Hi, I am just days away from being banded and I am using Dr. Symmonds from Scott & White in Temple Texas. If you are in the Central Texas Area then this is the doctor I would suggest. He is a kind man, his staff is very helpful and nice. He is a VERY busy doctor I will give you that, it took me a bit to get all my appointments, but now I am down to the wire, so I am pleased.

I have heard nothing but wonderful things about this Doctor, and I will write more once I am branded. If you have any questions about him or tricare, ask away...I have been dealing with both since May.

Hello

I am starting the process!! My referral was sent today to tricare by my pcm.

I am terrified they will say no.

Any advice?

Venus

Hello i found out today that my referral was approved and it is for this Dr. I am so excited!!! Are they pretty quick to call?

or will I need calling them first

Well, you have to go through several steps. Have you been to a meeting yet?

Hey Tabby, congrats on your surgery date! I was approved a month ago by Tricare for my surgery, but for a doc in Austin. I didn't realize that there WAS a surgeon in our area (Killeen) that banded until I joined here. I talked with TriCare today and they said all I had to do was change my surgeon to Dr. Symmonds and didn't have to be reapproved. Sounds good to me since we'd have to get filled every 2 weeks. So since I'm good with Tricare, I'll have to start the process all over with the new hospital so...how do you get in with a seminar with Scott and White? Should I just call the hospital and ask? What would you suggest? I was only at the preop eval stage with SouthWest Bariatrics in Austin when I realized that this would be too cumbersome for me...these gas prices are no joke!! Thanks for the input, in advance!

Edited September 23, 200817 yr by ArmyWife

hello I was just want to ask a question about this I got a referral from my PCM and I got it around July 22,08 and then I called they told me to go to a seminar in August so I went then they told me to get a mental evaluation made a appointment got the evaluation done then they called and I made another appointment on Oct 15 how long does it take before they tell me I can I have the surgery

hello I was just want to ask a question about this I got a referral from my PCM and I got it around July 22,08 and then I called they told me to go to a seminar in August so I went then they told me to get a mental evaluation made a appointment got the evaluation done then they called and I made another appointment on Oct 15 how long does it take before they tell me I can I have the surgery

Hey Kittie, has your insurance approved the procedure yet? You won't be able to get the surgery until that's done. The whole process from start to finish (seminar to being banded) usually takes most people about 3-6 months. But being approved is VITAL, where are you in that part?

how do I know if I'm approved I was just called to go to my appointment on the 15 to talk with a nutritionist and with the someone other person I don't remember what the other one was but i have no idea what is going on i feel lost like i'm never going to get it done

how do I know if I'm approved I was just called to go to my appointment on the 15 to talk with a nutritionist and with the someone other person I don't remember what the other one was but i have no idea what is going on i feel lost like i'm never going to get it done

Your insurance should have either called you or sent you a letter in the mail verifying that this procedure was being handled by them and that they approved the payment (by them) for it. What I would do is call them up and simply ask. I have TriCare b/c my hubby is in the military and I am ALWAYS on the phone with them. As a matter of fact they approved me within 3 days, which is normal for Tricare if you meet all the requirements for surgery, but may be quick compared to other insurance companies. It just depends. But your first step is to find out if they have approved it. But in my surmise, if you are talking to nutritionists, and psychs and all of that at this point, you are pretty far along to say that your insurance is NOT approved yet...so if it isn't, when it is...you'll be set up really well and things will go quickly for you. But like I said before, just call the insurace place up, it's your right to know...you pay for the bill every month, so it's your RIGHT! Hope that helps!

well i called tricare because my hubby is in the army too and they told me that Dr Symmonds has to send the request again i dont understand why if they already gave the ok

well i called tricare because my hubby is in the army too and they told me that Dr Symmonds has to send the request again i dont understand why if they already gave the ok

huh?? Who's your Primary care doctor? My primary care doc submitted my info to TriCare and they approved it through her and then she sent me to a Dr. in Austin and then I realized that would be too far, I asked her to change it to Dr. Symmonds, which she did and TriCare approved for him to band me as well. Actually it was the same approval, just with a different doctor--Dr. Symmonds. What is it that Dr, Symmonds has to send? Maybe I am not able to answer your questions since I am in the pre op stages and am not yet banded. But I haven't come across your situation. But it doesn't mean anythings wrong, just means it's not the way it happened to me nor to what I've been exposed to so far. What I would do is the next time you go to Scott and White for an app't OR you can just call them up, I would just ask them what part of the process in all of this are you in. I have heard really great things about Scott and White, which is why I changed over to them. They were also a lot closer than traveling to Austin. My insurance has approved the lap band procedure, and has approved Dr. Symmonds to do it. I would think that's all you would need from this point, but again...maybe I am not far along enough to know the full picture. Hopefully someone who knows the process from start to finish will see this post and help us with this...b/c you've stumped me...lol.

OK. Here is how it works with Dr Symmonds and Tricare. You have been approved to SEE him. On the 15th they do their medical history eval. Then that is sent to tricare for the final approval. You are actually almost to the end of this. Once you do this, within 5 business days you should have your approval and surgery date. Jeremy is very on the ball, he will get with you as soon as they have the OK with tricare. Then Denise will call you about your pre op. You also will have a lifestyle change with Paulette before surgery.

Well I went to the doc and all they did was my paperwork to get ready to send out to tricare to see if I get approved they sent it out on the 17 I hope I get it I'm more then a hundred pounds over weight and they told me that I have a good chance of getting it I wonder how longs it takes for them to give me the news

Hi my name is sabrina and I too am waiting for my appt. U go in on Nov 3 and they said they are going to get my paperwork ready. I will be going to temple to but my doctor is dr. Rodriguez. Anyone know about him? I feel the same way about being lost in this whole process. I guess you have to go with the flow of things. Well good luck to everybody. I'm in fort hood so if anyone is from here then hit me up. I would like to make some friends that are going though the same thing as I am.