Just got banded

I had my band surgery Friday the 25th.  At my last appointment I asked if I had a choice what band I had, they said the dr. only uses one kind of band and that is the original one.  So therefore I didn't compare the two because I didn't think I had a choice.  When the dr. came in before surgery he asked me which band I wanted, I didn't know what to say!!!  I asked him the difference and he said there really isn't much difference but on the realize the port is smaller, so I decided to go with that one.
Did any of you get to choose?  If so, what made you choose the realize band?

Congrats on being banded!! I am see a pre op, but have chosen the Realize band also. My surgeon suggested it too. He does both, but he said he is doing more of the Realize band now, b/c say it should have less "stuck" episodes, the port is lower, and the port is clamped into your muscle, rather than sutured. So he advised it, but not be an overwhelming manor..so that is what I am going with. I am hoping to be banded in Aug/Sept. Good luck!!!


Amy

Hi, I am getting the Realize Band tomorrow morning (July 29, 2008).  I'll be the surgeon's first Realize Band patient.  I'm pretty pumped about it.   

At my pre-op appointment I was given the choice and even shown both bands in person what they looked like and all that jazz, I didn't know anything about either one of them I mean I did see the one alot but when I saw the realize band I was drawn to it becasue of the lower port and the wider band, and the band does not have hard plastic around it. So I chose it the hour before surgery they asked me and it came out give me the realize band I think consiously I knew that was the one I wanted.  My doctor told me that they both do exactly the same thing i asked him then why are you giving me a choice and he said because there is one. And so i asked him which one he liked placing and he told me that he places both kinds about evenly, even one on his daughter and the other on his son. SO I wasn't getting a preference out of him for nothing!!!!!

HOWEVER when I went back for my post op appointment I was seen by the gentleman that actually does the fills and he said he can find the realize bands on the Fluro faster than the other ones and gave me thumbls up for chosing it, but then caught himself and said well they both are good, I guess they are not suppose to support one more than the other maybe?????

Given what Sandy R. the Nurse  "banded" expert who seems to provide a lot of good information on the Lapband Forum, I sure wouldn't be interested in getting a lot of fills with a fluoro due to excess exposure to radiation!  Once a year is good enough. . . kind of like x-rays at the dentist . . . once a year or every two years is good enough!  In my opinion any way.

I'm being banded with a Realize Band on Monday morning at Stanford Hospital because it has a low profile.

Marti in San Jose