Gaffer

Doodie, I have never made it a secret to my clients that I was banded in Canada. My wife however was banded my Dr. Ortiz, after I was banded by a Canadian clinic. You make a big deal out of aftercare for Mexican patients, as you should, but one of the priorities when I send clients to Mexico is that they have local access to after care. About 50% of my clients return to Mexico for thier aftercare, despite having local access to after care. I have turned away several clients who I have felt did not have close enough access to after care. I remember a time here Doodie when you were having trouble getting local aftercare. If it were not for Dr. Woodhead taking you on you would be SOL, having to travel back to Toronto for your aftercare so really you were in the same boat after your surgery at a Canadian clinic. I am not going to wade into the Mexico vs. Canada debate here, it has been beaten to death here. I think what we have to look at here is that people are taking control of thier lives and their weight through Lapband, irregardless of where they have it done. We also need to remember that Lapband complications requiring surgery are rare. Aftercare is important, but really for the people that I work with, the clinic is a phone call away, just like those of us in Western Canada who were banded in the Toronto clinics. If anything were to go wrong with ones band they would have to return to their clinic whether it be in Toronto or Mexico so really we are all in the same boat. Thanks, Andrew

this guy should logout of this site so other users dont post under the wrong username

I dont know about a top ten, but I will offer what I think to be the most important things. 1. You get out of the band what you put into it. You still have to eat sensibly, and exercise. We all know when we are doing this and when we are not. Do this more often than not and you will get there. 2. Maintain your fills. Not too much, not too little. I think that too many bandsters have their bands too tight. Dont do that becasue it will cause you to look for what I call soft calories. These are things like Soups, mashed potatoes and ice cream which all go through the band easily and hamper your weightloss. Take care of your band by listening to your body. If you are inflamed or had a wicked PB, take it easy with full liquids for a while to allow yourself to get better. Dont try to eat when your stomach is tender just fluids. Listen to your body. 3. Protien before carbs. Remember that protien is what will keep you full in the long run. I always eat my protien before anything else. I also like to have a protien shake for Breakfast as it is an automated meal that keeps me full for a long time. I am not into high protien diets or anything, but I think that when one is trying to lose weight protien will help you keep you lean mass which shedding pounds. 4. Avoid diet drinks. This is one that I struggle with, but I know that when I am not drinking diet pepsi I am losing weight. There have been recent studies that suggested that diet drinks hamper weight loss because they illicit the same insulin repsonse as sugar which stops you from losing weight. Drink Water it is the best thing for you. I am trying to kick my diet pepsi habit for the millionth time, but I know I have to do it to reach my goals. 5. Get your head right. This is the toughest part because there is not a lapband for the brain yet. Stay focused on your goals and why you are doing this. Dont beat yourself up if you have a set back, we are all human and there will be bumps in the road. I had a take no prisoners attitude and I knew that I had to do this for myself and my loved ones. With this, dont let people knock you off your path. There will be people that will try to take you down becasue you took the easy way out (yah right). Screw em' and dont let them get to you. The best revenge is being looking and feeling great. That is all I can think of right now, hopefully it will put you off to a good start. Andrew

Thank you all for your kind words. I thank all of you who have been so supportive in my journey. You know who you are and I really appreciate you all. Andrew

LOL, once again Donna, thank you for you concern. Although I am pretty open in regards to my life, and am sure that my wife would not appreciate me going into details. Andrew

Let clear this up so. According to this Line 330 - Medical expenses for self, spouse or common-law partner, and your dependent children born in 1990 or later If you claim it on line 330, there is no max if it is for you, your spouse or dependant child born after 1990. Melady, me thinks that you doth be confused with this page for claiming line 331, which is the line that is used for claiming for: your or your spouse or common-law partner's child who was born in 1989 or earlier, or grandchild; or your or your spouse or common-law partner's parent, grandparent, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, niece, or nephew who was a resident of Canada at any time in the year. There is a $10,000 limit for claiming for line 331 according to the CRA, but no limit if you are claiming it on line 330. If you or your husband is claiming it for yourself use line 330. If all else fails, hire an accountant. They are not that expensive and often pay for themselves with additional deductions found. Andrew

