Vicki J

I'm from No. Cal but hopefully I can shed a little light. Up here we are required to go to classes while we are in the process of jumping from their hoops. We are also required to loose 10% of our weight prior to surgery. This amount is determined by the amount you weigh at the time you go to orientation. Yes, we had to have our blood tests, ekg and I think a chest x-ray prior to orientation. If it's more than 6 months before you get surgery, you will probably have to have them done again. To my knowledge, Kaiser does not require you to show you went to Jenny Craig or WW type of weight loss programs. They want you to go through theirs so that they know you have been educated on how to eat and what it will be like after WLS. They also require the weight loss and classes to find out if you are really dedicated to following the programs. You can loose as much weight as you want prior to surgery and you won't be "disqualified" from surgery. They psych evaluation is to make sure you know what you're getting into and to make sure you're not someone who will abuse the ability to loose weight. This is a truly life changing surgery and there will be times that without your shield of food you will have to learn to deal with something differently. It's not something that is overly traumatic to most people but it is a fact. Should you have questions prior to oreintation I would call patient services. They can either give you the answer or give you the number to the bariactric department. This is what I did when nobody could answer whether Kaiser did lap bands or not. They can also tell you the require

Julie - One of the things that a good friend of mine who had WLS before me said was to measure myself. It seems that we will loose inches while these trying times happen and it helps to know that something is still happening. Also, I mapped the plateaus on a calendar and mine seemed to happen in a pattern so I could prepare myself emotionally for them ahead of time. The other thing that happened when I charted them is I realized that they weren't actually as long as I thought they were. If you have lost 55 pounds since June, you are on the high end of the weight loss. Your body will take these times to adjust itself and then it will move on. Trust me, you will look back at times like these in the future and be amazed that overall things came off pretty darned fast. Good luck and keep your chin up. You're doing great!

Hi everybody - Yep our bandiversaries are sneaking up on us. I'm happy to report that I have been at goal weight for about 4 months now. Through the whole process I lost a whopping 128 lbs. It has been a simply amazing journey. My husband and I have been rockhounding and camping lately. I'm new at the rockhounding and have missed the camping enormously. Everyday I find myself marveling at the ability I have to just move. It can be something as big as hiking up a mountain or as small as squating down to pick something up. I think that I truly value all the stuff like that in life now because I missed it for so long. Life is so good now. Maintaining has been easy so far. I keep a vigilant eye on myself because I know that I can be the spoiled run-a-muck child if I don't. However, I am surprised at how my tastes have changed and how I like eating better now. Who would have thought I would ever be that way. So, here's to us. We've changed our lives. To those of you who have reached goal or made these changes...congratulations!!!! For those who are still in the thinking process, do it, you won't regret it in the end. Happy Holidays everybody!!!

Hey all - I was banded last December at the ripe old age of 53. LOL! Let me tell you a little bit about it. I never had my band synched down so tight that I had problems other than an occassional pain in my chest saying "hey dummy, you ate too much (or too fast)." Yeah, if I really wanted to I could probably eat more than the 3 oz that we're supposed to eat but I'm so satisfied with the 3 oz that I rarely go beyond that. Being "restricted" is not being choked by the band but a subtle contentment. As far as missing food goes, you'll be able to probably eat pretty much like you do now. Try things gently because some things that work today may not work tomorrow and it will go back and forth like that. Lello said it well. The main thing is to get over the fact that there are "forbidden" things out there. If you want something do it in a controlled fashion so that you will be able to put it down and not eat it all. Living does not mean eating cardboard. The hardest thing for me was to stop eating when I was enjoying my meal so much (taste). I had to learn that if I wanted more I could always have more later, cleaning my plate is not manditory and I usually forgot all about the item that I so craved within a few minutes. If I still wanted more, I had more at the next meal. Also, when you get mad or upset you have to react like other people and vent. Yep, becoming one of those skinny beings we all admired from the side takes some learning. The big thing is to realize what the emotion is and deal with it. You will stop craving the stuff and you will adjust. Life on this side is grand. You'll move around better and enjoy it more. Good luck.

Smilin_apple - Whoop! Congratulations! I always knew you could do it. You'll reach your final goal too. I've been at maintenance for 3 months now and I'm happy to say that when you get here you'll be able to stay and not just visit. This is truly a blessing for us and I'm happy that there's a whole family of us out here enjoying the trip together. Again - CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

First call patient services and get the bariactric number. Call them and ask them what the requirements are. From what I've read on this board, So. Cal requires the 50 BMI thing. If you have co-morbidities, that may be different. Many doctors (PCP) are not comfortable with WLS. You may have to go to another PCP. Also, you can appeal the decision. However, if you appeal, find out how many appeals you get. You do not want to blow them all trying by yourself. You can go to obesitylaw.com and they will help you appeal.

Mastrosl - Call the bariactric unit and see if your appt got "lost in the mail." Just a gentle prodding. You can also see your appointments online at the Kaiser webpage. They will not put your psych appt on there so you'll have to watch for that one. Many times they have cancelations and they don't call around trying to fill them. So keeping in touch with them looking for those open spots can speed things up sometimes.

