Hi everyone! I have kaiser and I have orientation on the 21st this month. I was wondering how long after the orientation do I meet with the surgeon/nutrionist/psych? Anyone else have Kaiser and from Northern Cali!? I'm in sacramento. Thanks!

Hi! You can have your meet with the surgeon on the same day as the orientation. I went to orientation in February, they ask who has time to meet with the doctor that day, and if you do then you can. If you don't have the time, they will schedule you for another day. I had my RNY surgery with Dr. Grinberg on April 9 at Kaiser South Sacramento. =)

I just realized the date of your post Lol! Sorry, how did orientation go? =)

I'm in Sacramento also my orientation was March 17 got lucky to see the surgeon the same day and one appointment after another I had them a week to two weeks apart only had 10 pounds to lose met my goal and now my surgery is May 14..there was times that I felt like it was moving too fast

It does move super fast! It was two months from start to surgery for me, I only had 14 lbs to lose. I think that the the program does a great job at preparing you for the maintenance stage, but not really the immediate post-op stage. You're scheduled for the next class about the vitamins and pre-op stuff right? If you haven't gotten your supplements yet, I highly suggest getting all chewable ones! I had bought most of the regular kinds from Costco and Amazon, but pill crushing gets old and annoying, plus they taste disgusting, and it's hard to take especially when you will have a super hard time drinking fluids right after surgery. And no one ever told me about how much freakin pain I would be in immediate post-op! Omg I though I was being stabbed everywhere in my stomach! It's from the gas they use to blow up your belly for surgery. Holy crap! That's why they make you stay overnight, cuz you'll be wanting pain meds the whole time. But everyone there is super nice and very helpful, and if you just keep getting up to walk it will help to get rid of the gas and alleviate the pain.

Same here. Testing was one right after another with no time to breath. It seemed very overwelming and stressful. All test completed within 2 weeks. Hardest part was dealing with my work schedule but that was a sacrafice I was willing to take. It was all worth it though when you get your surgery date. May 6 is pre-op, May 11 is surgery date!

Thanks for your responses!! Orientation went great! I meet with surgeon on May 5th and then have my mandatory support group on the 14th. I have Dr.Yenumula from the south sacramento bariatrics program. I really hope my process goes quickly due to my work schedule, but luckily I work from home so recovery shouldn't be too bad and I might not have to ask for much time off.

Yes I am scheduled for the pre-op class on Wednesday and yeah I got most chewables or the dissolve tabs a few of them are delicious the only one I'm struggling to find is B1..they suggested that I don't buy the liquid Centrum buy chewable which I did but I'm thinking I should buy the liquid as back up so if I have a problem with the chewable..do You agree ..

The B1 is the only one that is almost impossible to find in non-pill form. You're gonna have to crush it for a couple weeks. Liquid is horrible tasting. I'm 22 days out and able to swallow it whole no problem now. The one thing I would recommend is to be ready for the liquid diet. You'll be on it for 2 days prior to surgery and 2 weeks post. It's been the hardest part of this process in my opinion. You'll realize how much you miss chewing and eating solid food. I bought so many different types of broths and creamy soups and I was still always miserable because I never felt full, I was always hungry, but apparently that's normal. I only took a week and a half off from work because even though I was only on liquids I still felt okay. I could have gone back after a week, but I was being lazy. Haha! Once you get to pureed foods it gets a little better. I'm just so looking forward to may 21st when I can start eating normal food!