Tomorrow morning I'm attending my surgeon's seminar to speak to potential patients and answer any questions they may have. Although I've done this several times, I would like some input from newbies (and old timers too). What did you not ask that you wish you had? What do you wish you had known before your surgery? Any and all suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

Hi - My surgery is Sept 8th and I'm full of emotions right now. I have researched the lapband for 8 years and thought I new everything until just a couple days ago. Then I had all kinds of questions pop up. What I would have liked to learn in my seminar which was in February. Thanks so much.

Is there any damage done to the stomach from the band.

How does band erosion happen and is there anything you can do to prevent it.

Can your body just reject the band and if so are there any symptoms and does that happen immediately.

Hi - My surgery is Sept 8th and I'm full of emotions right now. I have researched the lapband for 8 years and thought I new everything until just a couple days ago. Then I had all kinds of questions pop up. What I would have liked to learn in my seminar which was in February. Thanks so much.

Is there any damage done to the stomach from the band.

How does band erosion happen and is there anything you can do to prevent it.

Can your body just reject the band and if so are there any symptoms and does that happen immediately.

Good questions and I will practice on you by answering them!

• The band is made out of bio-compatible materials and is designed to stay in the body without causing damage.
  
• The 3 most common causes are persistent overeating, persistent vomiting and carbonation. You can prevent it by avoiding those.
• It's not like organ transplant. The band is made of silicone so it is highly unlikely that the body would reject it.

Good luck with your surgery next week.

Good questions and I will practice on you by answering them!

• The band is made out of bio-compatible materials and is designed to stay in the body without causing damage.
  
• The 3 most common causes are persistent overeating, persistent vomiting and carbonation. You can prevent it by avoiding those.
• It's not like organ transplant. The band is made of silicone so it is highly unlikely that the body would reject it.

Good luck with your surgery next week.

Boy, listen to you! All professional and stuff.

Cindy,

I am sure you will do great! I ve told you before and will say it again. You are one of my biggest motivators on this site. I do have a question for you though. Dont know if it is something for your seminar though. When you have gotten fills and gotten to your "sweet spot" as I hear it called on here, are you done with getting fills then or does somehow the Fluid leak out or what??

Cindy,

I am sure you will do great! I ve told you before and will say it again. You are one of my biggest motivators on this site. I do have a question for you though. Dont know if it is something for your seminar though. When you have gotten fills and gotten to your "sweet spot" as I hear it called on here, are you done with getting fills then or does somehow the Fluid leak out or what??

No, the fluid doesn't leak out. (If it does, that's a problem!) However, as you lose weight, you lose fat around your band site which loosens it up more, thus causing you to need another fill. My last fill was almost 5 months ago. I've never gone that long. I've lost about 15 pounds since then and can tell that my restriction has changed a little. I'm still in the green zone, but I'm sure that if (make that when) I lose another 10-15 I'll probably need another fill.

This really isn't a question that I wish I had asked... but it just seems to me that two big misconceptions are:

1. How long before you'll hit your "sweet spot" and fill the right amount of restriction? This varies so greatly, but I think many bandsters just don't realize that it can take months of time and numerous fills before you're there. It seems like everyone starts to get impatient about 3-5 months in. I think it took me about 9 months before I felt like I was where I needed to be.
2. How hard will you have to work? Pretty darned hard! A lot of folks are just hoping that this surgery will magically make the weight come off. And I actually think it does happen that way for a few people. But most of us have had to really put in an effort to follow the surgeon's guidelines, exercise and drink lots of water! The harder you work - the more successful you will be!!

I hope I'm not coming across as judgemental. I just think these are two areas that people considering surgery need to be fully aware of.

Tomorrow morning I'm attending my surgeon's seminar to speak to potential patients and answer any questions they may have. Although I've done this several times, I would like some input from newbies (and old timers too). What did you not ask that you wish you had? What do you wish you had known before your surgery? Any and all suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

You do good work Cindy, I wonder if you could explain the success rate for unaffiliated WLS centers and the American

College of surgeons Centers of

Excellence? Another question I have

Is, what is the difference between plication and "modified plication" where a portion of the stomach is folded over the band

and stitched in place to prevent slippage, and how successful is it? I go in Monday and would really like to know.

