riley4183

I don't know how often she does them. But I can tell you that there were 14 people in my class, and they had surgery dates from the middle to the end of February, so I would say every 2 weeks.

Oh I would love to have visitors, my BFF Mary Jo and my son Daniel will be there, and they said that they won't let them in to see me until after I have gotten out of recovery and been down to have my barium swallow, then they park me in a recliner in a room until I can walk around and keep liquids down. I can have visitors then! I would finally get to meet you! I hope I'm not too out of it to remember you . . . LOL They schedule the pre-op classes, the pre-op lab work, and the last visit with the surgeon at the end of the CM appointment - and you get your SURGERY DATE during the appointment! You get the surgery date then they work back from there, they want you to do the last surgeon visit and the 2 classes and the final medical pre-op with Tom Greenwood about 2 weeks before surgery. You won't get those appts. any earlier, and the labs are only good for 30 days. They did give me another visit with Dr. Baggs that same day (it was Monday, and I had just had my first visit with him on Friday!) and they set my surgery date 30 days out. They actually tried to give me an earlier date (Wednesday the 18th), but I already had the week of the 23rs off work so I asked for that date and got it. I feel really spoiled!

You gals have hit on the #1 reason for success, and that it SUPPORT!!!! Keep it up, you are ALL doing great! Christine, you had better bop on over to the hospital wing and visit me on Monday the 23rd!!! My surgery is at 8 and they said I should be out of there by 2. Tina, pre-op classes are VERY informative, they tell you all of the stuff you really NEED to hear . . .for me, the #1 thing they said was that they had never lost anyone of the table, ever! My #1 fear is not waking up from surgery, and that's just about eliminated now. I was irritated by a few folks in the class who asked really lame-o questions that normally would come up in orientation class, not in the very last class before surgery . . . . My orientation was November 2nd, my surgery is February 23rd. When I went to orientation, Liz said that about twice a month they had a superstar that did everything they were supposed to do and lost their weight by their surgeon appointment, and they were rewarded by fast-tracking. I vowed to be one of those people - and I was! So are you!!!

Woo-hoo-hoo is right Christine!! SWEET!!!!! Keep it up! You are so motivating me right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Nicole, I love my Mirena and I'm so glad I can leave it in for surgery! When I had my CM appt with Liz, there were 3 other gals in there too (she was trying a "class" thing). Two had had hysterectomies, 1 was post-menopausal and I have my tubes tied AND have a Mirena IUD! She got a good chuckle out of the fact that she did not have to preg test any of us :-) So no, that was the one test that I did not need to have!:crying: Not having periods can be caused by obesity too. I did not have any for the first year I was on Mirena, now that I have lost 40 lbs. I have a very light one (like, I spot for a week). I love it!

They just posted my lab results, they were the tests I pasted below - pretty much the same ones that they did a month or so ago, except without the HgA1c and pylori (ulcer) one. Mine were all normal except the Blood Urea Nitrogen was out-of-range too high, but that goes up when you are on a very high-protein diet which I of course am. The smart card in my CPAP said I have only .9 apneas per hour, and they said that up to 5 is nromal, so I am fully treated - with the machine set at its lowest level (5)! I still think it's all a crock. It waked me up all night when it blows too hard, it causes morning headaches, I feel MORE TIRED instead of better rested, and it is just a royal pain. But I am 100% on that thing every night, they said I had to so I'm doing it! I do like that it resuces the bags under my eyes, the co-pay is worth it just for THAT benefit! LOL. I do not officially get my surgery time until next Friday, but unofficially it's at 8 am and I have to be there at 6. Supposed to go home by 2! :smile: 02/10/2009SODIUM, SERUM AARON GEOFFREY BAGGS MD02/10/2009CBC (COMPLETE BLOOD COUNT) WITHOUT DIFFERENTIAL AARON GEOFFREY BAGGS MD02/10/2009POTASSIUM, SERUM AARON GEOFFREY BAGGS MD02/10/2009CREATININE, SERUM, WITH GLOMERULAR FILTRATION RATE AARON GEOFFREY BAGGS MD02/10/2009GLUCOSE, RANDOM AARON GEOFFREY BAGGS MD02/10/2009BLOOD UREA NITROGEN, SERUM AARON GEOFFREY BAGGS MD02/10/2009CARBON DIOXIDE, SERUM AARON GEOFFREY BAGGS MD02/10/2009CHLORIDE, SERUM AARON GEOFFREY BAGGS MD02/10/2009ALBUMIN, SERUM AARON GEOFFREY BAGGS MD

