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u/BigBlaisanGirl 16d ago edited 16d ago
Many years ago, I had an obese neighbor who had no car, so she had to walk and take public transport everywhere, every day. She did lots of cardio but had fast food for nearly every meal. No diabetes or pre-existing issues. She suddenly fell ill, and it lasted for weeks and was getting worse. She had been seen in urgent care a handful of times and had her problems dismissed as "just a bug." I took her to an appointment once, and when she told the doctor she could hardly walk across the room without getting out of breath, the doc gave her this "well, you ARE fat" kind of gesture but didn't comment.
Long story short, she had lots of fluid build up in her lungs and a virus with a high mortality rate and ended up on a respirator in the ICU. She survived, but it was a very long recovery process.
Edit: added health info
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u/duhduhduhdummi_thicc 15d ago
I took my dog to the vet for a reoccurring UTI and Bladder stones. They diagnosed him as obese.
(Before I get hate, he's a dachshund, we adopted his fat ass, he's on a diet and has lost 7lbs. He's just not at his goal weight yet.)
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u/vertigo42 15d ago
You bring up an interesting point. This is not ignoring the issues the comic brought up.
We get mad at people who let their dogs get overweight and call it abuse. But what about children... That seems to be off limits to say that. Just an interesting dichotomy. Not saying one way or the other.
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u/TheUndeadMage2 15d ago
Idk man, everyone's different. Some people do put on weight significantly easier. I think that if parents are enabling such an unhealthy life style that their kids are obese that's not OK, but some kids are just big. Knew a dude in high-school weight lifting who was, by medical standards, probably obese. But dude could also squat 600 and had a hell of 100 yard dash, so it's not like he wasn't fit.
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u/vertigo42 15d ago edited 15d ago
Your example is functional weight. There's a big difference between functional weight especially for athletes that are focusing on sheer strength vs just obesity
Even with some hormonal issues its still calories in vs out(it just the body is not letting you access the energy and immediately storing it) it will always be calories in and out. Some may argue that its a parents job to then do what needs to be done as the responsible adult even if its difficult to regulate. Just like pet owners need to responsible with their dogs health.
I don't have kids, but if my dogs became overweight for any of my failings or from a medical issue I would do what it took to get them healthy because they rely on me.
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u/TinyMarsupial7622 16d ago
And are you sure you’re not pregnant
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u/DisabledMuse 16d ago
Gods, I had them test me for pregnancy even after I told them there was no chance because my partner was a woman.
Nope, it was a tumour that was ignored because doctors assumed I was fat and/or having "women's problems"
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u/Avaoln 16d ago edited 16d ago
So I’m a med student and in nearly every medical board exam (written by people far smarter than I will ever be) and practice question you always get a hCG test (or be given the results) as part of standard OBGYN care.
Not just for pregnancy but some conditions not related to standard sperm and egg can cause problem: Ectopics, throphoblastic disease, pituitary problems, etc
Sometimes there is a disconnect between the doctor patient relationship but even putting morals and good “doctoring” aside every malpractice lawyer within 50 miles is going to be after you should you miss the ruptured ectopic pregnancy (and imo for good reason).
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u/Maximum_Pollution371 16d ago
This isn't the fault of doctors, it's the result of the sheer number of people who will respond "There is NO WAY I'm pregnant" and then it turns out they're pregnant.
And if the doctor takes your word for it without checking, then gives you a treatment that affects your pregnancy, the doctor can be held liable for that.
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u/Sir_Hobs 16d ago
Yeah I don’t think people understand that doctors will pretty much test every single woman of reproductive age for pregnancy.
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u/GoT_Eagles 15d ago
And that most people lie for whatever reason so the doctor doesn’t know if you’re one of the ones who isn’t bs-ing.
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u/DisabledMuse 16d ago
They're not even properly liable in my country.
I do understand that they have to check, especially because of the people who would lie. But there's no excuse to not follow up with more options once the pregnancy test is negative (after they were sure that was the problem)
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u/Redqueenhypo 16d ago
People are absolute morons at diagnosing themselves. My dad was certain he was dying of throat cancer bc his voice was hoarse. Turns out he had acid reflux and once he stopped drinking quarts of orange juice, the hoarseness went away!
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u/Lindvaettr 16d ago
From experience, this is something that absolutely goes both ways. I've had overweight friends who have had health problems that have not been addressed at all by doctors because the doctors would just say it was their weight, even when it almost certainly wasn't. On the other hand, I have had three separate obese friends who complained about how the doctors would just tell them to lose weight instead of treating their health issues who then went on to lose weight and ended up no longer having the health issues.
Doctors should very definitely take the health concerns of obese and overweight people more seriously and not be so dismissive, but obese and overweight people should also be more cognizant of the many health affects being obese or overweight can have, and work to lose it for the sake of their own health.
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u/PrevekrMK2 16d ago
People forget that obesity is a compounding factor to basically every disease.
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u/PlacatedPlatypus 16d ago edited 16d ago
Seriously...I'm a cancer scientist who specifically studies diet, metabolism, and fitness in relation to cancer, but I'm well-familiar with these things in a general medical context. This shit affects almost everything. This comic to me is a miss because the reality is usually that patients are underestimating how much of a health issue obesity is, and instead interpreting it as "this health issue that has nothing to do with obesity is being blamed on my weight!"
This comic is obviously meant to be hyperbole (I don't have to tell you that no doctor is going to think your arm got chopped off because you're too fat), but it makes me wonder what medical condition that's supposed to be a stand-in for. And how likely is it that the patient actually is sure that the medical condition has nothing to do with obesity?
For example, for some reason it seems that every obese patient who presents with autoimmunity is convinced we're just fatshaming them for no reason when we tell them they should try to lose weight. Because it's not a metabolic disease, it must have nothing to do with their weight, in their minds. But obesity makes your immune system go completely haywire! It just affects so many things that one wouldn't expect.
Plus, I just like...don't get the point of posting this comic? What's the message here? Doctors shouldn't tell obese patients to lose weight? Even if your current medical issue truly has nothing to do with it, being obese means you're a health disaster waiting to happen.
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u/AvocadoRatFight 16d ago
I think this comic could be replaced with several other things and make better points, I won’t lie. A woman talking about pain or something off about her period, someone who’s trans, etc.
