OK, so I'm just showing up late for the party when everyone else is already picking up their coats but I had to jump in with my two cents when I read Kaplods post.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kaplods
You know when a person is disgusted by you, and everyone deserves a doctor that treats them courteously and with respect. When I feel the respect, I can discuss anything with that doctor without taking offense. However, if a doctor lectures me without ever making eyecontact, that draws my attention and colors my judgement more than anything he/she says.
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This is my huge, huge, huge peeve with the medical professionals that I've had to deal with over most of my life. The tendency to rush to judgement about us and our lifestyles without ever talking to us. Not just with weight either.
When HMOs were first taking off, I belonged to one where you didn't have one specific physician - you called their big complex and they booked you with who ever was open. During one of my thin phases, I once went to a gyn who walked into the room, didn't even look at my chart or introduce herself, looked me up and down and said "you probably have herpes so I'm going to test you for it" WHAT THE?!?!? It's not like I was wearing a tube top, gold lame hot pants and thigh high platform boots or something but apparently, because I was young and sort of cute I must be a slut. I happened to be in a monogamous relationship at the time but she never even bothered to ask. Another time I was utterly lambasted (loudly enough that the nurse in the room was embarrassed) about smoking by a male doctor who positively reeked of tobacco and alcohol
The weight thing may be the worst though - before I found my current doc, I went to one of those "the dagger in your eye is caused by your obesity" doctors Kaplods mentioned. I got fat by eating not necessarily a lot of food but it was just horrid stuff - I don't think I had a vegetable in years unless it came on my Whopper. I started trying to lose weight on my own by just cutting back further and further on my food until I was down to something like half a skinless chicken breast a day (oh yeah, and 47 gallons of Crystal Light). I was still gaining - granted much more slowly but still gaining - and feeling worse and worse, and getting more and more depressed (gosh, I wonder why?
). The genius with the medical degree told me I was tired because I was fat and fifty so I should eat less to lose weight. When I told him all I was eating was that measly piece of chicken, he looked down his nose at me with a smirk that just shrieked "I don't believe you" and said "well, it must be because of menopause. If you aren't going to go with HRT I guess you'll just have to get used to it" Honestly, I don't like to think of how close I was to just giving up and never getting out of bed again.
Thank heaven's I found my new doc who promptly diagnosed me with malnutrition - yes, you can weigh 200lbs and be malnourished, I was stunned to discover - and got me started in the right direction as well as encouraging me to get on line and do research on my own (where I tripped over 3FC and the rest, as they say, is history
). Quite frankly, if I had kept going to that first doctor, I have a feeling I would be gravely ill (or worse) by now - and he would still be blaming it on my fat.
Ahem, I'm probably also now the party guest who is digging in the fridge for leftovers when the hosts are in already in their pjs so I'll just show myself out...
You nailed a lot of what I am thinking about.
