Kasier Patient-Pacific Bariatrics

 Hi,

I am currently enrolled in the options classes at Baldwin Park and next week is our last class for options.  I have turned in all of my food logs, never missed a session, completed all labs, and have ultrasound this week for my gallbladder.  I have also lost 8 pounds in the last month.  I weigh 238 and am 5'4.  So I have another 17 pounds to meet the 10 percent goal for surgery.  They are sending my referral this next week to pacific bariatrics.  I was wondering how long does it take to have your surgeon consultation appointment from the time you finish class?  Also, When you go down to San Diego how long are you there for?  Also, I am a pretty stable person but I am nervous about the psych evaluation.  Can anyone tell me what kind of questions they will ask and if the psych is male or female.  Also how long does the psych evaluation take?  I have pretty realistic goals and been trying to mentally prepare for this surgery for the last year.  Also, do they let you request a particular surgeon because I went to the seminar with Dr. Taller and really enjoyed how he spoke about the surgeries.  I was hoping to have him for my RNY.  Also, how strict is Pacific Bariatric on losing the 10 percent of body weight that kaiser gave us at the beginning of options.  I spoke with Dr.Taller at the seminar and he said that "I am tiny" and that as long as everything is normal I would be fine the weight I am.  I am working hard to lose the weight because I want to be able to move around better after surgery.  I appreciate any help you can give me :) Thanks

Hi. I had Dr. Zorn and all the doctors and staff at Pacific Bariatrics are awesome! I would say give it a couple of weeks to receive your call about your 3 appointments in San Diego. The surgery is usually done within 4-8 weeks after you finish Options. YOU CAN DEFINITELY SPECIFY AS TO WHAT SURGEON YOU WANT-I DID!

The three appointments in San Diego take at least half the day because you will see your surgeon, the Internist and psych eval.  It should go smoothly.  Don't worry about the psych evaluation and just don't offer a lot more than they ask. I had a woman that I saw for my physc eval and that was 3 years ago and I know that they are using someone else, however, I haven't heard any negative things about any of the doctors, internists and/or psych.
The 10% really depends on surgeon, and also how much you have lost between starting and ending Options.  As long as you can show you can lose weight and keep it off then you will do fine.

I hope this information helps.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Terry

I finish my option class back on June 4th.  I got a call end of June giving me a consult date on July 15th.   I could of had surger in mid September but I needed to have it done on a Friday and had a lot of things going on in my life in September.  My date is October 8th.     There is someone on here who had her Consult on August 8 and surgery was September 22.   So, it just depends on how flexible you are.   I had Dr. Rumsey at first, he was okay, really didn't get a feel for him.  I change doctors because I wanted the sleeve and it seem like Dr. Taller is the specialist in that surgery.  I have heard good things about Dr. Taller.