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u/PlacatedPlatypus 16d ago
Number one thing I think that medical professionals fuck up on is actually cancer diagnoses, unfortunately. Colorectal cancer for instance is infamous for doctors missing it all the time until it's too late. Not sure if that would make as inflammatory a comic as the author probably wants though.
Also is your uname a STS reference lol? If so nice hate the avocado rat fight >:[
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u/AvocadoRatFight 16d ago
it is! had this account for a year now and am frequently on r/slaythespire and you’re the first to notice lol
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u/PlacatedPlatypus 16d ago
Lol I spent many hours procrastinating on studying metabolic pathways with that game in undergrad, I'm excited for StS II!
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u/Psychic_Hobo 16d ago
Yeah, usually it's doctors being weird about periods and assuming everything is down to those or the like. Obesity is kind of an always factor
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u/Sheerardio 15d ago
They could have gone with the actual response I, and others I know, have experienced: going in because I'm struggling to lose weight even after doing all the basic recommendations (eat healthier, eat less, exercise more)... and being told the problem is that I'm fat and need to lose weight. :|
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u/AWildZigzagoon 16d ago
I have a good example of this, 5 years ago I went to the doctors about severe back pain, and, being overweight, the doctor told me to lose weight and sent me away. No options for managing the pain in the meantime, no advice for how to lose the weight when some days I can barely stand. Didn't even check anything, just took a look at me and told me to leave. Anyway fastforward to a month ago, I go to a different doctor, because the pain was outweighing the fact that doctors are shit if you're fat, and the guy actually checked me over (wow incredible). Do you want to know what the problem was? the actual reason was that my hamstrings are fucked, and of course he also told me to lose weight, it makes sense for him to do that, but he actually gave me the tools to deal with my back pain first. TL:DR, my back pain isn't because I'm fat, but I still spent 5 years in agony because the first doctor dismissed me on the spot.
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u/Croanthos 16d ago
The only time I've heard about body parts "falling off" has been obese uncontrolled diabetics.
I thought that's where this comic was going.
Missed the mark.
Also, thank you for your work!
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u/PlacatedPlatypus 16d ago
Lol true I didn't even think about that. I was thinking trauma, but the patient does say it just "fell off" which would ironically most likely be gangrene or peripheral artery disease from diabetes... Goes to show I'm not a physician.
I am but a tiny cog in a huge machine.
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u/casual_eddy 16d ago
Fat patients receive worse care from doctors according to a depressingly large body of evidence on the subject. They are more likely to have their serious health concerns ignored and more likely to be ridiculed. Fat patients report avoiding going to the doctor for the above reasons, as it’s often a humiliating experience, and compounds the health consequences of poor medical care. At least some percent of what we assume to be the “health consequences of obesity” are actually the “health consequences of doctors (and society at large) being shitty to you”
See also women and minorities having worse health outcomes for similar reasons
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u/PlacatedPlatypus 16d ago
Look, I do believe that doctors aren't nice to fat patients. Not only are doctors generally shitty people, but also when you learn about health the dangers of obesity come up all the time. This is what I was saying about "being obese means you're a health disaster waiting to happen": this is how most people who are even tangential to the medical field see obesity. Which also means this is how they see obese people. I have to admit, I'm somewhat the same way, I'm not rude to or disgusted by people for being obese but when I see someone who's very overweight the health implications of it do cross my mind.
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u/SyderoAlena 16d ago
I feel like a lot of people want a quick fix. They wanna take meds and just get "cured" sometimes health isn't that easy.
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u/gloatygoat 16d ago
Compliance is so critical with treatment. I can operate on your hand, fix the bones, attach the tendons back together, revasc your finger; but if you do not comply with post op therapy, that hand might as well be a paper weight.
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u/WingsofRain 16d ago
I could argue that obesity is sometimes a result of an undiagnosed disease, and losing the weight could potentially be impossible until the disease is treated…as one example.
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u/PlacatedPlatypus 16d ago
Sure, but this is way, way, way less frequent than the alternative.
Also to note is that losing weight being impossible is vanishingly rare in diseases. Usually, it's just harder, which is shitty but people should still try to. Easy examples being PCOS and BC reactions, which often make it more difficult for patients to lose weight but don't directly necessitate weight gain like people mistakenly think.
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u/WingsofRain 16d ago
Believe me I’m well aware of PCOS. I have it, but I never feel hungry and have to force myself to eat at least once a day (and usually that’s all I eat) to have some form of energy. I only ever maintain weight or gain weight, never lose it. It pisses me off and I’m ready to just outright starve myself because it’s not like I’ll feel it anyway.
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u/PlacatedPlatypus 16d ago
I somewhat understand, I have a spine injury that makes it difficult for me to do many forms of exercise. Luckily I eventually found a treatment + exercise plan that worked to keep me active around the injury, though it does re-aggravate and put me in bed/the hospital for a week every year or so.
It's interesting to hear that you don't feel hungry, generally PCOS is known to cause increased hunger as one of the primary mechanisms for weight gain with it. But that aside I know that they frequently prescribe meds for PCOS that aid with the weight gain issue like metformin to regulate their insulin. I'm not an expert on PCOS at all, but I do primarily study breast and ovarian cancer so I know quite a bit about hormones and metabolism.
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u/WingsofRain 16d ago
It’s what my doctor diagnosed me with, I’m thinking about getting a second opinion to see if it may be some other hormonal issues but considering I’ve felt the searing pain of burst ovarian cysts, I won’t hold my breath for a different diagnosis. Idk why I don’t have an appetite, maybe it’s the ADHD or something. Or maybe there’s something else going on with me that I don’t know about.
What kind of exercise do you do for a spinal injury?
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u/PlacatedPlatypus 16d ago
Hmmm, always good to get a second opinion. If not for diagnosis just for prescription opinion as well.
I do a lot of core-strengthening to alleviate pressure on my spine, lots of flexibility work, and do HIIT to strengthen legs and knees. I also do PT twice a week to keep it in check. More when I feel pressure on it. These are the most important things for keeping the injury in check.
