What is a Lap Band?

I had Adjustible Gastric Banding (Lap Band) surgery in September 2012. As some of you may know, I was not successful with the Lap Band (and thats a whole separate topic!). So anyway, this is a picture of what I currently have going on in my stomach, as of late July 2014. I will be getting the Lap Band removed as part of the VSG procedure on 9/3. When a patient converts to another bariatric procedure, it is called a revision procedure.

As you can see, I have a device installed around my stomach that creates a smaller pouch, or stoma, above my stomach. The band contains fillable "pillows" along the inside that contain saline solution. This fluid is adjusted through a port as needed to create the desired amount of restriction, thus slowing down the rate at which food is consumed, creating a full feeling faster, ultimately reducing the amount of food that is consumed, and thereby (optimally) the patient loses weight.