Lap Bands – What You Need To Know
December 1, 2008 by Terry
Filed under Weight Loss Surgery
If you are wondering how lap band surgery works, then you are probably not alone. It is a procedure that has gained in popularity over recent years and the lap band success ratio is quite high. If you are significantly overweight, then this may be just the procedure that you are looking for. But, as with all surgical procedures, knowledge is the only way to be informed of any complications or how the procedure itself will go.
Lap Band surgery was approved by the Federal Drug Administration in June 2001. The Lap Band system employs a technique of constricting the stomach at a certain place. The stomach pouch will hold roughly two to four ounces of food at a time. This gives the person the feeling of being full after a few bites. You will eat less, yet still have the feeling of being full.
During the procedure, lap bands patients are given general anesthesia. The next step is for the bariatric surgeon to make five two to three inch incisions in the abdomen. These small incisions allow the doctor to work with a scope rather than being forced to make a larger incision. The smaller incisions mean that there is less recovery time and the healing process is much faster than with past, invasive, weight loss surgeries.
After the lap band procedure is finished you will be wheeled into a recovery room. The expected hospital stay is only two to three days depending on how well you recover. After you have awakened from the anesthesia and are coherent there will be a visit from a nutritionist. You must follow all of his or her rules. There will be many changes in your dietary lifestyle that are important in order for you to stay healthy and lose weight.
You cannot expect your lifestyle to ever be the same again. You have to make fundamental changes in order to maintain weight loss and keep yourself healthy. This means being mindful of what you eat and how often you eat. There will be some foods that you previously loved that will be off limits to you. You have to concentrate on the quality of the food you eat, as well as the quantity. So throw away those empty calories and put more protein into your diet. It also means that caffeine is a definite thing you must avoid.
Hopefully, with dietary changes and exercise, you will be one of the Lap Band patients to enjoy tremendous success. No longer will you be ashamed of being overweight. The Lap Band surgery will truly change your life if you follow the regime of your doctor and nutritionist.
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