I can't believe I said "it's broked up". <groan> It's broken up....LOL

From what I was told when I went through the program, it's broked up by the regions we live in. I don't know if that is the same now. I asked if I could do some of the stuff up here in the Sacramento area instead of driving all the way to SSF. They said no. I have heard that they are changing some of this. I would call first the bariactric unit and ask. Also, ask them what the hold up is. Then I would call patient services if I still felt like I wasn't getting treated equally. Unfortunately, they view this as an elective surgery. Yeah, we can talk until we are blue in the face about it being life saving. It won't do any good. If you are simply not getting the appointments, call and check for cancelations. At SSF they DO NOT call people and try to fill cancelations. They simply let them go. This is the case for everything except once you get on the surgery schedule. They do fill those cancelations. Once I had my psych cancel on me at the last minute due to jury duty that ran longer than expected. I asked when I could get in next and they wanted to put me out 3 months!!!! The girl who actually did the appointments was gone for the day and the other people just looked for the end of the list. The funny thing is the next Monday (cancelation was on a Friday) I called and talked to the appointment girl and I was seen that Friday. What they didn't know is the appointment they gave me was one my daughter cancelled about 30 days prior. So call and call again. People can speed up things if they do this. You do have to work on loosing your required weight though because if you speed things up you have to be ready. At SSF you don't even get on the surgery calendar unless you've lost the weight. Sometimes you can't even see the surgeon unless you're REALLY close.

Michelle - I'm so glad that you're feeling better.

Kaiser usually wants you to be on your machine for 2 months prior to surgery. Yes, they require you to bring your machine. Also, it is my understanding that each machine is set differently. Call your hospital and fess up. Tell them the truth and see if they can work with you. They may reschedule your surgery.

Heartfire - Everytime I got a fill the doctor told me 24 hours of fluids and then build back up slowly. It made sense to me because I'm sure things get irritated when you tighten the old belt. That was a pretty aggressive fill though. But you will probably be ok, just take it slow. If fluids start to refuse to go down or after 24 hours you're still having problems, let them know. The earlier you catch an overfill the less they have to remove from what I hear. Good luck!

It's sad that people go for the bypass because of the rapid weight loss. I've lost 129 pounds in about 14 months and I thought that was pretty darned fast. I mean I had to buy clothes about once a month to keep up with it. I would rather not have all the problems with malabsorption and be happy.

clevergrrly - IF your insurance covers lap band surgery, I would try getting in touch with the lawyers at obesitylaw.com. I know they specialize in WLS and insurance but I don't know if this is something they can help you with. I have heard they will not charge you if they cannot help. It's worth a try. They may also be able to help you even if your insurance does not cover WLS.

Wow, April, you're really kicking butt now. Glad to hear things are working out so well for you! You go girl! Vicki

You should be ok. Kaiser is a slow process but it worked out really well for me. Where are you at? Northern CA seems to be pretty easy to get into the program. Southern CA seems to be trying to get going. I remember when I started they had only been doing the band for about 4 months. I got all the bypass information with a sprinkling of band info in there. My surgeon kept telling me that I might not loose much more than the 70 lbs I had lost prior to surgery. He was quoting stats since they didn't have any of their own. I told him to hold onto those stats because I would blow right past them. I did and I lost all of my excess weight. If your PCP doesn't give you the green light, change until you find one who will. I think you can appeal also. I would be SO squeaky they would give me the surgery just to shut me up. Keep me posted on how you're doing. I've got my fingers crossed for you and a prayer said. Vicki

Trailerparkbeautyqueen - A lot depends upon your BMI. If it is high enough, you don't need anything else. Otherwise, those common side effects are co-morbidities. Do your joints hurt, are you depressed, do you elevated blood pressure, difficulty breathing or possibly sleep apnea? Co-morbidities cover a wide range of stuff. I went to my chiropractor and a past doctor to show past problems that they were glad to attribute to weight problems. The funny thing is my PCP was so great I didn't need the stuff. Good luck and fight the good fight for yourself. Backing down won't get you anywhere but unhappy. Vicki

I went through SSF Kaiser and they had the 5 hour orientation. It really revolved around mostly bypass with a little band peppered in. I think it may have evened out more by now because they are more knowledgeable about the band now. Basically, they weighed you, measured you (height), gave you a binder full of information, introduced you to the team of people you would be getting to know through the process and talked about mindful eating and how to eat post-op. Each person on the "team" gave their own little portion of the presentation. They also put you on a "pre-op meal plan". We weren't supposed to call it a diet because "it is a new way of life". LOL Pretty long and drawn out but it wasn't too bad.

Watch out the smoking police will come and take your band back!!!!! Just kidding. Yeah, I smoke about a pack a week. I went to my doctor who said that this wasn't considered a habit just a bad choice. He said that they didn't have anything that they could treat my small problem with because it would all make me sick. I did quit before my surgery for about a month and didn't smoke again for about 2 months after surgery. You'd think I would have just stayed away from them. Well, I guess if I had to give up one crutch when I'm stressed, food was the choice with the band. Now I've lost the weight and I'm on maintenance. Maybe my New Year's resolution will be the smoking. Good luck. It is far better to be one of the people who have responded to this. Hopefully someday I'll join that group too.

