Kaiser....

Wow! I havent posted to this board in 4eva.  Anywho, still havent had the surgery, YET.  Not that I cant, my doctor with Blue Sheild is lagging in really letting me go see a specialist. Which I find none of his beewax, but you have to listen to your doctor. I swear this man was born in prehistoric times. He told me that he doesnt believe in the surgery and that I should find some way of losing weight on my own. I was FLOORED!!! You know what, some of us can not lose weight on our own. I dont know why I cant, its not like I havent tried in the past. SOOOOO ANYWHO, I have decided to get Kaiser through my work. It will begin on Nov 1st. After I go get all the "female" stuff done I am going to discuss it with my new PCP.
SOOOOO, anyone know how Kaiser works with this whole process? I have heard you HAVE to go throught the 6 month process before they will even allow or think about possibly discussing the prospect of surgery. I live in the Citrus Heights/Roseville area of Sacramento. Any comments, ideas, suggestions, outlooks on this??

lemme know !!! THANK YOU!!!

Hi, most of us are going to Fremont.  I believe that Sac doesn't do any WLS.....Your PCP will refer you to the Kaiser Bariactric program.  They send you papers/a date for orientation. You go to orientation, then make an appt. for a surgical consult.  You lose 10% of your wt. then get on a list for the surgery  If you go to Fremont, there are NO 6mo. of classes....Hope this helps...Iam in Sac...
Gael

Hi, I have Kaiser and I'm from the bay area. I went to see me PCP on Sept. 3rd and I had just switch from someone else to her. I told her about me not being able to lose weight and how I keep gaining it back and she put in a referral that day.  A week letter I got a package for my orientation and on Sept. 28 I went to the orientation. From there we were told within 4 weeks we would be getting a call to schedule a consult and get the appointments taken care of. We were also told that it's not really a six month process but it depends on the person. He said he's had been in as little as eight weeks and as long a 2 years. You have to lose 10% of your body weight and it depends how fast you lose it and how booked their schedule is. Fremont Kaiser does 3 surgery's a day Mon-Wed and they just added Thursdays because of the weight. He did mention that 6 months is right for about most but some do it within 3, it depends on you and the weight. The surgeon also said that they take your highest weight for the past 12 months and go from there, so if you are already down from your highest in the past then that's good. If not then you will have to start loosing, which is what I need to do since this is my highest weight. I hope this info helps, I know it's a lot. Good Luck

I think that Sacramento patients now get referred to KP Richomond.  I had my RNY done in Richmond a little over a month ago.  It took me a little over 9 weeks from PCP referral to surgery day!  I did start loosing weight before my orientation and by the time I saw my surgeon for the first time, he said I only had to lose 12 more lbs in order to have surgery.  Once I hit my pre-surgery goal weight my surgery was scheduled and performed within 3 weeks.  A few days after orientation I was able to call the Bariatric department and have my first visit moved up from late August to mid June - this really sped things up for me.  Don't be afraid to call and see if there are cancellations, etc along the way.

Best of luck to you!

 

Hi, Does your employer allow for WLS?  Some don't have that. 




Good Luck
Annabelle

hello i just want to wish you goodluck with this process. i just swiched  my insurance to kaiser and and july i went to  my pcp and got a refurral.  i went to my Orientation 9/14 and they said well call you in a few months but i dont like wait so i called and i got my consult for 10/31.the hardest part for me is to loose this 10% well good luck again and keep us posted

Hi there,
  I was originally reffered to Kaiser SFO.  Don't go there unless you want to wait a really long time.  I had my orientation and 6 mos later I still didn't have my next appt.  I requested to transfer to Fremont, and I'm so happy I did. I had my orientation on August 24th, my consult on Sept 17th, (I had already lost my required weight so it helped), my psych eval on 10/2, and my ultrsound on 10/9.  I am completely done, my doctor said I don't have lose anymore, or get any other tests.  I will probably be in for surgery late Dec early January.  The people in Fremont are really nice too!  Hope this helps!

I am a Southern Ca. Kaiser patient.  My process took more than a full year.  I got my doctor's referral in August of 2007, but it took another 6 months to get into the required weight loss classes.  24 weekly meetings before you are cleared for surgery.  I completed my classes in July, along with a whole host of tests and procedures and finally had my surgery on September 17.

The classes are valuable, and we did learn a lot.  I was well prepared, but we certainly could have done it in half the time.  They claim about 1/3 drop out along the way, maybe to self-pay, or a few even learned new habits and were able to lose enough weight that they chose not to have surgery.  Once the classes are complete, you have a year to make the decision to go through with the surgery.

I am just thankful to have had the opportunity to go through this journey and I truly believe that Kaiser has our best interest in mind - as we all know, it's no quick fix and that begins with the approval process. 

Good Luck with your process!    =)

Joni