Do you, or someone you know, have a Lap Band? If so, there are a few things to know about on-going management needs for Lap Bands. I personally stopped doing Lap Bands 8-10 years ago but there are quite a few folks who had them back in the day. If you did have a Lap Band you are probably in one of two categories: either you did well with the band, lost a fair amount of weight and have kept it off. If that is you, Congratulations! Not many patients were successful with the band but if you were there are still some things to know and do.
If your band was placed over 5 years ago it still needs to be checked once a year or so. “Checking it” involves getting a simple X-ray. This will allow us to see if any (very rare) but potentially serious side effects have developed from your band. These are problems that are relatively easy to treat if found early but can be a much bigger problem if diagnosed later on. I don’t want to alarm anyone, these problems are very rare and again all you need is an X-ray every 12-18 months to check for them.
Now, the other group is folks who had the band and either never really lost the weight they were looking to lose or lost and regained. If this is you (or someone you know) don’t beat yourself up! Honestly, the band did not work for most patients… which is exactly why we stopped doing it!! If this is the situation you are in, what you need to do is simple, come in and see us! The most important thing however is getting out of the ‘shame cycle’ that many patients are in. YOU didn’t fail, the band did! For most patients in this situation there are very good options. So, please give us a call, come on in and we can review your situation in detail.
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