Starting a new journey in California

Hello there. I'm a 30 year old mother of two. I recently decided to pursue lap band surgery. I am a Kaiser patient and so far have not run into any problems. I had orientation about 2 months ago but they say I may not have a surgery date for 9 months. Does that sounds strange to anyone. I currently weigh 245 pounds. I'm curious if anyone know if there is an average weight loss with this surgery? I'm still a little nervous but so excited to live a new life.

I don't know about an "average" weight loss, jgilbert. Everybody is soooooo different. I do feel confident in saying this: You, personally, will get out what you put in to the band. Welcome to the LBT, and good luck!

Hi J! Welcome!

I'm also going through Kaiser. The 9 month wait for surgery is pretty accurate. They have a lot of patients and in Nor Cal, only 3 facilities up and running with another one coming online sometime this winter (they're hoping by the end of the year).

If you check the locations section for California and the insurance section for Kaiser, you'll see several threads from the last few months/year that would give you more answers. I'm also blogging (borrrring) if you want more info.

Best wishes on your journey. Let me know if you have any questions!! I'll be happy to answer, if I have an answer that is!

Take care!

jgilbert - I agree with the statement that this is an individual thing and whatever you put into it you'll get out of it. One thing for sure is there is no fooling the band. If you eat junk, it will not help you at all but if you follow most of the rules most of the time, it will help you tremendously.

One of the nice things about the band is that you don't have to be perfect. Sometimes during the journey you need to take a wee break and unless you're eating ice cream all day, it will hold your place until you're ready to get back to business.

Congratulations on the journey. Yes, Kaiser is overwhelmed with people wanting to improve their lives. The journey can be frustrating going through the Kaiser but it's worth it.

Take care -

Vicki
Banded 12/12/07