What to Expect from Initial Call from Nurse

I have just started the process for RNY surgery. My insurance company requires 6 months of attempted weight loss under a supervised program before approval. It all starts with a call from a nurse at the insurance company. I am unsure what to expect. I am assuming she will want to know about my health, what I have done to try and lose weight in the past, how have I been successful/not successful. I also think she may ask about my support system/why I want to lose the weight bla bla bla. But what I don't know how to answer is, Why do I think surgery is THE answer. If I have never been able to control my eating in the past, why do I believe I can do it now? Does anyone have any insight on what I can expect from this call? Or how to answer the question as to why surgery is going to finally help me achieve success? I don't want to say the wrong thing and insist that I am relying on the surgery alone to 'work' but I also don't want to seem like I've got it all together and know everything I need to do because then why have surgery to begin with? So I know this post is all over the place.

Medical research has proven that surgery is the most-reliable way to lose weight and KEEP it off.

It's one thing to try to control your eating with an intact stomach. Controlling your eating with re-routed guts is quite literally an entirely different game. Yes, there's still conscious emotional work involved, but it's a powerful tool.

Well said!!!

If you can convey that you understand the RNY is a tool that will assist you in controlling appetite so that you can achieve some successful weight loss and reduce health issues, that is part of what they want to hear. Others, correct me if I'm wrong. If you have a long history of partial success and failed maintenance along with metabolic syndrome and other health issues, knowing (as Julie said) that this surgery is a "powerful tool" and not a magic bullet is key to shaping the necessary mentality for the journey. Also that you are ready for the change and understand there are challenges ahead. Good luck!

Thank you!!

Any weight loss surgery is a tool. That's your answer. It's a tool to help you learn how to eat properly and more healthy. It's a tool to help you limit how much food you put into your body at any one time. It's a tool to help you become more aware of your body and how you control what goes into your body to help you lose weight (and keep it off).

I agree with the other posters. I had exactly the same process with my insurance. I think she wanted to know if I understood the realities going in, and then was quite helpful in making sure I understood the approval process. She told me how to get documentation from prior PCP visits to count as part of the 6 months. As a result, it was actually only 4 months from my first consultation with the surgeon to surgery because of that additional documentation.