Orinskye

The requirements were psych evaluation, ekg, bloodwork, weigh ins (also 3 mine were 310, 306, and 304... but now 297.... I’m just over a foot taller than you at 6’ 2) and then surgeon consult. I did my psych eval around week 7 of classes. It was kind of by accident. They never reached out to schedule it with me they reached out to schedule bloodwork (which I already did) and *I* mentioned the psych eval and they just scheduled that for me then and there with an “oh yeah” . They did mention it several times during classes though to make that appointment if you haven’t already done so. I talked to the nutritionist about the weight thing in depth, but it’s totally individual and up to the surgeon. The one thing she did stress big time as a red flag where that may happen is if you GAIN weight from initial weight week 1 of classes (without a reason.... some people might have had an injury so they couldn’t walk, other like me may gain weight periodically because of water retention... you get the idea). but others I’ve talked to who have had Kaiser had only lost a few pounds and they still had the surgery 🤷🏼‍♀️

Okay so correction to prior statement. My bloodwork was not for the Bariatric surgeon it was for my nephrologist 😅 so once you finish classes: they contacted me to set up surgeon consult and that’s it. he will give his yay or nay. I was nervous that I wouldn’t be approved because I started at 310 and at my last class we did our weigh in and I told them 304 (It was that time of the month) but a few days later I was 297. So I’ll just have to give him an updated weight when we have our chat. did you guys do a last weight in? Check your lo message center? It’s odd that they would call some and not others.

I haven’t had surgery yet. I’m just having my surgeon consult in January. I have been taking classes where we have weigh ins as part of my program and I was super upset because my last class ended on 304lbs ...... I warned the nurse I was on my period and I tend to retain water like crazy during that time of the month. Today (a week later) I weighed myself and I was 296lbs. I am pretty steady when following this class nutrition diet to lose only about one pound a week. That’s a huge different in weight for only a week and you can totally see it was my period (I am hoping to give the dr my new weight when I have the consult in January. The nurse seemed pretty “yeah..... sure you do”

My blood work was perfect the first time around, but I have an appointment with my nephrologist a few days before my appointment with my surgeon consult so maybe my bloodwork is for him. I’ll have to look when I go in to get it done. My psych eval was done about halfway through options. It was a quick 30 minute convo. No red flags from that discussion to flag me for eating disorders. My case manager person contacted me to set up that appointment and it was done a few months ago. ekg was done after first bloodwork and that was fine as well. my BMI is also at the lower end. I am now a BMI of about 38. I was 40/41 at the start of options. I guess I’m considered a “low risk patient”? So things just moved along quickly. I qualified based on initial BMI, osteoarthritis, and Ckd.

I don’t know if you spoke to your surgeon yet, but I finished my classes on 12/23. they sent in my paperwork. I got a call today (12/29) to schedule the surgeon consult. I got my surgeon consult for 1/14. so I will have my consult less than a month from classes ending. *and I have to do another round of bloodwork prior to the consult. Which I will do on Monday. I honestly am in no rush. They have halted surgeries for now until at LEAST January 10th. I can just work on loosing some more weight before I actually go in for the surgery . once I have the consult on the 14th the surgeon will say yes or no. If yes, Then my name will go on a list for them to schedule when they start doing surgeries again. Which may very well be a few months away with how bad it is right now with covid

I am finishing my classes tomorrow and from what I was told you get a phone call with the surgeon in about 2-3 weeks. But surgeries for me in my region are currently on hold because of covid

Exactly. Better safe than sorry. My husband just found out one of his buddies (healthy!) is in the ICU on a ventilator. I’ve thankfully not have to do labs yet. They will have me do another round likely when I finish the program but I will end up going to the small lab building instead of the one at the big hospital (a friend of mine went to the hospital one last week and she said it was INSANE there). I was actually hoping to not work today and tomorrow (substitute teacher) but I got called in at my sons school. I wish I could go in a bubble 😅

Here in SoCal they have shut down surgeries for “at least two weeks”. We got the news las Wednesday during class. BUT.... looking in the bright side: we have our class ending in two weeks and when they do finally open up again we will be the first group to get scheduled after the ones who were bumped, plus more time to lose weight and practice what we have learned with eating etc.

