My doc says I have to pick... and he has no preference... so which band did you pick and why... Lapband orRealize?

Lap band for me. It has been around for longer and has gone through its growing pains. It has evolved and made the changes they felt improved it greatly. With the individual cells surrounding your stomach etc, where the Realize band is fairly new, the 360 degree, single cell balloon, has been shown to kink and collapse in small sections creating less restriction in some cases. I asked my Dr if she had any thoughts on either and her answer was basically the same.

Edited May 24, 201016 yr by joecs1

My doctor says I have no choice. He doesn't know which one he will use until he is in there. Not sure what his reasoning is.

My doctor told me to tell him if I had a preference. I did lots of research and decided that I would be happy either way. My doctor never pressured me at all. The morning of surgery, he asked me one last time if I had preference and I said no. After surgery I asked the nurse which one he chose. The nurse told me that unless a patient has a preference, he always goes with the Realize Band. So that is what I have. Just do your own research to make the right decision for you. While the Realize band has only been FDA approved since 2007 (I think). It was developed in the 80's and has been used through out the world since the 90's. They just decided to wait until 2003 to begin clinical trials in the US for FDA approval.

My doctor says I have no choice. He doesn't know which one he will use until he is in there. Not sure what his reasoning is.

I would find out his reasoning or find a new DR! It is our health and our lives. If he can give you good medical reasoning, ok! I wouldnt want to find out that he uses a specific band for any non medical reason like money or profit etc!