i'm with kaiser so cal in los Angeles. i've completed the options program and am now jumping through myriad pre-surgery appointment hoops in order to get my surgery referral.

i just wanted to give everybody with kaiser so cal a shout out to say THEY ARE NOT IN CONTROL OF THIS PROCESS. be aware that you will need to be extremely pro-active in terms of your bariatric journey or an already long and involved waiting process will be made even longer and more involved.

also be aware that kaiser is farming surgeries out to ancillary facilities because they can't handle their own bariatric surgery load. this adds further complication to an already overly complicated process. i was given two choices for my surgery venue: kaiser west l.a. and an outside partner facility. i chose the outside partner facility because they have their act together and they have a considerably shorter waiting period, at least as of this moment.

my experience so far with this outside partner facility is that they are much more in control of their process than kaiser is, and kaiser has no real idea about how their outside partner facilities operate, even though they try to provide this information (which is usually inaccurate). all you really need to know is what your kaiser doctor needs in order to refer you for surgery, and what the surgeon at the outside facility needs in order to schedule your surgical consultation. my outside facility is requiring me to attend a 90-minute seminar, in which i will be given instructions and paperwork to fill out. between this seminar, paperwork, and my kaiser pre-surgery tests, i should be good to go.

with kaiser, you're going to have to steer your own ship, if you know what i'm sayin'.

Edited July 25, 201016 yr by kristykreem

ugh. well, i'm glad you discovered that whatever dr. kayak told you about the sleeve and crohn's is incorrect. now you can find a surgeon who will get it right.

my insurance isn't different whether i have surgery at kaiser or at pacific bariatric, it's just the facility that's different. it's not that way with your kaiser insurance? i know there are a bazillion different kinds of kaiser policies. mine's considered high deductible ($499), outpatient surgery is $100 and in-patient is $200 a day, but i won't have to pay it up-front. at least that's what they told me ...

Mine is the same co pay as yours. $200.00 in hospital stay,office visits are $30.00. How will you get to San Diego? If you go there how long there for? Where will who ever drives you stay? These are the out of pocket expenses I am concerned about. I was hoping to get billed for these and make payments actually. I have before. So, SD Bariatric has local or somewhat local mandatory seminars to attend? I am off to bed, got my procedures early in the a.m. Glad I found you here. Was Kinda feeling lost... :blushing:

yeah, i hear you about insidious extras. i'm renting a one-way car that's being picked up at scripps, then one of my best friends is staying the last night with me in my room and then taking me home. the car's going to run me about $75 plus gas ($25 of that is enterprise dinging me for the one-way of it all). so, the only extra expense i'll have is the one-way rental, its gas, and my friend's gas to and fro (she said not to worry about it, as if).

pacific bariatric gives us private rooms with full private baths and allows a guest to stay in the room the whole time for free, so nobody has to pay for a hotel if they don't want to (the hospital provides a fold-out guest bed, sheets and towels).

you have to attend a mandatory 90-minute seminar, in which one of the surgeons gives a talk about what to expect, and you're given paperwork (lots of medical history) that must be filled out and faxed back to them before they schedule your consult. oh, and they need your labs, etc., from kaiser, too (wenda's a pro and can tell you all about how it works). pacific bariatric does their own psych evaluation. all the pre-surgery stuff is done in one day down there: consult, psych evaluation and internal medicine. then, a surgery date. in the seminar, they said three days in the hospital.

scroll down to see the seminar dates. the closest are anaheim and riverside. i drove to bakersfield, because i want everything done NOW NOW NOW NOW:

Gastric Bypass Surgery Steps - Weight loss surgery from Pacific Bariatric

Edited August 5, 201016 yr by kristykreem

@realred64: So nice to see you here!!! I'm sorry to hear that the experience at W. LA was so bad. I was tempted to go there because there is still some unknowns about Lancaster. Primarily that they are doing construction at the hospital and Wenda didn't know if that would affect the surgery timelines. I also didn't want to drive to San Diego but it sounds like Kristykreem has it all figured out. That's so nice that they have fold-out beds for someone to stay with you! I'm hoping that there won't be any delay, as I'm so ready to do this!!! .