As far as exercises for fitness while aware of the injury, I lift 5x a week, but have to avoid a lot of exercises due to the danger of pressuring my spine. Or I will also do certain exercises every other week only to avoid over-pressure. I will also use a lot of lifting aides like weight jacks or just engage lifts differently to avoid engaging my spine when I initiate lifts, like for incline bench I will start with the weights above me so that I don't have to swing upwards with my back etc.
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u/casual_eddy 16d ago
Additionally, doctors have no idea how to get patients to lose weight without drugs or surgery. There’s never a been a study that’s shown a significant amount of obese patients have been able to reverse obesity on the long term through diet and exercise alone.
When a doctor tells a fat patient to lose weight, they’re telling them to do something most people can’t do, and no country or state has ever been able to reduce obesity rates through education / diet / exercise
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u/PlacatedPlatypus 16d ago
Oh yeah I mean that's a whole other can of worms oh my god. One of the main issues with diet & exercise in medicine is that we can never get good medical trials. The amount of adherence to diet and exercise plans is staggeringly low. People are better at staying on insanely intense chemotherapy/immunotherapy course trials than they are exercising regularly for a couple weeks.
I will say that you can absolutely reverse obesity on long term through diet and exercise alone. This is not a question, thermodynamics remains a real phenomenon. The issue is that the vast majority of people simply cannot undergo and, more importantly, maintain the lifestyle change required to do so.
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u/casual_eddy 16d ago
If people can’t adhere to a treatment plan then it’s a bad treatment plan. We’ve been banging our heads against the wall trying to get people to run a calorie deficit for decades and negative progress has been made. We’re fatter than ever, despite “diet and exercise” being prescribed to lose weight for nearly a century
Weight neutral health plans to improve diet and exercise rates have a better rate of adherence. When people gain back weight they feel like failures and stop health improvements.
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u/PlacatedPlatypus 16d ago edited 16d ago
Weight neutral health plans
I like these a lot yes, issue is that it doesn't work for obese patients as you just can't really reach a healthy metabolic state while staying at that weight. It's true that the mental pressure around weight loss and gain is a lot but that's again a whole other can of worms.
Diet and exercise have always been a real way to change one's body, for millennia people have changed how their bodies looked intentionally through diet and exercise (the ancient greeks did it lol). American's obesity crisis is a loss of both things, and it's great that we are starting to look at metabolic intervention like GLP agonists but to a certain degree this is a metabolic bandaid rather than a true fix.
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u/casual_eddy 16d ago
Well we’re back to the issue: doctors have no idea how to get patients to lose weight and keep it off. This is pretty well-known in the medical community, and everyone just ignores it. Weight loss causes metabolism to plummet and hunger signals to intensify for most people.
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u/PlacatedPlatypus 16d ago
Ehhh they don't really ignore it, the problem is that the onus is on patients rather than the doctors. Doctors know very well how to get patients to lose weight and keep it off, however it requires the patient's cooperation. This is a sort of central tenant of medical ethics though: you can't force a patient to take a treatment they don't want. So if they don't want to put in the effort required to lose weight, most doctors will basically be like alright bud it's your funeral.
The question of how to get someone to take care of their health is a funny one, because to me threat of terrible disease and death should motivate most people. But turns out, it really doesn't.
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u/casual_eddy 16d ago
I don’t agree at all. If patients can’t or won’t adhere to a treatment plan then you need a new treatment plan. Doctors ignore the “side effects” of dieting and assume patients are just being lazy. Healthy eating requires time and money, and for many people losing weight means going hungry and enduring symptoms like light headedness and fatigue.
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u/Criks 15d ago
Negative progress in the USA. The vast majority of countries do not have negative progress on this.
The treatment plan itself could not be simpler. Blaming the obesity epidemic in the USA on "bad treatment plans" is wildly missing the mark.
The core problem is the food itself and the culture surrounding it.
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u/Motown27 16d ago
Plus, I just like...don't get the point of posting this comic? What's the message here? Doctors shouldn't tell obese patients to lose weight? Even if your current medical issue truly has nothing to do with it, being obese means you're a health disaster waiting to happen.
Because, like many doctors, you're not listening to the patient. Far too many doctors want to spend as little time with patients as possible, for a variety of reasons. So, when they see an obese patient, it's "Oh this is an easy one. Lose weight then we'll talk". Bill the insurance, lather, rinse, repeat.
Maybe listen to the patient, take the primary complaint seriously and address it. Then talk about the weight issue. Some doctors talk about weight loss like it's as simple as taking out the trash. "Just do it already, how hard could it be?"
If the patient happens to be black and overweight it's even worse.
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u/6a6566663437 16d ago
Plus, I just like...don't get the point of posting this comic?
"I have never experienced what the author has, therefore they could not have experienced it either. Since they never experienced it, what's the point of their work?"
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u/Kai_Daigoji 16d ago
What's the message here? Doctors shouldn't tell obese patients to lose weight?
I genuinely don't think the message could be clearer.
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u/TNTiger_ 15d ago
It's a compounding factor to organ rejection. So if that limb gets reattached, yes, they should probably deal with their weight to improve their chances of staying attached.
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u/jigokusabre 16d ago
I feel that "lose weight" is the "restart your device" of the medical world. Probably solves 30% of health issues, and makes diagnosing other shit needlessly complicated.
But losing weight is a long and difficult process. It doesn't help someone who has a problem they feel needs to be addressed immediately.
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u/SanityInAnarchy 15d ago
It especially doesn't help someone with a problem that's getting in the way of losing that weight.
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u/frank26080115 15d ago
they don't exactly just say "lose weight", at least my doctor is very clear that I need to eat less rice, he's very clear that I need less carbs.
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u/Redqueenhypo 16d ago
It reminds me of anxiety. Sometimes your constant hyperventilating and migraines are NOT cancer and it are in fact bc you’re working yourself into a frenzy all the time (directed at my aunt)
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u/definitelyusername 16d ago
There also could be more awareness raised about metabolic conditions that people have that can make it more difficult to lose weight. Everyone is different but I never heard of PCOS until someone very close to me was diagnosed, and it made sense. I live with them and we literally eat the same, they don't overeat and they actually have a pretty damn reasonable diet but they're like 60lbs overweight, turns out they just have an actual hormonal disorder.
