Anyone From Sacramento?

[momcof3 1]

I am getting banded on Aug 26 at the Kaiser Richmond CA with Dr. Im. I know there are a lot of people in the Sacramento area as I saw them on my visits. I had my orientation on May 9, my surgeon appt the first week of June, psych in July and case manager a week later. I asked why they didn't have someone come to Sacramento once a week for the non surgeon appointments as there are so many patients in Sacramento. She said they won't do that, but didn't really give me an answer why.

Pam in Sacramento

[smilin_apple 0]

I used Kaiser in SSF and that was pretty much the response I got for the same queston. Except the staf has since elaborated saying that the Sacramento Office is not being cooperative. Even when they have the planned support groups in sacramento on the 4th Saturday of the month....SSF Kaiser wasn't getting support. So now we are not going the support meetings being headed up by Kaiser staff any longer. We are all fighting to try and get more cooperation from the Sacramento Kaiser facilities, especially the LapBanders knowing we have to drive out to Frisco, Richmond or Fremont for our follow up and fills each month. I have been doing it for 9 months months and it has become quite costly witht the high gas prices and toll bridge costs.

Have you ever been to a support group meeting at the Point West Kaiser on the 4th Saturday of the month???

[momcof3 1]

No, I haven't gone to any support meetings in Sacramento, but would like to. When and where do you meet? I too am getting tired of driving to Richmond, but I can handle it once a month. The price of the gas is much less than the price of the surgery and fills would be if I had to self pay so I don't stress on it.

Pam

[susieQ 0]

I got banded8/7/08 and am not scheduled for my first visit until 8/29/08 three weeks later. I am feeling better so I started stage 3 of foods today so dar I am ok. They are supposed to be starting fill appt. in Sacramento soon. But I still have to go to SS. I am trying to get fills in richmond to save gas and time. They really dont give you an answer as why you cant go to Ritchmond instead I am going to keep buggin them a hopefuly they will let me. Its such a waste of a whole work day to got to san farn. I still am pretty sore when I walk around my port is that usual?

[ginarf 0]

OK, I guess I am the only one on this forum that goes to the Fremont Kaiser! But, at least I understand it maybe only once a month for a year and then maybe less after that...

I really appreciate this site all of the support, and I really love to see all of the tickers and profiles. I am so nosy I guess, but I look at a lot of people profiles after I read their posts. It is hard to know where everyone is coming from, there past trails with WL and just learn a little about the person you are reading about. So, thanks for taking the time to post and reply to all of my questions....

As far as Sac support group meetings there is one in Elk Grove every week it was on Tuesdays, but they may have changed the day that they meet (I heard that rumor). I will look into it and post it here. It is a large and fairly informal group when I attended. It is very helpful though. I know there is one at Point West Kaiser too the first Wednesday of every month. Other than that I am not sure about when the others meet.

I am still having a dilemma over whether to have the lap or another procedure. I am not going to make my final decision until I meet with Dr. Dennen on this Friday for my pre-op. Does that sound crazy to you all! If they had someone here to do there fills, it might sway my choice slightly. But, overall I just want the tool that is going to be most helpful to me long term. I have emailed Dr. Dennen about weather they do the gastric sleeve procedure. I have done a lot of research on that and I think that would be a good option for me instead of lap band. I know it seems extreme and a lot of people think it is experimental, but really it is not. There is a bunch of controversy over the procedure, but someday it may be the the norm instead of RNY or the band. Only time can tell right???

Well, keep me posted on your progress and if any of you Sacramento dwellers want to meet up at a support group... let me know!

Thanks!

[momcof3 1]

I am interested in the Elk Grove group as I actually live on the border of Elk Grove and Sacramento. Please let me know who to contact to find out when and where they meet. You can e-mail me directly if you want at momcof3@frontiernet.net .

I think you need to choose whichever procedure you feel most comfortable with and want. It is a personal choice and as you are the one who has to deal with the process and the after appointments, it needs to be what you want to do. Good luck. I am getting nervous about Tuesday - I reread my binder this morning going over the steps I need to take tomorrow and then on Tuesday. I have all my Clear Liquids for the first two days after the surgery and my modified liquids for the period after that. My case manager is going to call me the day after the surgery and then my nutritionist is going to call me when it is time to go to the pureed food stage.

