In all my research and reading about complications and such, it never occurred to me until today if the band is supposed to last for forever. I understand things can happen requiring removal of it but under normal circumstances, is the band designed to last for forever if you have no complications? What did your surgeon tell you?

Yes it is designed to last forever but as it is still relatively new they do not know for sure how long it will last. It is possible that at some stage in the future it may need to be replaced because the "balloon" fails or some other part wears out. The good news is that if that happens they can replace it or if research has found a newer better type of WLS then there will be the option to convert.