@donna4545: Thanks for the details on the hospital stay. I also thought 3 days seemed a little long, but that makes sense that it would be that long if there was the full incision. My step-mom had gastric bypass about 8 years ago and she did have a long hospital stay but they did the full cut on her. Not sure if they didn't do laproscopic at the time, or if they just couldn't do it on her due to size. I'm really hopeful that it will only be a 1 night stay at the most.

dcokequeen, to be on the safe side, you might consider going to one of pacific bariatric's seminars. it doesn't lock you in, anybody can go to one of the seminars, but if you find that kaiser's becoming a chore to deal with and your wait time for surgery is starting to drag out, you at least will have all the stuff you need from pacific bariatric to start the process there -- wenda said pacific bariatric is one of your options, right?

i live in sherman oaks but i work in santa monica. i drove from santa monica to the seminar in bakersfield and, because i drove there in the early afternoon, i got up there double-quick. my return was just as quick. the whole trip was against traffic. i was early, so i had a late lunch (there are a ton of places to shop and eat around the bakersfield doubletree, which is right off the freeway). all in all, it was like a pleasant mini-road trip.

Kristykreem - Do you know if you can attend one of the seminars at Pacific Bariatric prior to finishing the options program or getting the referral?

I'm in Orange County and finish my Options class on 9/23. My pcp is the doc in charge of the WLS program in OC (lucky me, seriously) and I was thinking of going ahead and scheduling an appt with him for right after the classes are over. I'd have to do it now as he's a popular PCP as well as the WLS doc, and his next open appt is in late September. I've got some timing issues that can really screw this all up and I have a narrow window of time to try to have the surgery done or I'll have to push it out until next summer unless I can get things taken care of quickly.

FWIW - in the Options orientation, they had made sure to point out that Pacific Bariatric had a 3 day stay versus a 1 night stay for the KP hospitals.

vkgirl, i hear you about timing issues.

technically, the ball can't start rolling until options informs the doctor that you've completed the options program, but the options staff at panorama city notified our doc almost immediately -- definitely in a matter of days -- and i got called quickly to schedule an appointment. if i were you, i'd contact your doc's office to tell them about your timing concerns and ask them if it's possible for you to schedule an appointment now for right after you finish your classes.

it's good that in your options orientation they told you that PB has a three-day stay. in fairness to the panorama city options staff, they might have announced that in the orientation i was in, too, but i was on overload at the time. if kaiser is a one-day stay, it makes sense that the pan city options staff told me during our classes the surgery is outpatient and didn't think about PB.

Hi, I did not qualify for Kaiser my BMI is 36 and I just could not start out this journey by gaining 20+lbs in order to qualify so I am doing self pay at Northridge. I was wondering if you know if I can get any of my pre-op labs done through Kaiser? Also I worry about what if I have complications will Kaiser refuse to give me care?

Nancy

KristyKreem

I am currently in my 5th week of "Options" in Panorama City. I have mixed feelings about the Options staff. One instructor is terrific, inspiring, and seem dedicated to our success. The other instructor is like a robot trained to disseminate information, all of which is probably correct, but she has no "passion" for the class.

I've had one meeting with Dr. Alskaf (6/8) and I am schedule for my Options Mid-Point consultation with him on August 13th. I had my Psychological Evaluation at the Reseda Office on July 28th and all seems to be on track.

My two questions:

1) How accurate was the information you received during Options? Was it realistic? Would I be better off relying on what Dr. Alskaf tells me?

2) I lived in LA up until 3 years ago, and the WLA Kaiser was my home facility. I had a great Primary Doctor and Cardiologist, but some of the doctors and staff sucked big time. My first thought was to have the surgery done there, but having read some of the comments, I'm beginning to wonder. What are your thoughts and experiences with the WLA surgical staff?

