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Hello MY name is Darla I am new here on this site. I was just referred for lap band surgery by my doctor at Kaiser in so Calif. The same day that I was referred I got a phone call from a nurse educator to get some blood work done. I didnt get to speak to her unfortunatly because I wasnt home so she left the messege for me . I have no idea what comes next, it was suprising to me that they were already ordering blood work for the referral. I am currently 290 pounds with type 2 diabetes insulin dependent also on glipizide. I also have hypothyroidism and pocos and lymphodemia in my left leg. My blood pressure is not too high but not normal either. My cholestroal is high so I am on lowering medication for that as well. I am looking forward to meeting new friends on this site and gaining some insite as to how this all works. :laugh:

Kaiser I think does want you show that you have been on a medically supervised diet and that it failed I don't know how Im going to show that either. I can't afford any of their medically supervised diets . The only one I can show is weight watchers and jenny craig and I dont really have proof of them so we will see what happens when I go on the 19th of january. did they offically record your weight there?

Sounds like they do it a little differently in San Diego but not much, my doctor put in my referal and that same day they called me to do blood work and then I got a call about going to orientation on january 19 that was the soonest class they had . I think the next step is getting signed up for the 6 month of classes and seeing the pshc and the nutritionist but Im not sure. I starting to lean more towards the sleeve Gasterectomy the more I research the more I think that one might be a better option for me, but Im not going to decide until the orientation after I have heard everything. Keep me posted on your journey. I have been watching a lot of WLS video journals on utube and they are very inspirational and encouraging you should check it out.

Kaiser in so cal does the bypass and the sleeve but they do it at UCLA medical center. If I want the lap band I would have to go to the kaiser by long beach.

no the one in panarama city I am closer to the woodland hills kaiser but they dont do orientations there so I have to go all the way to panarama city . Its no big deal just about 15 more minutes away I think then woodland hills. Im leaning more towards the sleeve but Im going to wait till the orientation to make my final descision. Where is Richmond Kaiser at?

I am Not going to try to lose any weight until I am weighed in on the 19th of january because I am afraid that my weight loss will slow down if I start before they record my official weight and I want to be able to lose that 10%. Im getting excited for the orientation. I have been doing a lot of research and am kinda of wavering back and forth between lap band and the sleeve Gasterectomy. we will see how I feel about it after the orientation.

Hi Christine, when you went to orientation did they record your weight? I know that we are required to lose 10% of our weight but was wondering if the orientation meeting is the the weight they use?

Just make sure that you are mentally prepared and do a lot of research on life after the surgery because there is a reason most people have to go through those hoops its to prepare them. Not everybody but some people that do not prepare and just get the surgery have a much rougher time afterwards. There are also those that who do prepare and go through the classes and still have a very rough time so its different for each individual. I havent had the surgery yet so I cant tell you from my own experience just from what I have heard and read about. I can tell you this Im thankful that I am required to go through 6 months of classes to make sure I am ready. I pray for the best for you that you will do great in the surgery as well as through the whole journey.

Im having an ablation done in the next few weeks so Im looking at either no periods or very lite ones Thank goodness, I would hemmorage on the table otherwise!

Hello All I was hoping I would find a thread for Christians in here somewhere Praise God! I was just referred last week for WLS I choose the Lap band but I belong to kaiser and they have you go to an orientation to discuss all your options so Im going to ultimatly give it to the Lord, I was approached by my doctor to have this surgery because of my weight and all of my health complications, when I agreed to let him put a referral in I thought to myself this is going to be a long process I have plenty of time but that same day the referral had already been recieved and I was being called in to have blood work done and now Im set up for orientation on January 19th . I have had referals for other things take weeks so the fact that the referral came through so effortlessly Im going to completly credit the Lord with! It wasnt even on my mind to have this done and now that the door seems to be wide open Im stepping through it. I have a peace about it that I didnt think I would have so all I have to do is remember to trust and lean on the Lord through this whole experience. I too am a little timid about telling people for fear that they will try to discourage me, but prayers are way more important, and I know that the people that may try to discourage me would not being doing it malisiously it would be out of concern and love that they may have doubts but ultimatly we are to trust in the Lord. I can't wait to get to know some fellow christians here that have already had the surgery to learn from them and the fellow christians that have not Im looking forward to walking the journey with you.

I too want to have the lap band surgery but fear that the surgeon will suggest the other one, I guess I will just have to wait and see, for now I am preparing me self for whatever they decide, by researching all of the options and Im trying to really focus on eating smaller bites and chewing my food more completly because I think that will be one of the bigger habits to break so Im starting now. Im not even close to the surgery I have my orientation on January 19th . I feel like pianolover 51 I think the Doctor would know best so I will really listen to what they have to say about it and not close my mind off to the other options.

Thanks Riley I will check it out keep me updated on your progress and I will keep you updated on mine .

I agree that kaiser is great I just called them up a little bit ago to find out what the next step was and they really explained a lot to me which is how I got the date for my orientation already. Thats great that you have already lost 11 pounds. Do they put you on a diet in the classes or are you just expected to lose the 10%. So whatever my weight is at orientation I will need to lose 10% if that before surgery? I will make sure I dont take my dieretics for a few days before the orientation lol, im just kidding.

no I havent but I got an appointment for the orientation for jan 19th in panarama city. After that they said I would get an appointment with the doctor then after that a 6 month class also in panarama city. The coordinator on the phone said that they would go over all of the surgery options. They said plan on it taking close to a year from start to finish. they didnt say anything about the psyc yet but they did say I would have to lose 10% of my body weight and that would be done through the 6 month program I think the 6 month program may have the psyc step in it as part of the class but Im just guessing. he said the class was to prepare you for a lifetime change . I am researching all of the options because they will be discussing all of them and recommending based on each case so I want to prepared just in case they try to discourage the lap band for me because Im not sure Im comfortable with them removing and re routing body parts. If I get the Lap band done it would be in the south bay area that is where they do the lap band surgery he said the others would be at UCLA. I have fear and hope running through me right now. Im pretty thankful though that they make us go through a 6 month program to prepare us this is such a huge life change that I want to be absolutly ready for it.

Dolores, which Kaiser do you belong too? I was just referred as well and have already been called for blood work to be done. I havent heard back since then this was last week. we should follow along with each others progress we may end up having it around the same time and would have each other to support through it all in addition to all the wonderful folk on thie web site of course .

MY concern is that I have not talked to anybody but my doctor yet and when I checked in to this last year Kaiser didnt do lap band. My doctor says they are doing it now but I have my doubts. Is it odd that I have already been called in to do blood work or is that the first thing they do? I was in shock the normal wait time when a referral gets put in for anything is a couple weeks so when I got called back the same day I was amazed! I have been reading up on it to prepare my self but am a little worried that the rug will be pulled out from underneath me. Im also a little concerned about once I have the surgery how my medications will change. I was just recently put on the insulin because my blood sugars were going up to over 500 after having type 2 diabetes for about 8 years. I went from not taking any insulin to taking a lot of insulin in the past 2 months. That in itself is causing me to gain weight. Im just going to have to be patient and let the process happen I guess. I am assuming that I wont even see a surgery date for at least 6 to 8 months is that correct? That will give me time to save up some vacation time at work to recover for a few days. thanks for your replies