So excited!!...and a couple of questions about Kaiser NorCal

Just had to share.  I completed my sleep study recently and was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea.  No big surprise there, as I wake up feeling hungover every day even though I don't drink...regularly, anyway.  

On to the exciting part - yesterday morning, I attended the Intro to WLS class at Kaiser.  I had purposefully scheduled an appointment with my PCP after the class was over as I knew I wanted to seek a referral to bariatrics.  Thankfully, she didn't give me any heartache about the referral and sent it over during the appointment.  I called the Fremont bariatrics dept. this morning and was scheduled for the orientation class next Thursday.  I was expecting to at least have to wait a few weeks so I am stoked!!  

Questions for those who have been through Kaiser Fremont - the instructor in the intro class had said that the standard pre-surgery weight loss the surgeons will want is 10% of the excess weight.  Is that consistent with what you were expected to lose?  Should I wait to start losing that until the orientation or will they use the weigh-in from my appointment with my PCP?  My BMI is around 41 and I don't want to affect my chance of getting the surgery by dropping under 40.  I know I can lose the 10% of excess, but history shows that I would gain it back + more if I don't get some WLS help.

Thanks in advance!

Yay for you for taking action!  :D  It's a long road and I am really glad I finally went through with it.  I did not go through Kaiser, so I can't speak to their program.  My surgeon also asked that I lose weight, but he just asked for I think 15 lbs.  I think for him, it was more to establish that I can follow an eating plan and lose weight and possibly also to lose some of the internal fat that crowds around the organs and to shrink the liver a little bit to make surgery easier.  

I know that the 40 BMI is kind of the magic threshold for insurance purposes.  I am not confident enough to say that you will be fine if you drop a few pounds between now and when you have your surgical consult.  Since your PCP put in the bariatric referral, you MAY be all right, but if it were me, I would wait until I had my starting weight/BMI established with the surgeon's office.  From what I understand about Kaiser, you have to attend several classes and you may not actually be undergoing surgery for several months yet.  I started the process in January of 2013 and didn't have surgery until October.

It sounds terrible, but your diagnosis of sleep apnea is actually kind of a plus as it's considered a co-morbidity and if your BMI does drop a wee bit underneath 40, you have that diagnosis to fall back on.  

I'm local to the south bay, so feel free to add me as a friend.  :D  Good luck to you!

Jen

Thanks Jen!  That's kinda what I'm thinking, too.  I am eager to get started but would be devastated if something I did prevented this from going through.

I wasn't required to do a diet at all.  IMO, it's cruel and unusual punishment.  Most of us have been there and done that already

Yeah, no kidding!  I have been on that diet roller coaster enough already...