I'm finally getting my band this Wednesday and I can't wait. I have been trying to get approval from my insurance company for 3 years and the day has finally arrived. I'm in Dallas, Texas. I'm actully still trying to decide between the Realize Band and the Lap Band AP. I read several hours worth of posts on here about which one to go with and have done tons of research and still am having a hard time making a decision. I'm going to talk to my doctor again tomorrow and plan to make the call then on which one I want to go with. I know lots of you on here have had great success with both bands but any last minute thoughts are always welcome.

I would love to know how to get the weight goal signature graphic I see everyone using to track their progress. So if anyone can point me to where I get that from I would appreciate it. Thanks!

Hi Christine,

I will be banded with Lapband on July 2. Looking forward to this new journey and wish you well on yours. Good luck to you!

I just added the ticker to my signature so let me try to explain:

Go to tickerfactory.com and create your ticker. Then you will need to copy it and then go to your lapband profile and paste it under edit profile, then edit signature. Paste right into the signature box. It may take a few tries, but I just successfully did it a few minutes ago. Good luck!

Edited June 17, 200818 yr by Barbiek

Congrats on your approval and upcoming sugery date!! Really don't know much about the difference in Realized Band and Lap Band AP, but I'm glad you brought it up so I can look into to it. I am also in Dallas, and I got approved last month, but I'm not having the surgery until August (waiting until after vacation and resolving family issues). I went to www.tickerfactory.com and created my a ticker to keep track my weight loss. Then just copy and paste the code after you create it into your signature. I'm sure there are many other sites as well.

Good luck with your sugery and happy losing!! Keep us posted on your progress.

I think I have it figured out, thanks everyone. I'll need to go back and find something more original though.

An explanation I recieved from one of the nurses from the hospital was that for years there was only one company making the Lapband. The realize band is just a competition for the lapband from another conpany. The only thing is that the lapband has been around longer and the realize band is new (not alot of records) so keep that in mind, if you want something with statistics.

Just be sure to continue your own research before making a decision.

Best wishes and congrats on your surgery!

Same here. The surgeon and initial consulting nurse told me that it was just a new kid on the block and there really wasn't much difference between the two. The Realize band would have been a hundred dollars more and since I'm self pay, I needed to save every penny I could on the procedure. For this reason, I chose to go with the original band. If price isn't a deciding factor for you then I can see how it would be a difficult decision.

The main thing Realize brings, according to my studies before banding, is competition to the market. I read on a website once that likened it to the difference between a Chevy and a Ford pickup truck. They both do the same job, both get you there. They just have small differences that don't really impact the outcome.

I'm no expert though, so I could be wrong. I did find this discussion here with some good information though. As well as this one.

Hope that helps and good luck!

Thanks for all of the helpful info everyone. I just got off the phone with my doctor and he answered all of my last minute questions and set my mind at ease about the Realize band so that is the one I'm going with unless he gets in me and finds I need a larger band. Wish me luck, I go under the kniff at 8:30 AM tomorrow!!!!

Soon to be a bander!

Hey Christine, hope all went well!