I'm considering this surgery, but I definitely don't know enough about it. Can anyone give me an quick explanation in layman's terms? I'm very confused by all this medical mumbo jumbo!

Let's see what I can do to help. This is not comprehensive!

OK. Well, the lap-band is just one of the weight loss surgery options out there. It is not a quick fix, but a tool that can help you lose weight. The lap-band is a band placed laproscopically around the top of your stomach (the stoma). Since the surgery is a laproscopic surgery, there are only a few small incisions made, instead of one large incision.

The lap-band is placed around the stoma to make you feel full much more quickly. The band is designed to make the opening between the upper and lower stomach smaller, so it slows things down.

Now, as you lose weight you may need adjustments made to your band. This happens by accessing the port attached to the band. The port is placed anywhere your doctor chooses to place it; I'm getting banded tomorrow and my doctor chooses to place it near the belly button. The port can be filled by injecting saline solution into it. It can also be unfilled for less restriction; it's really trial and error to get the kind of restriction you want.

Because the opening in the stomach is smaller, there are a couple things to remember. 1) you must chew your food very well and there may be some foods you won't be able to tolerate anymore. 2) you must be willing to give up carbonation and/or beer. Your doctor may tell you you can try them in 6 months or a year, or maybe even never, but listen to your doctor and your body. 3) Because this is only a tool, you still have to make good food choices and be willing to exercise. Without exercise, it's rare to lose all of your excess weight.

Get in touch with a local bariatric surgeon's office. They may have informational meetings to attend and then you can get the ball rolling with finding a surgeon. They will present more than the lap-band. They'll also present information on gastric bypass (RNY) and the gastric sleeve. Both of these are viable options, so you need to make the right decision for you. Then, it's pretty much up to your insurance from here. They may require supervised weight loss or other things from you in order to give approval. If you're self-pay, the process will be faster.

This is a basic overview of the lap-band. Let me know if you have more questions!

Not only are these fourms a good tool, but pick up a book or 2 pertaining to the subject. If you think you have done some research, I suggest going back and doing some more. I am 3 months into my 6 month insurance diet and exercise program and I am still learning a ton of stuff.

In Lap Band surgery, a device (lap band or realize band) is placed (usually laparoscopically, hence the name "lap" band) down a few inches from the top of your stomach, creating a pouch and effectively dividing your stomach into two parts, the larger lower part, and the much smaller upper part. ONCE YOU ARE RESTRICTED! food will pass slowly through the upper part into the lower part (that hole or opening is the stoma, and it is made smaller or larger by fills and "unfills" in your band..)

Because of the way we are structured, food sitting in that pouch at the top of the stomach triggers our bodies (hormonally etc) to think OK I"M FULL NOW YAY and we remain satiatied for up to 5-6 hours.

If you don't have enough restriction, you can eat too much, still be hungry, and struggle to lose. If you are TOO restricted, food comes back up and people often gain because things like milkshakes and potato chips go down more easily than healthy stuff. It is important to get the right amount of fill, and that amount can change as you lose weight etc, so follow up care is as important as getting the band initially.

That's it in a nutshell. The device can be removed and over 90% of the time (it's a high number but I don't remember it exactly) stomachs return to normal. There can be band slipping and erosion but that's rare and can be minimalized by following your surgeons rules on eating post op.

People who are banded often have to chew food much better and watch what they eat (no wolfing anything down) because of that restriction and small "stoma", but many people can AND DO eat as they used to, just in drastically smaller quantities.

Head or emotional hunger, if it's something you struggle with, will still be there and will need to be dealt with. The band, however, will take care of physiological hunger

It is a slow process and often doesn't give the quick drastic weight loss that other forms of lap band surgery provide.

go to the official LapBand website or the Realize band website and attend one of the free seminars. Talking to the people really helped me make my decision.