Pam

[Vicki J 0]

Hey all you Kaiser patients! It's good to see that the communication between us is going strong. For those of you who don't know me, I was banded on 12/12/07 by SSF Kaiser. I really feel for all of you who are running back and forth trying to get to the sweet spot. It'll happen though. I hit mine in May thank goodness. I agree with all of you about them getting someone up here to do the fills. I mean how hard can it be? I'm sure with a little training our PCP's can do it. I know that will NEVER happen. We must continue to give the "experts" their space. LOL

Well, anyway, congratulations to those that are on the band wagon and to those that are about to board.

Oh, as far as the sleeve goes, I have a friend who chose that way because of the fact that there was less follow-up needed. She's done really good. However, I have done just as well with the band. Ok, she has more sick leave than I do. Each one of us must choose which surgery is best for us. BUT - don't choose the surgery JUST because you might have to follow-up less. Research each one and find out if you're comfortable with the BADS as well as the goods. I don't think that malabsorbtion of GB is worth the less follow-up. This is just my humble opinion and the decision I made for myself. However, if I couldn't have gotten the band I would have been looking hard at the sleeve. GB would have been a last resort. Being obese was no longer a choice in my eyes.

Have a good Monday everyone!

[ginarf 0]

:biggrin:Thanks for your reply Vicky! How are you doing with the band? Can you share any tips with us that have helped you out with the band and going through Kaiser?

You have a great Monday too! I am going out for lunch with a friend becasue I know it will be a while before I feel like doing that after surgery. My surgery is in 9 days and I have several friends who want to take me out to lunch. I guess it is the last supper attitude. But, really I have gotten into such a healthy eating pattern that it is never too much of a splurge. The only thing that I know I want to have before next week is called a black and tan ice cream sundae. I know I will never eat another one. It is just too much sugar! I will go with my hubby this weekend and share it though so I do not get sick off of all of the sugar! :-)

Anyways, thanks again for checking in with us!

Gina

[callensfamily 0]

Yeah!! I'm from Sacramento too!! I was banded on 8/5/2008 by Dr. Waldrup. I've lost 12 pounds so far. My first fill is 9/12. So glad I found this board!

[Vicki J 0]

Hey Gina - Never say never. I occassionally indulge in the forbidden fruit but after eating my good meal first. Usually because I don't want to have my band make me regret eating too much I only eat a taste and surprisingly I'm totally happy with that. So just make sure that when you want your taste to take someone who will finish it or that you're comfortable walking away from it. DO NOT TAKE IT HOME! Taking home the good stuff is acceptable but not the treats.

I am doing great with the band! I reached goal about 3 weeks ago and I'm learning to live in maintainance. So far so good <knocking on wood>. One of the things I would say is to try and think of how the surgeon is receiving what you're trying to say. (Clear as mud, huh) What I mean is I had decided to continue doing the 1200 calorie diet with exercise until I reached my sweet spot. During one of my visits he told me that he didn't want to give me a fill because I was loosing weight. After a brief but bloodless battle he gave me a SLIGHT fill. I went home pouting because I was still hungry. At that point I realized that he didn't have the whole picture. The next visit started out the same but changed when I informed him that he couldn't go by my loosing weight. I told him what I was doing and that I would loose weight because of that. With this information he gave me what was his normal fill of .5 cc. From that point on I tried to think out my approach to the appointments so that he could know what was going on and react to all the information.

Other than that, living with the band for me has been easy. The worse thing that has happened to me is about a week ago I got ahold of some pork that was way too dry and it irritated my stoma for a few days. I spent that time trying to eat some soft foods/liquids and now everything is fine again. I have been really careful not to get too tight and throttle my stomach. Hunger isn't like it used to be and you really don't get that emergency feeling anymore once you get to the sweet spot. Of course, full isn't the same anymore either. You have to realize when you're satisfied rather than that "God I ate too much" feeling. It's a learning curve and you'll push it once in a while. Just try not to push too often and you'll be fine.

