I received my approval last week from Tricare and I go see the doctor tomorrow for an upper GI and blood work and my surgery is Friday. All this is happening so fast!!! I am getting a little nervous. I feel I really don't know enough about what to do afterwards. I am on my liquid diet now and it is going terrible. Seems everything is running right through me....ewww... sorry to be so blunt..... I can't believe it is finally happening after all these months......YYIPPYY

weird thing is my dr says to eat a certain diet before the surgery,its not liquid diet,he figures youll be on that after.i just hope sfter the scars arent like monster looking,i hope mine fade really well.anyone have good luck on scars looking good?i wish u luck just think tho this time nxt summer u gonna be looking hot or sooner.gl lmk how it went

how long from you first appointment did tricare approve you.. I have my first appointment with the surgeon tommarrow ,, im also tricare prime

Tricare does move really fast! Mine went fast too and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. But it was a wonderful experience! Good luck to you! and congrats!!!

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.

That's how it works. Once insurance says yes, it all moves very quickly. Call your physicians nurse and start asking questions about what to do afterwards. You'll probably be on liquids for a couple of weeks, then able to eat 4 to 6 ounces per meal three times a day. Time to find out! Spend this time throwing out the bad foods from your house and getting it ready for your new life. The first "solids" you'll be on a couple of weeks after surgery will be clear broth or clear soups; stock up now. Again your doctors office is the best source of info on what your personal plan will be. Write your questions down on a pad of paper, get an appointment and take them in with you. Do not leave until every last one is answered. Good luck!

Well I went for my pre-op visit today and I have already lost 10 pounds...YIPPYYYY Also Tricare did move rather quickly..Once everything was submitted it took tricare about a week to approve me online...however I am still waiting to get the confirmation in the mail... but it is approved...so online is the best place to look,..Once I got approval I called my doctor and scheduled an appt and BAM here I am......I am on the liquid diet now a week and my head is killing me...and I am hungry...I am ready for this 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 requested the referral from my PCM May 13th. Consult with surgeon June 3rd, nut eval June 6th, pysch eval June 9th. Submitted to Tricare June 11th, kicked back because PCM messed up the wording of the referral. Phone tag with her, referral finally fixed by her on June 25th and submitted to Tricare again. Approved June 27th. It would have been extremely quick if my PCM had actually listened to what I needed instead of being a pain.

i have tricare overseas. It took 2 hrs for the referrel to be approved. And 1 week for the surgery to be approved.

My pcm put the referral in on Monday and Today the Tricare site says the following. Does that mean my surgery has been approved?? I meet with the surgeon on Friday for the first time.

Office consultation 1 unit

Medical care skilled nursing office/OP visit 5 units

I have no idea what that means. Mine just had the doctors name and approved.

Hi - I'm a Navy wife and also Tricare Prime. I was really surprised at how quickly the whole thing went. I began the whole process in mid-may and will be banded in 9 days. But part of that time is the very involved process that the hospital I am going to requires. They have the seminar, then you submit the package of papers to them, then they contact you, appointments with doctors, surgeon, nurses, psych tests, EKG, nutritionist, physical therapy, blah blah. So while I appreciate it because it lets me know how seriously the hospital takes this and wants you to be ready, it also mean that you are jumping through hoops. But Tricare covered everything and when they did submit the package, I saw it on the website as approved the next day!!! My doctor told me the average wait for insurance approval is six to eight weeks!! So one day is pretty darn good. PLUS, the day after that I got a phone call from Tricare informing me that the surgery had been approved, making sure I knew what I had to do from there and wishing me luck on the surgery. So I was really happy with Tricare in this whole process.

I'm not sure about that referral approval, JWRN - I seem to remember that when my husband and I looked online for the approval the very next day, the approval was a little cryptic too - I distinctly remember us looking at each other and saying, is that a yes or what?? But then the next time I looked at it, it was a normal referral stating that it was a lap band surgery to be preformed by, etc etc. So maybe give it a few days and see if anything changes. GOOD LUCK!!

Ok, does tricare require the psy eval, or is that a surgeon thing? My surgeon's office says that the doc doesn't require it but they "believe" tricare does. It is taking me awhile to get an appointment with the psy doc.

You know, that is a good question. I thought it was the hospital that required it as the only thing that was specifically mentioned as a TRICARE requirement as opposed to the hospital requirement was the EKG. I guess the hospital would have done it anyway, but I remember them mentioning that it was specifically something Tricare required with the approval request. But that doesn't mean that Tricare doesn't also require it. Sorry I couldn't help more!!

Well I finally had my surgery on friday. Today is Sunday and I am extremly sore.. I have lost 15 pounds already. Hard to beleive. I didnt have to have a shrink visit..... I had to see a nutrienist and a physical fitness instructor...

Edited July 13, 200818 yr by deanntucker