Ok now that I ate enough Thai food for 3 people. Where is my starting package

from Kasier? I am going to start calling next week if I dont get it soon.:tongue_smilie:

bless your heart, i am like that sometimes now every after 7 months post op. . but know what at least it's not half of what i used to eat before the surgery. . i'm an emotional eater. . .i feel your pain

Hi Humpty! What do you mean starting package? Do you mean starting Options?

I was told I would receive the information on how to start the program in the mail. I will follow up next week with my Dr. I just dont want a month to go by and find out someone is sitting on it.

Jackie

what they do is they put you on a waiting list, you have to wait a couple weeks until they call you for an orientation, once they do that you have to wait a couple more weeks and that is when they set you up for the options program. it is 3 months and goes by very fast. During the class they have you do food logs and activity logs, as well as order the necessary tests for you. Make sure that you do them all on time! or else it will keep you from the last day graduatuion. Even is you think you just need one test, if something comes out deficient or something you have to sometimes make it better (which can be weeks if not a month) to retake a test. So make sure you do exactly what they say when they say it an not wait. After you graduate the class they send your things to the hospital you choose. You cannot change hospitals afterwards once you choose one, thats it. The one in pacific bariatric in san diego is not kaiser facility, so you might have to pay outpatient copay but the wait is wayyy less then the kaiser facilities. They do all 3, sleeve, lapband, and gastric. Anyhow, after that they will call you a couple weeks later to meet with the surgeon and some other people, you then will have to wait an additional time for your surgery date. it seems like a ot but it actually goes by pretty fast. I was in the options program feb. and my surgery is this wed. however, if you choose a kaiser facility it will take longer, and i would have gotten my surgery already but just my luck they are busy right now because of summer and what not. anyhow, good luck to you and let me know if you have any questions.

i had to wait almost three months to start options, then options itself was three months. by the time i go under the knife (or, rather, the laparoscope) my wait time will be around nine months. i'm having surgery at pacific bariatric in san diego because the wait time at kaiser west LA is between five and nine months. no effin' way am i waiting that long. this process is like torture.

Thank you for the tips..

It appears that the initial wail time varies from program to program. In my case, My Primary Physician referred me to the Bariactric Clinic on May 5, 2010. I received my info package via mail on May 8, 2010. Per the instructions in the package, I contacted the Health Education center in Panorama City and was enrolled in an Orientation class for May 17, 2010. After indicating that I wanted to continue the process in the class, I was contacted by Dr. Alskaf's office and scheduled for an appointment with him on June 8, 2010. At the conclusion of the appointment, I was sent back to the Health Education Department in Panorama City, where the scheduled me for the July 6, 2010

Options Class. I received a call on June 29, 2010 from the Kaiser Department of Psychology in Reseda and scheduled for a Psych Evaluation on July 28, 2010.

I started the weekly Options classes on July 6, 2010. I attended and survived my July 28, 2010 appointment with the Psychologist, which was truly enlightening.

So far, so good ... Since my June 8th meeting with Dr. Alskaf, I have lost about 20 pounds and have (so far) adjusted well to the 2000 Calorie program suggested during my second week of Options.

I just hope that I'm able to maintain my positive during the time between the time I complete the Options program and the actual time I am scheduled for the procedure.