Well it seems the cat is out of the bag. First off, I dont want the fact that I have been setting up this company to help people who are seeking Lapband else where to undo all good will that I have built up here. It does not change the fact that I have lost 140lbs, and am now close to considering myself at goal. It does not change the fact that I have helped people, and have been helped by people here. I came to a point in my life after losing all my weight when I realized that in many cases it was not my weight that was making me unhappy, but also my current career. I felt is was time for a change, and this opportunity presented itself so I took it. If someone can fault me for doing that, then so be it. Yes, I am working with Dr. Ortiz, but you dont know everything that lead up to that, so please dont think that my opinion is totally biased. You dont know the goings on with other clinics and what transpired with them time will tell which other clinics are on board. I agree that people should research clinics. I think that most people who have done thier research will find that Dr. Ortiz's clinic near the top. The reason why I have not made a post to the effect of what I am doing is that I would like to keep my posting here and my business seperate. I know it may be impossible, but I am going to try. Please note what Julie (JAC) is talking about is a conversation that I had with her regarding my gas pains vs, her gas pains. If it will help progress the conversation here I will ask Dr. Ortiz when I am at the clinic tomorrow. Here is what I know of the operations that I have been seen. Please note that this is only what I know of Dr. Ortiz and I cant speak for any other doctor. I have only been present for 3 Lapband surgeries, and I was only awake for 2 of them. The patient is somewhat reclined almost like that are laid back in a Lazy boy. When I asked Dr. Ortiz about gas, he mentioned that he does not use as much gas as some other doctors. I will report more on this tomorrow. Now, you have all read my comments earlier in this post, and they all hold true. I dont think it benefits anyone to pit bandsters against one another just because of where they were banded. I agree that people need to make their own decisions, and they need to research what is right for them. Finally, I think that it is safe to say that gas pain is individual for everyone, just like the lapband is individual for everyone. Some people are fast losers some people are slow losers. Some people get it bad, some people dont we are all individual. With that being said, here is my web site. Medical Edge Weight Loss Group . I figure since I was called out here I should at least be able to show you all what I have been working towards. Andrew

Thanks Leslie, Good to hear from you. I am sure that you will be able to make your goal of losing another 50lbs. Jane, Yes it does sound odd for many people as most are so loyal to their surgeons. I am still very loyal to Dr. Coburn, and I give him much of the credit for giving me my life back, among others (namely my wife, son, and myself for working hard to take it back.) I guess what I am saying is that based on what I know now, which is alot, I would have given Mexico much more thought, to the point that I would have likely gone. You see for me not being close to the clinic is sometimes feels like I may have gone to Mexico anyway. I have to pay for fills, I dont use the services of the clinic apart from the occasional problem and I have not been back there nor do I intend to go back. Based on what I have seen of Mexican clinics I am not to far off, yet an additional $10K+ out of my pocket. I have been to the clinic of Dr. Ortiz in Tijuana, and I have seen how things are done there and I must say that I am impressed at how things are run. Not unless you know something that I dont. No, what I meant is that after we have our second, yet to be concieved child, then my wife will be going for a lapband. Andrew

Wow, Green. I am really sorry to hear about all that you have been going through. Hopefully you are on the upswing though and things will get resloved for you soon. Take care of yourself. Andrew

Yes this is the case. Rose, I think that you should revisit this with your accountant. You can claim unlimited medical expenses as long as you have the documentation to back it up. Andrew

That sounds awesome. Andrew

So I know that there was a thread about compression shirt and many guys were giving options. I have tried numerous ones, Under Armor etc, and although they are okay at keeping the flapping defalted gut in place they are just okay. I ordered some of these The Concealer Body Compression T-shirt They blow everything else out of the Water. They are so tight and supportive I love them. My back feels awesome, I can run without clapping and they are not too hot to wear. They breath really well. They were shipped to me in Canada in less than 3 days. Andrew

This sounds like a really good idea. What sort of things are involved? Andrew

Thanks for the answer. I guess that would be too ood to be true, but alas the government always wins. Andrew

Yes the return will depend on your income baracket. What you may want to look into is seeing if you can use that medical expense for a future tax year when presumably you will be making more money than when you are a student. If that does not work, I know that you can transfer your student tuition amounts to future tax years. What I would reccommend is if you cant defer the medical expense to future years, then dont claim you tuition amount for 2007 and carry them forward to future years. I would also talk to someone about this as you have a rather unique tax situation. I am going to ask my accountant if I can carry forward my health expenses. I will let you know what he says. How are you doing otherwise Janice? Andrew