I had surgery with Dr. Baggs through Kaiser Richmond on April 13, 2009. I can't say enough good about him. Very professional, very capable doctor and his sense of humor and good bedside manner is a huge plus. Made me feel very comfortable in what could have been a stressful situation. He also is very quick to respond to questions and knows is very educated on all the answers. I totally trusted him as a surgeon and he rocks at fills for all you future bandsters out there!! I think all the surgeons at Kaiser Richmond are great but I would definetely recommend chosing him as a surgeon and give him a very high five star rating!! The Richmond kaiser program rocks and is very good about covering all aspects of bariatrics including the psychological aspects and nutrition which is important.

All Richmond Kaiser/North Cal Kaiser patients that are looking for a support group do a search for Richmond Kaiser at the top of the page. We have a community social group and Richmond Kaiser forum where we all stay in touch and meet up. We also have a bariatrics support group at Kaiser West POint in Sacramento the 4th Saturday of the month that is awesome!!

Edited May 31, 200917 yr by swrktp

I'm in the Dr. Baggs fan club too! I find him to be very kind, capable and positive. Very professional but very funny too! It's always fun to go in to the office. Fills are great too! 5 stars!

Riley

I had surgery with Dr. Baggs on April 6th 2009 and had a great experience. I felt very safe and at ease knowing I was trusting him and his capable hands. He was very patient answering my many questions and never made me feel like he was in a hurry. I had my first fill with him on May 14th and it was quick and painless! I definitely won't be dreading those in the future. If you have a choice as to who your surgeon may be, I HIGHLY recommend Dr. Baggs. He's awesome!

Wow, how do I follow up Ms Tina!!! Can I have surgery again lol????

Ok! So I had surgery 3/31... and I am a Dr. Baggs Fan also!!! He is absolutely awesome, and straight forward. He is very patient, understanding and respects our privacy very well! He is also verrrry educated in what he does, and does not use that to persuade you into a decision, if he does I would listen 100000% percent!!!

I remember I got on the wonderfully cushion table (yes it is pretty comfy) and told dr baggs to have fun with the video game... SERIOUSLY it looks like a video game, he just laughed. I think he finds amusement in us patients lol.

Well if you are debating which facility to go to, which surgeon to fight for or to sign up with kaiser for surgery do it! AND if you aren't assigned Baggs call over and over (christine does this well) and get a sooner appt with Dr Baggs. You will not regret it!

Also, Kaiser has a lil forum you can join, we stand by each other, meet up once or more a month when needed, and keep each other motivated. You are more then welcome to join us:D We love new faces.

~Nicole Larios~

I think Dr. Baggs is a GREAT doctor but I would NOT want to have surgery again!! Just not really into having more than one surgery in any given year!! LOL!! I have to maintain my standards of avoiding medical offices and procedures to some degree ya know!! I have really blown my anti medical cover the last four months with all my appointments and surgery!!

But you ladies go ahead with that second surgery and tell Dr. Baggs I highly recommended him!! And I will remind you to walk, walk, walk and sip, sip, sip!! :-) LOL!!

Edited June 3, 200917 yr by swrktp

Good morning all....

First time for me....

I am going to have my orientation @ Kaiser Richmond on August 14th.

I was very happy to find comments about this facility & all of them being positive

I am really nervous about the whole thing but also very excited!

How long does it usually take from the orientation to the actual procedure?

Being a bit ignorant about the entire thing, I thought you go for orientation & than you are referred & have a surgery quite fast.

Only after reading this msg board I realized that it takes months for the actual day, as well as multiple appts to diferent doctors...?

Hi IrinaK! Welcome to Richmond Kaiser :-)

I had orientation way back in November 2008 and surgery in February 2009, and that was considered very fast at the time! I understand that they are a lot faster now. Even if they don't make you lose 15% of your weight before surgery anymore, you should still strive for it as it is healthier, safer, and it just makes everything so much easier! We also had to see a nutritionist (yay Robin), a counselor (got to have your stuff together before surgery, because YOUR LIFE IS GONNA CHANGE!), and the head nurse (yay Liz!). You probably still have to do those things. We had to go to classes, too. I also took 16 weeks of classes at my local Kaiser, which were SOOO helpful, and I stillhang out with many of the people I met then!

Good luck!