Ineedalapband

When my little girl wants to play ring around the rosie I don't fall down because I know how difficult it will be to get up. She says "mommy, fall down". Its sad. 6 months after having my baby I've creeped up to almost my DELIVERY weight. Uggh. I've never been a normal weight my entire life. I want to be around for my children. I want to look nice for my husband. I want to be healthy and have more energy for me. I feel like I've finally found a permanent tool for a lifelong problem. I pray I get my approval.

Congratulations! Let us know how its going! Zeema, can you tell me how long it took Tricare Prime to approve you after submission? I'm asking everyone! Even though I'm still waiting for the Dr. to send in the paperwork!

From Tricares website: Is 100 pounds over ideal weight for height and bone structure and has one of these associated conditions: diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cholecystitis, narcolepsy, Pickwickian syndrome, hypothalamic disorders or severe arthritis of the weight-bearing joints Is 200 percent or more over ideal weight for height and bone structure Has had intestinal bypass or other surgery for obesity and because of complications, requires another surgery

Thanks. I'm still waiting for the Dr. office to submit to Tricare. Guess the hold up was the 4th of July days off. Plus, they may still be waiting for the results of my psych eval I took at their office. 10 lbs, thats great! Are you on liquids? I have to do 2 weeks of Optifast before surgery (if I'm approved). I went ahead and made my preop appt with my PCM for next Friday. Hopefully I'll know something before then. Good luck and keep us posted!

I am also curious about how long it took for Tricare to approve you after your paperwork was submitted? Did you see your approval online? I'm waiting for my Dr. office to submit to Tricare and I was just wondering how long it would take for the approval. Thanks.

You guys are in my prayers. I've got my stuff done and am waiting for submission to Tricare. Then I'll need yours as well. I'm doing the same thing. I just keep praying "Lord, if it be a good thing then help me get approved". Keep us posted! Good luck!

Can I ask how long it took from submission to approval? My paperwork hasn't be submitted to Tricare South yet but I want to know what to expect as far as time when it does. I agree with previous posters that said its the surgeon that requires certain tests, etc. not Tricare. All I had to do was the psych eval and some blood tests. I'll have to get an approval for surgery after approval and thats it. Tricare only requires me to meet the 100lb/comorbid requirement. Call the insurance person at your Dr. office and ask about the overnight stay or just call Tricare and ask them. Just tell them your confused and could they please tell you if you are required to stay overnight or not. Good luck and keep us posted. Congratulations on your approval! :biggrin:

Can you call them and explain the situation and ask them to fax another one to the Dr. office?

nana, you've got mail.

So I finally got an appt with my PCM today and after much arguing (she had old info, that i had to go to a MTF, needed a specific BMI and 2 comorbidities, etc.) she put in a referral for me. Where do we go from here? I'm in MS if that matters. Thanks in advance.

I know exactly how you feel. My husband is also a Navy man and thinks if I just got myself to the gym I'd loose weight. He hasn't been around me my entire life and doesn't realize that this has been a LIFELONG battle for me and no amount of exercise/dieting has ever gotten me to my ideal weight. I also have 2 small children and I think he worries that something will happen to me and I won't be around to raise them/be with him. So, I take my blood tests tomorrow and then get submitted to Tricare. He knows I've been to the Dr. but I've decided not to have any serious discussion with him about it until I find out if I've been approved or not. I've told him as much. So, I'll cross that bridge when/if I come to it. If he is seriously afraid for my safety and asks me not to do it though, I won't. :thumbup: I had a very difficult delivery with our last child that almost took our lives. I think that had a serious effect on him. Doesn't mean I won't do just about anything to persuade him and make him feel more comfortable about it. :biggrin2: Congratulations!

Do you mind me asking what a Barium Swallow is? I'm just learning.