I live by the rule that I can have anything I want. Ok, I hear all the hard core banders out there yelling "What!!!???" The other side of that is that I also journal and when I see that if I eat something high calorie that I'm going to be hungry for the rest of the day, it usually is enough for me to decide I don't want it. I give myself 1200 calories. A calorie is a calorie but some of them come with not enough bulk. During my weight loss phase I used to limit myself to 1000 except for days when I wanted that little extra.

Be true to yourself. Your body is the most accurate calorie counter you can find. If you're burning more than you take in, you'll loose. Less, you'll gain. Don't look at this like it a punishment or you'll fail. This is the beginning of life for all of us. It feels so good to be on the skinny side.

Good luck on your surgery. Feel free to contact me whenever you have a question. Test new foods carefully.

[smilin_apple 0]

Congrats on finally reaching goal Vicky J!!!!

You know about all my other issues with fills and unfills gaingin 6 lbs and not losing and so on well I finally have great news!!!!

I went in to Dr. Alami's office and met with him and Said Paul Arsalane (his PA) on Tuesday last week to have a fill and Arsalane put the 0.2 cc's in it was so tight I wasn't even able to get the Water down that they gave me to drink. So he decided to take the 0.2cc's back out.

Well it looks like he might have left a drop in there of the 0.2 he originally put in because I feel like I am finally at my "Sweet Spot"!!!

I have lost 7lbs this week alone!!! The most I have lost since surgery was 7 lbs in one month (not including the 2 weeks right out of surgery where I lost 16 lbs of course)

I am finally feeling like it is happening for me again. I need to stop weighing myself all the time because I have been getting on the scale 2 times a day for the last week, but it just keeps going down and I get so excited to see that!

If I can just remain on track I know I will be at my goal in no time at all. I know it will slow down a bit but at least I am back on track once again and that is all that matters.

Gina- Is kaiser doing the Sleeve procedure now? When I started there it was only RNY GB and then they started the LapBand about 3 months later, but I didn't know they were doing the sleeve.

As far as the support group meeting go I thought that the meeting at Point West was held on the Third Saturday of the month??? Did they change that recently? Well I would definitly be interested in meeting all of you. Maybe we can meet up at a support group here in Sac or even get together and do our own little group once month or so at a coffeehouse/resturaunt or someones house??? What does everyone think?

[ginarf 0]

:thumbup:I really appreciate this message board, it is so encouraging to know there are people close by that have or will go through similar struggles. I would love to meet up with anyone from Sacramento, I know there is a support group on the first Wed of every month at Point West Kaiser. The guy who runs it is looking for someone to take his place though, so eventually that day may change. I went the first Wed of August, but I can't remember his name right now. I am in Elk Grove so it makes more sense for me to attend out here and I can chose what week or weeks work for me becasue it is EVERY WEEK. I am just screwed up on what day of the week ...becasue it was every Tuesday evening. Then my friend told me it got changed. I will email her right now and ask her what evening it is for sure and the time. OK I just emailed her, so hopefully she will email me or call me tomorrow. I will let you all know when I find out!

April, :tt1: this question is going to suck, but can you PM me the answer if you are not comfortable with answering here. #1.) What made you chose LP over GB? Where you told the wt. loss would be the same? 2.) What do you think caused your problems with the band? User error, or just plain fill issues or Dr. issues or what? I guess I should look at your profile and it may have all of these answers to my questions...

Vickie- Wow! Thanks for the long response. I appreciate people who tell me it is my choice, but that is a no brainer! :boink: I want to hear others positive experiences too, it is very encouraging. You know how they say it takes so many positive things to wipe out a negative in the human brain. Well, I think that is what I have been going through... I just want to gather as much info as I can to make the right decision for me but, I see a lot of complaints about the band... I have read the 30% of bands are removed in long term studies now! EEEK! What is that all about???

I must be missing all of the no problem, love my band forums!!! I know 2 people that have had success with LB and they think I am crazy to consider anything else. But I also know several who have had the GB and they of course got to goal way faster! I worry for 2 reasons. One I have heard that the more wt you have to loose the easier it is to loose wt with the band (not always true I am sure). I also can't exercise as much as some. I have had spinal surgery and deal with a lot of chronic pain (I am hoping that will lessen as I get lighter). You know...I can handle averaging 2 lb a week or even 1 lb down the line average. I have done WW I understand that there will be plateaus etc... so that is no big deal...

