help on getting a refferal!! please!!

hey andie, i don't understand why you have to go through all that to get an appt at keesler? my dh is staionedactive duty coast guard in pascagoula, my kids or i have never been to the pas. clinic for anything. my husband has to go there but he never has any trouble getting a refferal to keesler, go figure? I'm not a big avacot of lieing, but in this case i would tell a little white one, i would tell them that i was having some breast pain, see what that will get ya. i just had my yearly check up and my 1st ever mammo and breast ultrasound last mounth, i was haveing some pain and had a mass in my breast (it was nothing, thank you Lord). i would stay on them you need your check up, there is little or no symptoms of cervial ca, until it's to late, i sound like my mom here, she is anurse and works for an ob gyn in meridian, so i here this all the time,just thought i would pass the nagging on!! dawn

Hi Dawn well, I had my "yearly" checkup in the 'Goula clinic tuesday, and asked for a referral AGAIN to do a mammogram and this time I was told, I didnt need one yet till I get to age 40. I just give up. I told the doc that I had a family history of cancer and he said that I don't need to worry about it, after the exam he feels confident that I am not at risk, and that I just need to do mammo's after 40. I give up. I told hubby this was the last time I have ever dealt with military doctors and I'm from now on paying out of pocket to see someone on the outside. I am also reporting again to tricare that I am not getting service as I need it and they will be paying me back for every penny I have to pay. This is ridiculous. Maybe they will wake up one day when I end up sueing them for malpractice IF there is something wrong. God help them if that happens. I am not the type of person who will sue at the drop of a hat but guaranteed, if it happens due to their neglicence, they will pay the price. Calling Tricare right now.. I'll update you if something interesting develops ~Andie~

hey andie, well that's horriable! I would call tricare if i were you. I know on the "outside" they'll do mammos at 35 routinally if you have a family history!! What are they thinking, that my be going aginst the guide lines under the american board of radiology and gynocology! I'll ask my momma this afternoon she'll know for sure. I'll let you know -dawn-

Dawn, yes please let me know. See, when my mom had cancer five years ago (!!) she said that her doctor said she needed to tell her daughters to start early prevention and start mammo's at 35. I was under the impression ANYONE with family history starts at 35, anyone without starts at 40. NOW all of a sudden, they claim this crap and it's totally upsetting me that they are lying to me. I know better dang it! So I called tricare this morning and was IRATE. I told them I want to be referred out NOW and I am NOT going to go back to the clinic to talk to ANYONE again, I want out NOW..... well I went so far as to a supervisor and I just got the " sorry we can't allow you to do this, you have to go to the base clinic and talk to the tricare liaison there, we can not do anything for you here" Aint that lovely? Well, my hubby has been out at sea for five weeks and he caught the brunt of it. I emailed him and told him he better be at that clinic the second he gets off that ship to talk to the liaison because if I end up having to go to that place ONE MORE TIME, he better have the bank loan ready because the next time he'll see me he will be bailing me out of jail. I am irate about this. No kidding. How dare they force me to stay with a health care provider I am not comfortable with !!!!! Unbelievable. Well, this will be interesting to see, first they tell me back in ec 2003 " they don't do gastric bypass at keesler" ( lie #1 at that clinic! They could have easily referred me to Keesler when I went back in January of 04 because I had never got anything in the mail , no referral nothing, by then they started the program back up !! ) and now this? Girl, anything you can let me know about guidelines from the american board of radiology would be very much appreciated I will take it up with them once I have something I can use against them Thank you !!!!

Hey Andie, sorry I didn't get back with you sooner,Ijust talk to my mommy this am. She said you deffinatly need your mammo starting at age 35 and then every year after!!! Even without a family history you need a baseline mammo at 35 and if that ok you get to wait until 40 to get them yearly, but with a family history you need them yearly at 35 regardless!!!!! Those are the guidlines that they civilian drs have to go by, she said she didn't know if the military had to follow the same guidlines as them, but i would think so!! good luck hope this helps. My number is 818-0039 if you want to call me and vent about it!!-dawn-

Hi Dawn... I know nothing about Tricare and Keesler but wanted to say that getting insurance approval is absolutly the worst part of the entire process. Its the not knowing that drives ya crazy...All the hoops they make ya jump thru... Get all your stuff together and do whatever they need you to do to get an appt... What is your BMI? Mine was 44 starting this - I was 5'6 -266 when I had surgery. I was 275 at my highest (the summer before surgery). I did not have any co-morbidies though and so I was very lucky to get approved---it was only a matter of time before I started to have them though. From what I hear Keesler is good to their folks so just be patient and it will work out. Its hard though - I know... It consumes your life. I woke up every morning thinking about surgery and thought about it all day until I went to sleep. My poor family caught hell when I was denied twice. I finally just threw my hands up and went on with my life and was finally approved. My entire process took me 6 mos. Compared to some here thats not long but it felt like an eternity.

hi christine,my bmi is around 40 i think i'm 5/8 and weigh between 250-265.(i killed my scales along time ago i'll get some new ones when i get a surg date!)i have high blood preasure, and lots of back pain- huge gut and breast-, and i stay short of breath, maybe with all these aliments i won't have much trouble, just waiting on my appt date may 26th is killing me, i'm normally a very patient person, not now i'm fired up and ready to get in that or room!! thanks -dawn-