Tina, yay! I know you were worried about your CM appt. with Liz because of the vegetarianism, but she was great about it wasn't she! Folks chose to stay away from flesh foods for a variety of reasons, including religion, and none of us do it just to make our lives harder . . . I have found that the staff there are very respectful of differences. In fact Liz blows me away with her level of patience with a variety of folks. Kaiser Richmond ROCKS!! :-) Today I have to have my CPAP read by the pulmonologist and set at whatever . . I hate it, it wakes me up all night and gives me morning headaches, but I HAVE TO do it so I am 1000% compliant!! Oh and I have also noticed that the bags under my eyes are much less pronounced, don't know if it's from a different sleep pattern, or from my mask leaking and blowing cold air over my eyes all night, LOL! And I have to have my final lab work done today and pick up my pre-op nasua medication script. It's less than 2 weeks away now!!!:thumbdown:

Hey Tina! I went to the pre-opp classes today with Liz & Robin, and I asked specifically about vegetarian eating, getting enough protein when soy protein is so much less dense, etc. Robin says it's harder but it can be done, she says that the plant based protein foods (i.e., soy) slip through the band easier and faster than the animal-based proteins, but you can eat eggs and cheese and cottage cheese and the regular-style boca burgers, but NOT the california burgers cause they are all grain and veggie. Seitan is good, too. She said she met with vegetarians one-on-one and she would meet with me before I went to stage 5 (rest of life diet). I have already agreed to eat chicken and fish for a year but no more . . . anyway, she was not negative about it and neither was Liz. The only thing Ronin didn't answer was if you can eat too much soy (I get over 35 gr soy protein a day) and she just said that's really controversial So nothing came up in my pre-op medical exam with Tom today about the apnea treatment, I guess Dr. Fisher is not as worried about treating it for a long time if you have lap band (cause you are under so much longer for RNY), but Dr. Baggs is my surgeon! I need to ask him but he's gone through the 12th . . . . so I am going to just proceed on to surgery on the 23rd unless someone stops me! I had to lose more than 10%, I stared at 285 and I was 250 when I first saw Dr. Baggs, he set my goal at 255. Whew! A little breathing room. Still, I want to be down 40 lbs before surgery, and it's within reach. :thumbup:There were 2 or 3 folks in my class today that were almost 20 lbs below their goal weight, Liz was VERY happy :-)

Nicole, is Liz your Case Manager? She can be a little hard to warm up to, but she's only so strict because she wants you to be safe and successful. She really does . . .

AzAir; The only thing I have in the morning is coffee, too, but I get 1/2 my day's protein out of it! I make a huge (decaf) latte with 2 cups of sugar-free choclate soy milk (Soy Slender, WestSoy makes it), 14 grams protein 140 cals 2 grams carbs 2.5 fat and then I add 2 scoops of my soy protein powder (I can't tolerate whey, or any milk products) that adds another 120 cals 1 carb 1.5 fat and 25 g protein So 360 calories 4 g fat 3 g carbs 39g protein On my program (Kaiser) we are not allowed to have protein shakes, so I don't call this one - I log it as a latte + supplamental protein powder . . . we ARE allowed to add protein to our food . . . . Hope that helps! Riley