Good luck! :biggrin2:

Dr. Redmann is my Dr. but I didn't actually see him yesterday. It was my first appt so I weighed/height/breathed in the bag and saw the NP. I was there at 1:30 and also came from Slidell. Funny. I don't know why I even noticed it but there was a car parked in front of me that had a front license plate with Nana on it and a ladybug. Then I saw your screen name and said that must have been you. Oh well, must have been another nana! Please keep us all posted on how everything goes. I'm interested in what comes next. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed for approval. Got to get my blood tests first. I'm doing that tomorrow.

Hey Nana do you have a Nana license plate with ladybug on the front? If so, I think I parked in front of you at the Dr. today! I wouldn't have thought anything of it until I saw your screenname just now! This is the first time I'm reading your post. I went for my first appt today. I'm going to get the blood tests this week and did the psych eval in their office ($50!). Did you take that? I felt like they were trying to trick me! Anyway, I'm definitely interested in your journey because if I'm approved by Tricare I'll be walking in your shoes soon. Please let us know how everything goes.

Do you mind me asking what Dr. your going through? I just went to my first appt today and am going to start getting my blood tests, etc. together this week. I'm also Tricare South. How long did it take you to get to "Pending"? Good luck!

HF2008, how did your surgery go? Also, can you tell me how long it took from the time the Dr. office put in the request to Tricare for the surgery until you got the approval? Curious minds want to know. :biggrin2:

Thanks guys. Actually I did get a call back pretty quickly and they of course, are accepting new patients. I called Tricare back and they fixed my referral right then. I tried to make an appt based on that but Dr. Redmann's office said I couldn't make the appt without them receiving the fax of the referral. So now I'm just waiting for Tricare to send that to them or for me to get the referral in the mail so I can fax it over. How long did it take you guys to get the letter so you could make the appt? Kitty, are you worried? I mean, I'm so worried I'm going to go through all of this and then have Tricare disapprove me. Are you going to Dr. Redmann too?

I just checked and I can finally see the referral now! It was for a Dr. I've never heard of though so I called and asked Tricare to change it to Dr. Redmann. Now they tell me I have to call his office and make sure he's accepting new patients before they can do that. I called and of course, no answer. Let the run around begin...:biggrin2:

I went to my PCM on Tuesday and I still can't see my referral online. How long should it take? Everyone else seems to have gotten theirs quickly. Can Tricare not give me the referral even if my Dr. put me in for it? I signed up for a seminar but decided not to go since I found out from another poster that its not required by the surgeons office. Its a far drive for me and I'd need a babysitter. So I prefer to skip it. I already know Ineedalapband. :biggrin2:

Thanks everyone. Fdiljin, PLEASE let me know how the office visit with Dr. Reddman goes and what they wanted from you. Does he have an office in Slidell or are you going to covington? Lastly, I tried everything to get on humana (tricare south) online and it won't let me get past step 2 in the online thing. I keep putting in a password, etc. and it just clears the page when I hit enter. I don't want to call tricare becuase I know they are going to say "dang lady, you just went to the Dr. yesterday, call back in 2 weeks". Any thoughts? Oh, I've never heard of value options, how does that work? My husband doesn't really want me to do this either. Also, to the previous poster, do you have any idea what it was that they were looking for in your records? Just curious as my comorbidity is recent and I don't want tricare thinking I don't have one. Forgive my ignorance on all things Tricare, we've been overseas since I married my husband so I've never had to deal with any of this before.

Thanks for the info ya'll. Fdjin, did you have to submit medical records? Have you been to Dr. Redman yet? Please let me know how things work out since it seems we are traveling the same road. Were you able to see your referral on tricare.mil?

If they send me a referrel for AL can I call and ask them to change it to another Dr. in LA? Thats closer for me and close to my family. Also, where exactly on the website will I see the referral? Lastly, just because I get the referral that doesn't necessarily mean they will pay for the surgery right? Thanks, I'm new to all this. :eek:

Thanks. I've got an appt with a PCM next week. I'm just going to lay it out on the line and tell them everything and try to convince her to give me the referral. Let me know how things go with you. Thanks!

Do you mind if I ask if you had a comorbidity? I don't really and worry I won't get approved. I'm pretty sure I can meet the weight requirement though.