Opting for the surgery
Hi everyone I'm Missy and we are stationed in Japan, soon to be at Langley AFB. I will be getting in to the DR. as soon as possible after getting settled in. Do we have my people on here that have had the surgery who have tricare or anyone looking in to it? I would love any info that you have. Thanks in advance!!!
Hi Missy... Welcome to Virginia.
There are LOTS of people on this site who are military family members and have used tricare. I'm not one of them currently, however I WAS a military family member for over 30 years (dad and ex-husband.) I might suggest looking back at some of the older posts for tricare questions/answers.
Have a safe move and I look forward to hearing more about you and your journey. We are a very diverse group here, and I find postive, encouraging support whenever something is going on!
Hugs,
Tammy
HI Missy,
I am an AF wife and we are stationed up in Northern VA, since July. We were at Langley from 96 to 01, loved it! I've had no problem with Tricare only with my nutritionist. One thing I've learned is make sure you have documentation in your med chart of your weight issues. Tricare wants at least 6 months of such. Compile everything you have also. I'm not even sure who you'll go to whether you'll go out to a civilian or if you'll be seen by a military surgeon. But it's better to be on top of all your paperwork, you are your own advocate! Have your husband sign you in to the hosp ASAp after arrival and get an appt with your new pcm, and ask to be referred out then. They will, hopefully, be able to tell you their process. You can go to the "insurers" option at the top of the OH page and then click on T, you'll be able to find other tricare users that way. I've met some wonderful ladies doing that. Everyone on here is awesome. I haven't "met" anyone that hasn't been helpful or just nice! Good luck. This is all I can think of for now. You can email me with more questions or just to keep in touch!
Hi Missy...How soon will you be back in the states? My daughter had Dr Lord and she loved him. Her husband was in the AF and at Langley when she had the surgery. That was 2 years ago and 175 pounds later. She is still doing well but is in Washington State now. I had my surgery in December last year and am doing great. Good luck and welcome back to the states. This is a wonderful board, full of beautiful angels. You will be glad you came....hehe
Hugs,
Betsy
Welcome Missy! I live in Yorktown and have Tricare Prime. I am required, under Prime, to use Naval Medical Center Portsmouth. This is the right path for me to take and I'm most impressed by everything I've seen of them so far. However, some feel the wait is too long. I don't know how long the wait is now.....when I signed on in Sep/Oct of 2004 they said 18 months to two years. It will be right around 20 months by the time I have the surgery. Others have chosen to switch to Tricare Standard and have the surgery done by someone here in Newport News who has an excellent reputation. I wanted to go to them to begin with. Portsmouth only does the laporoscopic RNY unless a problem develops and they switch to open which I gather doesn't happen all that much. The civilian doctor I'm speaking of does both methods but prefers the open method. And....unless something has changed....Tricare Standard will only pay for the open method. I think that's dumb. There is also a two or three month wait for your switch to become effective. So....you might want to consider all those things and if you decide to make the switch to standard get that started. Best of luck for an easy move and in your upcoming decisions!!! amy