Hi Everyone

I am new here - I have been reading alot of the posts and I am so pleased to hear all the wonderful results everyone is having. I am having my lapband surgery done at kaiser in freemont - are there any other banders whom have had there bands from kaiser? I'm really really nervous, part of me thinks I can still do this by myself but then the other part is like "who you kidding." I have not seen many banders alot of the people that I work with or know have had the gastric bypass and are discouraging me from having the band, so I'm glad to read all the wonderful stories of success and if there are any other Kaiser patients, please do share your experience. :rolleyes2:

Kelly - I am a Kaiser patient that went through SSF. The programs between the Kaisers are somewhat different but close enough to relate. The one thing that frustrated me when I was going through all the pre-op stuff was the fact that you had to be the squeeky wheel in order to find anything out like cancelled appointments. The staff was nice enough and in hindsight I wouldn't hesitate to do it all over again. Yes, it took 6 months for me to get through from orientation to surgery but it also only cost me $15 for the lapband. That's a pretty good trade off.

We went through orientation and then they put us through the other appointments. One person told me that if nothing else came of this I would have the best physical I would ever have. It was a pretty good one. Kaiser views this as an elective surgery. Those of us who have been obese know that this is a very important surgery and don't think of it as elective. Hence, the reason for them feeling like it's non-urgent and us feeling like it is.

They wanted me to loose 10% of my weight pre-surgery. I made sure that they wouldn't kick me out of the program if I lost more and proceeded to loose about 70 pounds by the time I had surgery. That was more than 50% of the weight I had to loose. They have you do this by putting you on a 1200 calorie diet. I had one person tell me that the more I succeeded the quicker I would get surgery. Well, I have to say I believe her because I was tentatively scheduled for Feb. 08 and was banded 12/12/07.

Basically, it's the best thing I've ever done for myself. I'm now within 4 pounds of a "normal" body weight and 9 pounds from goal. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Vicki

Kelly - I am a Kaiser patient that went through SSF. The programs between the Kaisers are somewhat different but close enough to relate. The one thing that frustrated me when I was going through all the pre-op stuff was the fact that you had to be the squeeky wheel in order to find anything out like cancelled appointments. The staff was nice enough and in hindsight I wouldn't hesitate to do it all over again. Yes, it took 6 months for me to get through from orientation to surgery but it also only cost me $15 for the lapband. That's a pretty good trade off.

We went through orientation and then they put us through the other appointments. One person told me that if nothing else came of this I would have the best physical I would ever have. It was a pretty good one. Kaiser views this as an elective surgery. Those of us who have been obese know that this is a very important surgery and don't think of it as elective. Hence, the reason for them feeling like it's non-urgent and us feeling like it is.

They wanted me to loose 10% of my weight pre-surgery. I made sure that they wouldn't kick me out of the program if I lost more and proceeded to loose about 70 pounds by the time I had surgery. That was more than 50% of the weight I had to loose. They have you do this by putting you on a 1200 calorie diet. I had one person tell me that the more I succeeded the quicker I would get surgery. Well, I have to say I believe her because I was tentatively scheduled for Feb. 08 and was banded 12/12/07.

Basically, it's the best thing I've ever done for myself. I'm now within 4 pounds of a "normal" body weight and 9 pounds from goal. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Vicki

How easy was it for you to do the 1200 cal. diet. I am having a really hard time, and anything that you can share would be really helpful.

Latrice

Latrice - Dieting is never easy since it is not only a restriction on our food intake (which we as obese people eat a lot) but it is also a life style change. Many of us have kids or spouses we must prepare food for and it makes it even rougher. I am fortunate in that my kids are grown and my husband is the cook and truly understanding and supportive. He has always cooked lean, trimming the fat, and boils veggies.

I, however, ate large quantities and yes ate junk food. So, what I did was I relied on my Weight Watchers knowledge. Keep in mind a calorie is a calorie no matter where it comes from. Yes, Kaiser would love for us to be perfect but the truth is even they aren't. LOL

So, I tailored my 1200 calorie diet to fit my life style. Yes, I dropped the junk food to an extent. I allowed myself things like a SF chocolate pudding at night or my SF Suisse Mocha in the morning with whipped cream. But I counted every calorie and this took away valuable calories from the 1200 calories. But for me this is how I didn't feel deprived. I then pretty much stuck to the plan they gave me. It's VERY important to eat the Protein. Make it dense protein like meats because that's what will keep you full longer. Also, they added more veggies to our diets. They gave us 8 cups. That's a huge amount and made it so that if you needed them for Snacks you could eat them (there's a spray on ranch dressing that will give you just a taste of ranch w/o many calories). They also warned us against going more than 4 hours without eating. They added a snack with a protein and a fruit if we had a long span in between meals. I have lunch at 1 and therefore that snack came in handy. This was also extra and not part of the 1200 calories.

