:confused:Hi, I am starting with my orientation through Kaiser in Panorama City on July 21st. Has anyone taken the orientation or dealt with Kaiser in Southern California lately? It is my understanding that they sub out thier WLS to UCLA, is this correct? I have been trying to find any and all information that I can on Kaiser and UCLA. I know they both have informational classes but since I have to go through Kaisers as they are my insurance group do I also have to go through UCLA's? I have so many questions. I have a BMI of 52 and several medical issues (Pseudotumor Cerebri, HBP, Type 2 Diabetes, PCOS and declining kidney function to name a few) that I have read are co-morbitities for having WLS. Does anyone know if Kaiser does a fast track or must you jump through all the hoops to have surgery? I don't mind hoop jumping, I just want to know what I am in for. I would appreciate any feedback. Thank you.

Hi, Lilu!

I do not believe that you HAVE to go through UCLA....I am a Kaiser Patient as well, and ALSO up here in the Valley....(I used to live in Panorama City....one author quipped that it is neither Panoramic, nor is it a city!:bored:)

If they are going to send you down to UCLA, I would keep goin' down to the Kaiser Facility in Harbor City, about 20 minutes south of UCLA. They have a terrific Bariatric Facility there, and the surgeon that worked on me saved my life.

PM me if you'd like details, I would VERY, VERY highly recommend Harbor City over UCLA for some very good reasons!:thumbup:

HH

Hi Lilu,

I'm currently in the Kaiser program in Riverside. It's a required 24-week class before even getting on the waiting list for surgery. Yes they do sub out the surgery and what they've been telling us the last few weeks is that Harbor City is only offering the bypass (no lapband/sleeve) and none of the other subs will allow Kaiser patients anymore because it's causing the wait to be too long for other patients. They're working on finding other surgeons, but none are ready yet. I'm hoping something gets lined up by the time I'm done with classes. I'm only on week 9 or 10, trying not to concentrate on how painfully slow the whole process it. You'll need to lose 20-30 lbs during the course of the classes.

Good luck, and hang in there!

mb20Mom might be correct about them not doing Lap bands there right now. I know the director of Bariatric Surgery there, and he is very opposed to the Lap band, and that MIGHT be the reason they are not doing them....I don't that for a fact, so I cannot speak to that.

I might give him a call and find out. My feeling is that if you're going to have a Band, there is not a better place to have it. They have tremendous expertise at that facility, in particular, in dealing with Band-Gone-wrong issues. They know how to install 'em and fix 'em! :bored:

HH

Thank you for your responses, they are greatly needed and appreciated. Does anyone know who the surgeon(s) is/are in Harbor City? And is there anything that I should be doing now other than information gathering that would get the ball rolling before I go to Orientation July 21st? I have read, and read and then I read some more on this and other sites alike but it seems like either there is very little information for Kaiser and SoCal.