Anyone in the Air Force (or any military) have surgery covered by tri-care?

[downjl]

I'm 24, active duty Air Force and I'd like to know if anyone in the military has recently had gyne surgery or knows if Tri-Care actually covers the cost.  I have an extremely noticeable case of unilateral gynecomastia and I would love to know if I can actually get it taken care of before I go to the doc and just waste time having him grope me.  Thanks.

[Solomon]

I'm active duty stationed in Germany and I just had the surgery performed yesterday. The only cost to me was the compression garment that must be worn afterwards. I had the operation done at a military facility however. I've been active for 14 years and like you, I wasn't sure if the military would cover the cost so I never asked the question. The condition alone was embarassing enough without having to discuss it with anyone else. What got the ball rolling for me was I wore a compression under garment to a routine check-up with a doctor not thinking that I would need to take off my shirt. She asked me to lift my shirt so that she could listen to my lungs and she asked me what kind of under shirt I had on. I was embarassed and tried to down play it at the visit, but about a week or so later I emailed her explaining my dilima and asked her if she knew whether the military would help me out. She wrote me back and explained that I had a fairly common condition and that the medical center performed the operations on a regular bases. She scheduled me an appointment with the surgery department and after a few consultations I was taken care of. I don't know whether you can have the procedure done at a civilian facility at no cost to you, but I think that it is definitly worth asking a military doctor about it. I certainly wished that I would have asked before recently. Good luck.

[Jim8638]

Hey guys. I don't want to type it all again, but I posted my TRICARE experience in the Surgery Success Stories area under military coverage. Basically I got a referral from the Flight Surgeon (yes, I agonized, and yes it was embarrassing, and YES it was worth it) and she gave me a referral to a civilian provider and he wrote the case for TRICARE and they approved it. No cost to me. I need to get that write up from the civilian doctor, because several people have asked me what he said.  If I can get it I'll post it.  It went really well for me; let me know if you have specific questions.  -Jim

[Pooz]

I'm in the Air force.
I'm going to try to schedule an appointment to my flight surgeon.
I just hope I don't have to state my reason why I need to go see him to everyone.