Lap Band in Jacksonville, IL

Has anyone ever had lap-band surgery performed by a Dr. Duane Tull in Jacksonville, Illinois? I went to one of his seminars last year and was thinking about checking out more on him....but I have never seen his name come up here. Thanks!! Barb

Hi Barb! I live in Springfield, also. I had surgery November 2006. When I was researching it, I looked around in J'ville because I had heard that they did Lap Band, but couldn't find any info. I had my surgery here by Dr. Hammer. I really love him and his staff. At the time I looked in J'ville, Dr. Hammer hadn't started performing the surgery yet. He has now done several. A lady at our monthly support group had her surgery done in Jacksonville (a while ago) and she said that her surgeon moved to Clinton. I don't know if it was the same guy, though! Good luck!

Thanks so much for answering!! I would love to have Dr. Hammer do my gastric bypass, it would be so much easier, but I am disabled from my morbid obesity and my insurances are Medicare and Medicaid and they will not accept that. It's funny because Dr. Hammer took out my appendix in 1983. You know, I have worked at the hospitals all my life as a medical transcriptionist with fantastic insurance and now I don't have it and they don't want anything to do with it. The lady at your monthly group is in the same practice as the lap-band surgeon I was looking into. I sure would like this to work out because in 2005 I was supposed to have gastric bypass in Chicago through Cori and after undergoing the sleep study, the diet they put me on, the respiratory study (which showed I had COPD), and IVC filter placement (which they insisted on) and a heart catheter, they notified 2 weeks before my surgery date and said they were moving to New York. Crazy, huh? It's taken a long time to get over that because of all the things I went through. Thanks again for answering!! Bless you!!

Dr. Tull did my lapband just under a year ago. He is an excellent surgeon. A very personable guy and will spend all the time you need with him. But I do have some issues with him and his view of the lapband but I do not want to post them here. You can read my profile for more information. Email me if you want to talk. I'm open to that. Mary Ellen

Hi Barb! I had the lap-band done by Dr. Tull almost 2 years ago. I actually had it done in Jacksonville and then followed him to Clinton when he moved there. He is now with the Baratric Center there in Clinton. I think he is a great doctor and he is very upfront and will tell you how it is. I like him because he has had the band himself and has gone through the same things that we are going through. I cant say one bad thing about him. My friend is actually going to start seeing him in May. I HIGHLY recommend him. If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me.