Question:
Going be on conference call with the Appeal board Thursday.. Need Help!!!!!!!

OK Guys & Gals, I've finally gotten to the appeal board. I'm going to be on a conference call with them on Thursday and needed to know what I should say. I need some freakin' coaching here guys. I need a script... *whew* the whole nine. lol.. No really. I just need to know what would sound good and what to say and what not to say. I am notorious for screwing up things like this.    — AliciasMommy (posted on April 6, 2002)

April 6, 2002
Hi. Though I have not had to participate in this type of thing, I did work for an HMO for a time. I think that a good approach might be to talk about how your obesity impacts your life on a daily basis. Average-weight people don't have any idea of how MO affects one's life in such a pervasive way. Sit down, give yourself some quiet time, and think about all of the things that you can't do, or are made more difficult, because of your obesity. If the board can see that your quality of life is significantly diminished by your MO, they may rule in your favor. Best of luck to you! JK, RN
   — Joya K.

April 6, 2002
Tiara-by the way awesome name :) First of all take a deep breath and relax. Second of all, give yourself credit where credit is due. You know what it is like to be morbidly obese, so use your experience to guide you in developing a script. Just like someone else suggested, think of all the things that you cannot do. Also, think of any pain and anything else that goes through your head. Write it all down. Maybe have a friend go over it with you. Most of all...God bless you and I wish you the best.
   — Michelle H.

April 6, 2002
Hi Tiara, just wanted to let you know that a member of this site, LeeAnne Krause had her appeal overturned during a conference call with the appeal board. Maybe you could e-mail her and ask her what she did. She has several profiles and I know that this information is in them. She went "armed" with a lot of ammunition and was given approval on the spot. She would be an excellent help with this question. LeeAnne are you out there??? Shelley
   — Shelley.

April 6, 2002
go to the library, under emotional issues, then weight loss attitudes - there is a HUGE posting of helpful things on how it feels to be overweight/obese. I printed it and it was 36 pages. I have been denied twice so I guess the confrence call is my next step.
   — Debbie W.

April 6, 2002
I think your first step should be to address the reasons you were denied. Keep in mind that you won't have an unlimited amount of time to discuss all the physical and emotional issues your MO causes you and you want to make the best use of the time you do have. If you have time it would probably be best to deal with the medical issues and leave anything else to talk about after that.
   — garw