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For all the new pre-band people, be prepared for rude and inconsiderate comments. I went for my pre-anesthesia appt and the lady asked me "are you sure you want this? You don't look like you need it!" I was devistated! :thumbup:(My heart was crushed!) I looked her in the eyes and said "Yes, I have worked really hard to get to where I'm at." She said how much wait have you lost? I said I started at 247 and now 221.6. She said that's the hardest thing is just loosing the weight! I told her "No", for me it's keeping it off! I could clearly see that just because she was in the medical field, she did not know anything about obesity! I knew that me being on a liquid diet for 10 days, I could have done some damage to her :angry:thats how mad I got! But thinking about it know I can use this incident to educate us (wls). Be prepared and remember why you are doing this. To live healthy and long. God Bless :smile:

Crystal,

Hello! I am 5 days till my new birthday! Make sure you are getting 60mg of protein/day! That is key. I carry a little cooler with slim fast or whatever Protein I will have, maybe some pudding and applesauce, spoon and Water. I am always prepared incase I might need it. It has been good! Good Luck, hang in there!

Hey lighterload, I too am being banded on 3/26. I am in Texas. I am 5 days into my liquid diet. This is sooooo great! I can't wait to Celebrate my new birthday!!!

Hello I am Tricare Prime in San Antonio. Never know how long it will take for someone to get thru the process cause each case is different...First things is just to have your pcp put you in for a referral for lap banding. Then the military will have a choice to take you in their facility or can contract you out. Then whom ever will get the referral followup is what you will have to go by..Good luck. I'm scheduled for LB on 3-26-09!!!:laugh:

I have not been banded yet. Looking for March..... I have not seen that anyone mentioned vitamins....Possibly this could help you get more energy, with 60mg of Protein and all your Water, that might be what you need to help jump start you w/ your exercise.

My lapband package is combined w/ Rny info, not for sure if all the Vitamins listed are for banders.... the list is pretty long. Multi-vit w/ Iron, Calcium 1000mg-1500mg w/ vit D, and mag, B-12 500mg, vit c 500mg. Some of these are in your multi but not strong enough. :thumbdown: I heard at the last support group the drs wanted you to be on o-mega fish oil. I had read today a lady started taking Biotin 2000mcg for her hair not to fall out:eek:.....Please help if you can.

GABI311b- I love the name March Melters 2009. I hope to join w/ my date tba!!!!! So ready!!!!

Venessa, Congrats on a road to a new you!!!! I am sure you have thought about this for a long time or you wouldn't have gone through all of the paper trails for insurance! I have not been banded YET, I am looking at April. I am 42 and my son is 18. We will do it together!

Venessa, Congradulations on a road to a new you!!!! I am sure you have thought about this for a long time or you wouldn't have gone through all of the paper trails for insurance! I have not been banded YET, I am looking at April. I am 42 and my son is 18. We will do it together!

I am Tricare Prime and this will be my second attempt! It was a year ago that I tried to go through Tricare. This time I have managed to get in the Biaratrics clinic and have done my sleep study, nutrition will be completed in March, blood work is ordered ....plenty still to do but alot farther than last time! I am in San Antonio Tx.:tongue2: They asked me which one I wanted and I chose LB.

First things first. Totally glad to hear you are going to start taking meds to help clear things up. Get better and then re-eval!

:clap2: I will have my interview with my surgeon on 4-16... I have done all I need so far, just gonna ride the time out and see for myself. Referral from pcm, was easy to get. I'll keep you posted.

Annie- Congradulations!! Keep us posted.

I have an appt for the Dr. I chose, under tricare, April 16. Alot of people are saying no tricare doesn't cover but I still feel I need to hold out and do what I can and I guess, hear it from the horses mouth, before giving up!!!!

Very interesting!!! I just received my authorization letter to see a surgeon. I will call in the am to see what I need to do now.

Well I'm keeping my fingers crossed, kinda scared to get my hopes up, I JUST GOT MY AUTH LETTER FOR TRICARE TO SEE A SURGEON!!!!!!!!

The letter was not for the Dr I had gone to the seminar for (which was the only one in my insurance book) (So they say!) will call in am to see what is needed now.

I'm in the process of getting a referral off base. Will keep you posted.

ANNIE, Also tell your pcp that this is just a tool to help you, not the total answer!!! It really makes me question your relationship, they are people too, and if they seem otherwise, well you deserve BETTER !!! You Go Girl.

Dana- you could also find a surgeon you would like to use and ask them about the insurances. This will be specific to your area. Also try getting a Humana care provider book and find something to start your research if you don't know of a Dr.

This is so frustrating to hear!!! They will, they won't!! All I know is I started with getting my info from Tricare and they told me the steps to take. 5 days left for them to contact me.......I can only wonder. Will keep you posted.

Well, I went to the tricare office here at Randolph AFB and the clerk gave me the provider directory. There is one dr that does take tricare and does both lap band and gb. All I needed was a referral for lapband and if the military does not do this, (which they do not!) it should be kicked back and tricare should find a provider from the directory to full-fill the referral. That is what I did Friday was get the referral. They have ten days!! We will see.:nervous

Good news today! I went to my tricare office and spoke with them. They said tricare is covering lapbands now. I showed her some of my research that lb has it's own cpt code 43770 released Jan 06. She seemed to be really impressed that I had this info. Only problem, my pcm put in the referral for gastric bypass and to TALK about lap band! Now I have to have another referral for lap band and I will have them include the dr that will do the surgery that takes tricare!!! I hope this works. The tricare lady was absolutely great! She did say you have to stay on top of this. Let me know what you find out after you talk w/ them.

I too am frustrated w/ all the things that tricare will and willnot pay. They agree to pay for gb but not for lap..... Too me the lap would be less invasive to start with, you?

I will make a phone call and talk with them, they are the ones I started with. They referred me to a physcian on the list and I went to the siminar. Very educational. The dr also said he had been dealing w/ tricare for over 3 years to get lap band covered.

Don't you feel like we could do something to get the ball going?