the strange thing is that i seem to have decided that i don't need to eat - and i'm eating like i'm 3-6 months post-op, which makes me VERY happy. i don't quite understand WHY this is happening, but i'll take it!!!
gotta also say that, in a weird way, having had the surgery seems to have made me more 'acceptable' to docs. about 10 years ago, i had a health problem that was never diagnosed, because my doc at that time said 'you're overweight, what do you expect?'
and even though i told him that i could walk a mile or two just a couple of days earlier, and now can't walk down a hallway without stopping, he did nothing. and there were disastrous consequences, including 5 weeks in the hospital and 3 weeks in a nursing home.
last summer, the same symptoms. and a COMPLETELY different response. with different docs, of course. they congratulated me on losing so much weight, on having the surgery, and told me that this problem was NOT weight related. and they paid attention, and have continued to pay attention.
SOOOOO, when it all started up again this past week [and if you're reaching for your phone or email - I'M HOME, NOT IN THE HOSPITAL!!!!], they all sprang into action IMMEDIATELY. and are taking wonderfully good care of me.
i'm grateful. but i gotta wonder, what if i hadn't had the surgery and lost so much weight?? would they still be so responsive and helpful? not sure this question will EVER be resolved. so, for now, i'm grateful
and the 20 stitches in my leg are still there, with the added joy of an infection. thank goodness for antibiotics!!!!!
For years doctors have told me, you are too fat or it is all in your head. Sound familiar?!?!? Jiffy, I'm glad your doctors got on your problem and hoping it will be resolved soon. I've heard: Your too fat and that is the reason that you can't walk on your knee.....bone against bone since I was in my early thirties. Back....I finally had to say to a doctor, "I'm not here looking for medication, I just want you to find out why I'm dragging around my leg and I haven't slept more than an hour at a time for years".....Bone spurs on my spine, crumbling discs, and arthritis has destroyed the bones so badly they thought I had a fracture! Neck.....pain in shoulder radiating up to back of neck....Spurs in neck, crumbling discs, herniated discs, old fracture of collar bone. I was told: "I don't want you to become addicted to Darvocet N-100...I had used 90 of them in 18 months! Oh, and I was too fat."
Ovarian Cyst: Was it your imagination or did you really feel a lump on you side?.....Cyst burst caused infection, lost an ovary to that one. I got so I wouldn't even go to the doctors unless I was half dead because of "You could afford to lose a few hundred pounds and maybe should see a mental health person." I once had a doctor tell me during the first pap smear I'd had in 10 years, "Did you know there were thousand of starving people in Africa." After that I didn't go back for years and when I finally had a hysterectomy, I was so on the verge of cancer and was told they had caught it just in time. I do know that it is harder to diagnose someone who is morbidly obese, especially if it is a belly or female problem, but for crying out loud!!! I could go on and on.....I just about cry when ever I see someone who is morbidly obese anymore because I know what they are going through. I thank God everyday for my surgery. I saw the show on TV about the people who were, between the four or five people, eating 33,000 a day. They were literally killing themselves and one of the woman at the end made a statement that she was right back to her old diet and couldn't give up food. I started crying and told my DH I knew just exactly were they were coming from. Without my surgery and my smaller stomach, I would still be in the same boat of them people.
Nan - THANK YOU!!!!!! this kind of treatment is SO hard to explain to many people who are not/were not supersized - they simply don't get it. they may have had 'the lecture,' but they were never too heavy for a certain test, or were denied healthcare because of their weight.
Nan - THANK YOU!!!!!! this kind of treatment is SO hard to explain to many people who are not/were not supersized - they simply don't get it. they may have had 'the lecture,' but they were never too heavy for a certain test, or were denied healthcare because of their weight.
Happened to me, too. From "You're big, of course your knee hurts" to "Oh, you need surgery, followed by physical therapy!!" So frustrating!
Me too. Nurse practitioner couldn't get the speculum to work during my annual Pap. Had to use the XL, without result. Rebooked me with a different one. TOLD me my belly was too big to move out of the way. Told the second NP about me before I arrived. Second NP gave it a half hearted attempt with the same result...second NP told me I was too fat for ob/gyn exam and to come back when I lost weight.
Totally embarrasing...
THAT was my kick in the butt to get moving along my path...
second NP told me I was too fat for ob/gyn exam and to come back when I lost weight.
I have never heard of such nonsense. My sister who is about 325 lbs never had problems with her gyno visits.. same goes for me. Could it be they don't know what they are doing?
I have never heard of such nonsense. My sister who is about 325 lbs never had problems with her gyno visits.. same goes for me. Could it be they don't know what they are doing?
I'm with you Leenie.
If i can get a brazillian wax at 300 pounds I'm sure someone can do a pap smear..
and i'm ALL belly.... I just hold it up as needed.
The common theme here is discrimination....Basically we have been denied proper health care and treatment because of our size. I have changed gynecologist because I felt like the Dr. didn't want to examine me because of my size. I was very uncomfortable and had to find a new Dr. Many Dr.seemed like they hated to refer me to specialist because every problem to them could some how be tied back to my weight. UNFORTUNATE...
Oh my, I'm going to join the chorus... Prior to losing as much weight as I have, getting someone to take me seriously was like playing russian rouillette. Even now I still get some of that response. Prior to surgery, I had severe hip and back pain that was "all because I was overweight". After losing 100 lbs, my arthritis got so bad that I've had 2 hip surgeries and multiple cortisone injections. I was in the ER 4 or 5 times with severe vomiting. Ok, this should have been impossible because of the volume of fluids I was puking (1 to 2 liters at a time) and I was seeing stuff I had eaten 12 hours earlier. Sorry, gross, I know. Anyone who has had any kind of intestinal surgery would have been alarmed by this. They turned me loose because my white count was low/normal. Certain auto-immune diseases can cause a low or normal white count. Anyways..... They labeled me a drug seeker. Great, huh? I'm waiting for poetic justice, whatever form it may come in, lol.
Hmmm, not feeling very good today. I keep finding new things wrong with my body. New things worry me. Old things, not so much, lol. My joints are really going crazy. But I still have my sense of humor! And my opposable thumbs. Revenge requires A LOT of energy. I'd rather be doing something fun that won't leave me looking over my shoulder all the time, lol.
catching up
