Options: Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Preparation and Support
Options:
Metabolic and Bariatric
Surgery Preparation and Support
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  • Overview
        • Options is Kaiser Permanente’s metabolic and bariatric surgery preparation and support program.  Learn about the program goals, the journey at Kaiser Permanente, and some important considerations for metabolic and bariatric surgery.

        • Pre-Surgery
          Overview

          • Exploring Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery
          • Overview of the Program
          • Overview of Your Journey
          • Referral to the Options Program Orientation
          • Top 10 Important Considerations
          • Pre-Surgery Preparations
        • Post-Surgery Overview

          • Recovery Phase (First Few Days and Months After Surgery)
          • Honeymoon Phase (3 Months to 1 Year After Surgery)
          • 1 to 2 Years After Surgery
          • 2 to 4 Years After Surgery
          • 5+ Years After Surgery
  • Nutrition
        • Nutrition after surgery can often seem daunting, but it really comes down to following a few key recommendations. Check out the tips, tools, and resources for healthy eating after surgery.

        • Nutrition After Surgery

          • Key Messages
          • Post-Surgery Meal Plan
          • The Fundamentals of Eating After Surgery
          • Caution Foods After Surgery
          • The Bariatric Healthy Plate
          • Post-Surgery Vitamin and Mineral Supplements
          • Tools and Tips for Nutrition After Surgery
          • Looking for More Support?
  • Mental Health
        • Mental health and wellness is just as important as physical health. Metabolic and bariatric surgery affects more than just weight, and it’s important to be prepared for how surgery may change your relationship with yourself, food, and others.

        • Mental Health and Wellness

          • Key Messages
          • Relationship with Self
          • Relationship with Food
          • Relationship with Others
          • Important Mental Health and Wellness Considerations
          • Recognizing Relapse and Staying on Track
          • Looking for More Support?
  • Physical Activity and Sleep
        • Learn about the importance of movement before surgery, during recovery, and after surgery. Explore how surgery may influence sleep, and learn quick tips for getting better rest.

        • Physical Activity and Sleep

          • Key Messages
          • Importance of Movement Before Surgery, During Recovery, and After Surgery
          • Types of Movement
          • Getting Started
          • Sleep
          • Healthy Sleep Habits Checklist
          • Looking for More Support?
  • Medical
        • Learn about the basics of the two types of metabolic and bariatric surgery offered at Kaiser Permanente, including surgery type, expectations, and important medical considerations. Explore possible complications and side effects, and learn how to prevent them and what to do if they occur.

        • Surgery Information

          • Key Messages
          • Understanding the Basics of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery
          • Medication Changes After Surgery
          • Medications to Avoid and Medications That Are Safe
          • Family Planning
          • Life Care Planning
          • Research
          • Looking for More Support?
        • Complications and Side Effects

          • Possible Complications
          • Most Common Side Effects
          • Other Possible Side Effects
          • Nutrition-Related Complications
          • Excess Skin
  • Resources
        • Explores tools and resources to support you long-term, including exercise videos, member stories, printable guides, recipes, and support groups!

        • Resources

          • Overview
          • Exercise Videos
          • Frequently Asked Questions
          • Member Stories
          • Printables
          • Recipes
          • Support Group Information
          • Friends and Family
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Welcome!

The Options website is your online hub for all things metabolic and bariatric surgery at Kaiser Permanente Southern California!

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Member Stories

Listen to the stories of Kaiser Permanente members who have had metabolic and bariatric surgery. Hear first-hand about their journeys, experiences, and guidance.

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Find Joy in Movement

Regular physical activity, no matter what form it takes, can help you lose weight, make surgery safer, and improve overall well-being. Check out the short and simple exercise videos and learn quick tips for getting started no matter where you are.

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Healthy Eating After Surgery

Take the guesswork out of nutrition after surgery. Explore the post-surgery meal plan, which provides a step by step guide for meeting your nutrition needs.

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Resources Designed with You

Explore our resource page for post-surgery recipes, exercise videos, and printable guides and tools!

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  • Exploring metabolic and bariatric surgery >

    I want to learn about surgery and explore weight loss programs at Kaiser Permanente.
  • Deciding what’s
    best for me >

    I’m deciding whether I want surgery.
  • Pre-surgery
    preparations >

    I’m enrolled in the Options program and I’m looking for more resources to help me prepare for surgery.
  • Post-surgery >

    I’ve had surgery and I am looking for resources specific to my recovery.
  • Complications
    and side effects >

    I’m experiencing a complication or side effect, and I’m looking for information on what I should do.
  • Friends and family >

    I want to support a friend or family member along their surgery journey.

“I say weight is like a brick wall. And losing weight, eating right, all these things are like using a knife to get through the brick wall. The surgery gives you a sledgehammer. You have to do the work. You’re still doing it. You still have to get through that wall. But you have a better tool. That’s all it is.”


-Megan, 1 year after having gastric sleeve

“You can’t compare your weight loss to anybody else…we all have a different weight loss and our bodies are reacting differently.”


-Julie, 1 year after having gastric sleeve

“It’s a good feeling not to take a handful of pills. My first visit post-op, the doctor took me off the blood pressure medication…and then the cholesterol medication stopped about 2 months ago… I am faithfully back at the gym. I did 20 minutes of aquatic therapy to start. Then I did 30 minutes, and today was 45 minutes. And I’m going to keep going up, I’m not going back down. You can do so much more. You just feel good about yourself.”


-Anna, 6 months after having gastric sleeve

“I go up and down. One week I’ll lose 2 pounds. Another week I’ll lose 4.5 pounds. It just depends on my activity level, what I’ve been eating, how stressed I am, what time of the month it is. Don’t be hard on yourself. If you only lose 1 pound in 1 week, you’re doing great. If you plateau, you’re doing fine. It took you so long to get that big, it’s gonna take some time. You’re not just going to wake up after surgery and be 20 pounds less.”


-Maria, 1 year after having gastric sleeve

“I think people falsely believe that by rerouting your stomach, making it smaller, that fixes it. It doesn’t. It’s the relationship with food that fixes it.”


-Lisa, 3 years after having gastric bypass

“At 6 months, I’m at the point where I can eat anything that I want, so I can gain the weight [back] if I just eat everything that I want and not remember the journey I went through over the last 6 months. I realize I did the surgery on [my] stomach and not on my brain. So, I need to remind myself every day that I didn’t do it for nothing. I did it for a reason.”


-Dan, 6 months after having gastric sleeve

“For most of us, those first 18 months are really easy. The really hard work starts a couple years out.”


-Lisa, 3 years after having gastric bypass

“Listen to your body. When you feel that pouch is full, you stop. Period.”


-John, 13 years after having gastric bypass

“Get moving before the surgery. Try and get moving before the surgery so it’s not so hard after the surgery. You’ve got to get moving or it’s not going to come off.”


-Beth, 5 years after having gastric bypass

“It’s a tool. It’s not the answer to you forever losing weight or all the weight. You really have to practice the eating and the exercising before you have the surgery and then continue it afterwards because the surgery alone is not going to do it. You have to do all that work. It’s hard. People think that you took the easy way out. No, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Because you are changing everything: the way you eat, the way you work out.”


-Blanca, 10 weeks after having gastric sleeve

  • Home
  • Pre-Surgery Overview
  • Post-Surgery Overview
  • Nutrition After Surgery
  • Mental Health and Wellness
  • Physical Activity and Sleep
  • Surgery Information
  • Complications and Side Effects
  • Resources

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