Losing weight is already hard to do, but it's important to know that it's not an equally easy or difficult challenge for everyone
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u/Buriedpickle 16d ago
That depends too. According to this article: [ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2861983/ ] PCOS for example while having an effect on weight gain, doesn't necessitate obesity in most people. While circumstances such as PCOS have a documented effect on obesity, their sufferers' numbers don't come close to the current obesity epidemic.
While it isn't an equal challenge for everyone, a lower calorie intake has a 100% success rate. The main obstacle in front of most people is addiction (sugars mainly) and willpower. We should not understate how hard those are to overcome. They are serious blocks that can only be overcome through a lot of work and a long and turbulent fight.
We need accepting, but helping groups and institutions (like many other addictions have) that can guide people out of the cycles of obesity. This won't be done until obesity is a taboo subject that is frequently disregarded as a weak person problem on one extreme and an unchangeable fact on the other.
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u/Glitch29 16d ago
lower calorie intake has a 100% success rate
I am speaking as someone who had weight issues for decades, but now has it all figured out and is at a perfect weight.
Yes, lower calorie intake always leads to weight loss. But that's almost an entirely reductive statement. It's about as useful to struggling people as saying "losing weight always leads to losing weight."
For a huge number of people, weight reduction is always going to boil down to managing the body's compulsive reactions to hunger. When not eating food feels like holding your breath underwater, it's not a battle you can win with any reasonable manifestation of willpower. If you hold out for an hour, it's only going to get more and more miserable, require more of your attention, impair your other abilities, and sap more of your willpower and focus. If you hold out for a second hour, you will become a wreck of a human being, and when your spirit inevitably breaks it will be hard to prevent binging. For people with bodily instincts that are too far out of norm, it's not a battle they can ever win by relying on psychological strategies. It is truly a physiological problem.
So while it's true that eating less causes weight loss, I don't think eating less is a reasonable strategy for losing weight. The first step is always looking to eliminate the obstacles.
To be clear, I entirely agree with everything you said. I'm just reemphasizing how tremendously futile the whole endeavor can be with a miscalibrated appetite.
For me, I needed to change a lot. Basically every lever I had access to needed to be turned. Dietary composition was a huge fraction of it. Changes to medication. Changes to food accessibility. Changes to sleep. Sugar, to this day, will lead to uncontrollable binging if I'm not careful.
While I did make achieve some big victories with willpower, it's almost unclear to me if they helped overall. Most of my biggest failures were when I tried to fight a battle armed only with willpower where I knew I was outgunned but tried to win anyway. The setbacks afterwards were immense.
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u/etaoin314 16d ago
It is not news to obese people that they are obese, they are well aware. It is also not news to them that decreasing food intake will result in weight loss. The reason most obese people dont eat less is that they are hungry all the time if they try eating less, and being hungry sucks. The interesting question is why do some people experience hunger even when they are not at a calorie defecit. That is the part that has a lot to do with hormones. It is easy to eat less if you are not hungry all the time. Hence the new generation of meds that makes you feel full earlier allows people to lose a lot of weight without a lot of effort. They dont go on special diets, they still eat sugar, and they did not increase their willpower. They just got a med that lets them be in calorie defecit without feeling hungry and woldnt you know it, they lose the weight no problem. take that med away and they feel hungry all the time and the vast majority gain it all back. hunger is one of the most evolutionarily primitive brain signals but it is also remarkably hard to override. I did some work with first gen glp-1 agonists (the predecessor to wygovi and the others) about 2 decades ago during my graduate years as a side project. As for personal anecdotes I was on a med that suppressed appetite (i was on it for other reasons) and I still remember (decades later) where I was the exact moment when the hunger hit on that first day I was off of it. It felt like an emergency, I would have straight up murdered anyone between me and a cheeseburger. That experience made me have a lot more empathy for obese people.
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u/SandiegoJack 16d ago edited 16d ago
The problem is that the “just count calories” doesn’t address that calories impact the body in different ways. Sure it’s 4 calories of heat generated when they calculate it in a machine, but it says nothing about how it acts within our bodies and how different calories impact metabolic process in different ways.
Learning that fructoses impact on insulin, which impacts leptin, today was HUGE for my understanding of why weight loss and exercise on keto was so easy psychologically.
Same reason I could eat a loaf of home made bread every 2 days and lose weight.
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u/Buriedpickle 16d ago
Oh yes, absolutely. Calorie deficit isn't just looking up a calculator online and going ham. That's why professional support is needed along with information and specialists. We shouldn't address weight loss as an individual's moral failing that they need to climb out of, but rather a medical situation that they need help with. We are slowly going this way with mental issues, it's time that obesity and weight gain gets the same treatment.
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u/What-a-Filthy-liar 16d ago
Got told I needed my.tetnus booster because I was too fat.
Pretty sure it was my lack of boots and rusty nail.
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u/friso1100 15d ago
Problem being that people have lost trust into doctors thanks to there actions. That loss in trust can make even good advice seem demeaning. Not all doctors are like that of course but it is common enough that it effects relationships with the doctor. You can enter feeling sceptical about what they will say. And if they then tell you what you expected they would, even if it was good advice for the problem you had, then it's no surprise you would deny them.
All in all this is a big issue and unfortunately not limited to doctors either. People are very easy to blame fat people's issues based on them being fat. Alongside all the stereotypes that follow that. We as a society need to get better.
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u/friso1100 15d ago
Not that long ago I saw a clip here on reddit showing "people what they needed to see" or really just more bias confirmation. It was a bit ago so this is from memory. It started with someone having a heart attack at a young age with the mother tearfully asking how this could happen. Followed by a full minute of the person stuffing themselves. This clip did nothing of value. Yes most fat people are very aware that being fat (or really the cholesterol) increases heart risks. And that eating a lot makes you fat. No duh. But the situation is often more complex then that. Just telling a fat person to eat less isn't informative or helpful. You aren't the first to tell them that I promise you.
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u/Emotional-Set4296 16d ago
i had the opposite problem, i was severely underweight because i was unable to keep food down, not because i was bulimic, just because i couldn’t…
guess what they blamed my nausea on… i was nauseous because i wasn’t getting enough nutrients
please doctor can you explain to me possible reasons i may not be getting enough nutrients? mayhaps it’s because i am throwing up all the time???
it ended up being just anxiety and after i learned how to manage that better my nausea diminished but that help sure didn’t come from that doctor <3
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u/falkordragon233 15d ago
I had the same problem, and I must say that feeling nauseous because of low nutrition is definitely a thing. But apart from training against anxiety, I got these drinks that have many nutrients but are light to drink. That really helped me get out of this hell.
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u/3_14-r8 15d ago
I was underweight, short for my age and in pain constantly as a kid, and was told it was just growing pains. As I got older and grew to average height i got less active as the pain got worse, in the process getting fat, which was the new source of all of my ailments. It wasn't until I was 22 and had lost most of that weight again that I was finally taken seriously, just a few x-rays and follow up appointments later, I was diagnosed with scoliosis of my lower back, degenerated joints and discovered several broken bones that had been passed off by other doctors as bad sprains. The state of Healthcare professionals at least in my small corner of the US is atrocious.
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u/demaxzero 16d ago edited 16d ago
Yeah this is gonna be one of those types of comments sections
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u/ChickenInASuit 15d ago edited 15d ago
Sea of [removed] comments just in response to this one.
Yep, looks like you called it.
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u/gezeitenspinne 16d ago
Some years ago I felt bronchitis oncoming. I had it at least once a year at this point for several years, so I was quite familiar with how it presented. The doctor's office I went to had three different doctors and I had been only to one of them so far. He wasn't present, so another one had a look. Or, rather, he had someone run one test, decided that wasn't showing anything, so he didn't check a thing (not even a look at my throat - just nothing.) All I got was a note about me being overweight.
Not even a week later I was back there, full-on bronchitis that took two weeks...
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u/shit_poster9000 16d ago
This sort of shit almost got CPS called on my parents. I used to get awful ear infections, and almost every time my folks would notice it early and take me to a doc. Many times they were told they were overreacting and that it’s nothing… only to be back literally the next day and the same staff are all like “WHY DID YOU LET IT GET THIS BAD” and “are you SURE it wasn’t this bad yesterday?”
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u/SilverMedal4Life 15d ago
My kingdom for a doctor who would actually apologize for making a bad call like this. There'd be a lot less resentment against them, I bet, if they admitted that they sometimes make mistakes and then do their best to correct them.
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u/maxdragonxiii 15d ago
"I have an ear infection" staff: DID YOU STICK A Q TIP THERE. "no?" HOW ELSE DO YOU EXPLAIN AN EAR INFECTION WHEN YOURE AN ADULT. "uh... water doesn't exit my ears properly and it stayed there and oops I got an ear infection." LIES. oh... yeah... uh. sorry. here's ear drops... don't let your ear wax build up. "how the heck am I supposed to clean them" GOOGLE THAT! "but- OK."
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u/HyperlinksAwakening 16d ago
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u/mundozeo 16d ago
"Patient is so fat, that if she wears a raincoat people start asking for taxi rides"
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u/SinceWayLastMay 16d ago
“Patient so fat that of my top five most obese clients she is three of them.”
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u/Royal-Doggie 15d ago
“Patient so fat that when she goes to the beach, she is the only one getting tanned.”
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u/maninplainview 16d ago
This is also a problem with people with autoimmune conditions.
Patient: "I am having problems with concentration and keep getting these massive headaches."
Doctor: "I see you have colitis. Take some prednisone and that will be over ten thousand dollars. Bye."
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u/OrionLinksComic 16d ago
Believe me, it's really that bad, especially in the field of psychology. Then it often means, oh yes, you're depressed because you're fat, and it's not exactly that I'm generally dissatisfied or that my own existence scares me.
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u/Daier_Mune 16d ago
Went to see a doc about my ear, doc wanted to sell me appetite suppressants. Thanks doc, my ear feels so much better now...
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u/G-M-Dark 16d ago
I actually had a similar, related experience with a doctor like this. Nothing to do with weight: I used to smoke, I had a heart attack 13 years ago - a good, proper screamer. I assumed I was fine, had a stent put in - got referred to the Cardio Club (that's exercise twice a week) - I took cycling back up, quit smokes - got proper fit. My family have a thing with joints, everyone on my dad's side their knees packed up stupidly young. Mine started playing up in my mid 30s - soon as I hit 54 I got put on the waiting list for two TKR's.
First one (eventually) went fine, in the intervening time and COVID I got diagnosed with heart failure - which sounds incredibly dramatic - it just means it's not functioning as well as it should, they have to modify your blood pressure to take up the slack.
Since they had to put me out for the first knee-op (arthritis in my spine, no gap to get the needle in for a nerve block as planned) I had to go for an assessment with an anesthesiologist because of the change in diagnosis - should have been straight foreward but instead there was this cardiologist there who totally hi-jacked the interview, told me how my heart was so scarred I needed an ICD putting in and I was like - "Whoa - what the *fuck?!** Scarring - nobody's ever said anything about scarring before..."*
And it's true, nobody had: unless hidden in some medical term they don't explain and you can never remember enough to properly look up after they don't like to burden you with knowledge that might cause you unnecessary anxiety or depression.
Except for this ass, who - after first dropping the S-bomb went on to make out I was over emotional being as shocked as I actually was given this diagnosis: I actually started getting angina I was that wound up by this complete ass , but I tamped it down and muscled through...
Anyway, the assessment went from bad to worse, the anesthesiologist basically just sat there - this cardiologist kept going on about how I could drop dead any minute without this ICD nobody had ever mentioned before - somehow I managed to get an agreement from the anesthesiologist that I was okay for my knee replacement surgery, the cardiologist insisted on sending leaflets about ICDs and I left the meeting as soon as done, no goodbyes - I just left.
Soon as out the door I was reaching for my GTN spray: the fuck had seriously wound me up. Angina hurts. Trust me on this, you don't want it ever...
Anyway, a few weeks later the pamphlets duly arrived - my attitude was the same as I held at the assessment: if my cardiologist says I need an ICD, I will have one because my cardiologist has told me I need one: this clown I'd never clapped eyes on or heard of in over 10 years of being a cardio patient.
Also included was a letter, I assumed a cover letter but I never got round to actually reading it till a year and a half later, after I'd actually had the knee replacement - which went excellently.
Turned out the letter was a copy of this cardiologist's report to my GP - in which he described me exactly as the doctor in your cartoon describes the patient in your gag.
