What You Can Expect
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After lap band surgery
The first few weeks after your lap band surgery are a critical time. You will need to be on a full liquid diet for two weeks. You will also need to come back to see the surgeon after two weeks. Be sure to avoid vomiting and putting pressure on your new small stomach above the lap band.
Adjusting your lap band
With the lap band, the amount of food you can eat at one time can often be changed without more surgery or deflating the band. Reasons for needing an adjustment may include weight loss progress, pregnancy or illness. Lap band adjustment is a regular part of follow-up for this procedure to ensure you can eat the appropriate amount of food for your needs. Adjustments are most commonly done in your doctor's office.
Four to six weeks after surgery, you will probably need to have your lap band adjusted. The exact time varies from patient to patient. You and your surgeon will decide when is the right time for you.
To adjust your band, one of your medical team members will inject saline into the lap band access port. Saline is a salty solution like other fluids in your body. To get the best results, you may need more than one adjustment. An ideal "fill" should be just tight enough to allow you to gradually lose weight. That means you should still be able to eat enough to get the nutrients you need while still reducing the overall amount you can eat. If the band is too tight, your surgeon can loosen it by simply removing some of the saline.
Never try to adjust your own band or allow anyone other than your medical team to do this. You could cause yourself adverse reactions and damage your lap band.