Trill, with my DH's band, he can get it taken out if he so wishes. There's another procedure which is quite extreme, but is irreversable.
From what I remember, my DH was told that when he has reached his goal weight, he'd be getting the excess taken off.. I think, I can't remember.
And I'm not too sure how heavy you have to be to have it done. DH had to get to 170 (I THINK it was) before they would operate on him, which he reached that in 4 or so months