I had a somewhat strange occurence today (and at bloomin midnight its playing on my mind so needed to write about it)
Yanno when i was 170+ kilos...i lived at the doctors office...i was there every week...whether for a cold...virus...kidney infection whatever. But everytime i went there i dreaded the appointment cos i always knew there was going to be a 90% chance i was going to walk in there and the docs bring up about my weight and me feel like a piece of crap. Its prolly one of the most confronting things. I remember one doc (a female) bought it up...i told her "i dont know where to start or how to do it" ... her response? "do something about it and then ill help you" .... hmmmm most illogical arrogant doctor i met.....nearly as arrogant was the doctor who told me doing it via ww and losing only a kilo a week was too slow and i should be doing the optifast drinks. (i wrote to the AMA about it him. boo!)
Anyway...onto today... so i had to go to the docs....now i generally always see the same doc...on regular basis he updates how much weight i have lost its all over my file lol and my weight has not been bought up by a doctor for about 2 years. Anyway my doc is helping me get on a care plan so i can get a dietician for 5 sessions at a discounted rate. So firstly i had to see a nurse for the paper work...i walk in there and straight away i get the feeling like im in the way or im pulling her away from her real work. She starts to do the paperwork...weighs me...checks my height (which she reckons im now only 172cm not 175cm!! dont think i believe that)...then she goes to measure my waist...now my waist isnt huge when you consider things...ideally it should be under 83cms and it was 94cms....well this woman turns around to me and goes " you have got big hips ... child bearing hips" and i swear i have never felt fatter then i did right then. I felt like it was 4 years earlier and i was feeling like a fat slob. I kinda laughed it off cos i didnt know what else to say....but i realised this woman was prolly thinking...another fatty who wants to lose weight but prolly wouldnt.
Then we continued with the paperwork....next question "what have you done to date to lose weight" now i was feeling about 1cm high at this stage...but i knew this was nothing to be ashamed of....so i tell her "well at my highest i have weighed 173.1 kilos...i started with ww...now i eat as much non processed as i can and train with my personal trainer 3 times a week and am at the gym 4-5 times per week" well blow me down her whole attitude towards me changed. She must have complimented me 4 times...told me how amazing she found it...how i proved that weight loss can be done. It was like i was talking to a different woman...and she was treating me like a different person...yet im the same person with the same 94cm waist...im no different physically...but to her i was. its been the biggest reminder that ive had for a long time of how my life has changed. The first part of that appointment was how people treated and thought of me 4 years ago...the second part was how people treat and see me today...yet i didnt change within that hour i was still the same person. Makes me feel really sad for all the large people out there who haven't been as lucky as me and made the change....that still feel like that when visiting the doctors :(
5 comments:
Gosh Kazz isnt it strange how quickly someone can change their attitude towards you once they hear a few simple words. I wish everyone wasnt so arrogant or narrow minded to larger people.
Also like how you wrote a letter about that doctor who suggested shakes to lose weight faster, how rude and even dangerous is that for a doc to suggest!!
Keep up your inspirational work chick
xo
Bec
Hi Kazz,,,
I got really annoyed reading your post as I think it reminded me of similar situations I've experienced over the years. I was also really tick off (on your behalf) that you were treated like this.
I remember going to a Dr when I was about 22 years old. At the time I weighed around 95 - 100 kg and was asking for help to lose weight. (I had been told he prescribed pills to speed up your metabolism as he gave some to a friend who only weighed 85kg so I thought I could get some too), but for some reason his attitude with me was almost disgust.
He said "people 'like you' need to learn self control because you can't be helped unless you learn that first. He then went on to say that "you probably eat more for breakfast then I eat in an entire day" and told me to "come back when I can prove I can sucessfully decline food and lose 15kg on my own, then he would look at helping.
Well I went on to gain another 35kg but will never forget how worthless that arrogant Dr made me feel. he was around 6 foot tall and probably weighed about 70kg and I am convinced he had no idea what it was like to gain weight so easily, yet find it so hard to lose.
I later went on to discover I had polycystic overies and thankfully found a sweetheart of a dr who told me it would be near impossible for me to lose weight eating like a regular person, as I didn't have the body, metabolism or system of a regular person.
Once I received some education about how my body handled carbs etc I was able to put this knowledge into practice and start the slow journey down the scales (rather then up).
You have done so AMAZINGLY well and that nurse had better change her tune and hopefully realise her HUGE mistake with her comments and attitude. I don't think I could have maintained my composure if I was on the receiving end of the big hip comment. I think I would have given a wee piece of my mind and said "do you have any idea how friggin hard I'ved worked these past few years" and told her just how well you have done by losing so much weight and transforming yourself the way you have.
Anyway,,, enough of a rant.
Ciao for now
lynise
That is so rude! I cannot believe she then had the balls to be nice after treating you like crap. Me, I'm an upfront person I current weigh 156.8kg. I would have turned around and said "and it's people like you who make Obese people feel they are unworthy and unable to lose weight" What a stupid woman. That post made me really frustrated for all of us out there who have ever been treated that way. I just can't beleive after all of your fantastic success you were made to feel things you haven't felt in 4 years. That's just not fair at all. You have worked way too hard to be brought back to that state of mind.
Kazz just remember what you've been through and take comfort in the fact that she's probably never had to go through any such life change.. her attitude stinks!
That's awful! So utterly unprofessional, but sadly not surprising :(
Kazz, we've known each other for a long time and i've seen the amazing transformation in you and it's so much more than just the physical appearance. The statistics say that less than 5% of people will lose their weight and keep it off indefinitely - that's pretty scary! Even more so when it's doctors that should be doing ANYTHING they can to help people.
The sad thing about this situation is that it makes people reluctant to go to the doctor when they seriously need medical treatment.
You're right - you didn't change in the space of an hour, but she did - she showed her true colours and how judgemental she is and that's something she should feel ashamed of.
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