Hey there. Just checking in to wish you luck. Tomorrow’s the day!!!! I think you got in under the wire. I’m hearing rumors of surgeries scheduled for next week being canceled. I just had my class (I only have three left?!!! Time flies!!!) and someone in that class knows two people who had surgeries scheduled for next week.... which they say were canceled. But the ladies running the class didn’t hear anything about shutting down elective surgeries and they were just in a meeting. So I don’t know. I crossing my fingers they don’t but the covid cases are going up so fast. I can easily see newsom issuing another shut down order.

As of last week they said it was wide open and no backlog and surgeries were happening quickly. but then I am still doing classes. I will be doing classes until the end of December. to be fair; they said that before the huge surge hit. We were inching up and then all of a sudden cases just exploded. If you think it’s bad now just wait until AFTER the holidays.

I’m at Kaiser Orange County in Southern California

They are all very different depending on which region you live in. with ours it is ten weeks of classes with labs and stuff thrown in. Dieticians, nutritionists, surgeons, psychologists, all run a few of the classes each. we have to do one support group meeting (however I’ve already done at least 3) And then of course you have to lose weight beforehand. This is the one I am worried about. No matter how much I diet or exercise? My body just does not lose weight. My body doesn’t process things correctly (I’ve got several different vitamin deficiencies that are odd ) . I have been the same weight since puberty. However I am also at the “lower end” on BMI at 39.9 so I’m hoping they will take that into consideration when it comes to the “lose weight” requirement

I’m sorry it’s taking so long. Can you make any follow up calls to push things along. not gunna lie. .....This is what I do left and right and I’m able to get my stuff over and done with before anyone else gets their calls from the case manager lol if it’s any consolation; I actually started the process in March with my PCP and I was JUST able to get into classes (I’m half way through now and should be done in December) . So I’m technically on month 9 of this journey but if you count from when I started classes it’s 5 weeks. Or from when I had orientation it is more like 13 weeks. Depending on what area you are in things can just fly by or it could take a while. I was told that after classes end (I am in Southern California) the surgery is done from 2 weeks to 1 month after classes end. But other places I have heard take a lot longer (4 months) . It just depends

Just had my psych eval today and everything went great. She said I had no flags in my file for anything and just continue classes, if they need an additional test they will let me know but as of now I am cleared once my classes are done (I thought I would have to do an endoscopy but I guess you only have to do that if you are flagged for heart burn issues?)

Mine was actually all NON fasting. the stool sample: I cheated. I used a container I already had that was clean and did it at home. I put the sample in the one from home. Then I transferred it to THEIR labeled container when they gave it to me at the lab, I just used their bathroom and transferred the sample/turned it in. I agonized over it because if I’m perfectly honest: I wanted the testing done ASAP and I only poop once every few days or so. 😅 After they had the samples in I scheduled a chat with a nurse who asked me a bunch of medical questions (like do you drink, do you smoke, exercise, highest weight, smallest weight, why do you want the surgery...) she went over my lab tests... and that was it. I passed the first medical clearance.

Me too! I just finished class four last night and will be doing class five next Wednesday.

Congrats! That’s very exciting. Please post how long it takes so I can have a time frame of what to expect. I did my support group tonight, then I have class 2 tomorrow (only 8 more after tomorrow night!!!) the nurse put in for labs,ekg, and stool sample so I’ll get that out of the way tomorrow and go through the booklet to prep everything is moving along! Hopefully I can get more stuff checked off my list of things to do

I already tried that and I have to wait until I officially get the green light from my Bariatric team 😑 I already had a TON of bloodwork run in May for something unrelated so that might end up cutting at least one bloodwork appointment out of the mix. Good luck on scheduling a surgery date soon

You already have your classes done though. I still have to do those. If it’s the same time frame you should be able to get by the end of November. 🤷🏼‍♀️ I plan to take the first available appointment in anything they require. I took the first class group they offered and plan to tell them that I am ready when they are. My classes will end December 23rd. Merry Christmas to me I guess lol. And I’m hoping to be post op by mid January. did you have to do a psych eval?sleep study? kaiser is so different from other insurance requirements with their in house classes etc. however I have read that their success rate is great because of all the hoops you have to jump through

Which region are you in if you don’t mind me asking? I am going through kaiser in socal. I start my first class of the options program this week. When I was going through the orientation/class scheduling and touching base with the nurse in charge I asked what their time frame for scheduling is in our area and she said that the backlog due to covid was worked through already and that they normally schedule surgery to happen within a month after the classes end. However, we are moving into fall and they are anticipating another surge of covid... sooo.... they may get a backlog again. If what she says is true I will be looking at surgery in January