The labs that have the 30 day window are the final ones, which Liz orders for you at your CM appointment when you get your surgery date. She puts a lock on them so they do not show up as required until 30 days before your surgery date -so you will be fine. The ones that you just did are the ones that you HAVE to do to see Liz; she reviews them with you. You are SURE to lose weight in Africa, you will be working hard, drinking a TON of water, and probably scared of lots of the native foods! You're going to lose, I'm just sure of it!:tongue:

Yes, I still plan to go to my pre-op classes on Thursday, and will talk to Liz and I also have my pre-op exam with Tom Greenwood that day, he goes over EVERYthing and hopefully will be able to guide me! The only thing that I am putting off until I hear for sure is the pre-op lab work, because it is only good for 30 days and if they push it to late March I would have to do it twice. But I am so discouraged that I've gained 2 pounds back! My first trial . . . .

Dr. Baggs asked me about snoring too, as I had checked it on the form . . he asked if I was sleepy during the day (no), had ever fallen asleep while driving (no), woke of gasping (no) or if I ever woke up with a headache (no). No symptome outside of the snoring. Have you been screened for apnea? Its a little questionnaire called the epworth scale Epworth sleepiness scale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . . . I had classes I had to take at my kaiser, they screened everyone in my 14-week class for it, twice even. I was always under 10 but I wrote on there that I snore so I guess that triggered them, even tho Dr. Baggs was not concerned. In any case, better if it's diagnosed because folks with untreated apnea can have difficulties coming out of anesthesia, and my single biggest fear is not waking up . . . . so I am glad they found it, just not glad that they did not get me in for 2 and a half:unsure: months. Jerks.

Dr. Baggs asked me about snoring too, as I had checked it on the form . . he asked if I was sleepy during the day (no), had ever fallen asleep while driving (no), woke of gasping (no) or if I ever woke up with a headache (no). No symptome outside of the snoring. Have you been screened for apnea? Its a little questionnaire called the epworth scale Epworth sleepiness scale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . . . I had classes I had to take at my kaiser, they screened everyone in my 14-week class for it, twice even. I was always under 10 but I wrote on there that I snore so I guess that triggered them, even tho Dr. Baggs was not concerned. In any case, better if it's diagnosed because folks with untreated apnea can have difficulties coming out of anesthesia, and my single biggest fear is not waking up . . . . so I am glad they found it, just not glad that they did not get me in for 2 and a hald months. Jerks.

Heck if I know what happened! I took the screening test (Epworth questionnaire) in early November with the rest of my 14-week class, all but 2 of us got called within a week to come in and pick up the equipment for an overnight sleep study, most of them already knew that they had apnea . . . . i am one of the lowest BMIs in there and do not have symptoms, so I just figured I screened negative. I did write "but I snore!" on the questionnaire . . . so anyway, everyone else in my class has now been treated for apnea for at least 2 months, which is what they require before you can get your CM appointment. Well the day AFTER I had my CM appointment - my surgery already scheduled for less than a month out - the pulmonology department at kaiser santa rosa calls and says you have to come in for a sleep study, we have an opening this afternoon can you come, of course I argued that I did not need it, but they said fine then just go ahead and do this test and we will leave you alone, right now it is in your records that you need it, so I went to the class and got the tester and did it that night and the next morning I go to the website and there is an appointment for me to go to a class to learn about sleep apnea on like the 13th, which means i tested positive so I called and they finally told me my results and are getting me in to get the trial CPAP machine on Tuesday instead of 2 weeks from now. I don't know if they lost my paperwork, or forgot me or someone else suddenly decided that I needed a sleep test, or what but here I am! If they still want 2 months of treatment then my surgery date is going to get moved up to March or April, and I am very discouraged after I worked so hard and everyone arranged their time off around my surgery date. NOT HAPPY :thumbup:

