Lap Band issues with Pregnancy??

[cutiepiepmu 0]

I am looking forward to having my lap band surgery - but am curious if anyone knows of any issues with future pregnancy? I am not planning to get pregnant in the next year or so, at least until I have lost the weight I need to. But, I would like to have children in the future and am concerned that the lap band may cause complications.

anyone know anything regarding this? Obviously I will be discussing this with my doctor when it gets to that point, but wanted in-put and thoughts here too :party:

Thanks everyone,

Sara in WA

[irideaqh 0]

Sara,

I don't have any answers to your question, but wanted to say hi. Don't know if you remember me or not, but I have 2 FT fillies and am on the Equine Nutrition site w/ questions for you from time to time.

I am still waiting for authorization from my insurance for surgery, but am on this site trying to learn all I can. Good luck to you and take care.

Lisa in OK

[cutiepiepmu 0]

Hi Lisa,

Sure is a small world! how are your kids doing?

I am just in the begining phase of this whole thing - but, I am sure it is something I want to do. Been on the yo-yo for so long I can't take it anymore.

I don't have insurance currently, so that is not an issue for me - wish it was though:) What insurance do you have?

Sara in WA

[pearlygirl 1]

My reason for choosing the band is that it is SO safe for pregnancy. Basically, they will unfill you for the duration of your pregnancy and fill you back up when you've delivered/stopped breast feeding. This way, your baby gets all of thre nutrients he/she needs because you have a pretty normal functioning stomach.

[JustCallMeKelly 0]

Sara, Hey there, I too had the same questions about Lap-Band and pregnancy since that is one of my main reasons for wanting to have the surgery (to lose the excess weight, get healthy and have another baby soon). I did ALOT of research on the subject and was not able to find any source saying anything negative about having a post-lap-band pregnancy. On the contrary, I did find lots of sources, my surgeon being one, saying that having the lap-band, losing the excess weight, cutting down your risks of diabetes, high-bp, etc. can increase the chances of getting pregnant and of having a healthy pregnancy. The only thing they do recommend is that you wait atleast one year (some sources say up to 2 yrs., but my surgeon said that is just because during the first 24 months is when you have your greatest chance of losing the weight you need to lose and if you get pregnant obviously you won't be losing). Once you become prego, or if you will be "trying" let your surgeon know asap and he will take ALL the Fluid out of your band and it'll be just like you didn't have it. This is one of the main reasons that I chose to have the band over the gastic bp because the statistics of mis-carriages after gbp are way too high for my liking and I knew that I couldn't live with myself if I did get pregnant and lost the baby cos' there would always be that thought that it could have been because of the gbp and not natural. Anyway, hope this helps, sorry to be so long winded. Make sure to tell your surgeon that this is something that you are thinking about and see what he can tell you about it. Take care and good luck. KKG

[cutiepiepmu 0]

THANK YOU! That was my feeling is that it would be able to be un-filled for the pregnancy, but hadn't really seen alot of info on the subject. I had never considered GBP - way too risky, and being that I am at the point of needing to loose right at 100 pounds - I didn't figure I was extreme enough to justify rearranging my insides :biggrin:

This is really encouraging. I am looking SO forward to getting the surgery and being able to get on with my life. I was always very fit and very thin but broke my back several years ago and with learning to walk again and whatnot - I put on TONS of weight and my metabolism has slowed so much that taking it off has proven to be basically impossible :eek:

Thansk so much all!!!

Sara in WA

[steph_co 9]

Pregnancy with the Lap-band (NEW!) - Lap Band Talk Forum - The largest forum for Lap Band Surgery Discussion and Lap Band Surgery Support

Lots of info regarding being pregnant and banded.

[irideaqh 0]

Hi Lisa,

Sure is a small world! how are your kids doing?

I am just in the begining phase of this whole thing - but, I am sure it is something I want to do. Been on the yo-yo for so long I can't take it anymore.

