Question:
Do you know of anyway to speed up the process thru kaiser?

Kaiser seems to take a long time, are there any hints to speed it up? Did you have to lose 10% and how strict are they?    — Brenda Diane D. (posted on June 20, 2003)

June 20, 2003
I had my surgery through Kaiser No. CA last year (May 2002), and I don't really know exactly if the waiting has improved with them now doing surgery through Richmond. But my waiting time was 14 months from the day I brought up the subject with my PCP, to my surgery date. I do know they are very strict with having to lose 10% prior to surgery. Once you're "in the system" (having already attended your initial conference) it is SLOW, and there's really no way to speed it up. Once you have your consult with your surgeon, the thing that WILL speed up your wait will be accomplishing that 10% loss. So the faster you can get on that, the better. I actually was called for a cancellation date in April, but since I was still working on losing my 10%, I couldn't accept the earlier date. My surgery was on May 2nd, 2002. I have a 4-page profile on here if you want to read about my journey with Kaiser. Hugs, Joy (13 months post-op open RNY, down 101 lbs.)
   — [Deactivated Member]

June 20, 2003
I was fortunate to find someone on this site to help me....we were both going to San Diego. I am not familiar to what the process in Richmond will be...lab work and ultra sound are what is next....if you can find out if you need that appt...ask your doctor for a requisition slip...I hope I spelled that right...for an ultra sound...the appointments are sometimes a month or two out...We were weighed on a tanita scale that measures your body fat % and a lot of other stuff plus your weight...my doctor went by that to credit me some weight loss..that may speed it up if weight loss is a requirement...best of luck to you and I wish you a speedy process....it's hard to hurry up and wait
   — nani68

June 22, 2003
Hello: I am with Kaiser in Portland, OR. Up here it takes an average of one year to jump through all the hoops and tests to get surgery. There are 300+ people in the program and they only do approx. 70 surgeries per year! Do the math. I got my referral by my PCP in Sept. 02. I'm waiting for the surgery committee to review my file and if approved, I'll get an appt. with the surgeon. Here they aren't so strict about 10% weight loss, but they absolutely want to know that you are trying to lose weight and you are exercising and can follow their plan post-surgery. I started out at about 340 lbs and now am down to 310, so I think I'm OK there. Best of luck and I hope your journey is a success.
   — NewJoolz