Is anyone having their surgery at Madigan?

I would like to know how long did you have to wait and what procedures did you go through? Gloria

I haven't had surgery yet. And, it looks like I will be having a civilian do my surgery. But, a friend got hers about a year ago. She had to wait 5 or 6 months. She might have got to jump ahead in the line because she is active duty. Then again, maybe not. 6 months is still a long time to wait. But, better than the 2 years I kept hearing. I read a profile recently in which she said she had to wait about a year. Have you been to the first meeting with Dr Carter?

when i got my referral, i was told that mamc is no longer doing the surgery, except for the ones who were on the waiting list which was already backed up 2 yrs. the reason for this is because of all of the surgeons being deployed and pcs'ing. don't know how true all this is, but it did come from a family practice dr. so, who knows.... good luck finding a surgeon though, and if ya do find one who takes tricare, please let me know! i have been looking for a long time and nobody wants to take tricare anymore.

Hum, when did you get your referral. I got mine in March. Like a good little dependant, I waited two days and called the appt line. As expected, they said there weren't any appt. So, I asked to go civilian. They never told me that they wouldn't be doing any more surgeries. And, I haven't heard that either through the grapevine. You would think that news like that would travel fast. Ok, so yesterday I am having trouble getting the right referral for nutrition. They suggested I pop up to general surgery to see if there is anyone that can help me. While I was there, I got an appointment with Dr. Carter. I told her that Tricare said there were no appts and she said she didn't know why they would say that. Maybe I could still get in because of my referral date. If I were you, I would pop over to the medical mall and talk to someone in general surgery if you want them to do your surgery. But, if you want a civilian to do it, then call Dr. Weber in Seattle. He still takes Tricare. The the reviews of him a glowing. I met him for the first time next week.

OK a follow up to my other reply from last night. I just got off the phone with someone at Madigan that works in the WLS clinic. Who ever told you that they wouldn't be doing the surgery any longer is wrong. In fact, they might increase the number of surgeries that they do. She said they do 2 to 4 a week. The people that go to orientation next week will be in the 200s. They are still saying 2 years, but if things change, that would shorten. Plus, I think 2 years is the maximum time they would expect. It is always better to expect the worst and get better, right? Good luck.