Two, the part that concerns me is that I am a sweetie in the long term. I can stay away or adjust for my sweets in the short run, but I always have fallen back into eating the CHOCOLATE!!!!:crying: I do think that my biggest problem is eating too much though. But, I normally ate because it was "good" and ate until I was full, not just satisfied. Is that usually the reason people throw up? Or is it mainly the not chewing until the food it liquefied?

OK this is my last question!!! I have read a lot of people on the LB & OH boards say they throw up everyday, feel sick, and have not lost a pound or hardly any wt. for weeks or even months with the band! How is that even possible? I do not really understand if you are not able to get food in your body with a overfill or what ever how can you not be loosing wt? That would be a terrible way to feel and a awful way to loose wt. but how is that possible? Eventually your body has to burn itself! I understand the whole starvation mode and the body trying to hold on to the fat, but really for a month, or even years to have the band and not loose any wt? THAT FEAKS ME OUT!!!!! Please PM me because I do not want to offend anyone with the question or the answers, I just want to hear some opinions and experiences. I am not trying to dog any one out by asking these questions, but I think they are legitimate concerns given what I have read...

I want to stress that what ever choice I make I already know the surgery does not make me loose wt. it will be me and my choices. I feel like I am already doing great with the pre-op wt. loss and if I was not eating all of my last tastes of free eating I would probably loose even more. But, I have chosen to stop and make those last supper choices now instead of after my surgery. I ate a chicken club from CJ's tonight with criss cuts! OMG!! It was good but I felt so stinking full and yucky afterwards!!!

Anyways, I am a chatty Kathy, so I will end this now before I go on forever!!!!

I will let you all know when I get the dates and times down for the meetings in Sacto. & E.G.

Also if you have before & after or progress pictures I would love to see those as well. Every bit of encouragment is helpful! You can email me at gina@gigisparties.com

Thanks a ton!:thumbup:

Gina

[ginarf 0]

Holy crap 84 lb that is a ton of wt. to loose. When did you start to have problems??? From what I read in your post I thought you ha not lost any now I see your ticker!!! Whoot!!

Gina

[smilin_apple 0]

Gina,

I am not offended at all, I love sharing my story to anyone who would like to know. I know that hearing others ups and downs is what got me ont he "Bandwagon" in the beginning and really helped me to get through all my fears. Let me start off by saying sorry for the book...

Well let me see where to start. In May 2005 I had back surgery for a herniated disc that I had between my L4 and L5 vertebrates, and I had a 3 months bed rest recovery period where I was out of work. When I had the surgery I weighed in at 338 lbs and by the time I was 3 months out I was down to 330 lbs. I made a promise to my Neurosurgeon that I would lose the weight to make it easier on my back after surgery. Even though I had surgery I knew I was going to continue to have back issues because they discovered that I also had "Degenerative Arthristis" in the same area of my lower spine.

Well for the first 9 months after surgery I did pretty good, I maintained my weight pretty well, didn't have much back pain, (nothing that some prescription strenght Motrin would handle) then between being a full-time single mom, full-time student (17 units) and Working full-time; not to mention the ending of a relationship with a man I cared deeply for it kinda put me into this depressive type state, and I guess over the next year I put on approx. 86 lbs.

By November 2006 I had my orientation and I found out that I had hit 416lbs.(WOW, I was shocked and appauled) During that class is when I heard someone say they heard that SSF Kaiser was going to start doing the LapBand and I had never heard of it prior to that day. So I went home and started doing some research about it. Well I found out that Kaiser was going to start doing trial LapBands in Feb 2007. So when I saw the head of SSF Kaiser Bariatrics in January 2007 I asked her and she told me that it would be a decision that would have to be made between my surgeon and I .

The first time I met Dr.Alami was in March 2007 and he agreed after some light discouragement that he would do the LapBand on me if I lost about 40 lbs first. At first I really didn't take my pre-surgery weight loss serious enough but in June 2007 decided to start eating smaller portions and losing weight. By the time I saw Dr. Alami again in September 2007 I had lost about 30 lbs so he decided to get me in on the surgery schedule.

They called me in October 2007 to schedule me for November 7, 2007 which I of course accepted.