Have any of you recently been diagnosed with apnea and started treatment? They JUST called me in for sleep study . . .I was screened way back in November and no one called me until last week to come in - and it showed moderate apnea, which I now have to treat with a CPAP that they of course want me to purchase, go to a class on the 13th etc. this is at my local Kaiser. My surgery is scheduled for the 23rd! I do not have ANY apnea symptoms and was all zeros and 1's on the epworth questionnaire, but in any case I could have already been being treated for it if they had called me back when I did the screening! Has anyone else been diagnosed right before surgery? Riley

Holy cow Christine, that's a lot of exercise! A lot of weight loss too, thats great! I will also lose at 3 lbs a week, but for me then I go for 3 weeks without losing a dag blammed THING, and there is no reason for that! Just none at all . . but it sure happens! Keep up the great work!:bored:

woo-hoo! You are TOTALLY kickin butt!!! Yes you will get your surgery date at your CM appointment, that is SO EXCITING!!! Congratulations!

Good luck today ladies! Let us know how it went! My pre-ops and classes are Feb. 5th. The pre-op medical exam is short, I went with a friend to hers and I stayed in the room. He goes over the medications in very fine detail, goes over instructions for the day before surgery, he is a very professional medical assistant EE GADS I can't remember his name right now! Thomas something . . . His pic is hanging in the surgeon's waiting area. The actual lay-on-the-table exam is very short, shorter even than the one Dr. Baggs did, you lay down and pull up your shirt and he looks and presses and you're done.

For lap-band, all you need are the multivitamin (I got Flintstones!) with minerals - Centrum is good as long as it has 100% RDA of iron - and calcium. We can take any kind of calcium; I got Os-cal and she said it was fine. Both must be CHEWABLE

Nicole ~ So sweet when you start feeling skinny! A size 16 - WOW! I sure can't say that! 36 pounds down and I am just NOW starting to see a change in the way my clothes fit. People are just starting to notice. . . . Don't be nervous about tomorrow. You are one of the STARS cause you lost all of your weight so fast and have been doing it by doing what they tell you to do! You will be a teacher's pet! Liz is a total sweetheart, she was only gruff in the beginning when they wanted to weed out the people who were not serious. Bring your Vitamins, if you have the wrong ones whe will just tell you and make some recommendations - she will not make you feel bad or dumb or anything. If you get any questions wrong on your test, she will go over them with you kust to make sure that you know where to find the info in your binder after surgery. You will need to be in a support group or planning on attending the Richmond one. Or signing up for individual appts. with a counselor. I would tell her that you are meeting with other kaiser richmond patients in Sacto, so she knows that you are meeting with supporters who are not "just friends that you talk about it to." It is FINE! I felt very supported. She was awfully sweet, patted my arm a bunch and stuff like that. She's there to support YOU - she is strict to, but that's so you will be safe.

Oh my goodness, Nicole, you lost that weight FAST! For me the weight loss got slower after I lost my first 10 lbs! THAT part was easy . . . probably because I was like totally bloated from eating junk and Chinese food just before orientation! LOL. But then I had to exercise a whole bunch to lose more, dag blam it. . . . . now it's fast again but probably because I am so nervous about having surgery so soon! I can hardly eat!

I know there's not a difference in the scales - Dr. baggs said that they had just had them all checked a couple of weeks ago and they were all accurate to within 2/10 of a pound, that is pretty darned good! I just like the one in the first room on the right in the surgery suite 'cause it's the first one that showed me below my 10% goal! And that was not even my appointment, I was just there with a friend - who is having her surgery tomorrow, and started in September - she is RNY and also lost all of her weight by surgeon appt.

Nicole, we were @ the same orientation girl! We are tracking the same . . . .

Tina, one more thing re: your decision to have lap-band or RNY. Liz said in my CM meeting yesterday, that they will continue to treat us at Kaiser Richmond (for the bariatric stuff only of course) for the rest of our lives, even if we no longer have Kaiser. It is all part of the aftercare. She said that the only thing that they cannot do for us if we are no longer Kaiser is the lab work. HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!?! We are BLESSED to have Kaiser my friends!:cursing: