you can see who's going to be there on the same day as you. You could start up a friendship before you get there using the forum's "MESSAGE" feature and have all your fun time already planned out before you get there. Plus you can contact other patients, like if you need to share a ride from the airport and stuff like that. I hope to see some of you on May 14th,, we could all meet down at the bar or lobby at the Lucerna. C ya on the 14th

My wife and I are both banded. We weren't banded on the same day, but I was banded in March of 2007 and she was banded in Septmber of 2007. She saw my results and then jumped on board the band wagon. I guess I was the guinea pig.

I don't remember what the OCC guide lines are when it comes to eating before and after fills. I'm from the Midwest and I fly out of Chicago. I can say I wouldn't be leaving Tijuana not knowing how my fill is,, especially if I would be to tight and I needed to have some saline removed. The last thing I need is to have to jump back on a plane to fly back out to San Diego to have an unfill. I don't know how many patients have ever had to have some saline removed,, I have never heard of it happening at the OCC. The OCC does a pretty good job with their fills. So,, I can say,, "OFF THE RECORD" The next day, while I have plenty of time before I leave, I'm going to test my fill. Of course, this statement is "OFF THE RECORD" LOL.

I usually get the hiccups when I've ate too much. Along with the hiccups I also have a runny nose. When this happens to me,, it's time to stop eating or I'll be PBing.

Yes,, he wants to become a plastic surgeon. I don't know how much longer he has to go to become a certified plastic surgeon,, but he told me that was his goal. Like I said,, I hope he becomes one someday and he's added to the roster there at the OCC. It would be cool if you could just do it all at the OCC,, get lapbanded,, become skinny,, have palstic surgery,, a one stop clinic. Sounds like a plan to me.

You know,, Dr. Romero is going to be a plastic surgeon someday... But he's a "STAR" now! We all hope he'll be "the Doctor" to head up the plastic surgery clinic at the OCC we keep hearing rumors about.

No,, he charges you $150 cash.. The hospital is separate,, they will charge you $125 for the fluoro if you have insurance,, but if you don't have insurance coverage,, you want to tell the hospital up front during registration that you don't have insurance, they will send you a separate bill for $85.. They give non insured patients a break on their bill. So,, the fill will cost you around $235,, plus your gas for your car to get to Downers Grove IL and back to where ever you live. The key is to know if your insurance will cover the fluoro part before you go there. The doctor is not going to be covered,, he does the fill on the side for cash. The hospital is easy to find, The hospitals name is Advocate Good Samaratan, at 3815 Highland Ave, Downers Grove IL. The usual proceedure is that you email Dr. Vitello and he'll email you back with when he'll meet you at the hospital to do your fill. I think he does most of them like on Friday nights. You'll be there with other lapbanders, I think he does 4 to 6 patients when he does fills. He's a bariatric surgeon at the Illinois University Hospital in Chicago and does fills on the side for patients that have been banded in Mexico. I know,, he's got a nice little cash thing going. LOL. But your other option is to find someone near your home or fly back to Tijuana. He does a good job and a nice guy,, he's kind of doing a service for us that went south of the border to be lapbanded.

A lot of us midwesterners go up to Downers Grove and use a bariatic doctor named Dr. Joe Vitello. He charges $150 cash for the fill. And the hospital charges $125 for the fluoro,, if you say you don't have insurance when you register,, the hospital will send you a bill for $85. Here's Dr. Vitello's email address, jvituic@comcast.net email him and you can set up an appointment with him,, he's really a nice guy,, and he does a great job. I've used him and I know a bunch of other lap banders that use him too!

I'm going thru this ordeal now too. Playing the insurance game to get approved for a tummy tuck,, but I want the full lower lift. I know I'll have to make up the differance between the two. But I was denied too,, but they said I had to have a medical history of at least 3 months of rash and other related problems from the excess skin. I'm going to the OCC in May and while I'm there I'm paying a visit to the Cosmed Plastic Surgery clinic and getting a consult while I'm there. The head surgeon at Cosmed, Dr. Quiroz,, him and Dr. Ortiz are buds. There has been talk of the OCC turning the thrid floor into a plastic surgery clinic,, but as of right now,, most of the lapbanders that are looking into plastic surgery get referred to Cosmed. I think they still offer a free consult if your a patient of the OCC.

Holy cow,, I think I'm going to ask Dr. Ortiz if I can drive the van when I'm down there for a couple days in May.. That driving jobs a frickin money maker! LOL

Sometimes you got to call Rene a couple times,, I know,, you shouldn't have to,, but I think its that Mexico attitude.

You'll have to do what Loribecky told me once,, you learn to push food around your plate and make it look like your eating, but in reality,, your not. It works,, It will fake them out. LOL

Go to the IRS website,, www.irs.gov and read publication #502. I don't think you can write off the diet food. Read that IRS article and check it out.

My suggestion would be to buy Turbo Tax next year and enter all the figures into the program and see what it comes up with.. The program walks you through the whole deal,, its real easy.. Or you can have your tax person do it too.