By the time I went in for my pre-surgery follow-up on November 1, 2007 I was 383 lbs. Dr.Alami actually tried to make sure that this was the surgery I wanted at this appointment, He really thought the RNY GB might be better for me but I assured him (even though I still had some doubts) that I would rather lose the weight slowly than to lose 60-100 lbs in 4 months. I really wanted to give my skin a fighting chance to recooperate and not be as sagging as it would be if I had chosen the RNY GB.

This last 9.5 months has been very trying and I have have my ups and downs, but I have to say I would NOT change it for the world. Since the surgery on November 7, 2007 I have lost approx 51 lbs. (That plus my pre-surgery loss of 33 totals the 84 lbs lost)

Part of the reason of not losing as fast as some of the other Bandsters is part my error because I do not always eat the best, especially when I am in need of a fill and I can eat just about anything I tend to eat the worg types of food. But a big portion of it had to do with an issue I had with a different surgeon in May 2008.

My surgeon could not see me that month and had scheduled me to see Dr. David Le, who I had only met briefly one time before in November 2007 at the orientation class. Well I am not trying to bash anyone but he definitly has TERRIBLE bedside manner. My surgeon of course over the last 2 years has definitly developed a good repore, he always talks to me to see how I have been doing for the last month or so, never tries to rush me out of the office, always finds out how my eating is going, tries to get my input as to whether or not I think I need a fill, and is very supportive. Well Dr. Le was not to say the least!

He came in didn't even ask how the month went just started to fill up the needle with the amount of saline that he wanted to put in without even finding out how my eating was going. Well he decided to tell me after he put it in that he put in 1 cc, well I knew (from my experience the prior month ) that would be too much.

Let me back up a little the prior month Dr. Alami had put in .5 cc and it was a little too tight, I couldn't get much Fluid down at all so I had to make a second trip out there in April and had .6 cc's removed (he did that to allow for any swelling). So when Iwas seeing Dr. Le I knew I wouldn't need anything more than maybe .5 cc, well when he had me drink the Water and left the room I called his MA in the room and told her it was a little too tight. When he finally came back in after seeing another patient he said "Oh, you will be fine. Just go home and drink fluids for the next couple of days" After some hessitation and insisting it was too much, I went home (the 2 hour drive) This happened on a Tuesday and by Thursday morning I was on the phone with Dr.Alami's office asking to be seen because I had not even been able to get down 1 oz of fluid in 3 days. He couldn't get me in that day but they scheduled me for the next morning (Friday) and told me if my symptoms get any worse to come down right away. Well it did get worse and by 3 pm I had a severe Migraine, dehydration and pain in my stoma.

So I called the doctors office since they were still open and told them that with traffic and me having to get soemone to come in to replace me at work I could not get down there for at 3-4 hours. So I headed out shortly after and when I got there they were closed so I had to go to the ER in SSF. They called the on-call Bariatric surgeon and guess who it is...none other than Dr. Le!!!

Well he was none too happy about me calling him in from home. When I asked him "How much fluid are you taking out, because the last month when I was a little too tight Dr. Alami only took out a little extra" he said to me, " I am not here to bargain with you Ms. Jackson, you should've came into the clinic during normal hours. So I will take out what I need to take out!" so it turns out he removed all but 1 cc of fluid!!!

I was so upset, he took out over 5 cc's of fluid that I had just spent the last 6 months driving back and forth to SSF and spending all that gas money. I had 3 cc's in my band on the day of surgery, there was NO reason for him to have to take out that much at that time except out of spite!

I called Dr. Alami the next morning and was extremely upset and crying so he scheduled me for the next week to come in and start my fills up again. He filled me back up to 5 cc's total and that is when my uphill battle started again. It was from May, June and July that I started putting on weight. In total I gained about 6 lbs, I know I would have better weight loss numbers now if it wasn't for that horrible experience but I know I am back on track on doing things the right way again.

By the way I am finally at my "Sweet Spot" as of my last fill last week and I am eating the right amounts of food, now if I could just excercise more regularly I would be better off. But that that is honestly up to my back.I am 3.5 years out from my back surgery and have taking Morphine and Percocet for the last 2 years just to get through each day and the pain.