This really isn't a question that I wish I had asked... but it just seems to me that two big misconceptions are:

1. How long before you'll hit your "sweet spot" and fill the right amount of restriction? This varies so greatly, but I think many bandsters just don't realize that it can take months of time and numerous fills before you're there. It seems like everyone starts to get impatient about 3-5 months in. I think it took me about 9 months before I felt like I was where I needed to be.
2. How hard will you have to work? Pretty darned hard! A lot of folks are just hoping that this surgery will magically make the weight come off. And I actually think it does happen that way for a few people. But most of us have had to really put in an effort to follow the surgeon's guidelines, exercise and drink lots of water! The harder you work - the more successful you will be!!

I hope I'm not coming across as judgemental. I just think these are two areas that people considering surgery need to be fully aware of.

I couldn't agree more. It seems that a lot of people think that lapband is a magic bullet. We know it's not. It requires a whole lot of hard work, dedication and patience.

You do good work Cindy, I wonder if you could explain the success rate for unaffiliated WLS centers and the American

College of surgeons Centers of

Excellence? Another question I have

Is, what is the difference between plication and "modified plication" where a portion of the stomach is folded over the band

and stitched in place to prevent slippage, and how successful is it? I go in Monday and would really like to know.

Thanks. Corrigan. I have no idea about success rates for Centers of Excellence vs unaffiliated centers. I can tell you, though, my surgeon and his partner have been doing Lapband since 2002 and have done over 2700 surgeries between them. They were the first WLS Center in Michigan dedicated exclusively to Lapband. They received their ASBS designation in 2006. My doctor is a proctor for Allergan and trains other surgeons across the country to do the procedure. Their success rate is high. I'm so glad that I chose him and, if I had to do it over I would never dream of going to anyone else.

As for plication...I really don't have a clue. It wasn't something that they did when I had my surgery and I've never researched it.

Good luck Monday. Hope it all goes well for you.

Over time some of the fluid does go away, through an osmosis type thing. I had 5.3cc in my band, then I went in almost a year later for a fill and he could only get out 4.6cc. I asked if he thought I had a leak. He said "no, it's been a year. I got a fill that brought me back up to 5.2cc. I went back in a few months later (last week). I had this nagging fear that I did have a leak. He removed the fluid and I still had exactly 5.2cc. No Leak. I got a small fill and am now at 5.7cc. I figure that will last me about a year and I would bet in that amount of time some of the fluid will be gone again through osmosis, not a leak.

One of the big misconceptions I'v seen quite a bit is the belief that only Gastric bypass patients have hairloss.

A good example of this is when I went with a friend to a support group meeting as part of her pre-op research. There were about 7-8 of us that had already been banded and quite a few people who were researching pre-op. One of the pre-op people asked about hairloss. The director who was running the group, and should know all the details about the band, said, "that only happens to by-pass people, not banded people." One by one, all of us who had already been banded said, "I had hairloss." Many of us had tried everything to prevent it and it still happened.

One of the big misconceptions I'v seen quite a bit is the belief that only Gastric bypass patients have hairloss.

A good example of this is when I went with a friend to a support group meeting as part of her pre-op research. There were about 7-8 of us that had already been banded and quite a few people who were researching pre-op. One of the pre-op people asked about hairloss. The director who was running the group, and should know all the details about the band, said, "that only happens to by-pass people, not banded people." One by one, all of us who had already been banded said, "I had hairloss." Many of us had tried everything to prevent it and it still happened.

WOW, that is so not true! hair loss has nothing to do with which surgery you have. It's caused by rapid weight loss and not getting enough Protein. About 9 months out my hair, I was losing tons of hair. It lasted for several months but eventually grew back.

So, how did the seminar go? Did they ask you many questions? I think it would be really hard to speak about some things because the band is so different with each of us.

So, how did the seminar go? Did they ask you many questions? I think it would be really hard to speak about some things because the band is so different with each of us.

It went fine. It was a very small group. The doctor spoke first..then the nurse. By the time it was my turn they had pretty much asked their questions already...only had a couple for me.