No liquid diet prior and liquids for only about a week to a week and a half after. Then it's on to mushies for about a week and then solids added at your comfort. As a matter of fact, you can go out and have dinner the night before surgery as long as it's befor 5 or 6. No drinking after midnight.

Hey no worries. I asked a lot of questions, too. The pre-op diet was basically a 1200 calorie diet. They had you eating approximately 3 - 4 oz of Protein, a bread at at least two of the meals, approximately 6 cups of veggies, a milk at two of the meals and a fruit at two of the meals. They said that if you had more than 4 hours between meals that you should add a snack of one protein and one fruit. It was really quite a bit of food. Oh and they had you eating 2 - 3 fats also. As far as the post op diet went, I was on fluids (clear) for only a day or two. When you leave the hospital they have you on full fluids. I think that lasted for a week and then you went to a week of mushies. Usually you have seen the surgeon by this time and he usually graduates you to regular food shortly after that. My surgeon was on vacation so he gave me a schedule to go to regular foods prior to seeing him. When do you go to orientation?

Sarah - I totally agree with you. It's sad that trying to find a way to help as well as commensorate with someone is automatically thought of as being against someone. I'm with you and I want Tom to be a wild success at this. Sometimes understanding how a doctor thinks helps to communicate with the doctor. Tom - Weigh and measure all of your food, journal EVERYTHING, and keep track of your weight loss regularly. Eat banster size meals (3 oz lean Protein, .5 - 1 C of produce and maybe a snack of fruit or multigrain products) THIS IS NOT BECAUSE I THINK YOU'RE MESSING UP! This is because if you take all this information into your doctor you will give her a good picture of what is going on. Also, add into your journal where you're eating, how you're eating and how long that meal lasts. If you are hungry and can't survive on bandster portions, fill up on veggies. These need to be veggies without fats added. Arm yourself with facts when you go and see your doctor. Keep in mind that it takes a while for us to Iron out what we're doing and why. For the first time in over a year I finally realized I am so bored with food. Eating now is not a reason for waking up but it is for nourishment. Finally I feel like I have broken free of my dependence on it for solving my problems, keeping me company, etc. It sure feels good to have escaped the chains that bound me for so long. You will get here too. I can't say when because we are all individuals. But you will get here.

Oh, yeah that is a Marathon. LOL I started with orientation 6/5/07 and had surgery on 12/12/07. I had surgery about 2 months ahead of time because of a cancellation. It sounds like some people are taking longer and some are getting through it quicker now. I wonder what makes the difference. My advice to anyone who is going through the process is once they get through orientation that they should start calling for cancellations. The only "cancellation list" that they have is for surgery. They do not call and try to fill cancellations for any of the other appointments and they are left open until someone calls and checks for them. Also, loose the weight as quick as possible. After that make sure to maintain or continue to loose. They are sticklers about people who want to fight the system. I was told that they have people knocking down the door to have surgery and they don't have to "bend" the rules for someone who doesn't want to work the program. They also consider this surgery "elective". I continued to loose because I knew it would put me that much closer to goal when I finally got the band. Hope that helps!

What Kaiser Marathon? I went through the SSF program and I am at maintenance.

There are many reasons why doctors only give you certain amounts in your fill but they all go to the same result and that is no complications if possible. You have lost 10 pounds in 2 months and that is right on the mark for the recommended weight loss. The recommended weight loss is 1 - 2 pounds per week AVERAGE. This is one of the reasons your doctor is not taking your stress as an emergency. One of the things that happened to me was that I was continuing my pre-op diet after my surgery so I would continue to loose weight while I waited for my "sweet spot". My doctor was reluctent to give me a fill until I explained what I was doing. He was going by my weight loss not my hunger/volume. After that he was more willing to adjust me if I said I needed an adjustment. However, he gave me 1 cc on the first fill and .5 cc on the following fills. You should loose 1 - 2 pounds average per week, be able to get by on 3 oz of protein, 1/2 to 1 cup of produce, and maybe a fruit or multigrain snack. If you're not measuring your food and you're just eating until you're "full", you won't know what to tell him. Also, your calorie intake should be >1200 per day. You should also stay full for 3 - 4 hours in between meals. We have to work on our head issues also. The band is a subtle thing and it's very easy to miss the signals. It's also very fickle and there were instances where I left the doctor's office thinking that I didn't feel any change and 2 weeks later I was wondering if I was going to be too tight. Our bodies flexuate and so does our tightness. Because the doctor can't be at our sides he has to do what is right for the majority and work it until it fits us as individuals. Restriction is not a strangle hold on your stomach. It is a sensation of contentment. Trust me, it will come to you. This is not a method of weight loss that is fast but it is a VERY healthy one. You can control your weight loss by exercising the bandster rules and contolling your calories. I am not saying you're eating junk, but if you journal you might find somethings that were overlooked that you can adjust. Take care and realize that the doctors are not trying to harass you. They are really trying to ease you up to your sweet spot so that you don't have complications. They also have hundreds of patients who need his attention just as much as you do. Vicki