Does Kaiser Permanente in the San francisco Bay Area region cover Vertical Sleeve surgery now? I know they used to only do Gastric-Rouen-Y surgery. I don't feel comfortable with the Rouen-Y as it seems so much more invasive and life altering. I think I'm ready now if they do it.

They do and they don't. It depends on the center you go to and some centers will only give you a sleeve if *THEY* decide that you aren't a good candidate for RnY or band. But it's changing and some docs will do the sleeve if you ask.

Thank you. I am hoping to go to the Richmond Kaiser center as it would be closest. I just sent an e-mail to my pcp to give me the referal as I already attended the informational class and I think I'm ready to start the ball rolling. I have the whole gamut of emotions right now. Food is such a huge part of my husbands and my social life. We love to entertain and usually that is by food and drink (we BBQ a lot and we also brew beer - really good beer too). We had a discussion last night about this surgery (he needs it too) in that we would both need to do this together. We could still entertain as we enjoy the process of creating and sharing wonderful food but we could only have a bite or two of it instead of full plates of everything. Our kids are finally getting close to independance time (one is begining her 2nd year of college and the other is in his senior year of high school).

Anyway, scared, excited, worried, you name it....

Wow, what a wonderful perspective you have and then to have you and your husband do it together is even better. Glad to see you on the forum and have you join our forum family. Keep us posted

Thank you Ruthi,

I've given it a lot of thought. Well, my PCP gave me a referal for Fremont which is a whole lot farther away than Richmond (odd). She said she e-mailed them to ask if they do vertical sleeve but then she e-mailed me to let me know that they "do do lap band surgery". I suppose she really didn't pay attention to my request. I replied and told her we somehow miscommunicated and I am very interested in Vertical sleeve. I explained that it was a much less radical procedure than the Rouen-Y and that I felt much safer with it. Anyway, can anyone tell me how often with kaiser you have to come in for the "education and evaluation and check ups" prior to the actual surgery are required? I am concerned about the distance we would have to travel.

I think Fremont doesn't require classes like Richmond does. But all the centers have their pluses and minuses.

The main thing about Kaiser is that, no matter what their pre-op requirements, it takes FOREVER to get a date.

I recommend you come to a meeting of this group:

East Bay Bariatric Home Page

I'd say at least half the regular attendees are from Kaiser and they will give you the real skinny on how these programs work and what it takes to navigate successfully through them.

Thank you Ruthi,

I've given it a lot of thought. Well, my PCP gave me a referal for Fremont which is a whole lot farther away than Richmond (odd). She said she e-mailed them to ask if they do vertical sleeve but then she e-mailed me to let me know that they "do do lap band surgery". I suppose she really didn't pay attention to my request. I replied and told her we somehow miscommunicated and I am very interested in Vertical sleeve. I explained that it was a much less radical procedure than the Rouen-Y and that I felt much safer with it. Anyway, can anyone tell me how often with kaiser you have to come in for the "education and evaluation and check ups" prior to the actual surgery are required? I am concerned about the distance we would have to travel.

Hello! I had my surgery through Kaiser. I am down here in the LA area and they referred me to the Panorama City Kaiser. There, they made all of us go through their Options program which is a 6 month class that we attended once a week. Every week before class we were weighed and our blood pressure was taken. About every 4-6 weeks we had to check up with the doctor. After the class ended we had to do a psych evaluation and then we were referred to UCLA for our surgery. Overall it took about 10 months from start to finish. Sounds like a long time but it was worth it! I'm sure it will be different for you but just thought I'd share my experience!

I too am having my surgery through Kaiser in So. Cal. I have 4 more classes left and met with the doctor yesterday and said he would put me through for surgery at West Los Angeles Kaiser Hospital (1 hour away, my classes are in Riverside). I've just finished losing my 10% required weight of 27 lbs.

They told us a few weeks ago that Kaiser has stopped doing the LapBand due to too many complications. Most of the surgeries they do for RNY and Sleeve are done by contracted surgery centers, so I was pleased to hear that mine would be at a Kaiser hospital, just wish it was closer.

JageK, how long did they have you stay in the hospital? Did UCLA do your pre-op tests? Curious since my doc said he didn't need to do any tests since I'm being referred to a Kaiser location.

Oh wow!! This is fantastic news!

I didn't have any idea that Kaiser might accept this WLS. I always figured I'd have to do this out of pocket.

It's open enrollment at work so I think I need to do a little shifting of PCP's.

Kaiser Fremont is indeed offering VSG at this time - my surgeon, Dr. Dutta, told me that based on my medical history I could choose any of the three operations that I wanted. Lap band, Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass, or VSG. I'm going VSG.

Edited December 22, 200916 yr by MikeSF

Hello,

I'm scheduled for the VSG at Kaiser Richmond. While they offer all three surgeries, I think their preference is the RNY. My mother had a hereditary malabsorption disease which makes the RNY less than optimal for me so my surgeon immediately recommended that I have the VSG, which was my 1st choice.

Richmond doesn't have the class requirements that they have in Southern California. It does have a great support group the first and third Wednesday of every month. There are people from all over Northern California that use the Richmond facility. There are four great surgeons and the bariatric department is excellent.

Please ask if you have more questions about the Richmond program.

Same with Kaiser Fremont, no mandatory "options" classes. It seems like Kaiser is phasing that program out in favor of an approach more tailored to individual patients.

Hi All,

I had my psych eval in Fremont 3/26/10, and was referred to orientation. About how long will it be before I get my orientation appointment? I want to get this going NOW :-)

Thanks,

Lydia

Hi All,

I had my psych eval in Fremont 3/26/10, and was referred to orientation. About how long will it be before I get my orientation appointment? I want to get this going NOW :-)

Thanks,

Lydia

it depends on which Kaiser region you're in, how busy they are, and how often they hold orientation classes. You should just call the Bariatrics department and ask.

Personally, I was already scheduled for orientation before I had my initial psych interview, so there's really no answer to your question, unfortunately. For me it was only about 3 weeks between my Overview and Orientation, and I had my surgery about 3 months after Orientation which I was told is very fast.

I had surgery at Kaiser Richmond. My PCP recommended WLS in October. I took the mandatory 2 hour class in October and asked to be referred to the Bariatric program. Orientation was 11/19/09, Surgeon consult 12/11/09. After that it was psych consult, then lose to my pre-op goal. Once I got there I met with the case manager, then took the 2 hour surgery prep class and had a pre-op physical. It was only two weeks from the case manager to my surgery. I had surgery on 2/17/2010 so it was only three months from start to finish.

Every Kaiser is different so I'm not sure how Fremont works.

Good luck!! I love my Sleeve. :thumbup:

Same with Kaiser Fremont, no mandatory "options" classes. It seems like Kaiser is phasing that program out in favor of an approach more tailored to individual patients.

Lydia, the orientation classes can be booked ahead so if I were you, I'd call and ask very nicely if there's a possibility of getting into the next class. The first time I was told no, then I called another time, got someone else and they let me come to class. Be a sweet advocate for yourself. :thumbup: