tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10160840.post113919654577152704..comments2023-10-22T03:26:59.018-07:00Comments on Behind the surface: A fat girl goes wooingMichelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/05759387306193137795noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10160840.post-77917726943247018702008-02-08T23:36:00.000-08:002008-02-08T23:36:00.000-08:00Thanks, Amoreena. It's sad that doctors are so oft...Thanks, Amoreena. <BR/><BR/>It's sad that doctors are so often the most fat-phobic, despite the fact that they should know more than anybody about how the body -- genetics, neurochemistry, etc. -- works. <BR/><BR/>I'm still working on holding my head high. Or sometimes just brushing off whatever comments doctors might make. I know my body and generally, I know it best.Michelle https://www.blogger.com/profile/05759387306193137795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10160840.post-10851096734649504492008-02-07T05:23:00.000-08:002008-02-07T05:23:00.000-08:00I can't tell you how many times I have experienced...I can't tell you how many times I have experienced this when I was overweight and GOD is it ever frustrating!! <BR/>These fat-phobic docs thing the solution to all health problems is losing weight!!<BR/>Even for stuff weight has absolutely NOTHING to do with. I'd go in for my asthma (which kicked in when I was 11 and I was absolutely SCRAWNY when I was a kid) and would be told that if I my "lifestyle" changed (read: lost weight) that my asthma would magically disappear!!<BR/>What a load of SH!t!! <BR/>Sure, obesity can cause a host of health concerns and should be addressed, but if the condition presented by the patient has nothing to do with weight, then leave 'em alone and treat their immediate concern. <BR/>At my heaviest, I weighed in at 270lbs. I am just above 200 now and still losing, but, as I gradually move out of the "plus size" bracket, I take with me a vital understanding of the battle the obese in this country fight. How they fight to be treated equally in a country which has waged war on their kind. <BR/>The war on obesity is bullsh!t!! <BR/>Keep your heads up and walk proud!<BR/>but most importantly, find strength in one another!<BR/>great post, by the way!Reenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03996303871751712991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10160840.post-1139622541795636852006-02-10T17:49:00.000-08:002006-02-10T17:49:00.000-08:00Heya SmartNnaughty -- glad you found something tha...Heya SmartNnaughty -- glad you found something that resonated for you and that your trips to the doctor will be a bit less distressing. :)<BR/><BR/>TP -- thanks! I loved <A HREF="http://travellingpunk.blogspot.com/2006/01/navigating-complex-world-of.html" REL="nofollow">the post</A> you had in the carnival. I have that same sort of ambiguous feeling when someone says something like, "wow you look like you've lost weight," especially if the opposite is actually true. Usually I know they mean it as a compliment so I smile and say thanks. But it does leave me with an odd feeling. <BR/><BR/>Malachite -- oh, so been there! I walk with a cane also because my "abnormal for unknown reasons" vestibular system makes me dizzy and just generally off balance. So far I've only had one medical professional -- the urologist from earlier entries -- ask me why and when I told him his reply was, "well, that sucks." Yep, it does indeed. <BR/><BR/>Thankfully more and more doctors (at least here in the U.S.) are familiar with Fibromyalgia (though I do happen to live next to one of the world's premier Fibromyalgia clinics) and I don't have to explain much or hope I'm taken seriously. Even the neurologist who I saw in May, while four years earlier dismissed Fibromyalgia and CFIDS as not "real" diseases," took them very seriously when we discussed my bizarre neurological issues. <BR/><BR/>Little bits at a time. :)Michelle https://www.blogger.com/profile/05759387306193137795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10160840.post-1139558945390421052006-02-10T00:09:00.000-08:002006-02-10T00:09:00.000-08:00I share your wariness of new doctors. Even now, s...I share your wariness of new doctors. Even now, some think fibromyalgia is all in my head, or would go away if I just lost enough weight. (Then why was it first diagnosed when I weighed only 120?) Never mind that fibromyalgia has a wonderful symptom called exercise intolerance. <BR/><BR/>Most infuriating is when I have to explain to medical personnel (as opposed to your garden-variety ignoramus) "No, I don't need the cane because I'm fat -- I'm fat because I NEED THE CANE!"