I don't have insurance currently, so that is not an issue for me - wish it was though:) What insurance do you have?

Sara in WA

Sara,

My kids are doing well. Thanks for asking. My filly w/ the OCD shoulder lesion has been on the Vitamins you recommended and I will be having her shoulder x-rayed again this spring. She hasn't been having any lameness issues. How is your filly doing?

My husband is active duty Air Force so I have Tricare Prime insurance. They just started approving lap band recently so I am so glad I did not pay for it myself last year like I had considered. Tricare said I should know if I am approved next week.

I have been overweight a long time and want to be able to get back into the show ring with some of my horses.

Good luck to you and take care,

Lisa in OK

[cutiepiepmu 0]

Hi Lisa,

Glad to hear your kid is doing well. Malibu is hanging in there - She is about 80% at this point. I am having an accupuncture/accupressure and chiropractor out next week to work on her. She is still very short strided, but she seems to have something going on in her pelvis. She has GROWN - she is now 18 hands and almost 1850 pounds... Awful big for a coming 3 year old!!!

Keeping my fingers crossed for you for your insurance to come through!! I wish I had insurance to fall back on, but at this point I don't and I am not patient enough to wait any more How did you pick your doctor??? I am having some trouble in that area.

Take care,

Sara

[cutiepiepmu 0]

Hi Lisa,

Glad to hear your kid is doing well. Malibu is hanging in there - She is about 80% at this point. I am having an accupuncture/accupressure and chiropractor out next week to work on her. She is still very short strided, but she seems to have something going on in her pelvis. She has GROWN - she is now 18 hands and almost 1850 pounds... Awful big for a coming 3 year old!!!

Keeping my fingers crossed for you for your insurance to come through!! I wish I had insurance to fall back on, but at this point I don't and I am not patient enough to wait any more How did you pick your doctor??? I am having some trouble in that area.

Take care,

Sara

[irideaqh 0]

Hi Lisa,

Glad to hear your kid is doing well. Malibu is hanging in there - She is about 80% at this point. I am having an accupuncture/accupressure and chiropractor out next week to work on her. She is still very short strided, but she seems to have something going on in her pelvis. She has GROWN - she is now 18 hands and almost 1850 pounds... Awful big for a coming 3 year old!!!

Keeping my fingers crossed for you for your insurance to come through!! I wish I had insurance to fall back on, but at this point I don't and I am not patient enough to wait any more How did you pick your doctor??? I am having some trouble in that area.

Take care,

Sara

Sara,

I sure hope Malibu does better. She sounds like she has improved since last time I had asked about her. It also sounds like she is trying to catch up to Kadin - wow she is huge!

I started my lap band doctor research by going onto lapband.com which is the website for the band maker. If you register you can find a list of surgeons in your area. There were 7 in my area, but several of them were in the same practice, so there were only 3 practices in my area. There phone numbers and webistes, etc were listed so I went to each of their websites and looked around. It also lists the surgeons that have performed more than 75 lap band surgeries last year so you can tell which ones have more experience.

The practice that I chose is recognized as a Center of Excellence by the American Society of Bariatric Surgery, so I think you could also check their website to see about surgeons in your area.

I signed up for a seminar and really liked the surgeon and his staff. At that time my insurance did not cover the surgery, so I continued to research. I found a yahoo chat group for Oklahoma bandsters and read everything I could about the surgeon and asked people who used him what they thought and found out about their experiences with him.

I also really like his program. I am not sure what all the other surgeons do, but he requires patients to attend a patient support group to talk w/ other patients and learn about their experiences before surgery. They meet monthly, but you only have to attend one, but you can keep going if you want. He also requires a pre op and post op meetings with a dietician who specializes in bariatric surgery patients. I think he provides the tools to help people decide if the surgery is right for them and also provides lots of support after the surgery to help patients succeed.

Good luck with your search for a surgeon and w/ Malibu.

Lisa