I know you can redo your last year taxes. But I don't know if your have to claim the write off in the same year as your surgery. I'd call 1 800 IRS and ask them that question. If it has to be done the same year,, then I'd be redoing my taxes. But,, you got to remember,, there's the income factor, You can only write off medical if it excedes a certain percentage of your gross income. I want to say its 10%,, but I'm not sure, An example would be if you made $50000.00 a year,, your medical bills would have to excede $5000 before you could write them off. Check with the IRS.

I wrote off my wife's and my lapband surgery. Also, all the expenses that went along with having the surgery. Like airfare to San Diego,, transportation to the airport and to the clinic, hotels, toll roads, gas for my car, parking at the airport, meals and ofcourse,, the surgery itself. I wrote it all off. I use Turbo Tax Deluxe. Plus,, I wrote off all the clothes I donated to Goodwill. The IRS didn't even blink an eye,, I already got my refund back. But,, when you write off medical expenses,, make sure you also list all your other medical expenses, like dental, chiro and anything else you spend during the year on your normal health care. It all adds up. The Turbo Tax program will walk you through everything. Go to www.irs.gov and read IRS publication #502, That will tell you all about what you can write off,, but its pretty much anything related to the surgery and the surgery itself. The most important part about writing off medical stuff is it depends on how much your income is. It goes by a percentage of your gross. Also,, if you have insurance,, and you getting money from the insurance company.

It's unusual for men to get the smaller 4cc band,, But Dr. Ortiz makes the call when he's inside doing that tunneling behind your stomach. There was some concern that my band might have been too tight from the beginning. They almost thought I might have to go back in and switch bands,, but it all worked out real well. I LUV MY BAND!!! Down 90lbs,, from 295 to 205lbs.

When I was banded I was tight from the get go. Dr. Ortiz put the 4cc band in me. I had my first fill 10 weeks after surgery. here's my fill history. surgery: March 1st 2007 #1 fill: May 14th 2007 .4cc's #2 fill: July 6th 2007 .7cc's #3 fill: September 27th 2007 .7cc's #4 fill: December 14th 2007 .5cc's Total of 2.3cc's I'm scheduled to go on May 14th with my wife,, She was banded in September and she's due for a fill.. So I might have Dr. Romero tweak mine a little. As you can tell,, I reached a sweet spot and didn't require any fills since December. If I even tweak it a little,, I'm thinking my band won't require much,, maybe a .1 tenth of a cc. LOL

Hi Barb,, Check this link to the IRS publication #502. It will tell you what you can write off,, an example would be your transportation in your car,, they let you write off 20 cents a mile. So, like we had to drive to Chicago Midway airport when we flew to San Diego and from where I live its a 325 mile round trip,,,, Also,, a couple of my fills were done in TJ and a couple were done in Chicago,, So everytime I did a trip to Chicago I wrote off the mileage. So check the IRS publication,, you'll be surprised to what you can write off. I was nervous about writing off the medical stuff too. I hadn't went long form in ages and if you have insurance,, you most likely never have a high enough amount to write off,, so I thought I'd red flag them too,,, but I got all the receipts. http://www.irs.gov/publications/p502/index.html

I wrote off my wife's and my lapband surgery. Also, all the expenses that went along with having the surgery. Like airfare to San Diego,, transportation to the airport and to the clinic, hotels, toll roads, gas for my car, parking at the airport, meals and ofcourse,, the surgery itself. I wrote it all off. I use Turbo Tax Deluxe. Plus,, I wrote off all the clothes I donated to Goodwill. The IRS didn't even blink an eye,, I already got my refund back. But,, when you write off medical expenses,, make sure you also list all your other medical expenses, like dental, chiro and anything else you spend during the year on your normal health care. It all adds up. The Turbo Tax program will walk you through everything.

I don't know if this link works,, but from what I read,, they don't have a spa. You could contact them and ask. http://www.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll?qscr=...8353631214&

Michelle,, your doing great,,, I was never much into goals,, I just played it by ear and went day to day,, the next thing I knew I was at a weight I hadn't seen since grade school. From 295 to 205,, I know I have another 20lbs I'd like to loose,, but it will come off in a matter of time. Bicycle season is now starting in the midwest and that's where I did the best last summer as far as loosing the weight. Exercise really helps and with the band,, with proper restriction,, you'll lose weight.

I've been banded 15 months and I've found if you PB water,, your either drinking it so fast it can't get by the restriction quick enough,, and if you drinking slowly and you PB, your might be too tight. But,, I've know several bandsters that like the agressive fill and they know they have to drink or eat slowly. I think its all a personal preference. Just don't get a fill that has so much restriction you can only sip water. If you can't handle water,, you sure as heck ain't going to be able to eat anything without it getting stuck,, which will lead into PBing all the time,, which greatly increases your risk of a band slip. Play it smart! This is why its best to do the fluoro/barium during your fill,,, this way the fill doctor can see if liquid flows by your band.

Also,, at the bottom of the Forum's home page,, there is a link to the moderating team,, you can click on that link and it will list the team,, from there you can send a message to anyone on that team. Were there to help and answer questions if needed.