Dolittle

Hi Pammie, I was curious about your tummy tuck. Where did you have that done?? Costs?? Stuff like that. Your pictures look great. I'm sure that all the forum members appreciate them. We all learn from others, thats what this forum is about. Thanks

Rumbaut was one of the original trial Doctors for the lapband. He has great credentials. He's even been lapbanded. He's pricer than most doctors doing the lapband surgery. It also costs more to fly to Monterrey from most places in the USA. But he's got a great fan base and I've personally never heard of anything bad about him. I'd check www.lapbandtalk.com and see what they have to say about him too.

We all go through this, but when you get used to being banded and see the results, OMG, it becomes your best buddy!! LOL

I don't know about rental car drop off fees, I've never rented a car before. I've always used the metro transit system every where I've went other than my home area. Vegas, San Fran, San Diego, etc. All big cities have great mass transit systems and I'm an adventurous type, so I jump on the bus or whatever. LOL

I know that every tolley stop going to the border has a parking lot next to it. If I remember right they were free, but I don't know how long you can park a car there. Someone else may know how long you can park at the tolley stops. Another option is you could turn in the car at your rental company at the San Diego airport and catch a bus to the transportation center, which is about 5 blocks away from the airport and then catch the tolley going to the border. Once you walk across the border you can catch a taxi to the clinic. All total, your talking $5 for the bus/tolley and $5 for the taxi in Mexico. The same would apply if you were flying into the San Diego airport. But if you were flying into San Diego airport you wouldn't need a rental car. The public transportation system in San Diego can pretty much take you any where in the San Diego area. "CHEAP"

There has been several of us in Illinois and Iowa that have used a great Doctor named Dr. Joseph Vitello. He's a bariatric surgeon at the University of Illinois hospital but does fills on the side at a Downers Grove hospital. He charges $150 cash up front and the hospital charges $129 for the Fluoro. The hospital is a couple blocks off I88, Highland exit. You can reach him at his email address, jvituic@comcast.net, He only does fills for patients that have had their lapband surgery done outside the United States. He does a great job, I highly recommend him. He's a nice guy too! I know that its tough to get back out to San Diego. With airfare high right now and people that have a time restriction, this is the guy to call.

Before you leave the OCC clinic, ask Rene in the OCC office and he'll print out a surgery report for you and anything else you need.

When things come to a stand still, I use the Walmart brand, "Equate" fiber therapy caps. Or the fiber caps Dr. Maranda recommended you take when you got hungry on the pre surgery diet. A couple here and a couple there, pretty soon things will get moving. LOL. That's what works for me.

When you get to the airport, jump on a bus, tell the bus driver you want a all day pass. That bus it will take you to the transportation center. $5 gets you an all day pass for buses and the tolley. $9 gets you a two day pass. You can get on the blue line tolley and ride it to the border. The clinic is about 6 blocks away from the end of the second foot bridge. Or you can jump in a taxi at the end of the first foot bridge, don't pay more than $5 for the taxi. If you plan on a taxi, make sure you have the address wrote down on paper to show the taxi driver where your going.

I couldn't have said this any better. Good job

For those who are coming to the San Diego area for lapbanding or fills and would like to make it a mini vacation, here's an info guide to the area. I hope this link works. www.tripadvisor.com/pdfs/Guides/TA_San_Diego_Guide.pdf

Congrats and A Big Standing O

I just go to Walmart and get the Walmart/Equate brand fiber caps. They work OK for me and they go down easy. I've never had one get hung up by my band. I take a couple and if that doesn't do it I take a couple more, eventually them babies will work. LOL

Crossing into Mexico is a breeze. Nobody cares who's coming into Mexico. After crossing the first foot bridge you'll run into the taxi stand. $5 is all you need to pay for the ride either way. The OCC clinic isn't but a half mile away. You'll be amazed that it isn't that far. Coming back across the border can be a hassle, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays the line going into the customs building can be long, sometimes an hour or two long. There's no way to avoid it. Even if you were to be in the OCC van it can be a long wait. Suggestions???? Renting and parking a car at the border can be expensive. Their Metro bus/trolley system is really good and cheap. $9 bucks gets you a 2 day pass and the Blue line tolley takes you right to the border. I think you can go any where your talking about via the bus and tolley. If I remember right, The tolley even goes right next to the Holiday Inn and has a scheduled stop in National City. Call the Holiday Inn to make sure. If you decide to walk the distance from the border to the clinic, after crossing the second foot bridge, (which goes over the top of sewer creek), turn left and walk 4 blocks to the Costco and then turn right and walk 4 blocks to the street the clinic is located on. Then turn left and the clinic is in the middle of the block. Go the reverse direction when going back. Or have the OCC get you a taxi back to the border. Be prepared to have a possible long line to get back into the USA. If you have any questions, email me.

It takes around 1 1/2 hours to do the bus/trolley/walk. Its $5 bucks for a day pass for the bus/trolley. Good for everything and anywhere for the day. It's real easy, jump on the bus at the airport, ride 6 blocks, get off and jump on the blue line trolley. It goes right to the border. Then follow the crowd and start walking over the foot bridges, once your across it's about an 8 block walk to the clinic. The real time worry is coming back and going across the border. Either walking or riding in the OCC van you never know how long it takes to go thru customs. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are the worst. I've seen the walk thru line a half mile long on those days listed. Monday thru Thursday the line is usually short. When your flying in and doing it all in 1 day, book your flight to arrive early and depart late that day, just to be safe. If you need step by step instuctions to walk across, send me an email.

I've had the EAS Chocolate shakes. I get them by the case at Sams Club. I've tried others and have found them to be the best tasting so far. I always throw one into the freezer and bring it to a slush. They're even better that way.

I just LOVE this Southwest Air saver program called "DING". I'm scheduled to go out to Tijuana in the middle of May for my first fill. I just got a "DING" notice sent to my computer and the airfare special today, from Chicago Midway airport to San Diego, round trip with taxes, $120 bucks. What a deal!!!!!

You'll find that United Health will have tons of hoops you'll have to jump through to get approved. The biggest hurdle was you had to have a high BMI, like 40 or more and a requirement that you have to go on a doctors supervised diet for 6 months. Plus other health problems related to being over weight. Like high blood pressure, diabetes, etc. Which in my case I was on the borderline of the BMI and I had no other related issues. So a 6 month doctors diet would lower my BMI and make me ineligible. Check with your local lapband Doctors and see what will get you pre-approved. They will know. Your insurance requirements might be different with your plan than with my United Health plan. If all else fails, Dr. Ortiz is one of the worlds highest rated lapband surgeons and he has the procedure fairly priced for those have to pay out of pocket. Give one of Dr. Ortiz's coordinators a call, they have a lot of knowledge about this subject.

I've heard that there is a place in Tampa that's resonable. I know several people that have picked Tampa for their first fills. But I don't know where in Tampa or the name of the place. It could be a Fill Center USA place????? I'll check into it or maybe some other members of the forum might be able to give you that info.

Hi Dreamhappy, I just flew Southwest out of Chicago when I had my surgery. My weight was 285lbs and the seat was a little tight. LOL. But nobody said anything to me about my weight? Or charged me any extra. That was the first time I had ever flown Southwest. They seemed real friendly. But they had some real good fares on that Ding program.

I

Mrs. Ortiz drives you back and forth from the hotel and clinic.

Could you post the names of the Doctors in Chicago that do the fills. We'll see if anybody has used them or not and if they would recommend them.

Hi Michele, You think you could share some of that info you got from the fill center? Like what the 10 important rules for band success and stuff like that. Thanks, Dave