So I haven't had the bands yet but I did get to talk to Dr Shen's nurse who is awesome. She explained the procedure and risks to me. The procedure is fully an endoscopic outpatient procedure with sedation. They inject glucose (?) to lift parts of the prolapsed area and then use use small bands to pinch off patches and deprive them of blood flow. This causes scarring that actually supports the pouch and prevents it from collapsing. Dr Shen determines what areas to target based on a barium defecography study he will order before the procedure. The bands come off hours or at most a day or so later. There should be no pain but you can feel a pulling sensation sometimes if the bands stay in place longer. If they stay in place longer they can also lead to some bleeding and tissue coming out but it should never be severe bleeding that continues. The risks are much lower than for needle knife stricture cutting and you can travel after about a day. You can also eat normally assuming he didn't have to cut any strictures while he was in your pouch 
Apparently the effects should be noticeable within a few days and they will repeat the procedure to get the level of improvement you need assuming the first procedure helps.
He usually combines it with biofeedback. My manometry looked good (I thought) but apparently it is off and he wants me to do several sessions. Has anyone done it and had it covered by insurance? This seems to be something that may or may not be covered and I am not thrilled at the prospect of not knowing it will be covered UNTIL after the sessions....