Hey everybody. My husband, probably about 80 pounds overweight and in his late 50s, is starting to consider the lap band surgery. He needs to get information -- are there any sites that provide information without supporting a specific doctor? Also, he has a hiatal hernia, and I wonder if this would be a problem. He really needs to do something as his blood sugars are creeping up and his dad was diabetic. Thanks in advance for any links, experiences, etc. that I can pass on to him.

Hiatal hernia probably won't be a problem -- I know my surgeon says he will fix those while doing the band surgery.

Honestly, most band info I found on sites sponsored by doctors was straightforward and accurate with the experience I'm having so far. The bad info I found was mostly on sites sponsored by competitors -- surgeons who do DS or RNY surgeries who want the Band to look bad in comparison.

You do need to be careful just reading on sites like this. If you read a forum like "Lap Band Complications", it will seem at first like everyone banded is having horrible complications -- when in reality it's a small percentage and they are getting support in that forum.

There are risks with any surgery, but imho the Band is a great tool and I'm glad I went through with it.