Finally, when things got really tough I would tell myself over and over again that surgery was just a couple of months away and I could do this. Keeping in mind that the help was around the corner helped me a lot.

Since banding and about 9 months after starting the program, I discovered that if I give myself a break emotionally it makes it easier. There are times that I have made some less than stellar choices and I beat myself up. I remember one time pre-band that I came home angry at something. So to the fridge I went and I ate 4 chocolate SF puddings instead of my normal one. I then called my daughter and told her how bad I had been. It was sure hard to talk in between her laughter. She said, "Oh yeah, Mom, you're bad...4 SF PUDDINGS? That's really bad...hehehehe" I then realized that I was mad because I felt like I had failed and that I had done this for the wrong reasons. I also realized how much worse I felt because I did it for the reasons I had and not because I just wanted more. So I discovered the real reason for my failing before.

Later I found that when I wanted something because of a special occassion if I gave myself permission to have a small amount I not only felt ok with a small amount, I enjoyed the event and whatever I was eating more. That day and the next morning I didn't feel like a failure because I did what I had chosen to do, how much to have and I stayed in control. Taking that control is empowering.

You have to keep in mind that this is a life style change and not a prison sentence. Life is not made up of no goodies. At least not in most of our lives. But you have to keep track of how much you're eating. If you don't eat protein and you only eat sugar then not only will you be not as healthy but you will be on a roller coaster of energy and hungry sooner.

Take time to plan your meals. Make them something you enjoy. They say not to read or anything. Some people need this type of thing so they pay attention to what they are eating and chew, chew, chew. Me, I need the distraction so I don't hurry through my meal. Again, taylor it to you. Work for the prize. That prize is the thing that will help you achieve your goal of being thinner. It's tough and I know it. But now sitting 7 months out from being banded I can tell you it's truly is worth it.

Keep in touch with me and if you need some support PM me. Of course, you may not like my long windedness. LOL But I'm here and I'll help whenever possible.

Good luck and work on just today. You can't change yesterday but you can improve your tomorrows.

Vicki

Thank you, thank you so much. I'm ok with your long windedness. And I think that i will take you up on the support, because at this point i need all the help/support that i can get.

Thank You again Vicki

Latrice

No problem. You're at the harder end of all of this but keep in mind the band and it's adjustments will be here soon.

Wow Vicki, you speak with such truthfulness, motivation and true understanding of your mind and body. It was very inspirational and comforting to read your message helping a follow bandster in her time of dispair. I have been where she was but I have been where you are as well.

I am currently waiting for my surgery appointment trying to get to my goal of 265 so they will schedule me. I am in therapy for my broken ankle so my exercising isn't as intense as I would like at this time. But when I started this program and first weighed in I was at 296 and now at 280 so I'm slowly getting down. I just don't feel comfortable with my doctor in Fremont. He really didn't like the lap band and tried to make me chance over to the bypass which I just do not feel comfortable with. He spent the whole time telling me and my husband all the bad things like he was trying to scare me. I went there excited and left there confused. He said he doesn't have any success stories to share with me. He said everyone he banded had problems and he can't guarantee I won't.

I don't have the problem of eating too much in fact for awhile I would skip meals in kinda of a way to punish myself for my weight, telling myself I didn't deserve to eat. After starting classes at Kaiser for the program, they made me 3 times a day with 2 Snacks and I conditioned myself to do that. In fact, I can't skip at all now and don't even try. I have never been a large amount eater and exercised like crazy. Until I had my son I was a good weight. I choose sleep instead of food my first few months but I was extremely tired and wore out. I went to the doctor and she tested me and found my thyroid was so low it was dangerous and I was gaining weight like crazy, she said my body was hording food. I ended up gaining 80 pounds, (only 18 1/2 lbs during pregnancy). No matter what I did the weight wouldn't come off. Here I am 12 years later still trying with no results and I am easily discouraged. I have to work twice as hard as the regular person so see the tiniest results. I was just hoping the lap band would be the jumpstart my body needed to drop this weight that shouldn't be here!

