I wanted breast reduction surgery and I am 73 yrs old. I googled "Kaiser Permanente Southern California", “elderly", "plastic surgery", "breast reduction"…. you get the picture. I saw Fontana Kaiser had a plastic surgery dept. but not much on the website about what, if anything, is covered, or how to go about starting the process. So I looked for comments by anyone who had dealt with Kaiser Fontana’s plastic surgery. I only found one and it was quite old, although somewhat helpful. I decided I should get some info out there for others looking to have a B/R surgery. I’m not going to say to much about the surgery itself because there are a gazillion stories online already. So here are some facts for you. Assuming you have coverage with Kaiser; Contact your Primary Dr. and let them know you are interested in a breast reduction. You may need an appointment before they will consider referring to the Plastic Surgery Dept., but If they are familiar with you, they may just make the referral. That’s what my Dr. did. The P/S dept. will call you to notify you of their next available class. You are required to attend before going any further. It is held at the Fontana, CA Medical complex. Allow for a 2 hr. class, but mine took much less because there weren’t very many questions. Everyone seemed to be familiar with the process. The information was helpful in making your decision. By the time the class was over you could almost tell which one’s were going to - not get it done at all, -would have to lose more weight, -quit smoking, -wait for a better time to do it, or like me, was ready to sign up. They handed out your summary that showed your BMI, vitals, and numbers for plastic surgery, etc. Those ready to do the surgery were told they would get a call within 2 weeks (Note:… at the end of 2 weeks I called them and got the impression I could have called them instead of waiting.) Anyway,the class was in Sept. and this was October. Tthey got me in to be evaluated by Dr. Daron Geldwert in November. He was a pleasant and serious young man (I’m 73 - everyone seems young). He was direct in his questions about my feelings, my health issues, and the challenges I would be facing. FYI: my age, I have asthma; under control, I have diabetes; under control and not needing insulin, and a BMI at 30. 2. I was qualified under their criteria, but he decided to call me in January to see if I still wanted to chance it. I think he already knew I was ready to do it, but probably wanted to see if I was committed enough to lose some weight and get my Hb1c down a little more. (Note: every pound makes a huge difference in avoiding complications.) I wasn’t thrilled with needing to do this over the Holidays, but I took on the challenge. Lost 5 lbs and brought my Hb1c a bit. I got his call the end of January and the the scheduling dept. called with an unexpected opening. It was, “Hello, we have an opening. Can you come in for a pre-op on Wednesday, and we’ll do the Surgery on Friday?” Of course I jumped at it and then ran around like a crazy person to make sure I had everything arranged for the next 7-10 days. (Note: Unexpected openings happen often, so plan ahead, have lists ready, the stuff on their “to buy” list packed, and a caregiver, or two, lined up. Here’s an idea for you. I live 75 miles from Fontana, so I reserved a room for 4 nights at a good hotel near the hospital. It served breakfast, so one less thing to worry about. It was money well spent! The bottom line: Dr. Geldwert did an excellent job; the pre-op, surgical, and post op teams were awesome, and I am now 2 weeks post Op and feel great. I would never discount anyone’s tolerance for pain, but, for me, I found it was more pressure, soreness, and discomfort than actual pain. I took 1 hydrocodone when I got back to the hotel; 1/2 pill the next 2 mornings and evenings, then nothing but Tylenol in the evenings for 2 days. In all, like almost every other person posting, it was so worth it. He took out 1pound out of one breast and 1 1/2 out of the other. They are, not only symmetrical now, but even perky. I hope this helped you Kaiser Members - Happy Mammaries ;-)