Any Surgeons in the State of WA that offer the MGB surgery

Hello everybody I am not new to the Obesityhelp.com website but I am "new" with MGB surgery page and I have a question.  Does the State of WA have any surgeons that offer the MGB?  How much does the MGB cost?  Our Military insurance (TRIWEST) may cover the MGB but we need to find a local surgeon, I planned on having the Lap RNY (only one they offer here at Madigan Army Hospital) but the complications are a little bit to risky and the recovery is very long and I need to be up and running in a short time since my husband is leaving for Iraq. THANKS, Sandy

Hi Sandy~ I just joined ObesityHelp tonight and saw your message. It might be too late for you for this info (you may have already had some other surgery) but I wanted to reply anyways. There is not a surgeon in the state of Washington that does the MGB. I live north of Seattle and I went to near Las Vegas to have the minigastric bypass with Dr. Rutledge. It was totally worth it, even with the "hassle" of traveling out of state. I am 16 months post-op and down about 100 pounds. God bless you and your husband for your sacrifices for our country's freedom! I will pray for his safety. Carol in Seattle

    Sandy~I too am seeking MGB, and am a military dependant (spouse of Active Duty).  I don't think TriWest covers the MGB procedure, I think they only cover the lap band and RNY, as well as a revision of WLS they didn't originally cover if it's medically necessary.  I have also read that it takes almost a year from the referral time to surgery, as the military hospitals would like to see 6 months of documented food intake with a nutritionist.         TriWest recently changed their coverage of WLS, they used to approve the surgery if you were more than 100 pounds overweight.  Now you MUST have a co-morbidity to go along with the 100 lbs overweight.        I have not seen my PCM yet, I don't look forward to that visit.  All I need is a referral to get me into the door of an off-base bariatric surgeon.  I will self-pay if necessary, but the surgeon must have the referral from the military PCM.  If my PCM won't give me the referral when I want it, the surgeon's office referred me to another doctor that WILL give me a referral as long as I have a BMI of 40 or more and 100 pounds overweight.  She doesn't accept TriCare, so i will have to self pay for that, too.  I am going to self-pay for the MGB...I want to get it instead of the RNY because it's reversible in case I would hve problems later on in life.     But... I was wondering if the military hospital WOULD cover some of the tests involved like chest Xrays, blood work, psych eval, etc. if I got the referral from my PCM.  i know i will have to cover the cost of the surgeon fees and the hospital stay.  Do you know any of this information?  I am still going to make the appointment with my PCM just to see if I can get the referral, and to see what's going to happen with the entire process, and to see what the military can pay for, for me.  Feel free to email me at [email protected]