New to the group and new to Washington

Thank you Lori for welcoming me. Where is Vancover Washington ? ~Melissa

Just north of Portland, Oregon.  Wishing it were smaller again like it used to be...  I like to meet new people and have them move to the area.  I just wish the builders would stop tearing down the beautiful trees and messing up all of the roads... Not meant to be negative towards you.  I just remember when you used to be able to safely cross some of the roads around here.  Now I would never try on many of them... Lori

Welcome to the boards Melissa!

Thank you so much Shell, I am so glad that I found this site!  ~Melissa

Hi SouthernGrl and Welcome! I just wanted to say that I went to see Dr. Weber for the seminar and was VERY impressed! I won't be able to have him preform my surgery because of a new rule that the Navy has out. I can't tell you from experience as far as him preforming to surgery and all but he was a very nice man and easy to talk to and he took time out to sit and talk with me and my husband after the seminar and he gave me a hug and wished me luck as I left!  Hope that Help!

Mrs Leach, Thank you for your input,I am curious about new rule the Navy has out. I am a dependant and Tricare is my insurance,so that makes me curious. Any advice you can give me about Tricare would be wonderful. ~Melissa

The new thing for them is that they (the NAVY) want to perform all of their own WLS. Before they had a two year waiting list at Madigan and now they have a few more doctors that are well trained. Or so I am told . I was a little disappointed because I went to see doctor Weber before I even began my 6 month screening process. BUT I have heard good things about a doctor at Madigan and they give a free tummy tuck afterwards which in my eyes is a bonus!

Hi Melissa!   welcome to Washington and to this forum!  I too went to Dr Weber for his seminaar before I eventually  was turned down by Tricare and had my procedure at Madigan.  Madigan has come leaps and bounds in the five years since my surgery - I also received  my panniculectomy at Madigan the following year to remove the excess skin and tighten my abdomen.  I was extremely lucky because at that time they were just calling up National Guard people (this was the start of Iraq) and a Beverly  Hills plastic surgeon was cooling his jets at Madigan waiting for his orders, so they decided to put him to work.  I had an infection underneath my drainage tube which required them to open that area and let it heal from the inside out so the finished product isn't perfect, but darn near.  The incision line is so fine that it's hardly visible any more.     There are pros and cons for using Military medical.  Pros:  it's 'free'.  Cons:  You get what you get; Madigan is a teaching facility so there's a lot of residents who perform the surgeries.  All in all, I'd still do it over in a heartbeat.  I've lost 105 pounds and kept it off, and am looking forward to taking up Pilates to try and lose the last 15 to 20 that I want.     You can msg me anytime.  BTW, I'm in Olympia, about 2 hours south of you on I-5.  :-)