Hi everyone.. Please allow me to introduce myself to you and tell you a bit about what I am doing. My name is Brenda Goldschmidt and I am an events specialist and surgeon liaison. I work for myself but have been recruited by Monica Ganz of OH to put together an event in Lexington, Ky for WLS patients. I am soooo excited about that. I met a couple of ladies on line the other day and have communicated alot with one particular one named Sandy, she has been great helping me find these boards. (which by the way are very difficult to find, I hope I can have some influence in changing that, prehaps they can make one board for all military..how would you feel about that?) I have a special place in my heart for all of you out there...I have alot of military in my family past and present...My father is a veteran, my husband is a veteran..my brother just retired in November after 30 yrs in the Airforce..my son is a jet pilot for the Coast Guard and my daughter is about to marry a man who is Iraq now..he will come home for two weeks this summer, long enough for them to marry then back to Iraq.. with all this being said let me get to the point..I would love to see you get together if at all possible and I know that's a big IF with so many in other countries, but perhaps this is something we can start...OH has events all over the country. What I would like to do is give special recognition for military..If you could join me in Lexington this summer, first let me say this would be a true honor for me..but I feel it would be a great start for future events. I have gone to Monica Ganz the events manager for OH and asked if I can offer you a special discount..She agreed. the cost of the particular event is $105.00....when I asked her to give me a discount for military I almost fell over, she said "of course, lets do it for $40.00 per person"...wow..that's awesome..i am excited about that and hope you are too... If you can join us in Lexington, Ky. please email me personally. [email protected] I will send you the registration form. I will do my best to help you find affordable hotels and a space where you can meet for your own reunion..I realized that many of you move around so it's hard to have support. I hope you have found it here on OH..and I hope I can be there to help make that connection stronger!! So many have no idea that the dependants left behind are also serving our country... Thank you...I hope we meet in October in Lexington!! Brenda

Hi Thanks, I appreciate your response. I am finding the same thing and have heard it may take 1 - 2 years for the waiver to be approved. But, I have heard the same thing that the battle is finding a recruiter qho is willing to push for the waiver since it is a lot of work and would prefer to put there efforts into a sure bet. Especially since I am prior service, I understand the recruiter doesn't get credit for the enlistment so it even makes it harder to find one. I am sure if recruitment goals were being missed it wouldn't be an issue. But, the numbers show they are exceeding their goals. Good Luck to you, Tom

I dont know how they decide clearance. But are you registered in the EFM? Exceptional Family Member? You or your husband would have to do that. It flags his record for needing extra medical care. We did it for our son, so it basically keeps us stateside due to lack of facilities overseas. If they do deny clearance(which I dont see why...they speak English there, so medical care is not difficult) I would go ahead and do the EFM so they cant disrupt your life anymore.

i think it depends on what field you are going into. People we know who are active duty and have had it done have been medically boarded out because they are no longer deployable because of their strict diet and not able to eat MRE's. As for DOD, GS jobs I can't see ANY reason why they would have a problem with it. Mimi

I dont know what MTF means. I found out that Tricare does not cover the Ds but they will cover a portionof the procedure such as anesthesiology and hospital stay. I talked to Dr Marchinisi in Brazil and he said he could do it for me. The whole thing (including air fare and hotel) should cost about $14,000. Which is good for me. After I getteh reciepts I will have to pay $5,000 out of pocket and that tax deductible. Woo Hooo! Thanks for all the replies