Vicki J

Hey 25 pounds is a good start. Don't knock it. I think that they will probably start me at the meetings in September. Hopefully, I'll get to have my appointment with the surgeon sometime in early September. It would be fantastic if they got it done next week but that's highly doubtful. Once I see him it will be the long wait without any word until they get me a date. So I figure sometime in October I'll get a call saying they have a date in late November or early December. Who knows. I hate those periods when you don't hear anything. That's when I get discouraged.

Mermaidpuppy - How are you doing? I just thought I would check in and see how the weight loss was going.

Wow, I'm sorry to hear that all this has happened to you. I am with Kaiser and as Jennifer said they are up front about it. When I went to orientation they told us that they would determine how much we had to loose at the first appointment following orientation. Doesn't sound bad except that that appointment was 2 months out. They did tell us that we might have to loose 10% of our body weight so I immediately started on their pre-op meal plan (they had already weighed us so they knew my starting weight). I started on June 6th on the 1200 calorie diet that they gave me (oops pre-op meal plan LOL) and have lost 37 pounds. One of the things they cautioned us on is not eating too little because your body will think you are starving and will refuse to loose weight. Their reasoning behind this is that 1) the instruments are only so long and if you're too big they will not go in far enough without trouble, 2) shrinking your liver, and 3) they want to be sure that you are going to be able to follow the meal plan that bandsters need to follow and will be successful at loosing with the band. I know that it's hard. I've been doing this for 2 1/2 months now. My surgery date will probably be sometime in late November or December so I have a long way to go doing this. They also have the "gain weight and the surgery is cancelled" rule. My line of thought on this is that I've always been able to diet. I believe someone called it professional dieter. That's me. BUT keeping it off is what has been the problem and it always, always brings friends. I want the band to help me keep it off. I have to loose the weight anyhow. I mean that's what the whole thing is about. So why not start now. Don't think of this as a diet just to get the surgery but the beginning of your new journey. Your whole life is going to change and it's going to take a lot more commitment to live the bandster life then it will to commit to loosing 12 pounds. I agree that your doctor should have been up front about what you needed to do. It certainly would have been devastating to me to be all hyped up for surgery and then have the rug pulled out from under me. But use this to find a way to handle stress in the future so that it doesn't derail you when you're happily on the bandwagon. YOU CAN DO THIS. We know you can!

One of the girls that I have been talking to went to orientation on May 22nd and was done with her appointments by July 13. She has just gotten her surgery date of October 3.

I haven't started my meetings up here yet. I go to my lifestyles class this Friday so I will start them next month. I will be going to the ones here in Sacramento since I'm only about 25 minutes away from there. I also go to my psych evaluation on Friday. So hopefully they will get me my surgeon's appointment right after that. How long did you have to wait to find out when your surgeon's appointment was? Then, from what I hear it's 3 months after that for the actual surgery to happen. <Pout> I don't have to loose any more weight because I have been really lucky with the pre-op meal plan fitting my current lifestyle. I've been on the run a lot and having the small meals has fit right in. I'm down 35 pounds and that's 9 over what I needed. I'm sure that you'll do fine with the extra motivation. I mean you have a great future staring you in the face. Skinny is doable! Everytime you start to do the wrong thing just remind yourself that it's only for a couple of weeks. And walk, walk, walk. You're walking for your gold ring. Ok, it's not gold but you get the picture. :car: You can also email me if you need someone to give you encouragement. I'm so happy for people who are finally getting the chance to unload the other person they've been carrying around for years. Girl the world is going to be ours!

I am from Penryn, 25 east of Sacramento. I'm in the process of going through the program that Kaiser has. I, too, will be going to South San Francisco for the proceedure. I probably won't get the band until December. My bariactric director said that they are about 3 months out after you meet with the surgeon. They are very frustrated because they can't get enough OR time. But they seem pretty pro lap band.

From what I understand we'll be headed for SF for the time being. I have heard a rumor that they are supposed to be getting a bariactric unit up this way but I certainly wouldn't hold my breath.

