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April 1, 2005

Elephantitis Below The Waist

"The journal [of the Danish Medical Association] reported that hospital staff generally considered fat patients as stupid, lazy, and failed in life, and that doctors did not consider the treatment of obesity as meaningful work."

~ The Copenhagen Post Online

I had just been thinking about this fact because last week’s episode of House (a medical drama) dealt with this issue. The doctors were extremely critical of two overweight patients where, in both cases, the patients turned out not to be responsible for all their weight problems.

I know this to be true first hand and that’s why I avoid going to the doctors now. When I went to my primary care physician to meet him for the first time he greeted me much like the cute young cashier and the first thing he said to me was "right off the bat you need to lose weight." I felt like such crap I haven’t gone back since. I wish I could find a fat friendly doctor, not one that necessarily accepts me this way but one who isn’t prejudice against it and acts like it’s the cause of all the problems I might have. One who can see past the fat when it’s not the issue at hand. When it is the issue, I want a doctor who feels some sympathy and doesn’t attribute it to character flaws such as being stupid, lazy, etc. as previously mentioned.

Even my obstetrician, when my weight gain increased more rapidly at the end of my pregnancy snapped at me saying "HOW MUCH are you eating?" One of the other nurses actually recognized it as a bad case of edema. I looked like I had a tumor growing around me. My doctor finally acknowledged it because it became quite obvious. You could poke your finger in me and it would leave an impression. Like they predicted, it got worse after I gave birth and I looked like I had elephantitis below the waist. Then in just a few days it went away and I lost 40 lbs, IN JUST A FEW DAYS. (How I wish I could do that now.) I digress, my point is that my doctor initially blamed me, but I didn’t get edema because I was a fat, lazy, eating machine.

I don’t know where I’m going with this much more than to support that it happens and it certainly sucks. This behavior by the medical community certainly isn’t going to help this growing problem of overweight people.

Posted by hopeful @ April 1, 2005 5:12 PM