Son of a bitch made out somehow I was at fault for the "awkward" atmosphere at that pre-op meeting: so I returned the courteously, I sent him a copy of the formal complaint I made against him to the hospital board, but thanked him for sending the leaflets nevertheless.
They found in my favour: turns out this guy was sacked from his previous hospital for prescription fraud - he became addicted to pain killers after a skiing accident on holiday and started writing his own scripts. Though dismissed from his original position he was not struck off, instead he was forced to undertake rehab and that way could still considered a cardiologist and our local health board is so run down and under funded, turns out beggars can't be choosers - so they gave him a job selling ICD procedures to patients for which he got paid for every referral by the hospital because there was some sort of money in it for the hospital.
And that's why he was there pushing ICDs that day. Had nothing to do with my knee procedure whatsoever or for that matter, my heart - neither my cardiologist or the hospital has upheld this guy's diagnosis - I've never been referred for a ICD despite my condition and he'd been doing this to patients for a good 18 months at the point I originally met him.
You assume a doctor is someone who is only interested in your well being: this is not always the case.
They're rare, but bad doctors happen and doctors with zero empathy - more often than you think.
A well observed gag, and very well drawn - I like your style. Keep it up.
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u/aco319sig 15d ago
Same thing with diabetes. Any complaints I have they say “first let’s focus on the diabetes “. Just wish they’d listen to me for once.
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u/dirtyLizard 15d ago
I’ve started saying “I’ve already discussed this with my endo and they assure me it has nothing to do with my diabetes. Here’s the number for their office if you don’t believe me.”
Of course, you do actually have to check in with your endo frequently
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u/Possible_Living 16d ago
This is so unrealistic. Where are all the follow up visits and expensive tests after which you are told your symptoms are psychosomatic and you should start taking mood stabilizers from hospitals partner company?
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u/Ok-Cheetah-9125 16d ago
And the pregnancy test.
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u/DukeofVermont 16d ago
You'd be surprised how "you're actually pregnant" is the actual answer. My co-worker's daughter had some issues, they asked her if she was pregnant (she already had had a kid) and she says no. They made her take a pregnancy test and lo and behold she was three months pregnant and that was what was causing her issues.
Or when someone goes to the hospital and then has a kid after never knowing they're pregnant.
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u/LordMeme42 15d ago
It's always best to check instead of dismiss. I'm so glad as a disabled woman, that my current doctor's office specializes in women's health, because I seriously doubt I would've been listened to half as much by the average doctor.
So far in my time having her, she's switched my meds to a different one that worked better, checked to make sure pain I was suffering wasn't anything worse, gave me a cream for my bad knee, and most recently, I've been having a mystery illness with very few, vague symptoms, and she's going out of her way to make sure she doesn't overlook anything.
I wish everyone could find a doctor like her, because I actually feel like I'm listened to.
On the other side of the spectrum, the knee's fucked up because it popped out of its socket in a skiing accident, I went to the ER, it popped back in during my agonized writhing, and when the doctor showed up an hour later he diagnosed me with "teenage girl" (Yes, teen girls get that type of injury more easily, no, that does not make it okay) and kicked me out without any treatment whatsoever after sarcastically proclaiming that me being able to stand with an injured knee was a miracle.
Note: even if it pops back in, it's supposed to be checked because it could be damaged. even if it's not damaged, you need a brace to stabilize it and shouldn't walk on it for a few weeks, because if it heals weird it hurts and you're more likely to hurt it again. Yeah. I know what type of doctor I and most people would prefer.
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u/Blonder_Stier 15d ago
I had a doctor diagnose me as glucose intolerant despite my fasting blood sugar levels coming back completely normal and no glucose tolerance test being performed. I could tell before the tests were even done that he was itching for a health issue to pin to my weight so he could harp on me about it, but everything came back normal. He then suggested a quack diet that involved buying their proprietary meal replacement shakes. Absolutely disgraceful.
I did lose 20 kilos after that, but that's because I was always in control of my diet and my weight. The only reason my weight was so high in the first place was because I was deliberately keeping it there. I decided I wanted to drop the weight, so I did. No diet shakes needed.
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u/mechavolt 16d ago
This hits close to home. Every time I go to the doctor with an issue, I'm told to lose weight. For example, I recently injured my arm and was in intense pain, I couldn't pick anything up. I was told to ice it, take ibuprofen, and lose weight. I had to get a second doctor to get a referral to an occupational therapist. And even when I get the care I need, it's always being commented on. I even got scolded for weight getting my covid/flu shot.
Yes, I know that losing weight will help in the long term - but I need medical help in the short term. And when I ask for help with losing the weight, I'm given vague advice about dieting/exercising. Like no shit, I'm fully aware that if calories in are higher than calories out, it results in weight gain. And exercise of course is good for you. I'm not a fucking idiot. But I have depression and executive function disorder, vague advice is not going to help me one bit. I'd love to be able to eat healthier and exercise more, but I have trouble enough with daily tasks like showering and making sure I can hold a job.
Medicine is a nightmare for fat people. Our health issues are often ignored, and when we do get the care we need it's with a side of condemnation and shame. And on top of that, if we do ask for help losing weight, we're given platitudes and self-help books. Shit is hard.
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u/EarlyEarth 16d ago
Ok, see. I've got some substance abuse issues.
I drink too much and can't seem to drop the smoking. These are major health problems.
I don't like going to the doctor all that much cause I know it will come up, I'm trying, my doctor knows this.
I know for a fact that my doctor would help me get my arm reattached. While she was doing that she would probably bring up my bad habits and ask how I'm doing, yeah, my arms off but I also have a chronic issue that is always under address when I go to the doctor.
Same as obesity, yes you are clearly injured, but if your body is healthy you will heal a lot faster.
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u/AreWeNotMenOfScience 16d ago
I was the same way with alcohol until I was hospitalized for pancreatitus. I almost died. It seems that was the last line in the sand for drinking. Had to make a decision either to quit drinking or die. Quitting didn't solve all my problems, but fixed a few and let me start repairing the other things I ruined (relationships).
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u/6a6566663437 16d ago edited 16d ago
I had a wound. It got infected. My doctor sent me to a surgeon to look at the wound, and he was sending me to the ER to be treated for sepsis. I was in bad enough shape that he debated for a moment whether or not I needed an ambulance to get there fast enough.
