You ask great questions. I had the lap-band done 4 years ago by Dr. Ortiz in TJ Mexico. The following is my recovery experience: I had the lap band Laparoscoply put in on a Friday morning at 10am and by 2pm that day I was up and walking around. I spent one night in the hospital (Fri night) and I went back to my hotel room in TJ Sat night. Got up Sunday morning drove home to Phoenix (about 5 hours in the car). I was a little sore around my stomach area for about a week but was able to go back to work on Tuesday. The trend for this surgery is going to out-patient. Most patients typically only spend 1 night in the hospital for this procedure. I was 5' 8" and was 260 pound and lost 100 pounds over a year and half. I did run into problems with my lap-band in that I did not have place or doctor in my city who would do the band adjustments for me so I had to travel to TJ, Mexico every time I needed an adjustment and that is the key to success with this procedure. You must have your doctor or a place where you can get frequent adjustments to your lap-band. That is they will put fluid into or take some fluid out of your band. Because I was not able to get frequent adjustments I had problems with my band and ended up having it removed last Feb. I am currently considering having another band put back in this year but now have access to a fill center where I can have adjustments made as frequently as needed. As for pregnancy-those are questions you should ask your doctor and let me do a little checking this week and see if I can point in the right direction to research your questions about pregnancy. I do know when you get the lap-band they have specially formulated vitamins now (vitaband) for people who have a band which are very helpful. On Monday I am going to be publishing a two part blog detailing my lap-band experience-please check it out. Even with the problems I encountered I am a big advocate of this procedure. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out to me and I will be happy to relate my own experiences.
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Hi Amiep:
You ask great questions. I had the lap-band done 4 years ago by Dr. Ortiz in TJ Mexico. The following is my recovery experience: I had the lap band Laparoscoply put in on a Friday morning at 10am and by 2pm that day I was up and walking around. I spent one night in the hospital (Fri night) and I went back to my hotel room in TJ Sat night. Got up Sunday morning drove home to Phoenix (about 5 hours in the car). I was a little sore around my stomach area for about a week but was able to go back to work on Tuesday. The trend for this surgery is going to out-patient. Most patients typically only spend 1 night in the hospital for this procedure. I was 5' 8" and was 260 pound and lost 100 pounds over a year and half. I did run into problems with my lap-band in that I did not have place or doctor in my city who would do the band adjustments for me so I had to travel to TJ, Mexico every time I needed an adjustment and that is the key to success with this procedure. You must have your doctor or a place where you can get frequent adjustments to your lap-band. That is they will put fluid into or take some fluid out of your band. Because I was not able to get frequent adjustments I had problems with my band and ended up having it removed last Feb. I am currently considering having another band put back in this year but now have access to a fill center where I can have adjustments made as frequently as needed. As for pregnancy-those are questions you should ask your doctor and let me do a little checking this week and see if I can point in the right direction to research your questions about pregnancy. I do know when you get the lap-band they have specially formulated vitamins now (vitaband) for people who have a band which are very helpful. On Monday I am going to be publishing a two part blog detailing my lap-band experience-please check it out. Even with the problems I encountered I am a big advocate of this procedure. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out to me and I will be happy to relate my own experiences.
May 11, 2008 - 12:01pmThis Comment
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