dcokequeen

@Thin2be: I don't think I have to attend an orientation with Lancaster. They said a lot of their patients are from Kaiser, so they know what we've already been thru as far as the Options orientation and the classes. I can confirm this once I see the Dr Yadegar next month. So excited to hear about your no co-pay. Awesome!! I'm still trying to figure out what my co-pays will be. I think I will contact Wenda to find out.

@Thin2be: At my appt on Monday, I asked Dr Alskaf about hospital stay. He said for the sleeve, it is usually a 1 night stay, usually because you will be scheduled for surgery in the afternoon and they want to keep you overnight to make sure everything is ok. Kristykreem said that the Pacific Bariatric is a 3 night stay. I guess it just depends on your facility. I'm really hoping that I have all my tests done and I'm ready to go when I go to my consult next month. Then hopefully I can get scheduled right away for surgery. @blaqberry: So happy to hear that your co-pays will be so low! That's awesome!

Hi thin2be! The classes do go by fast, so do try to absorb everything. Personally, I was dreading having to do the classes, and I complained about having to go, but now having completed them, I'm really glad that I did. I finished my classes on July8th. I did my blood work, chest x-ray and ekg about 1.5 weeks ago. Yesterday I had my final appt with dr to get referral. I chose the Lancaster facility as well. Every review I have read online about Dr Yadegar has been nothing but glowing. Plus they have another location in Santa Clarita (which is where I live) where I can do follow-up appointments. I called Lancaster yesterday and scheduled my consult appt. I asked the nurse about time-frames. She said that it will really depend on your medical conditions and if Dr Yadegar is requiring more tests. She said typically from consult to surgery, it can take 2-3 months, depending on their schedule. I'm hoping that since I'm a pretty easy case and don't have many other medical issues going on that I should be able to get in sooner than later. Dr Yadegar is on vacation in Aug so the soonest I could get my consult appt was Sept 9. I can keep you posted after my appt to let you know what their timeframe looks like.

@Kristykreem: I had my appointment with Dr. Alskalf this morning. My weight has gone done and I've even lost 3.5 inches on my waist. Amazing!! Best news of all: I received my referral to the surgeon!! Whoo hooo!!!! I can call tomorrow to schedule my initial consult with him. I'm feeling really great right now!

@Humpty Dumpty: I say go for it!!! Stuff what you got!!! A friend of mine purchase ankle weights that are adjustable so she was able to slowly remove some weight as she went for the regular weigh-ins. Might be less noticeable than in your bra. Just wear pants to your weigh-ins.

How funny that the cancellation was you!!! The nurse that called me said there were several cancellations. Perhaps there are other people who are having the same issues with work. It is tough to get to all of these appointments we have to do. I'm lucky because I work in Encino, so it's not too far from the Panorama City location. I have told my direct supervisor what's going on, so she knows that I will have appointments and come in late sometimes. And she's super supportive of me and gets regular updates from me on my progress. Luckily I can just stay a little later to make up the time. Thanks for the heads up on contacting Wenda. I think I will check with her to see where I am in the process.

@Kristykreem: Great news! Dr. Alskalf's office just called me and told me that they had a cancellation, and since all my lab results have come back already, they are going to see me on Monday morning. I will be able to find out then if my referral for Lancaster is already in the works and what the time frame is. I've been thinking about the San Diego facility alot. If Lancaster is going to take a while, I think I might switch.

@realred: Congrats!! So happy to hear your progress. I'm considering making the switch to San Diego knowing how the process seems so much faster. Definitely something for me to think about! @kristykreem: I do know many people who either gained the weight to qualify or puts weights in their pockets to qualify. They do want you to lose weight in class and before surgery, so I don't think it's a bad idea especially knowing how much help you'll get from the surgery. Sometimes you have to play their game! I also would agree with your take on the Options classes for Mr Mason. I felt like the nutrional portion of the classes were the most beneficial. But as far as paperwork goes, they had no idea what they were doing. I was a little irritated on the last class when I was told that I hadn't turned in all my food logs when I had completed everything each week on time. I insisted that I had completed it, but I was told that there was no way that my log could have been misplaced, and I would just have to do an addional week. I took an extra log home, resigned to do another week and feeling frustrated that my referral could be held up because of this. Sure enough, a few hours later I received a phone call that they had indeed found my log in with another class. I would recommend making copies of your logs before handing them in.

@realred64: So nice to see you here!!! I'm sorry to hear that the experience at W. LA was so bad. I was tempted to go there because there is still some unknowns about Lancaster. Primarily that they are doing construction at the hospital and Wenda didn't know if that would affect the surgery timelines. I also didn't want to drive to San Diego but it sounds like Kristykreem has it all figured out. That's so nice that they have fold-out beds for someone to stay with you! I'm hoping that there won't be any delay, as I'm so ready to do this!!! . @donna4545: Thanks for the details on the hospital stay. I also thought 3 days seemed a little long, but that makes sense that it would be that long if there was the full incision. My step-mom had gastric bypass about 8 years ago and she did have a long hospital stay but they did the full cut on her. Not sure if they didn't do laproscopic at the time, or if they just couldn't do it on her due to size. I'm really hopeful that it will only be a 1 night stay at the most.

I'm not sure yet. I have an appt with Dr Alskaf on 8/18. I'm not sure if that's when he sends the referral to Lancaster. I did tell his nurse, Wenda, that I wanted to go to Lancaster, so hopefully that will start the process. She told me that it's usually about 4 weeks to get a consult appt and then it could be anytime after that for surgery, assuming all my tests are good and I complete my psych eval. I've already done my blood work, chest x-ray, and ekg, and I have an appt for the psych eval the week after I see Dr. A.

Horray!!!!! I'm so happy for you Kristy!!! Keep us posted on what happens.:001_tongue:

Wow! That seems like a pretty major detail for them not to disclose!! Hopefully Dr. A will give them the correct info for future classes. I see him in 2 weeks so I will ask him about it as well. Thanks for the update!

I am being referred to Dr Yadegar and everything that I've read online about him was glowing and spoke very highly of him and his staff. I'm really looking forward to meeting him. I'll let you know once I meet him what my impression is.

Hey Kristy! I wonder if we were in the same Options class at Kaiser. I also finished on July 8 in the 5:30 class. Was that the one you were in? I would love to reconnect with some classmates. So far since the class, I have been contacted by Dr. Alskalf's office and was sent in for a myriad of blood tests. I was shocked when they took 15 vials of blood from me (perhaps I've just been watching too much True Blood, since my first thought was that they were going to sell it on the black market! :thumbup:) I also went in for a chest x-ray and ekg. I still have to schedule a psych eval and I have an appt with Dr. A in 2 weeks. Hopefully that is when I will get my surgery referal. I chose to do the surgery at the Lancaster facility since I live in Santa Clarita. They gave me the option of going to LA or San Diego, but I didn't want to drive to San Diego and I had no idea when or who I would see in LA. The Lancaster facility has 1 doctor, Dr. Yadagar, and all the reviews I could find for him were glowing. I was also unaware that the surgery required an in-patient stay. I was under the impression that it was a 1 night stay. Is it really 3 nights? Yuck! Well, I guess the good part about that is that they can give you more pain meds if you're not feeling good. I'm glad the classes are over now, although I did find them informative. It would have been nice to have ALL the info though!