FYI: Currently there are two “bands” approved in the United States. The Lap Band, and the Realize Band (formerly known as the Swedish Adjustable Gastric Band). There is not too much difference between the Swedish Adjustable Gastric Band (SAGB) and the (regular) Lap band. The way I simplify it for most people is I tell them one is a Honda and the other is a Toyota.

Here is brief band history of the two.

In 1985, the Swedish Adjustable Gastric Band (SAGB) was released within Scandinavian countries, but it was not done laparoscopic. In 1992, the SAGB was tested to be implemented using laparoscopic techniques in Switzerland, Italy and Germany. In 1993, The BioEnterics company released the LAP-BAND (Adjustable Gastric Banding System), and was quickly FDA approved. In 1994 the SAGB was done through-out Europe.

Around 2004, Johnson and Johnson began working in conjunction with the SAGB parent company. In 2007, the FDA finally approved of the SAGB – which by then was renamed by J & J to the Realize Band. My research showed there were fewer issues with the SAGB then with the Lap-Band (i.e. port inversion, inflammation, etc).

Post from: Blisstree

Casola’s Final Thoughts On Banding Surgery

Click here to read Part 1.

The question was: “who should do it”? After interviewing approximately 15 strangers (they were basically friends of friends), and more on-line checking, I decided to go with Advance Laparoscopic Surgeons, located in Florham Park, New Jersey. In all my research (on line, and word of mouth) Dr. Abkin’s (and his partner Dr. Bertha’s) names were always regarded very highly in the field. On October 24, 2007, I went to their seminar at the Parsippany Tara Hotel. What I really liked about Dr. Abkin was his straight-forward honestly. He listened to what I had to say, and respected the surgery I wanted. He never talked me, or any other participant, into one procedure or the other.

Come mid-November I had “all my ducks in a row”, and was ready to have the operation. I decided to wait until after the “New Year” – because I thought I would be in too much pain to enjoy the holidays. If I knew then, what I know now – I would have had the operation in November.

I had the Realize band operation on January 29, 2008. I arrived at the hospital at 7:00 AM and left 2:00 PM. The operation itself took approximately 45 minutes. The only discomfort I experienced was a feeling that I could only equate to when someone does a lot of sit-ups, and a inner chest pain (which I later realized was caused by the intubation). No other pain.

The next day I still had the “sit-up discomfort”, and chest irritation, but felt relatively normal. By the 2nd day after the operation I was back to normal. If I wanted to I could have gone back to work, but I decided to stay home because I had vacation time coming to me. Since the operation, I realized I haven’t had any hunger pangs that I used to experience before the Realize band.

It gets to the point that I have to “force” myself to eat, because I don’t feel hungry. I also realized (no pun intended) any “hunger” I did feel, would quickly disappeared when I drank something. It was a wonderful feeling, and is an experience I never thought was possible. Plus, I would have never expected 4-6 ounces of “protein”, and some vegetables would fill me, and keep me satisfied for hours. In addition, my General Practitioner Doctor has taken me off of one of my meds. She stated while there is no guarantee, if all goes well I will be weaned off of most (if not all) of my meds.

My weight loss has been called remarkable. On my two week review I lost 17 pounds. On my one month review I lost an additional 30 pounds, for a total of 47 pounds. On my three month review I lost an additional 28 pounds, for a grand total of 75 pounds.

When the Nurse took all my vitals, he didn’t seem too impressed by the lost until he realized I had a band operation, and not a bypass. He asked me, “Are you eating enough?” I laughed and reassured him that I was.

Then I saw the Nurse Practitioner she was very pleased at my results. She said my weight loss was more common with Bypass patients. She asked “What have you been doing do loose all this weight”. I proudly said “Not much. Just eating and some exercise”. Then I went on to explain I was still following the Let’s Do Lunch philosophy of eating correctly, and that I am doing exercising. She asked if I would mind speaking at some of the seminars. Told her I would be honored.

