any support for us Military wives in Germany?

Hi My name is Stacey. We live in Mannheim. I just had my surgery on 11 May with Prof Weiner. I am very pleased with him as a surgeon and would recommend him highly. Let me know if I can answer any questions about him for anyone. I do not know of any support groups in my area. But I hear that k-town has a great one. It is nice to see some others here. Stacey

I'm looking into this mysterious WLS support group meeting. I've only heard of it. But once I find it, I'll let you know. -J

Hi everyone! We have orders putting us in Baumholder in August. I enjoy reading all I can on this site and have gained a lot of information. I too was in the process of having this done in the states but did not have enough time to h ave the surgery done here and have adequate recovery time. I will also have to start all over with Tricare Europe once we get there. I have read a lot about Dr. Weiner and feel like he is the right surgeon for me. I wish you all luck and keep your fingers crossed for me! Thank you, Jennifer

Hi. I'm a military wife living in Naples, Italy and am going in to get a referral this week. I would like to know if there are any "secret" words I need to say to my doc to get the referral. I am 6'2 and 305lbs. I have problems with my knees and suffer from syncope which may be related to my obesity. I also suffer from fatigue and headaches, and recently acid reflux and heartburn. Should I mention all of these things? I know Tricare will pay for the surgery. I checked and there is only 1 Tricare approved bar. surgeon in Italy and he is in Pisa. I think they would medevac me to the Landstuhl/Frankfurt area where there are two. Any information that you have that would help me out would be great! Thanks, Cynda

I am here at Landstuhl and had my surgery in Dec. There is a support group here in the area. It is on 20 Jan. at 1030. It meets at the pulaski army community services on vogelweh. If anyone is interested contact Kari Sharpe at the ACS.

I live in Waldmohr near Ramstein. I am having my surgery on April 9th with Dr. Weiner. Any advice about what to expect or bring to the hospital.

if you live in germany adn would like an emial buddy i would too and i would love to get some info i am moving there in sept 08 with my husband cuz of the army and i dont know anything about it we will be in darmstadt my emial is [email protected] and i really would liek to chat

I see all the posts are very old in this topic but since its the only thread for military wives I have seen yet I will write anyway. I am an army wife stationed in Schweinfurt Germany. I am thinking about having weight loss surgery but am told by my doctors it takes a few years to get tricare europe to apporove it. Im trying anyway. I went over my doctors head and contacted tricare directly. I have PCOS and major back issues which I have already had some surgeries on. I am working out almost every day and am trying to make better choices with food but still have troubles. I have been trying to get pregnant for almost 6 years now with no luck so I think surgery could help me get the weight off and give me better chances at getting pregnant one day. Any tips, tricks, or info you have to get tricare to approve surgery would be awesome or just other girls in germany to talk to.

Hi! I'm at Ramstein and had the surgery in February. Tricare approved my surgery in just months...so don't listen to people telling you otherwise. I, too, had PCOS, high blood pressure and severe sleep Apnea... and after losing 80 pounds, have been off my BO meds for months.  Keep working out and get a referral from you PCM for a visit with a WL surgeon. Mine was in Mannheim, which is an hour away... but I love him and things are AWESOME!!! Keep in touch and GOOD LUCK TO YOU!

Thanks for the reply. What did you have to do to get approved by tricare? The doctors didnt make you workout for a year first with proof from a gym? My doctor told me that was what I had to do but I cant do that because I have no way to get to the gym. I wrote tricare and asked if there was anyway around that since I have PCOS and back issues so about 2 months later I got a call to go to the referral office on post. THey gave me some papers to fill out and told me to gather as much evidence as I can on my PCOS and back issues and stuff. Now I am waiting on my medical records from my old doctors to come in the mail and I am having people write me witness statements saying everything they have seen me do to lose weight in the past. (old workout friends and stuff) Then I have to go turn all that in. I was told all that would get sent in to tricare and they would evaluate it to see if they will let me start the process of the surgery or not. They said it would probably be denied but they would keep sending it in until it gets approved. Which WLS did you have?