I got my official letter from my PCP saying that weight loss is the treatment for fatty liver and I'm cleared as far as he is concerned. I emailed Dr. Stiles (bariactric director) and she said if I pass the psych evaluation she will refer me to the surgeon. So that hurdle has been officially jumped. Thanks for the support. I look forward to seeing everyone on the band wagon! It probably won't be until December but it's coming my way. I can hear the wheels turning on that wagon now.:biggrin1:

Well, I just got called from my PCP and the ferritin levels are from "fatty liver". The treatment for fatty liver is weight loss. So hopefully she will be calling me with my appointment to see the surgeon. Woohoo!:clap2:

Good thing we'll be getting skinny with the band. That way there will be room for both of us in the Bandster Hall of Fame!

Well, you're in my prayers. I know where you're coming from. I hope that this ferritin thing does not prevent me from getting my band. Hey, my daughter has back problems too. I really hope she follows through on this.

I know what you mean. Sometimes it gets hard because when you're waiting to hear about an appointment or something it almost seems like they forgot you. Then they call you and things start rolling again. Their pre-op meal plan that they put you on is really not hard to stick to and you do loose weight. Dr. Stiles (the director of bariactrics) will tell you how much weight you need to loose for the surgery. It depends upon what you're built like. They also want you to continue to loose weight until the surgery. I figure that I have to loose it anyway so what the heck. Good idea on calling them. They will answer all of your questions. I'm from Penryn so I have to drive down to the Bay area also and I was glad that I could get my Lifestyles class on the same day as my psych evlauation. My daughter rescheduled her appointments for September 25th and got 3 of them together. Good luck!

With over 900 people in the pipeline for just the SSF facility I sincerely doubt that they would have you go through all of this if they didn't think you should have the surgery. I went to my meeting with the dietician and Dr. Stiles on the 3rd and she told me they are just swamped. The time estimate for surgery after seeing the surgeon is 3 months now. They are fighting to get more OR time but they just aren't having much luck. I don't get to see the surgeon until they find out why my ferritin levels are elevated. My Iron and liver function readings are normal. Only the ferritin is up. As soon as we get the go ahead from my PCP she will schedule the appointment with the surgeon. I do have my psych evlauation and Lifestyles class on the 24th. Do you have your orientation, psych evaluation, meeting with Dr. Stiles and the dietician all on one day? If so, that was a real score. As far as 9/11 goes, if you don't add the year it's just another 9/11. We've had decades of them with no problems. If you let it bother you, you will be burdened the rest of your life every 9/11. I know that sounds harsh and I will remember the tragedy for the rest of my life but I refuse to let those b*****ds ruin my life by having me get depressed on 9/11. I am so proud of our country for banding together and not collapsing when this happened. Ok, off the soap box. I've got my fingers crossed for you. I really believe you have one heck of a chance. Keep me posted.

I have heard that you can get the surgery with a lower BMI in most places if you have other co-morbities. sleep apnea is one of them as well as back pain and other stuff. I would give it a good try and fight it to the end. I wouldn't be surprised if you get it. I just went to my first 2 appointments after orientation in SF and they are really happy with my weight loss progress but I have to find out why my ferritin level is high. So she won't even give me a date to see the surgeon until we resolve this. Bummer. My next appointments are on the 24th for the Lifestyle class and my psych evaluation. Hopefully before then this other issue will be resolved. From what I was told Friday it will be 3 months after the date you meet the surgeon until surgery. So prepare yourself for a long process but keep in mind that the outcome will be worth it.

Pookie - Congratulations!!!! The hardest thing about Kaiser is the "waiting" to hear something. I have been on the pre-op meal plan that they want us on since 6/6. I am down 28 pounds now. They said that I might need to loose 10% of my body weight which would be 26 lbs. It depends upon your shape out here. People who are pear shaped don't need to loose as much as people who carry their weight in their tummies. Since I tend to carry my weight all over, I decided to just keep loosing. Afterall, I'll need to loose it sometime. My next appointments will be on Aug. 3rd with the director of bariactrics and the dietician. When I see the director I will receive my surgeon's appointment. I have my psych appointmen on the 24th of August and hope to do my lifestyle class at the same time. After the surgeon it's about 2 months before you get your actual surgery. The process here takes about 3 to 6 months. It will be interesting comparing notes. Keep in touch.

Diamondntheruff - Where are you from? It sounds like we have to do about the same thing. Maybe a little different.