Since the operation, I consider myself an “unofficial” walking testimonial commercial for the Realize Gastric Banding procedure. I tell everyone about me, and I highly recommend this operation to anyone who asks about Bariatric Weight Loss surgery. In fact, one friend got the operation because she saw how happy I was, and the success I am having. Another friend is still “on the fence” about it, but for him, it’s more financial than anything else.

[Hope's Note] Bottom line…do your research. Ask lots of questions. Find out what would be the best option for you, if and when you need any type of similar surgery. What works for one person may not necessarily work for you. However, the little bit of research I’ve done has convinced me that the Realize Band system may be a better option than the Lap Band.

Post from: Blisstree

Thomas Casola Personal Banding Story – Part 2

I was born and breed in Brooklyn NY. And like most Italians, I had a “nickname” growing up. Since there were two Tommy’s on my block (and in my family), I was tagged as either “fat Tommy” or “fatty-boy“. So it only goes to show you I have always been overweight. I fought the “battle of bulge” my entire life. Many times I’ve won the battle, but in the end I eventually lost the war.

About 5 years ago I started to think about weight loss surgery. In the past (we’re talking late 70’s-early 80’s), I knew people who had their “stomach stapled”, and some had disastrous (almost fatal) results. I knew that was definitely out. So I needed to do my homework before I choose anything. It took almost another two years before I really started to research all the different options out there.

In the meantime, I did an eating plan called Let’s Do Lunch. It was a wonderful plan, and I lost about 70 pounds. However, even with that success, last summer my doctor said that I really should think about doing something surgical. She stated I am young enough and healthy enough to do it NOW, but who knows what a year or two may bring. So that’s when I decided to seriously consider weight loss surgery.

After all the research, I decided that the lap-band was the best choice for me. While it is true people see faster result when having a Gastric Bypass however research shows that over a 3 – 5 year period, Bypass and Banding folks tend to loose the same amount of weight.

Here are the reasons I decided to do a Band instead of Gastric Bypass.

(1) I did about 5 years of research in regards to which operation I wanted. I noticed that more favorable medical articles concerning the band

(2) I’m a big sissy when it comes to pain. The folks who I knew who had the gastric bypass done – most had pain for about a week. The folks who I know who had the band done was back to work in a few days – and were (relatively) pain-free.

(3) I always had a dreaded fear that something may go wrong with the procedure. In the research that I did, I know the band is the easiest “reversible” procedure. Also, if need be – the band could be removed. It’s very difficult to reverse the gastric bypass.

(4) The benefits of the band outweighed those compared to other bariatric surgeries (i.e. quick recovery, lower mortality, fully reversible, no stomach cutting/stapling, no mal-absorption issues, etc.). This made banding more desirable.

(5) In all my research, I found that patients who had the Swedish Adjustable Gastric Band had better results then those who had the mid-band (not done in the United States) or lap-band procedure. When I went for my consultation, I asked the Doctor why the Swedish Adjustable Gastric Band (SAGB) was not done in the Unites States. He was astonished I even knew about this. Then I was even more FLABBERGASTED to learn it WAS RECENTLY approved in the United States. The best news was this Doctor was one the rare Doctors in NJ who was approved to do this procedure. That’s all I needed to hear.

(6) The biggest reason I decided to go with the lap-band was personal interaction. I know about 10 people who had the gastric bypass done. Of those 10 people, 7 look great and have kept off the weight. It was the other 3 that may be rethink gastric bypass. One person (a best friend) has the operation done 5 – 6 years ago. While she looks great, she is constantly dumping (puking) since the operation. There was scar tissue, and other complications, and she was in and out of the hospital almost weekly. It’s to the point now that she is now very sick, and the doctors don’t know how to fix her. Her sister had the operation done, and you could never tell. It doesn’t look as if she lost a pound. And the final person I know (knew) died 3 weeks after the operation. So I knew this wasn’t the way to go for me.

Part 2 to follow…

Post from: Blisstree

Guest Thomas Casola Shares Personal Gastric Banding Story – Part 1