Pashion

I have a two part question. I have Tricare Prime (west) and is located in San Diego, CA...My husband is retired Navy and I am skeptical of the local MTF here in San Diego (Balboa) so I chose a civilian PCM. I am 5'3 and currently weight 223lbs and have one co-morbit which is sleep apnea I do have a CPAP. I was referred to the surgeon and my first visit was on Sept 20, 2011 and he stated that I am a good canidate for the lap band but Tricare is a hard insurance to get approval through. I did my pysch eval on Oct 5, 2011 and my nutritionist visit on Oct 7, 2011 now I am just waiting for the orientation which is on the 17th of Oct and a diet class that is required by the surgeon on the 24th of Oct. Then I guess everything will be submitted to Tricare for approval...Okay, now my questions are: Because my BMI is 38.9 the nutritionist said I will prob not be approved. But I know that as of 03/16/2011 as long as you have a BMI of 35 or higher and one co-morbit I should qualify. Has anyone else been approved with a BMI under 40? Also the insurance coordinator at the surgeons office stated that there is a chance that Tricare will come back and say that I have to have the surgery done at the local MTF because that has happened to other Tricare patients of theirs before. Has this happened to anyone? Please let me know because I am starting to get discouraged.