So basically, I was wondering about any problems you may have had since being banded. How the fills are, who your doctor was and how are you eating now. Did getting your mind ready before surgery help in your success to your goal weight after? Did you experience any depression from missing certain foods (I've heard that happens) just wanted to talk. Hope you have time. Thank you, Leisa

Latrice,

Hi, I'm Leisa, I was wondering how you were doing and if Vicki's advise was able to get you started in the right direction. Do you have a scheduled surgery and are you also going to Fremont California? I do not have a date yet, I need to lose 14 more pounds to obtain one. It is sure a tough road and I'm like you, I could use all the support I could get right now! We can only get that kind of support from those people that truely know from experience how we feel. My husband would tell me he knows how I feel (in a loving way) but the truth is he's only 20 pounds over weight and he looks skinny if he's wearing a loose shirt so he really doesn't have a clue what weight takes away from you. You confidence, your self-esteem and sometimes your beauty, for me, I don't feel beautiful being this weight so I can't act beautiful, you know what I mean? Well, I just wanted to chat..hope to hear from you and to hear your doing well.

Leisa

Leisa - I always have time to talk. No worries there. When I started at Kaiser they had only been doing the band for about 5 months. What I decided was that they were more proned to wanting to do the bypass because they were more comfortable with it. Kaiser itself doesn't have a lot of their own statistics but the band has been very successful in aiding in weight loss. I myself have lost 126 pounds which is 100% of my excess weight. When I first saw my surgeon I had already lost more than 50 pounds (due to being on their pre-op for so long). He told me that he was very proud of what I had done but to not expect to loose much more. I asked him if he was saying this because the statistics said that. He said yes and I told him to hold onto his statistics because I was going to blow them out the window. At my pre-op appointment I had lost 70 lbs. I got the same remarks. I gave the same remarks. He now wants pictures. Kaiser at SSF is now starting to sing a different tune about the bands and at the last support group meeting I went to they were telling the bypass people that if they got where they could eat more food in the future and were gainig weight that they would have to have a revision. They said "but if you have the band it just a matter of adjusting it". The way they said it really made it sound like they were beginning to push banding.

The lapband will give whatever you want to work for. There are no magic pills in this world and you do have to follow the rules most of the time. Do I never eat the "wrong" foods? Sure I eat what is considered wrong. I had birthday cake just yesterday. Do I do it all the time? Not a chance. But if you don't allow yourself to live life you will be setting yourself up for failure. What I have found is that I give a lot of thought to those times I have something special which makes me slow down and enjoy it. I also don't have that "I've failed so I might as well give up" feeling afterwards. I still journal my foods because it makes me feel more secure in the fact that I'm not eating mindlessly. Weekends are the days that I don't journal. I'm usually not near a computer and carrying a notebook isn't me. LOL

The first thing I would do if I were you is get that thyroid adjusted. Hopefully they've got you on meds for it. It can cause more than just weight gain. I know it can cause lack of energy, depression and a bunch of other things. Make them fix that! Then I would go into the surgeon's office and TELL HIM what YOU ARE comfortable with. Ask him outright if he is uncomfortable with doing the lapband surgery. If he is, ask for another surgeon. They have more than one. This is your body and your surgery. The only way I personally would go with a bypass is if that is the only choice I had. It scares the c**p out of me. But that is MY opinion for me. I understand the lure of quick weight loss. But 126 pounds in 14 months is pretty quick in my opinion.

The second thing I would do is go online to www.smartbandsters.com. It is a yahoo group and it has a lot of people on there that have been so successful with the band and can give you the statistics to knock your doctor's socks off. There is also a bariactric nurse on there named Jessie that had her band placed 10 years ago in Mexico. She's great at answering questions.

There are very few reasons (unless medical) that people can't loose weight with the band. Everyone can eat around ANY WLS. The band has to be adjusted properly. My surgeon (Dr. David Le) was very causcious in sneaking up on the "right" fill. At first this frustrated me but now I'm glad he did. I have had no problems with my band. None! The only time it even speaks to me (scolding) is when I eat too fast, too much or something that is too dry. Otherwise I get the subtle signal of satisfaction that lets me know I'm done. This is restriction. A lot of people think that restriction is a stranglehold on your stomach. That's too tight.

