how long do you wear band?

 after you get to the weight you desire, do you have the band removed?

No, you keep the band forever.  if you had it removed after you lost the weight, you would most likely regain the weight.

If your surgeon is Kevin Wasco of Midwest Bariatric Solutions of Neenah, Wis you probably won't be wearing it very long.  It will not be long and you will experience problems and I am sure that if you should  decide to return to him , he will tell you "my partner and I stand behind our work".  (Like you're a used car).  He will then deflect all questions from you, poison the minds of other health care professionals, make promise after promise of how he is going to help you, and in all reality, he will do NOTHING.  Unfortunately, my family and I took this "trip from hell" with Kevin Wasco for 4-5 years and watched it all unfold like a nightmare!  The band should be on as long as you want it on - provided it was placed without complication in the first place.  Research your surgeon - never, ever settle for anything less than the best.  I did, and my nightmare will continue for the rest of my life!!  I realize there are risks with EVERY surgery.  I realize people can make errors - even surgeons.  But it takes a "real doctor" to sit down with a patient, explain what has gone wrong, acknowledge the mistake, explain how you are going to fix it and then follow thru!!!  Especially when someone paid out of pocket for such a procedure to begun with.  Kevin Wasco failed to do any of those things.  Go to a link at University of Michigan Hospital website and read how they handled disgruntled patients.  Wasco could take a lesson from that.  Look at the percentage of patients that wanted nothing more than the physician to acknowledge there was a problem.  Look at how many $$ were saved each year in lawsuits and settlements.  The world is not full of patients that wish to engage in lawsuits to score a "jackpot".  The biggest "jackpot" in the world wouldn't change my life in any way AND I never filed a lawsuit (in spite of what Wasco told other patients about me).   You better check your surgeon and the hospital he/she is affiliated with.  This one detail may be the detail that you live or die by!!.. I know - as I stated previously, I was on that "trip from hell" with Wasco for 4-5 years!!! 

If you'd like to have success with the lapband (and it's a hard enough struggle even when you have a decent surgeon), choose your surgeon wisely. I still have residual pain and I had the band removed 5 years ago. I initially had surgery in 2003 and due to massive complications stemming mostly from surgeon error, had to have it removed in 2005.