A few months ago my wife and I were talking about how I am struggling to lose weight. i'm very worried that if something doesn't change I'll not be around to see my children grow up. Now I don't have any serious health problems, aside from being about 140lbs over weight! Anyways my wife brought up the topic of lapband surgery (i had it on my mind, but was scared to bring it up). After thinking it over for a few months and doing some research, I decided to make an appointment to ask my physician.

A month later (yeah it takes a while to get in to see a doc with tricare prime). After voicing my concerns regarding weight, potential sleep apnea, and back pain, the Doc types out a referral for a gastric surgeon and a sleep study. I guess it helped that i suddenly seem to have developed high blood pressure. the visit seemed so anticlimatic. I expected to be given the third degree.

so now here I am tied up i knots waiting to see if my referral goes through tricare for the surgeon. Hence the desire to write out my experiances thus far.

From the sounds of the posts I have been reading I have a good chance of this process being approved. I hope so, because I am getting excited thinking about being able to be more active again. Soccer with the wife? Hiking with the kids? OH yeah baby.

Anybody have this insurance? How long did you have to see a doctor before getting approved for lap band?

It would seem that once you get your PCM's approval. Which in my case took one visit, then you are on your way. The question then is will your insurance approve you. That depends on how your PCM submits the referral.

I have BCBS of MN, and I am also in the beginning stages of the process. I did find out that they require that you have been on medically supervised weight loss plan for a minimum of 6 months. My physician recommended a local physician supervised dietitan. Can't hurt, except gives me time to procrastinate and wonder if this is right for me!

I have been thingking about getting lap band for some time now, about 2 years. A lot of diabetes in the family, very scary. My husband does not agree with me on this. Any words of advice?

I have read some posts about potential bandsters bringing their spouses to lapband seminars. This gives them some exposure to the program and may alleviate some misconceptions. Diabetes is nothing to mess with, I also have a family history there. I'm only new looking at this option seriously because it took me a while to get past my own misconceptions.