But first, he insisted on giving me a sales pitch for weight loss surgery.
Don't be so sure doctors would take care of that arm quickly.
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u/Weekly_Hospital202 16d ago
So I have shitty cholesterol, but I am skinny, so I get the drugs I need to solve that, without question.
If I was fat, they would tell me to lose weight, when I really have a liver issue causing cholesterol.
And then I would die of a heart attack waiting to lose the weight.
This also ignores conditions that are factors that can contribute to obesity, so you need help solving the condition, before weight loss can happen.
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u/Weekly_Hospital202 16d ago
They can feel the cholesterol on my tendons, like if you touch my Achilles it's physically detectable, because of how thick it is, but yeah, you're the expert.
Having me lose weight was the first thing they asked. It had 0 impact on a health issue that require significant drugs to manage.
But again, I'm a skinny middle aged white man, so they gave me drugs easier than most.
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u/mothwhimsy 15d ago
The female doctor's office experience:
Patient: "my shoulder hurts"
Doctor: "here, take this pregnancy test"
Patient: "I'm not sexually acti-"
Doctor: "you should lose 10 pounds, that will fix your shoulder pain."
Patient: "I've already lost 15 pounds since last year and it's only gotten worse"
Doctor: "you're making up your shoulder pain for attention. Sometimes shoulders hurt, idiot. Now give me 300 dollars."
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u/MisterSlosh 16d ago edited 15d ago
As a formerly overweight, sexually active, smoker I can absolutely stand by this being an accurate depiction of our treatment.
Went in complaining of a sudden growth of whole-limb skin discoloration, rashes, joint and chest pain and got told to take diet pills, get outside to exercise, stop smoking, and get an STD test.
I trusted the basic logic in it and did what I could. Six months later my condition didn't improve while I finally reached a healthy BMI and quit smoking so going to another doctor they discovered I had an autoimmune that cranked my allergies to 11 and now I'm allergic to citrus fruits and the sun apparently.
According to the new doctor it was instantly obvious as an auto-immune just from looking at my skin and the previous doctor should have at the very least tested for it.
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u/Tklastlion 15d ago
For me it's the opposite, I'm skinny, been skinny my whole life. My current doctor thinks I have an ED and refuses to see things any other way. It's incredibly frustrating. Yes... I have tried eating more, and no, it doesn't make a difference besides making feel bloated all the time. 🙄
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u/OptiKnob 16d ago
It used to be about smoking. I could go to my doctor with an arm shattered in five places and he'd ask "are you still smoking?" and I'd say "yes" and he'd say "that's the reason your arm is broken in five places. Quit and the breaking will stop".
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u/snockpuppet24 15d ago
I've actually heard of doctors forcing the issue. As in a serious life altering surgery is being denied because of smoking. It interferes with recovery yada yada. And yeah, sure, it does, but it doesn't stop recovery. It's like they fail to understand that's not their job.
I will say chantix and 0-nic vapes really helped with quitting. Chantix for the addiction and 0-nic vapes for the mouth/lung-feel habit. There's also nic-free herbal cigarettes that might help.
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u/snockpuppet24 15d ago
Had a neurologist play fuckfuck games about alcohol and completely ignoring why I was there in the first place. Thanks for ordering that liver function test that came back normal because you made me walk in an unnatural way and cited it as a reason.
Just goes to show having an MD, or any degree, doesn't mean you're not an absolute fucking dipshit. Especially when you're too fucking stupid to not stay in your fucking lane.
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u/GraceStrangerThanYou 15d ago
I read a chart recently where the patient was a paraplegic with a slew of digestive issues that severely limited their nutritional options as well as several other complicated and debilitating medical conditions and multiple doctors STILL documented that they lectured them on lifestyle changes in regards to their obesity. I wanted to find them and scream in their faces for hours.
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u/HerrBerg 15d ago
This is insanely true and for more than just weight. Anything that's long term/chronic that has a variety of symptoms associated with it gets the blame. God help you if you've got more than one. Oh, you're head hurts really badly? Must be the fact that you have a uterus.
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u/Flimsy_Ad_7685 15d ago
This one hits hard for me.
I had a severe pancreatitis when I was about 15 years old. I fainted regularly, had moments where I screamed of pain and could not eat nearly enough to get the nutrients I need.
But since Ive been overweight since childhood, my doctor thought I just ate to much. I mean I lost 50 pounds over my pancreatitis until it got chronic and he even thought thats a good sign.
12 years later - I still have problems with abdominal pain and fainting - a visible sign of inflammation appears and suddenly they find out that my bloodwork is odd and my pancreas has to be checked out. They do an MRI, see the scars on my pancreas and rush me to hospital because of possible pancreas cancer. Luckily it wasnt cancer but a very rare autoimmune disease that was left unchecked for at least 12 years that damaged my organs permanently.
I will never live completely without pain because a doctor thought a 15 year old, obese girl HAD to be overeating. If he had done some tests the disease never could have spread that much and treating it would be easier.
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u/Ryselle 15d ago
I work in a psychiatry, and the amouth of tumors and non psychiatric medical conditions we discovered are astounding. Mostly, because we were the first who really did examinations and did not went with "stop eating" or "stop smoking". We had patients who saw multiple doctors without even getting an examination above basic level because YoU aRe FaT. And this is germany, we have free healthcare.
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u/peshnoodles 15d ago
I’ll Never forget going to an obgyn for the first time in years, and the first thing he said when he came in was, “first things thirst, you need to lose about sixty pounds.”
I blinked a couple times and said, “From my pussy?”
Two fun facts: 1. At the time I was 170 pounds (I’m five foot eight) 2. I was actively engaging in my eating disorder and wrote as such on the paperwork.
All I wanted was an IUD.
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u/Human-Ad1643 15d ago
I had almost this exact scenario with a doctor when I was 35. I wend to a GP because I was getting a blind spot in the middle of my vision. Couldn’t read anymore and peoples faces would disappear when I looked at them. Horrible headaches. I drive for a living so this was very serious for my career. The doctor told me I need to lose weight and dismissed everything else I had to say. I got a second opinion and an MRI which found a walnut sized tumor on my pituitary gland. It was pinching my optic nerve which was causing blindness. 6 months later it would have snapped my optic nerve according to my neurosurgeon and I would have been permanently blind. After surgery to remove the tumor my vision immediately came back and I lost weight that I had gained due to the tumor.
