For those that have gone through the program at the South San Francisco Kaiser....How long did the process take you? I went to the orientation 4 hour class back on Feb 26th. They told us it would be ATLEAST 32 weeks from that class until we got our next appointment. I had not heard anything from them so I called the bariactrics dept last week and was told that I missed an appointment July 21st....which I was NEVER notified that I was even scheduled for! :biggrin: So she rescheduled that appt with the Nutritionalist for Sept 12th. So I guess my question for those that have gone through Kaiser is what kind of time frame am I looking at after seeing the nutrition doctor? And just want to find out experiences with the process there in general.

Thanks!

I am in the Bariatric program in Richmond Kaiser and I started around Sept 2007 and my surgeon was ready to operate by April 2008. I haven't had surgery yet because I had a cruise scheduled around April and did not want to be on a cruise healing a week after surgery. Then I had health issues wich kept me from surgery but I recieved my surgery date Sept 22, 2008 last week. I usually get my appt cards in the mail. My caseworker told me my pre-op appts will be scheduled and someone will call me as well as appt cards. I don't know if you check online but all scheduled appts as well as test results are on www.kp.org but u have to enroll-It's a GREAT site u can email any of your Dr's and they reply quickly. Keep me posted on your status

I go to S. San Fransico. I went to orientation at the end of August 07 and had surgery May 08. One thing you will find out throughout the process is that they focus on RNY, so you need to ask as many questions as you can. The whole team there is extremely nice and helpful. Yes they are human and make mistakes, they will also tell you that if you are supposed to see them and haven't heard from them to call because sometimes things do get mixed up. They will tell you that you need to lose a certain amount of weight prior to your surgery. The med doc will tell you how much you need to lose. I was losing weight only half-assed because, well, I don't know why. She said that if I had lost a significant amount of weight between the orientation and that meeting with her she would have scheduled me for the first available surgery date. Talk about a kick in the ass! I worked out like a fiend and lost almost 20#s in a month. I met with the surgeon and he made my appointment. They generally want you to lose about 10% of your weight prior to sugery. Once you are scheduled it moves fast. Be sure all of your pre-op tests are done. You will have to go there 1-2 days prior to your surgery for the final blood work, they will not do it anywhere else. You will be there overnight in a private room and they will take very good care of you. If you have any more questions PM me and I will be glad to answer them if I can. Good luck on your journey!

Michelle

I had surgery 6 months after my orientation on June 6, 2007. My advice for you is to first get online and check for appointments on your Kaiser page. The only one that won't show up is the phsych appt. I didn't check to see if my actual surgery date showed up but they called me and trust me I didn't forget. LOL - That way you won't miss any appointments because of someone else's error.

The second thing I would suggest is to be aware of what appointments you're supposed to have. You can then call on a regular basis and ask if they've had cancellations. They don't call people to try and fill those (except for surgery) so frequently they have them available. This should help you move along a little faster. Don't be rough on them, they are very overwhelmed.

Loose the weight required NOW. They really like to work with people who get the job done because it demonstrates to them that you are willing to follow the program. As you have probably read on different pages, there is a vast difference in what doctors want from their patients. Kaisers attitude is "We don't have to work with the people who don't want to follow the program because we have so many people who are beating down our doors that are willing to follow it." Yeah, that's a quote.

Other than that, remind yourself of how much you're saving by having insurance. There are so many people out there that aren't as lucky as we are. It's a pain to have to wait but it's worth it in the end.

PM me if you have any questions I can answer or just ask on the forum and there are several people who can help you.

Good luck on your journey.

Vicki

Ok so I went to my appointment with the nutrionalist. Went pretty well. She gave me a meal plan and weighed me and asked about how things were going. Was pretty short and sweet.

They have me scheduled for a lifestyles class on October 13th and then an appointment with a NP on october 24th (not sure what this is for). What other appointmens beside's the surgeon are left?

NP may be the psyc. eval. You have to meet with a psychiatrist (sp).

They want to make sure you know what the rules are. They also will go over your history with you. It is pretty detailed and takes about 45 minutes. You will also need to get an EKG and a chest X-ray. If I remember correctly the only appointment left is with the medical doc. and he or she will set up your appointment with the surgeon. Good luck

The anestheseologist appt. and the telephone appt. with the RN were the last two I had before surgery on June 23rd. I must say that my experience with Kaiser South SF was TERRIFIC! My surgeon was Dr. Le. Every single person I encountered from the moment I checked in to the moment I left was kind, professional and competent. I had heard (and experienced) my fair share of Kaiser mishaps in the past but my Lap Band experience was flawless. :biggrin: