Can the Lap Band be removed?

I agree with Panhead and the others. I chose RNY because it's permanent, and becuase the likelihood of cheating is less when campared to the band.  If the band is what helped her to goal, then I would stay with it for the long haul. I'm sure the girl feels that she has a better handle on food more now, than before. Take away the tool and she's liable to fall back into the old routine. Yikes! Here's another scenario; say she pays to have the band removed, which is expensive, then gains the weight back. What is she to do after that? Have the Lap Band re-installed? Just my two cents of HOO HAA! Ronnie

Most reputable surgeons...(not those that die of cocaine abuse) are up front with you that the "removable" part in the LapBand story is in case it becomes medically necessary, if you're female and become pregnant, if you develop other GI issues etc.  It is certainly NOT recommended that it be used as a diet aid then discarded.  I'd go so far as to suggest that one maintaining this line of thinking will soon be looking for larger pants!

I have to agree with the majority on this one. What is here thinking behind wanting it out? Even pregency is not a reason to have it removed maybe unfilled slightly but not removed.

I'd say if it was not medically necessary then she should leave the band where it is right now.   The surgery to remove the band is not a "minor" surgery, it is a major surgery that requires you to be put under.   In addition, there are 2 women on the DS forum who are Band to DS revisions, and when they surgeon went in to remove the band, they found that it had fused to the liver, and required MAJOR surgery to remove it.  If she doesn't want the restriction, why doesn't she just get the band unfilled?  Scott