Kaiser patients...

Sunrary, Yesterday I received a message from Dr. Dutta stating that he had reviewed my chart and everything looked good, so my surgery has been approved.!!!!!!! I have to maintain and not gain any weight before the preop appointment. He said I should be hearing from his coordinator in a few weeks. I thnk I will call her and see if she has any dates available. Depending upon that response, I will definitely say that I can take a cancellation. I am very excited!!!!

I went thru the SSF program.
No problems what so ever!
Dr Alami was great !
and so was the rest of the staff, dietician, nurses, Psych etc.

Hi there
I went thru Kaiser Richmond with Dr Parks a year ago last March 16th.  I was 1 of the first ones from Sacramento to be referred to Richmond; prior patients had been referred to Fremont.   First thing you need to know...Richmond and Fremont handle the process Differently!!  Fremont requires more pre-op stuff than Richmond but Richmond has a different protocol after surgery than Fremont.  Fremont allows Protein shakes; Richmond forbids them!..just as an example.

I attend a support group meeting every Monday nite in Sacramento; we have both Fremont and Richmond patients.  When I joined the group over a year ago, I was the only Richmond patient and I felt like I had traveled to another planet...NOTHING  was the same! Now we have several pre-op and post-op Richmond patients and I don't feel so alone ^_^

From Orientation (Oct 15th, 2008) to surgery (March 16th 2009), life was a whirlwind.  At Orientation, I was forunate to be given my Psych appt for the very next day!  Yes! It can happen that fast....I wasn't the only one ;-)  At my next appt, I was then given my 'surgery weight' and also my 'meet my surgeon' appt (Dec 10, 2008).  Most important thing to remember...once you are given a surgery weight goal...the ball is in YOUR park...you'll get to surgery based on how long it takes for you to lose the weight required.  It took me 5 mos to reach the surgery goal ( and each person's goal is geared to that person and the surgeon's requirement, NOT a Kaiser 'standard' as I have heard some pre-ops try to claim).  I had a 4 hour group 'appt' with Liz, the case worker and Robin, the nutritionist.  They may have additional people now but I haven't heard of any.  At that meeting, we were given our surgery dates.  Again, I state, Fremont does things differently and I can not advise on them.

I suggest you find a support group and start attending...I understand that Richmond is now requiring pre-ops to attend at least 1 meeting before surgery.  But even if they didn't, I highly recommend finding one...the support and help found there is priceless!

I've written a book and didn't mean to take up so much space...but Kaiser Richmond is a great facility and the doctors and nurses are outstanding!  If you wish, PM me and I can talk your ears off LOL  Also, think about attending the No Cal luncheon next month at Coco's in Concord.  Watch for 2Barb to post time and date.

I wish you well and congrats on making the best decision of your life!!  We're always here for you...on good days and bad days....that is what is so wonderful about the Cali forum...someone is always prepared to help ^_^
Nancy aka Sunray

Which support group in Sacramento do you attend?

Hey Gail
I attend Monday nites at Kaiser on Big Horn Blvd (not Bond Rd as earlier posted)  in Elk Grove.  We meet in a room right across from the pharmacy.  Start time is 7pm and is usually over by 8:30pm.  It's an informal format...open topic meaning everyone has a chance to speak or ask questions.  Once in a while we will have guest speakers or bariatric vendors attend.  Even tho we meet at Kaiser, we are open to all pre-op or post-op patients or those just doing the research on WLS.  We highly encourage all support members to attend also.  We have recently started a walking group; we walk at Elk Grove Regional Park Saturday mornings (meet at the dog park parking lot) at 9am and again on Wednesday evening at 6:30pm.  Again...everyone welcome to join us!
Nancy aka Sunray

My husband got his initial referral in January of this year.  Joe's PCP scheduled the psych eval, which he did in March before the bariatric person even called the house.  In  April Joe had his first bariatric appointment.  Pre surgery goal weight of 34 lbs and some pre op labs we done by May and he was given his June date at that time.  All told, the process took 4 months.  But I have to say that Joe is very persistent and Fremont was very responsive to him.

Good luck in the process.....

 I had Dr. Baggs at Kaiser Richmond for my Sleeve surgery.  I think he walks on water.

I went to orientation November 11th 2009 and had surgery February 17, 2010 so it was a fast process for me.  I was very pleased with everything and I've been doing great.

I agree with the poster who said to get the required weight loss down as quickly as possible and get your appointments as quickly as possible.

I found it helpful to go to the Wednesday night support group meetings to talk to others.

Hello! I just started my program last month, and things are moing pretty quickly. Had my orientation 9/14/2010 at Kaiser in Richmond. I met with Dr. Judith Park yesterday and had my goal weight set. Only need to loss 12 more pounds. I've been averaging 4 pounds a week, but don't know if I can keep that pace up. So far I really like how things going.