Military options

[Robert Paulson]

I saw another thread about this but thought I'd toss my story in as well. I'm in the military, and was intending to get surgery on my own. But I would have to take leave and pay for it out of pocket. I finally gave in and went to see the military doc 2 days ago. After explaining my problem, he actually seemed to know about gyne and he asked me a few questions. He said he was going to write me a referral for surgery but he wasn't sure if Tricare would pay for it. I told him that my reason for getting the surgery was that my gyne caused a lot of discomfort when wearing body armor/equipment vest during deployments, and he said that he thought that justification would actually get Tricare to pay for it.
 
I went in yesterday and gave blood and urine to have a hormone test done to determine if my gyne could be helped with medication alone, still waiting for the results from that as well as to hear back about whether Tricare will pay for the surgery or not.

I think the only downside to this route is that I will not be able to pick my surgeon, and will have to simply go with whoever the standard referral surgeon in the area is. Hopefully I don't end up regretting that, but I figure I can always go to a specialist later and pay for a second surgery if it really turns out bad. And my expectations aren't very high, really all I want is to feel comfortable wearing a t-shirt in public. Ideally I would like to feel ok about taking my shirt off in public too, but as long as I can get away with wearing a t-shirt by itself I will be happy.

[xelnaga13]

Thanks for sharing. Let us know how your hormone panel turns out; its an area of much interest so some of us. Good luck bro.

[canadianmoobs123]

If anything they should give soldiers that defend their country and rights insurance. Insurance companies are very selfish.

[morpheus11]

good luck man.  I think you said it best when you said that you just want to feel comfortable wearing a t-shit in public.  I think all of us who have visited this site know that feeling. 

once again, best of luck to you, and thanks for your service.  keep us updated!

[Robert Paulson]

Well I still haven't heard back about the hormone panel, but I'm going to call tomorrow and try to find out what the results were. I did hear back from Tricare today though and they actually approved coverage for the initial surgery, and up to 3 additional surgeries if needed. That was really surprising. They also told me what doctor I had been referred to, so I'm gonna try to look him up and see what his history is like. I'll update once I hear about the hormone panel!

[Robert Paulson]

Well, interesting turn of events. The surgeon I have been referred to appears to be a female general surgeon specializing in female breast reconstruction following breast cancer. I can't find anything that suggests she has any experience with gyne. I guess I'll give her a call, see if I can get in for a meeting, and go from there. But I don't think I want to have this surgery done by someone without any experience with it.

[Robert Paulson]

Update: Got the hormone panel results and they were "all negative". So I assume that means no imbalances or issues. Also, called the Surgeon and she said she had been trained in the gyne procedure, so I scheduled a consultation for next Wednesday. Assuming I like how that goes, I'll probably be getting the surgery in the next couple weeks sometime.

[Robert Paulson]

Update finally! Right after my consultation I referred to a few months ago I got short notice deployed and that put a halt to all this. Anyway, I got back recently, made a new appointment with the same doctor, did some more tests, and was approved by Tricare for surgery. I had the surgery today, so I can't say how it turned out just yet, but initially even with the dressing/drains/compression wrap still on it feels pretty awesome to look at myself in the mirror without seeing my old gyne.

I'll update in a few days when the dressing comes off and let you guys know what I think about how it turned out. Just wanted to update since I kinda left my situation unresolved. Bottom line: if you're in the military, it is possible to get Tricare to pay for this surgery.

[nogojoe]

Congrats! I'm glad you got it done! Here's hoping for a speedy recovery!