Hi Christi, my name is Jodi and I am a wife of a retired Army Command Sergeant Major. Of course we have been retired for a lot of years now but live in Texas close to Fort Hood. I had my LAP-BAND® surgery on July 14th of this year and so far I am happy with the progress that I am having. I had my first fill on August 11th and it was very simple, no pain involved...nothing of what I was expecting. I still don't feel restriction yet, but know that is something that comes with time. Tricare does take time to make their decision on whether to grant you the surgery or not, I was fortunate I guess that I got mine in less than a year from application. I applied in January and took my seminar in March, saw the shrink two times in March and April and started Nutrition classes in May. I was notified by Tricare that I was accepted for the surgery in June and began my liquid diet the first day of July for my scheduled surgery 14 July. Keep the faith...and I will be pulling for you from this end. Jodi | 