Yeah, out here we have a bariactric surgery unit at the Kaiser in So. San Francisco. I kept getting mixed messages from the people in patient services and so I just called the people who actually do the surgery. It was so releaving to have someone finally give me a definite answer. I was also able to ask some of the questions I had as to the process and stuff. They were really great. If your Kaiser sends you out to someone, I would find out who and call them. Even one of the doctors that I used to see had wrong information. When I talked to her about WLS she said that I wasn't big enough. LOL 260 lbs., 5'4", BMI 43, with co-morbitities and I wasn't big enough. Yeah, right. So, I was looking into changing this fall to CalPers Choice when I found out that she was wrong. So I contacted my new PCP and was on my way. Let me know if I can answer anymore questions. Good luck!

Yeah, I know what you mean. It's really sad when you're "lucky" enough to be obese enough. Have you ever thought of putting quarters in your pockets?

It doesn't surprise me that it can take 9 months to a year. From what I've heard the processes are different between the two. When they told me 3 to 6 months I thought they had to be being careful about getting people's hopes up. I didn't even hear about my next appointments for 4 or 5 weeks after orientation. Then they were 4 weeks away.

What I called the bariactric surgery unit directly when I was trying to find out. I, too, had the same frustrating run around when I was looking for answers. After going directly to them I had all the answers I needed. You should be able to find out the number through patient services or by just going online.

Nikki07 - It seems to depend on where you are as to whether or not Kaiser pays for the band. Northern California has the availability of the band but we have to travel to the bay area. They just started doing the band in February of this year. I have heard some people in the Colorado area have gotten it through Kaiser. So far what I have had to do is get referred by my PCP. Then I went to an orientation where they told us all about the proceedure and criteria for getting bariactric surgery. My next steps will be to go see the director of bariactric surgery, nutritionalist, psych appointment, and then go to see the surgeon. I do have to take a Life Styles class. I have had to eat as directed in their pre-op meal plan in order to loose a certain amount of weight and to learn how to eat right so I have it down after I get banded. I will be told on Aug. 3rd by the director just how much weight I need to loose but it seems that most of the time the most that is required is 10%. Some people will be required to loose less due to their body shape. Pear shaped is good. The pre-op meal plan isn't that hard. It's basically 1200 calories, 3 meals per day, and the amount of Protein, veggies, fruit, etc. is set for you. The process is a slow one. It seems that they are pretty overwhelmed with the amount of people in the pipeline. At the South San Francisco facility alone they have 900 people in the pipeline. It WILL take you 3 to 6 months to get through it. But, depending on your plan, the cost can make it worth your while to do it through Kaiser. It does get frustrating with things happening so slowly but I figure that it will just be that much less weight I have to loose after I get the band. After all, we have all lost weight on diets, it's keeping it off that makes it defeating. Hope this helps. Feel free to email me if you want.

Liz1531 - Kaiser in Northern California does pay for the lapband. They started doing the proceedure in February of this year. I live just out of Sacramento on the Reno side and have to go to South San Francisco for all of my appointments. So I know that only a few of the Kaisers do the proceedure. I have heard that the Long Beach Kaiser does the proceedure. But if you have some place that does the bypass they should do the band. When did you last check?

Sandra - Thanks for the info. Yep that helped a lot. My husband was worried about me being out of commission for a long time. Depending upon when they schedule me and what rides come up right after that is whether or not I'll ride on the back of his or ride my own. I have a sister in College Station, TX that would like us to ride out there but that's still over my head on my own bike. We're hoping to get up to Brookings, OR this weekend but I'm not sure that will happen. :eek: My husband has injured his back somehow and so we may have to put that off for a while. But we'll get some riding done around here. Once again, Thanks!

It's good to see all the bikers on this thread because I'll probably have a few questions about riding and the band. The first one is how long was it before you could ride/drive again after surgery? I just started riding in December of '05 and I'm really looking forward to riding without the extra baggage. I haven't seen any of you address this question. Did anyone have restrictions on that or other things?

If your friend is going throught Kaiser, I would think that they would probably go through So. San Francisco. I'm from the Reno side of Sacramento and that's where they sent me. The other bay area place is Richmond.