I'm not sure if I'm in the right place or not but my question is about having abdominal surgery after lap-band. My lap-band surgery was on June 11, 2007. I've only had three fills since then. I'm scheduled for a hysterectomy and double hernia repair (umbilical and ventral) on March 31. My general surgeon will do the hernia repair followed by my GYN doing the hysterectomy. To make matters worse, my lap-band doc just moved out of state. I have to find another doc to continue my followup for my band. As far as fills, should I wait a while before I get another fill? I'm just a little nervous about having these surgeries in the middle of my fills. Any advice?

Any time you plan to have an abdominal surgery of any kind you need to get your band COMPLETELY EMPTIED!! The possibility of having food get stuck or having a PB or vomiting episode is not a risk you want to take with stitches in your body......the discomfort alone is bad enough but the risk of ripping stiches is even worse. You can start refilling just a few weeks after your surgery when your stitches (both inside and out remember) are sufficiently healed. You can't just go back and 'fill 'er up'....you'll need to work up gradually again but probably not as slowly as you did the first time.

Hope your surgery goes well!