meriteri

Dear worried husband, I'm sorry that your wife is going through this and that you are deployed and can't be there for her! I haven't been sleeved yet, so I don't have any advise to put your mind at ease. I do live in Killeen & my hubby is in the Army too! I am working on getting my sleeve done at Darnall and after hearing about your wife that makes me nervous. Do you know the name of her surgeon? If there is anything I can do to help I would be glad to do it! Please let me know. Hopefully the Dr. is right & in time she will heal. I will pray for her to have a full, and speedy recovery! And I'm serious about helping, even if she just wants someone to come & keep her company I can do it! Keep us updated on how she's doing & take care!

Thank you everyone for your helpful responses. Now I know that there are other options for me out there, if I need them! I have an appt. with a Dr. on the 17th. So I will wait & see what he says... A little bit of background, trying to have my surgery at an MTF because Tricare does not cove the sleeve. But I have a nueromuscular disease that is rare and they just want to get all the info about it before they decide if they r comfortable doing my surgery. I've been ok'd my the neurologists so we'll see. Thanks again!

I'm getting so stressed about waiting on approval. So I wanted to get the facts about surgeons and costs. I have heard some Dr.'s in TX offering comparable prices to those in Mexico? Anyone else know about this? I'm looking for surgeons,(preferably in TX) prices, credintals everything I might need to make an informed decision. If my surgery isn't approved, then I want to know my other options.

Well I'm still waiting to hear from the MTF on Ft. Hood to see if they will do my sleeve, but in the meantime I called Willford Hall Clinic in SA (another MTF) and have already heard back from them. The surgeon said he would be willing to do my surgery!!! I'm so happy and excited that I have another option! She did say I pretty much have to start all over and go to 2 seminars there. Also they require a 6 month supervised diet. That is going to kill me but I will do what I have to do. Then after all that is done I will be put on the wait list and there is no time frame as to when my date will come. So I'm excited and happy that I have another option but on the other hand the time it will take is a bummer! I'm still hoping that things will work out and I can have surgery here. I was #3 on the list. Hopefully when I call Mon. they will have an answer and it will be yes!

I'm not sure what size you would need, but I just wanted to say How Sweet!

That is wonderful news! I'm so happy for you! Good luck with getting the ball rolling & I hope everything works out smoothly.

I'm so sorry this happened to you! How awful! I pleaded my case to have the sleeve done here in Ft. Hood and explained my condition is very mild. The surgeon is going to do research & decide soon I hope. But in the meantime I did call a nearby MTF to see if it would be possible for me to go there, if here is not an option. The head nurse was going to talk to the surgeon to see if it was possible. If I were you my next step would be to contact that nearby VA facility and see if they do the sleeve. Even if you have to travel 6hrs away I think it would be worth it. My thoughts and prayers are with you as you go through this. Hopefully everything works out for both of us! They just need to approve the sleeve already! It's SOO frustrating!!! Oh just noticed that you have called. Good Luck!

What a great idea Tiffykins! We are stationed at Ft. Hood, Ft. Sam Houston is in San Antonio and only about 160miles away. That is also a big medical post where alot medical people go. Do you think that would be an option or does it have to be within 100miles?

Ok I called the MTF today and was told to call back this afternoon. So when I did the head nurse said the Dr. wants to do some more research on it. So I have to call back next wk. More waiting but that's ok. But now I'm having second thoughts because this is a learning hospital & the surgeon might not have much experience. But if he says he will do it, I think I might be brave & go for it! I don't know still frustrated & confused.

Thanks everyone! And Tiffykins you are right I don't want to settle! I did call Humana Military and talked to someone about the possibility of the sleeve being covered in the future and she had no clue and didn't even know what the surgery was. I have decided to call the MTF tomorrow and plead my case. While in the process of getting everything needed for surgery I did have an appt. with my neurologist(something I did on my own, not required). He was very supportive about having wls, said that my condition shouldn't be a problem and that in fact losing weight could help my condition. So anyways, I'm just going to call & see if somehow I can meet with the anesthesiologist and surgeon to change their minds. Wish me luck!

I got a call last wk from a hospital, that I was referred out to for bariatric surgery. I was confused because I thought I was going to have my surgery at an MTF. So I called the MTF and they said that because I have a nueromuscular disease they felt it would be best to refer me to somewhere else. The problem with this is that Tricare doesn't cover the sleeve off-post. She said my options are the lapband or bypass! I called the new hospital and they said I have to go to the seminar, fax over my pysch. eval and maybe have more tests like sleep test etc. I asked if they have heard of Tricare maybe covering the sleeve soon and they have not. So now I have no idea what to do? Self pay is not an option. Being a military wife & stay at home Mom we can't afford any payment plans. So now I have to decide should I try to do this on my own once again or wait and hope that one day it will be approved? Or should I go forward and choose the band or bypass. If I do go forward I think I would rather have the bypass than the lapband. Another thing I'm worried about is what if tricare doesn't approve me for any wls because of my condition. But I just can't decide what to do, and what would be best. Any advice would be appreciated thanx!

That is AWESOME! Congrats. I will pat u on the back too! I just noticed u are in Temple, I live in Killeen. I'm suppose to get sleeved sometime in Aug. Good to see someone in my area! Congrats again!

Congrats on your weightloss! That is soo exciting for you and encouraging for everyone else! So you go ahead and boast a little bit, you deserve it! WAY TO GO!

Hi MaryAnn, I can't give you any advice as I am not there yet. But I wanted to wish you the best of luck with your surgery and hope for a speedy recovery! Also I am curious what is the super sleeve? And how does it differ?

Thanks everyone for the advice! I've been busy today cleaning and packing to get ready for my trip so I've been busy. When it crosses my mind I just start another task and stay busy. About 2 more hrs. and I will be on the road. I CAN do this, I HAVE to do this!

Ok... I'm a smoker! I will be having surgery sometime in August. Not sure yet of the exact date though. But at the seminar everyone was advised to quit smoking at least a month before surgery. So now is the time to quit my nasty stinky habit! I know it will be hard. The only time I tried to quit and it was somewhat easy was when I was pregnant. Every other time I failed. When I was pregnant I did it for a healthy baby, but now I need to do it for a healthy me and for my future with my kids. I've tried the patch once before but that made me have crazy dreams. Has anyone tried anything else like the gum? I quit cold turkey when I was pregnant and hope to do it again. But if I need help then that's fine too. I'm going home for the holiday weekend and will be around family that doesn't know about my smoking. So this will be a good time to stop! I want to quit and never start again! Any advice would be appreciated! Wish me luck!

Hello all! Well I began this process in March and went to a seminar in Apr. Now I'm just waiting for the Dr. to finish my pysc.eval. It has been 1wk since my appt. and she said it would take about 1-2wks. (The wait is driving me crazy!) After that I will be put on the ready for surgery list and have to wait for my turn. I have tricare and surgery will be done on post, so their procedure is a little different. The head nurse in charge of scheduling said she can't even give me an estimate about the wait time so don't even ask! That's gonna be hard not to do. So that's another wait that's gonna drive me crazy! My husband just came home from Iraq a month ago and we are taking the kids to Disney June 6th! Also at the end of June we are going to a military ball. It would be great if I can get my sleeve before these events, but I seriously doubt it. So in the mean time I'm trying to jump start weightloss and do it on my own! I love to read about everyone's success and can't wait to get it started!