Hey ladies- Well, I was very proactive today. Had my procedures(Upper and Lower GI) and everything looks good. So I called Wenda and changed everything. I am now having my surgery at Pacific Bariatric in SD. Next Thursday going to the mandatory seminar in Anaheim, and getting this ball rolling. I want nothing to do with Kaiser WLA. Thanks all for all the info on Pacific Bariatric. Looks like I will need to do 3 trips total. Its all good to get sleeved sooner than later.

lunarose -- i don't know the answers to your questions, but i do know a guy who was below kaiser's qualifying bmi who went back to his doctor with weights in the pockets of his army pants ... food for thought. they'll make you get down to the weight you are now as a pre-surgery requirement, anyway. just sayin'.

mr_mason -- in my opinion, the nutritional and behavioral information we get from options is good. it might not be presented in the greatest way sometimes, but they've got the essential info right. what you have to watch out for are things like them messing up the dates of your make-up classes, not necessarily keeping track of your homework, and medical questions should always be directed to the medical staff. the options staff will be the first people to tell you they aren't surgeons, so don't rely on them for hairy medical answers.

i'm sure there are some good surgeons at WLA, but i've had too many iffy experiences there to feel confident about having surgery there. the only surgery i've ever had in my life is an arthroscopy of my right knee, and i had it at panorama city and the experience was wonderful. for me -- and this is just my personal opinion -- WLA can suck it. but i'm sure there are plenty of people who totally love it there. i'm just not one of them.

realred64 -- YAY!!! that's great news! the sooner you fax the paperwork you get at the anaheim seminar to pacific bariatric (i faxed mine the morning after), the sooner they'll schedule your consultation. they need that paperwork and all your labs/tests from kaiser before they'll schedule you. it took about a week for them to call me to schedule my consultation. so, i went to the seminar on tuesday, july 27th, faxed my paperwork the following morning, then it took until this tuesday, august 3rd, for them to call to schedule my consultation, which is on monday, august 23rd.

side note: wenda is THE BOMB! she knows her stuff and will bend over backward to help you get what you want.

Edited August 6, 201016 yr by kristykreem

@realred: Congrats!! So happy to hear your progress. I'm considering making the switch to San Diego knowing how the process seems so much faster. Definitely something for me to think about!

@kristykreem: I do know many people who either gained the weight to qualify or puts weights in their pockets to qualify. They do want you to lose weight in class and before surgery, so I don't think it's a bad idea especially knowing how much help you'll get from the surgery. Sometimes you have to play their game!

I also would agree with your take on the Options classes for Mr Mason. I felt like the nutrional portion of the classes were the most beneficial. But as far as paperwork goes, they had no idea what they were doing. I was a little irritated on the last class when I was told that I hadn't turned in all my food logs when I had completed everything each week on time. I insisted that I had completed it, but I was told that there was no way that my log could have been misplaced, and I would just have to do an addional week. I took an extra log home, resigned to do another week and feeling frustrated that my referral could be held up because of this. Sure enough, a few hours later I received a phone call that they had indeed found my log in with another class. I would recommend making copies of your logs before handing them in.

Edited August 6, 201016 yr by dcokequeen

@Kristykreem: Great news! Dr. Alskalf's office just called me and told me that they had a cancellation, and since all my lab results have come back already, they are going to see me on Monday morning. I will be able to find out then if my referral for Lancaster is already in the works and what the time frame is. I've been thinking about the San Diego facility alot. If Lancaster is going to take a while, I think I might switch.

guess who the cancellation was ... ME!

i'm keeping my employer in blissful ignorance about my adventures in surgery, and i just can't leave work again on monday to see dr. alskaf -- i've been skipping out on work for all these appointments a little too much and i can't risk not being able to take the day off to go to my day-long appointments in san diego on the 23rd. it's kind of an either/or situation for me right now in terms of my job. since it won't affect my being scheduled for surgery, wenda agreed to postpone my appointment with dr. alskaf until my one-month post-op with him. woohoo!

and don't feel like you have to wait until a doc appointment to get the lowdown on lancaster, you can email or call wenda anytime for that info. wenda's awesome and will tell you everything she knows about the situation.