Even though lap-band surgery is the least invasive of all weight loss procedures, it still requires of up to four weeks for full recovery. While patients go back to work 4-7 days after surgery, it takes some time to adjust back to a regular diet and to be able to perform more strenuous activities. Because your post-lap-band recovery will involve different stages, we figured it would be helpful to give you some more detailed insight into what it will look like and how it will feel.

LAP-BAND procedure

The lap-band procedure takes about 45-60 minutes and involves placing the lap-band device around the stomach and connecting it to the port that is attached to your abdominal muscle. Because the surgery is performed laparoscopically, in order to place the band, the bariatric surgeon makes a total of five small incisions in the abdomen. The first four are an inch long and the fifth is about two inches. The longest incision is then used to insert the lap-band and the port. Once the lap-band is inside, the surgeon wraps it around the upper part of the stomach and secures it in place with stitches. After the lap-band placement, the bariatric surgeon attaches the port to the abdominal muscle and closes the incision.

The nature of how the Lap Band procedure is performed dictates the recovery process. This involves healing of the incisions, the port site, and the stomach.

RECOVERY IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE LAP-BAND PROCEDURE

Following the surgery, the nursing staff will help you recover from anesthesia and get you moving so you can go home as soon as you feel well enough. Within about an hour after the procedure you will be able to get up and walk around. The nurse will encourage you to walk as much as possible to relieve the post-surgical gas pressure and to help you feel more energized. In general, most of our lap-band patients are on their way home within three hours of the weight loss procedure.

While feeling slightly sore on the right side (where the port is placed), most of the discomfort patients experience comes from the gas introduced into your abdomen during the surgery. Feeling the gas pressure after any abdominal surgery is normal, and will subside with time. Most patients note progressive improvement within the next few days. In order to relieve the pressure, we recommend patients to stay mildly active and walk a lot to help the gas dissipate. We also advise patients to take Gassex® strips to relieve some pressure coming from the gas inside your digestive tract.

The discomfort caused by gas can sometimes cause a shoulder pain, but don’t be alarmed. The feeling will go away as the gas leaves your body. Most symptoms of gas pain go away in about five days after the procedure.

WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY RECOVERY – THE INCISIONS

Incisions made during the surgery will fully heal in about four weeks time provided you don’t disturb the stitches. The four smaller incisions will fully close the fastest, in about two to three weeks, while the one on the port side will take about four weeks. During the first week you should not take baths, only showers and pat the stitches dry after washing. The incisions are closed with stitches and surgical glue, so you don’t have to specially care for them once you’re home. Just leave them be and let your body do the work. Outside of the mentioned discomfort, a large majority patients are not in pain following the surgery. Nevertheless, in order to minimize any soreness, the bariatric surgeon does prescribe a mild pain killer for the first one to two days after the procedure. Outside of that, you will not have to take any other medication.

You will be able to return to work as soon as four to seven days following the surgery – the length of your home stay will depend on the nature of your work.. If your work is mostly sedentary and doesn’t involve heavy lifting, you can be back in only four days. For more physically demanding tasks and lifting above 15lbs, we advise our patients to wait until the fourth week after surgery to engage in these activities. The lap-band clinic staff can provide patients with documentation for their employer specifying that the patient is required to do light duty until they have healed from surgery.

LAP-BAND RECOVERY DIET

Following the lap-band surgery you will also have dietary restrictions to ease your stomach into working with the band. For three weeks following the surgery, you will slowly progress your diet from liquid toward regular solid meals. The introduction of different food textures at different stages of your post-operative diet is aimed at assisting in your stomach’s healing process (stitching around the band) and helping you to get used to having the band.

The general dietary outline involves:

• clear liquid fluids – 1-2 days after surgery
  
• full liquids – 3-7 days after surgery
  
• pureed foods – 2nd week after surgery
  
• soft foods - 3rd week after surgery
  
• solid foods – 4th week after surgery and beyond
  

Prior to the surgery you will be introduced to the details of what you can and should notin the first three-four weeks by a bariatric dietitian in your weight loss program. You will most likely receive a special dietary packet listing foods and recommendations concerning your diet. If the bariatric program has a full time bariatric dietitian on staff, so at any time during your recovery you can call us with any questions. Because dietary restrictions can make your eating monotonous we also advise you searching for lap-bander friendly recipes. By just Googling the topic or searching on Pinterest, you will find many tasty options that you can prepare at home.