already had surgery. I went to my PCM and she referred me to a doctor in Mobile, AL. I call them and they said I had to have a orientation before I can even see the doctor. So I made that for this Wednesay. My question is, the referral I got is that for the surgery too or just to see the doctor doing the Lapband? The reason I am asking is according to his website, I will need to have a evalution by the nutritionist, psycoligist (sp) and may even need a 5 yr evaluation on showing that I have been trying to loose weight. I thought me going to the PCM and getting a referral for the Lapband was all I was going to need. Can someone answer these questions that have already done this.

Thanks so much,

Angela

Angela,

I have not had surgery yet, but I have been scheduled for March 17. My PCM referral was just to see the surgeon. The surgeon's office then sent in a referral request to Tricare to get approval for the actual surgery. I also have to meet w/ the dietician, psych, and go to a LB support group meeting before surgery. That is required for my surgeon, not for Tricare.

Good luck!

Lisa

Ok. I was just wondering and got confused on it. I was hoping to have it done before May because we are moving from AL to AK.

Thank you,

Angela

Angela,

It might be possible for you to have your surgery before you move. My approval only took a little over a week after the surgeon put in the request for authorization and I think that is longer than usual because Tricare had to make a change due to a problem w/ my PCM referral. My dietician & psyc appts are both next week and I could have surgery sooner, but my husband is going to be TDY for 3 weeks and I wanted to wait until he was going to be back.

You should check into it and see if they could get you in before you move.