As far as depression about missing foods goes, not really. My biggest thing is I like the taste of food. Sometimes when I'm really enjoying a meal I get angry because I can't over induldge like I used to. But I'm learning to stop being the spoiled child and remember that I can take it home and enjoy it again later. Because of how I'm adjusted I can eat almost anything. It has to be WAY overcooked for me to have trouble. Therefore, I don't "miss" anything. I don't eat very many sweets anymore by choice. After not having them for a while they surprisingly don't taste as good as I used to think they did. BUT if I want a small desert, I have it. Like I said, a calorie is a calorie. If you count them, keep them limited, the weight will come off. However, I got where I would look at that high calorie food and think to myself that there wasn't much there and I would rather be able to eat something with more volume. Now I'm just used to not having that stuff and the band controls the volume.

I think the only thing I had to do as far as getting my mind around it was to get where I believed it would work as I had heard. It does that. I also put it in my mind that during the period when I was waiting to be properly adjusted that I would have to continue to do the 1200 calorie diet in order to loose weight or just not worry about loosing weight until I was properly adjusted. That is an important thing because many people get depressed when they don't just magically start to loose weight. I made sure that the people who would be "watching" understood this. I also made sure that I was totally comfortable with my decission to do the surgery.

There are things that will come up in your life after surgery that you'll want to turn to food for. After WLS you won't be able to. I suggest that you get the Beck Diet Solution (book). It isn't a "diet" but a book that addresses why we eat like we do. I thought I was a real emotional eater and found this to be helpful.

Otherwise, I'm so happy with my band that I will have it with me for life. I take care of it so that I don't do a lot of throwing up or cause it harm. It's really easy to take care of it and have not PB'd yet. I would recommend the band for anybody. I wish they had had it sooner so that I would not have wasted so much of my life.

Get your facts together. Do this by doing as much research as you can. The next time you see your surgeon, confront him with the "facts" and take a stand. This doesn't mean go in there and take his head off. It means that you can tell him that you've throughly researched the surgery, made an educated decision and if he's not comfortable doing the surgery/follow-up you understand and would be happy to see another surgeon. Plain and simple. If he's not having much success with his banded patients, then maybe he's not good at banding or he's not good at educating them. I didn't rely on Kaiser because I knew they were in the infancy stage of banding. I made sure I got online and found out the answers to my questions. As a matter of fact, I don't think I've ever asked them a question. But they have to start somewhere.

Check out smartbandsters.com. Also, do a lot of research with your husband and arm yourself and make sure you are comfortable. You'll be ok.

If you don't mind my rambling style of writing, feel free to contact me anytime. You can PM me if you want too.

Take care and keep me posted. Ask any questions you want.

Vicki

Vicki,

Hi, and thanks for that long letter. Obviously I can't write short letters either so we are even. I appreciate all the information and absolutely amazed and excited about your success. Like I was telling you that doctor was a bummer.

I was originally signed up for Gastro Bypass in 2006, had 30 lbs to lose and was to go home and work on that in order to get a surgery date. We (hubby) and I were just not comfortable with the surgery, I had told him before back when I heard Ann Wilson of Heart got the lap band done like in 2003 or 2004 that is what I wanted but Kaiser didn't offer it nor did they when I signed up this time. I went home and struggled losing (like I always do) then I got pregnant. I was ok for 3 months then had a miscarrage, had a lot of stress in my life at that time. I instantly losed 25 lbs and kept it off, I'm really good at maintaining. They called me asking if I was still interested as 6 months had passed, I said yes but I really wasn't. Then I went to my new personal doctor a few months ago, still trying to get healthy from the miscarrage, caused irregular bleeding, hair loss. She ordered blood work on me and said I need to consider losing weight. I sent her an email when I got home asking if Kaiser does lap bands and she said yes and sent my request back into Fremont. That is where I am now.

My thyroid is functioning normal, it has been for 11 years now. The problem is once it needs medication to function, your metabolism just doesn't work like it once did, the doctors say it should but my experience, other people with the same problem and my books say no it does not! So I get tired of the doctors saying there shouldn't be a problem losing, even the nutritionist said she knows its harder to lose after your thyroid. So it is working, I have been stable.

