Wow it has been awhile since i was here (i actually started this thread) I did half azz try to get approved for the Lap Band but i guess at that time i wasn't ready.

I have a really good friend that i have watched have the sugery and she is doing very weel (she is a nurse) i have also lost a good friend last summer to the other WLS...(gastric bypass) I already knew that surgery was NOT for me.

My problem before was my Dr (i have Health Net HMO) was not and is still NOT supportive of ANY WLS! There is no way i can change my insurance until open enrollment until November of this year.

So my question is how do i start the process? I deffently know i need to change Dr's 1st, what else? My BMI is 43 and other than a neck and back injury i have no other medical issues.

Thanks for a ny info you can give me. I did re-join the Yahoo Bandsters group.

Nicole

Forgot to mention that i'm in South Sac, I have worked for the medical field for over 17yrs. I have nothing good to say about Kaiser...but that is just MY opinion.

Nicole

My first suggestion would be to change dr. You dont need new insurance to change dr.'s. Also call your insurance co and find out what they require for ex. 12 month weight loss history etc. Start from there.

Nicole-

I just had surgery with Healtnet HMO on 3/25/08. I use Sutter Medical Group in Elk Grove. What medical group do you have? I would recommend you change your PCP. Their referral to the surgeons is what gets the ball rolling. I would recommend you go to Dr. Waldrep website, salsa.md and request the new patient packet. In the packet they offer a great letter to send to you PCP. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Michelle

Thanks for the great advice ladies!

Nicole

I called my PCP and Healthnet today to check on my initial referral to get to see Dr. Waldrep at SALSA. The PCP's office said that they had submitted for authorization on the 18th. I then called Healthnet and the customer service rep very casually told me that I had been approved for the referral on the 18th and then she gave me the authorization code! I called back my PCP and asked them to please check their authorizations again and fax it over to the SALSA office so I can get started with the process. I only hope that when and if surgery is recommended that the approval is that quick and painless! The letter my PCP sent in to Healthnet must have been super.

Hi Everyone...I'm located about 14 miles North East of Auburn. I'm part of the Kaiser program also...and am slowly "coming out" about the process. Only about 3 or 4 people know I'm in the banding process...didn't want the pressure. I have my appointment with the Surgeon on the 19th, and hopefully will get a surgery date. I started the Kaiser process last August of 07. It definitely takes awhile.

Just wanted to thank you all for the wonderful information you've shared. I feel so ready and prepared because of all of you. I'm excited about this journey.

Hi All

It has been a while since I have been on.... I got banded in March... had the first fill in April.

I have Dr. David Le from San Francisco Kaiser. If any of you are getting your surgery done there. Try not to get Dr. David Le. He is can be very rude if you don't agree with him or have a differing opinion. He is very conservative with the fills and does not give a damn if you have to drive from the Sacramento area to San Fran. I have heard that Dr. Salami & the other Dr. Lee are good.

Kaiser is wrong in making hundreds of us drive to San Francisco. More people need to complain... that way we can get our fills here in the Sacramento area. There are thousands of patients driving to S. F. to get fills, it is ridiculous!

Sorry to rant but I am a little annoyed with Kaiser!

Fortunately my appointment is with Dr. Li (the other one), so I should be ok. I'm looking forward to the appointment and everything. The advice given here has helped a lot.

I am from Folsom and was banded 3/18/08. Im looking for meeting in my area does anyone have addresses and times of local meetings?

Diz - Congratulations about getting your date with the surgeon. At that appointment they will put you on the list for surgery providing you have lost the required weight and don't have any medical issues they are still working on. When I went in October '07 to my surgeon's appt (Dr. David Le) they figured it would probably be late Feb. '08 for my surgery. I had them put me on the cancellation list also which turned out to be a good thing since I received a call and had surgery 12/12/07.

I personally think that Dr. Le's conservative approach worked well for me since I haven't had any problems with PBing, slimming or getting stuck. He's really concerned about you having problems like that. Yeah, it's really hard to drive all the way down there for a 15 minute appointment but that's all we have for now. I think they are getting buried enough that they will be looking into expanding the program if they aren't already. I have heard that Dr. Alami is also a good surgeon and his patients dearly love him. I haven't talked to too many people about Dr. Li so I can't give you information on him.

Good luck on your appointment and hopefully you'll be hearing really soon about your date. I think they contact you about 6 weeks prior to surgery. The time will go by quickly once you get the call. I hated not hearing from them worse than anything. It made it drag on so badly.

Again, good luck and soon you'll be in Bandlandia!

Thanks Vicki J. That's exactly what I'm going to ask for. I discussed it with my husband, and he's ok with it, so if possible, I'm going to request to be put on the cancellation list. Things are flexible at work, and I made sure that I'm off any medications that will stop the surgery. I've past the weight marker that they gave me, so that will be no problem. The only bad thing is getting the surgery at someone elses expense. I know how hard I've been working and I'd hate to think that someone didn't get their surgery when they've been working so hard.

Diz - I know what you mean about getting it at someone else's expense. I guess what happened when mine came up (it was a cancellation) was that Dr. Alami had some kind of injury and couldn't do surgery. I thought they should have let the other surgeons do the surgeries that were scheduled but that's not what they do. They sure have some weird policies. So, after hearing that I was happy they called me. Well I was happy anyway but it made it easier to be happy.

Good job on loosing the weight! Your surgeon will be really happy with you. I met one person when I was at orientation whose mother had recently had the bypass done in SSF. She told my daughter and I that the people who worked the hardest at following the program got fast tracked. I don't know if that's why I got the early appt or not but I was #26 on the list when it happened.

Good luck with your surgery. I think you're going to be really happy with the staff now that the hard part of getting through the program is over.

Zsflower,

Hi I'm Dawn,

I read your post while searching for a fill Dr. I live in Reno Nv, I had my fill in Mexico and have been searching for months to find someone to do the fill. Fill center USA charges so much and with gas on top of that I can't afford to drive all the way to LA. I could drive to Sacramento, Can you PLEASE help me find a good fill center???
I'm so discouraged. I call and e-mail and no one gets back to me.
Thank-you so mucu

I'm getting banded next month. Don't know the exact date yet because the person that schedules the surgery date was out today. So I'll get the call tomorrow or Wednesday. I was so happy. The Surgeon said that I made his job easy for him and that he didn't have any qualms about setting it up. WOOHOO!!!!