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

no instructions yet. they're calling me back with more info. i'll let you know what they say.

i got my date: october 13th.

Wow!! That's right around the corner!!! Congrats!! I can't wait to hear all about it. :confused:

i got my date: october 13th.

Whoo hoo! Yayyyy!

I am from Kaiser WLA and I first begin options classes back in 2007 when they were ( I think) 24 weeks long...I lost over 30 lbs by the end of my options class and "OPTED" out of the surgery ~ they weren't doing sleeves then and RYN still seemed so drastic to me.

In 2009 I truly wanted the surgery so I attended a shortened 20 week class...I felt as if I were on punishment taking the class all over and with the same instructor.

Upon completion of my second "tour of duty" I was told there was a 6-8 month wait for surgery at WLA or Harbor City...I just couldn't wait...I chose the Pacific B route which had a 6-8 WEEK wait...I am 4 week out today and I can say my Pacific B experience was the absolute best! I liked that they specialize in Bariatric surgery ~ Kinda like going to Midas muffler for my car cause they do nothing but mufflers....

Good luck to all of you who are waiting. I can honestly say..."I love my sleeve"

I am from Kaiser WLA and I first begin options classes back in 2007 when they were ( I think) 24 weeks long...I lost over 30 lbs by the end of my options class and "OPTED" out of the surgery ~ they weren't doing sleeves then and RYN still seemed so drastic to me.

In 2009 I truly wanted the surgery so I attended a shortened 20 week class...I felt as if I were on punishment taking the class all over and with the same instructor.

Upon completion of my second "tour of duty" I was told there was a 6-8 month wait for surgery at WLA or Harbor City...I just couldn't wait...I chose the Pacific B route which had a 6-8 WEEK wait...I am 4 week out today and I can say my Pacific B experience was the absolute best! I liked that they specialize in Bariatric surgery ~ Kinda like going to Midas muffler for my car cause they do nothing but mufflers....

Good luck to all of you who are waiting. I can honestly say..."I love my sleeve"

Awesome! I didn't know Pacific did sleeves?

sounds so exciting. i cant wait to get authorization to PB. i guess i can assume to have surgery in late november or middle of december.

[QUO TE=Weigh8nomor;82414]I am from Kaiser WLA and I first begin options classes back in 2007 when they were ( I think) 24 weeks long...I lost over 30 lbs by the end of my options class and "OPTED" out of the surgery ~ they weren't doing sleeves then and RYN still seemed so drastic to me.

In 2009 I truly wanted the surgery so I attended a shortened 20 week class...I felt as if I were on punishment taking the class all over and with the same instructor.

Upon completion of my second "tour of duty" I was told there was a 6-8 month wait for surgery at WLA or Harbor City...I just couldn't wait...I chose the Pacific B route which had a 6-8 WEEK wait...I am 4 week out today and I can say my Pacific B experience was the absolute best! I liked that they specialize in Bariatric surgery ~ Kinda like going to Midas muffler for my car cause they do nothing but mufflers....

Good luck to all of you who are waiting. I can honestly say..."I love my sleeve"

Finally finished my options class last night :001_smile: I just scheduled my appt for Oct 8th to hopefully get my labs done and move forward!!

weigh8nomor ... OMG!!! 6 - 8 month wait at WLA? AAAAAHHHHHH!!! you just made me feel sooooooo much better about choosing to go with PB!

the only thing PB has done that drove me crazy was taking five million years to call me about my surgery date. while i was waiting for them to call, i got several different versions of the PB timeline from various staff members, and i was starting to freak out. but now that they've called me with my surgery date, all is well. they pretty much scheduled me for the week i originally requested, so all my worrying was unnecessary.

my consultation with my surgeon (dr. taller) was on august 23rd and my sleeve is scheduled on october 13th. that's a hell of a lot better than the wait at WLA. that said, the PB wait time is starting to get longer and longer. at my PB orientation in late july, they said the wait from consultation to surgery was about a month. now, it's about two months. they're being bombarded with kaiser patients because kaiser can't get its act together, so the faster you can get to a PB orientation and get your blood work to them, the better.

I attended PBs orientation Aug. 12 and already mailed all info that is needed. They are waiting for Kaiser to send other info with authorization number. So hopefully I will get consult date in a few weeks.=kristykreem;82522]weigh8nomor ... OMG!!! 6 - 8 month wait at WLA? AAAAAHHHHHHhe!! you just made me feel sooooooo much better about choosing to go with PB!

the only thing PB has done that drove me crazy was taking five million years to call me about my surgery date. while i was waiting for them to call, i got several different versions of the PB timeline from various staff members, and i was starting to freak out. but now that they've called me with my surgery date, all is well. they pretty much scheduled me for the week i originally requested, so all my worrying was unnecessary.

my consultation with my surgeon (dr. taller) was on august 23rd and my sleeve is scheduled on october 13th. that's a hell of a lot better than the wait at WLA. that said, the PB wait time is starting to get longer and longer. at my PB orientation in late july, they said the wait from consultation to surgery was about a month. now, it's about two months. they're being bombarded with kaiser patients because kaiser can't get its act together, so the faster you can get to a PB orientation and get your blood work to them, the better.

Dr. Taller also spoke at the orientation I attended. How was he in your consult?

Edited September 29, 201015 yr by BlaqBeary

dr. taller's great, i really like him. it's obvious he loves his job and loves dealing with patients, and i have complete confidence in him.

maybe i will request him when i am called for the consult. i liked when he said, if you want more than two weeks off i will give it to you. i want as much time as i can get. my husband is also taking some time off with me. and being with him is never a dull moment. he has been very helpful with me going through this.

Edited September 30, 201015 yr by BlaqBeary

Just found out some bad news...... according to my case worker I can not use Lancaster.... these are my options

van buren office

southbay-

west la-kaiser

crown bariatric

pacific bariatric-

Now I got to research these ones:thumbdown:

Yayyy! South Bay

Congrats Sleeve4Me! South Bay is a good hospital and of course, Dr Zane works out of that location! Have you been given a date yet?

Congrats Sleeve4Me! South Bay is a good hospital and of course, Dr Zane works out of that location! Have you been given a date yet?

I was sleeved on 8/27/10