Now I know from my best friend having the gastro bypass that she is able to pretty much eat whatever she wants to, my other ex friend doesn't eat enough Protein and has been losing her hair. I am not worried about not having certain things, I know how to portion myself. So that's why I think the band can really work for me. I am going to take your advise with the research, with bringing in my facts, and talking to my doctor about how comfortable. I'm going to see if there is another option there for me if I decide to change doctors. You really made me feel a lot better, I really thought after talking to him that I was just going to be killing myself. Right now I've been following a 1200 calorie diet, not what they gave me, just one from Slim fast using their shakes, I like that one so far. I'm going to continue to ride my exercise bike the 3 miles a day or possibly up it to 5 miles each day 7 days a week. Some weight has to come off!! I am most defintely keeping in contact with you! Thanks for everything, you've helped me a great deal. I will keep in touch! Leisa

Thanks for the informative posts. I am being banded at Kaiser Richmond CA on Aug 26th. I live in Sacramento. I don't know how they decide which Bay Area Kaiser to send us to, but Richmond is the closest to me. I too was given the 1200 calorie food plan to be on until surgery. I was really strict the first two weeks - weighing and measuring everything and writing everything down. Then I kind of knew how much I could eat. I did Slim Fast in the morning for a while and I have also done Smart Ones at lunch a few times a week. I started the process May 9 nad have lost about 27 lbs so far. The surgeon wanted me to lose 20 lbs and I had already lost 12 by the time I saw him. I confess I have eaten a few things I shouldn't have the last few days as I know I will not be able to eat them, not even a bite, for a long time. I think the hardest thing has been giving up my emotional relationship with food. But I am ready to get off this yo yo ride. I don't have a pre-op liquid diet - my Kaiser has you eat your normal 1200 calories even the day before surgery - just have to have Clear liquids only from 4-midnight the day before and take Milk of Magnesia the day before surgery. I will be having my surgery first thing on Tuesday morning as I have a 11:30 am appointment in Radiology before going home.

Pam

Hi Pam, Wow Tuesday is almost here! All the hard work paid off and your on your way. I'm excited for you and wish you the best! Fast recovery!

I do think Richmond is closer than Fremont would be to you. I'm in Stockton but it's closer to go to Fremont. How do you like your doctor there, is he for Lap Bands? My doctor is kinda poo poo ing them and prefers the gastro bypass. Well, hope to hear from you when you recovery and how everything is going for you. Good luck..Leisa

My doctor at Richmond Kaiser is Dr. Im and he is fine with lapband. None of the staff even tried to talk me into having gastric. There were 17 people in my pre-op/post-op nutrition class and 6 of them were doing lapband. So I think it is becoming more popular. Also they won't do gastric if you are over a certain age (I think it was 60).

Pam

Pam - Congratulations on the surgery tomorrow!!!! You're going to be so happy you did this. I had to go to SSF. I think they put our names in a hat and draw them out to choose who goes where. LOL - I'm not sure they know how they choose.

You're diet sounds just like the one at SSF. They even added a few more veggies for us. I lost 70 lbs on that waiting for surgery. It took them 6 months between orientation and surgery. The only reason I got in then was due to a cancelation so you're moving through the system pretty fast. Hopefully they will get where anyone who looses the required weight gets through fast.

Keep us posted on how you're doing. Good luck tomorrow!

Vicki

Hi.

I am new here and have several questions about the Fremont Bariatric program.

I was referred by my general doctor in late January of this year. Then, I went to an information meeting and did the psych evaluation at the Tracy Kaiser. According to my doctor and the psych dr., I was a good candidate for surgery. So, since February, I have waited to hear about the status of my acceptance into the program. From what I understand, I am supposed to receive an appointment for the orientation program in Fremont. I have heard....nothing. I have tried talking to my doctor, who just said that the program has a wait list of a year. I've e-mailed the psych dr. and she said to ask my primary physician. I don't want to be a pest, but I would think that by now, eight months later, surely I would have heard about my status by then. No one is willing to give me straight answers. If I am being denied, I want to know about it, so I can begin working on an appeal, or do what they think I need to do to get approval into the program. I am frustratrated and want answers. This place may be my only hope right now.

How long did the process take any of you? Did it take this long? Any suggestions? I know that it is a lengthy process, but to get approval or denial eight months later...come on! Anybody else have stories to share? Thanks for any help that may come my way.

I had my surgery at Richmond Kaiser. From what I have heard, Fremont Kaiser is the most crowded of the three Kaisers in the bay area. It took me less than 5 months from when my PCP sent a referral to me having the surgery. Everyone who was scheduled for the orientation was in effect approved as long as they followed the rules. Is there any way you can get moved over to Richmond?