I am hopeful that by the time I get closer to my goal I will be able to wean myself off of at least half of the meds, I know all my doctors have told me that I will probably still have some amount of pain even after the weight loss due to other back issues not associated with the weight, but I will be happy when my Neurosugeon will be able to a better MRI picture of my back to see what is going on now that the pain has come back with a vengence.

So after that super long story let me just say this it is completely your decision but know that no matter which one you choose you will have support. Also know that for most of us we didn't know 100% that this was the right surgery for us until either we had the surgery or we lost the weight. I still had some doubts even on surgery day, I just knew that I didn't have any other issues other than bein Mobidly Obese and my Back problems so I knew my body could handle a slower weight loss. I figured I would rather deal with the back for another 2 years or so while I lost the 246 lbs I needed to lose than to lose it so fast, take the chance of the complications that come along with the RNY GB, the nutrition/vitamin deficiencies, malnutrition that can happen, internal bleeding, and so on that I have seen happen. Besides I know that one day I would like to have more children when I get married again and I felt that the LapBand offered that best possible pregnancy perks between that and RNY GB, I don't care what anyone else says, I don't think it is safe to be preganant after RNY GB when you already have Vitamin deficiencies. Normal women take extra Vitamins during the pregnancy for a reason.

With the Lap Band I can have all the fluid removed during a pregnancy and eat everything just as normal as any other woman. Then after the baby is born I can get it filled up again to start losing any gained weight right away. All the doctors will say it is just as safe either way but I obviosly have my own opinion about that!

Anyways enough rambling on, feel free to ask me any other questions you wish, I am an open book. To anyone else that is bothered by how much and what I said I apologize for offending, but I am just stating my opions and experience.

Take care and keep your head up!

[Vicki J 0]

Ok, now I'm frustrated. I just lost everything I typed. :cursing:

April - I'm sorry that you had all the problems with Dr. Le. He is a funny sort. (Funny meaning peculiar sort of way not meaning humorous). He is one that you must direct with a gloved hand. Once he starts to communicate with the patient it seems to work better. This is a good example of different surgeons working better for different people. It's good to see you're back on track and at your sweet spot. You'll be kicking some serious butt now. :huh2:

Gina - You need to learn not to be worried about the people who diss people on this or any forum. Also, check out smartbandsters.com. This is a group that was started by a bariactric nurse when she had the band placed 10 years ago and there was no support groups in the US. The band hadn't been approved up here yet so she went to Mexico to have the surgery. You will see lots of successes, a few strugglers, and a huge amount of support. Also, it's nice having some long timers and a professional to answer your questions.

There are only 3 reasons for not loosing with the band. 1) medical reasons - thyroid, etc. 2) The placement of the band. 3) user error. This includes not having the right adjustment because it's up to the user to make sure they get to their sweet spot. Being too tight can lead to "soft food syndrome" which means that most people at this state are eating more calories then they think they are. You don't stay full on soft foods and a lot of people don't realize they are taking in so much. If you're too tight or too loose, you need to be a pain in the butt until they get you right. April did the right thing and went home to contact her surgeon and let him know what had happened at the ER and she got him to get her back on track. A lot of people just pout about it and don't take action. Sometimes it's a wait to get in. That's life. You need to get on your 1200 calorie diet and work REALLY hard until you get there or you need to accept that you won't loose weight while you're waiting.

I chose the band because 1) I didn't want anyone rearranging my insides. The chance of leaks scared me. 2) I'm one of the world's worst pill takers. I forget. So taking supplements is not a good thing. 3) I wanted something that could be adjusted so that if I needed to have something different I could get it done. If I get where I'm hungry 3 years out, I want to be able to get tightened. If I have a reason to need less Fluid in there, I want to be able to do that too. I would have gone GB if that is all I could do but give me another choice and I would probably have taken that.

With the band you can expect to loose between 4-8 pounds per month on AVERAGE. It sounds slow but it's healthy and when it's done it will seem like it wasn't that slow at all. All WLS end up about the same at 3 years.

Choose what you're comfortable with. It is an individual thing. If you want to PM me, do so. However, don't be afraid of the people with bad attitudes. They simply aren't worth the worry.

Vicki