Who knew they wanted the Realize Band before they saw the surgeon?

  I am waiting for my first appointment with my surgeon.  I like all I read about the Realize Band, but was just wondering, who had already decided this, or who went on the advice of their surgeon?  Did anyone's surgeon think they should do something else?

After researching the two different bands, I knew I wanted the Realize band. It made a big difference having the Realize band developed by Johnson & Johnson.

Also, my surgeon asked me which band I wanted. He said it was my choice and was fine with my decision!

Good luck with your journey!!!

When I started "interviewing" surgeons, I knew I wanted gastric banding rather than R&Y or the Sleeve.

I liked that it was reversible if necessary, and that I wouldn't have to worry as much about mal-absorption, deficiencies, etc.

When I finally found a surgeon I was comfortable enough with.... I discovered that he offered both the lap-band and the realize band. During the consultation, he told me he felt that I was the perfect candidate for gastric banding because I don't have a ton of weight to lose (I'm short, lol)... and explained to me that he was willing to place the lap-band OR the Realize band. This was refreshing, as I noticed that a lot of the other surgeons I'd talked to were really pushy with one band or the other.

He said he didn't really care one way or the other because they're both great.... but that if I was interested, the Realize band has a great support website to help me stay on track.

Ultimately though, he left it up to me.

Obviously I chose the realize band.... because I really liked the support website idea.... and because I felt that the port was a better choice for me personally.

I could not be happier with my decision... I am barely two weeks out of surgery, and I've managed to lose nearly 1lb. per day. :)

my surgeon does both lap and realize as well as bypass surgery. He said that he used to do more lapband but has been leaning more toward realize because there seems to be less complications,blockage, stuck episodes, etc

I went to the surgeon knowing that I wanted to be banded (and not 'by-passed' or 'sleeved').

I had been to a Support Group meeting with a Nurse Practitioner who had a preference of the Realize Band over the Lap.

I was lucky that my doctor has a nice agreement worked out for self-pay patients with Realize Bands and a local Out-Patient Surgery Center.

It was a win-win for me -- the band I wanted at a price I could afford.

My fiancee had the RNY back in 2003 and for me that was too drastic a surgery to undergo...I have known for almost a year now that I wanted to be banded (and it took me that long to get all of the medical procedures, clearances and approvals done).  I didn't shop around for a surgeon either...I was lucky enough to have my fiancee's experience with WLS and met with the surgeon that did his.  After reading up on the procedure and the surgeon's following...I was sold...this was definitely the right choice for me....I have just been approved on 6/16/09 and my banding date is 7/15/09....it is fast approaching and I am sooooo excited.....

That's awesome!  I'm also getting banded in July, but the 9th, and I also decided on the Realize band.  Best of luck to you, I'll keep watching for your updates!

Thanks guys!  I really like what I read about the Realize Band, I guess I am just concerned, that, because of my size, when I meet the surgeon he might think something else.  We will see.  I am probably justing worrying over someting I don't need to.

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, and was bought out by Johnson and Johnson, and was called the Realize band.

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.

Cheryl,

I had never heard of the Realize band before I started investigating "lap band" surgery.  However, my doc does both bands and left the decision up to me to choose which meant that I had to do a ton of research to make my decision.  Below are the reasons that I chose the Realize band:

(1) My doc was most comfortable with it (he is a proctor for the Realize band)
(2) It has a lower profile port and therefore less likely to protude
(3) The port is already attached to the tubing, unlike LapBand where it is attached during surgery; therefore less likely to have problems with the port/tubing
(4) The port attaches to the muscle with metal clamps; my doc uses both these and the sutures to secure the port in place, which means less chance of a port flip
(5) Realize band was soft and pliable and felt more like my own body (vs. hard plastic)
(6) Even though there are two sites on OH for gastric banding, I typically go to the Lap Band site because it is much more active
(7) There is a misconception that the Realize band has not been around as long as LapBand, but that is not true; it has been around for a very long time in Europe.  It just now happens to be licensed to J&J for the US market.
(8) Realize has a separate special website that is supposedly a great tool; I haven't really used so I can't comment, but my doc felt that it led to better success because of the accountability.
(9) My doc was most comfortable with it (and, yes, I meant to repeat that!)