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10160840.post-1139486670040762822006-02-09T04:04:00.000-08:002006-02-09T04:04:00.000-08:00Great post.Great post.TPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00483648212124828160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10160840.post-1139374444084643872006-02-07T20:54:00.000-08:002006-02-07T20:54:00.000-08:00Yeah, obesity is an incredibly complex disorder. ...Yeah, obesity is an incredibly complex disorder. I remember one doctor I saw tried to say it was just a matter of how much you put in and how much you burn. But, it's so, so much more complicated than that. Obesity is the one disease in which the body actively works against trying to "heal" itself. They are discovering that fat is actually an organ with an extremely complex relationship with the other organs in the body, most especially the brain. <BR/><BR/>One of the movements within the fat acceptance campaign is to be fat AND fit. I can't change that I'm fat, but I can do what I can to stay strong and eat healthy. And that's what I've been working at. As well as coming to a point emotionally where I no longer feel that I have to woo doctors but rather just be myself. <BR/><BR/>I think your point, sparkle, that doctors are not nearly as professional and knowledgable as we think they are is a very, very important one. I think that's what I finally had to come to realize. I always think of doctors as these great authority figures but ultimately I'm the greatest authority on my body. And, well, there are a lot of doctors who I've realized I'm a hell of a lot smarter than. So, why am I being so damn obsequious?<BR/><BR/>As my grandma always says, "doctors are still in practice." ;)Michelle https://www.blogger.com/profile/05759387306193137795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10160840.post-1139359551929363172006-02-07T16:45:00.000-08:002006-02-07T16:45:00.000-08:00I won't even go into the whole overweight phenomen...I won't even go into the whole overweight phenomenon, except to say that I've had numerous similar experiences when meeting new doctors.<BR/><BR/>Ask my husband - I'm terrified of going to a doctor. I've had several - beginning in college when I saw one who wasn't my pediatrician and I wasn't with my very aggressive mother - who have either not taken my very apparent symptons seriously, or who have ignored my physical ailments to ask impertinent and unrelated questions about my sex life.<BR/><BR/>Obviously, my health is not nearly as difficult to manage as yours, but I'm commenting because I've come to the opinion that the majority of doctors, specifically, are much less knowledgable and professional than we expect them to be. <BR/><BR/>I once had a doctor order (and bill me for) a battery of sex-related blood tests when I very clearly told him I was *not* pregnant (because I was a virgin, which I also said quite clearly) and on the Pill. My symptons were yet another episode in a long history of serious sinus infections... headache, pressure on the front of my face, swollen jaws, sore throat. Still, he insisted on a complete blood panel, including STD and pregnancy screening imaginable, before he would prescribe me some penicillin. <BR/><BR/>Apparently, he didn't believe me when I explained that the movement in my eyes was congenital nystagmus (CN), diagnosed at 18 months, and not related to the use of LSD, because he also ordered a whole battery of tests related to illicit drug use. (I'd never even smoked a cigarette, something else I'd told him.) <BR/><BR/>[Nystagmus can be a sympton of recent drug use...]<BR/><BR/>He also commented about my weight. I've gained at least another 25 pounds since then.<BR/><BR/>No, the bill didn't get paid. I wrote a letter of complaint copied to the Dean of the University, walked into his office and ranted about it for about twenty minutes, and went back to work at his front desk. <BR/><BR/>Two days laer, the poor doctor walked past my desk, recognized me and got an awful look on his face. <BR/><BR/>I graduated in May, but I understand his contract wasn't renewed. I still am not sure whether to feel justified or bad for the arrogant bastard.<BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, I have had a few additional experiences in the years since that have supported and otherwise reinforced this first experience.<BR/><BR/>There is a doctor with whom I don't mind discussing my sex life, by the way. He and his staff are actually the only doctors I'll see without C to hold my hand (tightly). That's my ob/gyn. He delivered our little girl, and my feet have been in his stirrups more times than I choose to recount... sometimes *while* we're discussing my sex life.<BR/><BR/>His comment last time? "You're still tense. Haven't you gotten used to this yet?"<BR/><BR/>My reply? "Would you?" followed by a comment that he could always expect the same when sticking something metal inside me. Thirty seconds later, he took it out and I was fine.<BR/><BR/>And no, he didn't mind that I talked back to him. He even laughed a little.<BR/><BR/>sparkleSerenity Evertonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12269108286146880037noreply@blogger.com