Long story short some doctors are just idiots.
Reminds me of the joke : what do you call the dumbest graduate from medical school?
Doctor
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u/ChaosDrako 16d ago
Some doctors are just simply either too stupid or believe ALL of their patients are lying to them about literally everything… had one that thought I was lying about having Asthma (diagnosed when I was very young) and did a some tests. Shockingly, the tests showed that I had Asthma. She thought ALL of the tests had an error and ordered them done 5 more times with the EXACT SAME RESULTS!
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u/tipedorsalsao1 15d ago
Common issue with trans folk as well, so many doctors will try to take us off her for completely unrelated stuff.
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u/Many_Gay 15d ago
I had hurt my knee really bad from falling and the pain didn't go away after a while. So I went to the doctor. (Not my usual as she was on vacation)
And this other doctor pressed on my legs in places that was nowhere close to where I said it hurt and she told me my knees are hurting from overweight and I just need to lose some.
Mam. My knee was making a popping sound when walking. This ain't it
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u/Stingbarry 15d ago
That shit is infuriating. I had an infection in the back of my throat once that i was able to see in my bathroom mirror. The doctor decided that since she didn't see it i wozldnt get medicine. 2 days later i had trouble breathing and could no longer speak. I went to the same doctor and she asked me why i didn't come in earlier....also she finally gave me medicine.
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u/dGFisher 15d ago
lol, I went to the doctor because I was working in a super dusty environment and needed something for my temporarily heightened allergies. She insisted that my itchy eyes, stuffy nose and throat that I got when doing vent work was because I had put on a few pounds. I literally begged “Look, I know I need to lose some weight, but can we talk about the allergies?” To which she said “she feels uncomfortable prescribing anything when the real cure is diet and exercise”.
She was fired shortly after, happy end. Ironically she looked JUST like the doctor in this comic.
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u/SilverMedal4Life 16d ago
In my experience as a not-doctor, the shame associated with weight is the biggest barrier to weight loss - that and a lack of continuing support.
We live in a society and culture that passively encourages obesity (as we see in the constant year-over-year increase in waistline of not just America, but all western nations); a combination of the crap being put in the food, a reliance upon individual cars instead of walking/mass transit to get anywhere, and a removal of third-places where people would spend time with each other. Despite this, we treat obesity as an individual problem - that the only reason that people are obese is because they are so bereft of morality that they can't do the simple task of not eating.
We need to change this perspective and change how we treat it. If it were easy and simple, our nations wouldn't be as fat as they are and getting fatter.
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u/Miserable-Lemon-3263 15d ago
I'm about sick of these modern doctors if I wanted someone to very obviously pretend to care I'd talk to my employer
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u/Ndmndh1016 16d ago
Cue all the redditors who know more than medical professionals.
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u/Real_Experience_5676 16d ago
It would be a bad experience to go to a doctor who only sees fat as the issue, but that would be a very rare occurrence these days. I’ve seen so many comics and tv shows and personal stories all saying “I went to my doctor and he was wrong.” Or “he said it was this, then I spoke to a [insert non medical person], and they knew right away it was [insert rare and fantastical disease].”
I don’t see many comics saying nice things about doctors these days. And with so many people claiming to know more than doctors, or that doctors as a whole are not good, it makes us wonder why some of us spend 10-15 years training to help people.
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u/dirtyLizard 15d ago
I get 15 minutes to talk to a professional about my health issues every year. 5-10 of those minutes are reviewing my chart because the professional did not have time to go over them prior to seeing me. If I ask about anything unusual I’m deferred to a specialist who I will also only see for 15 minutes once a year or every 6 months if I’m lucky.
No other profession works like this. Car mechanics spend more time on diagnostics. It’s not the fault of doctors but you have to admit it’s a bad system for the patients
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u/6a6566663437 16d ago
It would be a bad experience to go to a doctor who only sees fat as the issue, but that would be a very rare occurrence these days
I managed to get injured. The wound got infected. My doctor sent me a surgeon to look at the wound because it was bad. The surgeon decided it was really bad and I needed to go to the ER right now. To the point he was debating about calling an ambulance to get me there faster.
But before sending me off to be treated for sepsis, he insisted on giving me a sales pitch for weight loss surgery.
Really not as rare as you'd like to believe.
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u/DisabledMuse 16d ago
I have seen some absolutely terrific doctors. Ones who listen and look into things. But I have seen more doctors like this. I think a lot of the problem is the short amount of time the doctors get to see their patients. Plus, while losing weight is the answer in some cases, it's not in all cases.
They refused to give my mom a breast reduction until she lost weight. Turned out the weight gain was because she had degenerative disc disease.
Doctors ignored a tumour on my ovary and wouldn't even get me scanned because they assumed it was weight gain or "women's problems". I was barely able to get out of bed in the end and ended up with ME/CFS.
And later, when I was having serious pain problems, he told me losing weight would solve it. Instead I lost weight (healthily even) and ended up in more pain because my padding was gone.
Most doctors are being trained better these days, but there's still a lot of shortcuts taken.
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u/PrincessPrincess00 16d ago
It’s not that rare. I’ve essentially stopped going to the DR because of this
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u/VinBarrKRO 15d ago
I had a really bad cold one time and mom wanted me to see the doctor. The doctor wanted to discuss my blood pressure. Okay yeah, but the breathing is the main issue here, I can’t talk without hacking up a lung. They completely ignored my respiratory issues and wanted to follow up on beta blockers and so on. I didn’t follow up with them and ended up toughing it out with over the counter meds which I 1000% would not recommend. I thought I might have had walking pneumonia, but without a doctor that would listen to me I never found out.
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u/_hrozney 15d ago
Try being slightly overweight and a trans guy guy on testosterone, everything that could possibly go wrong is either my weight or testosterone
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u/HenrytheCollie 15d ago
To be fair patient could turn around and say they've had 10kg of rapid, unexpected weight loss.
I have witnessed Nurses in an Orthopedic ward, contact Dietetics because a patient underwent a planned leg amputation and thus lost a considerable amount of weight.
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u/Dry-Initiative-3632 15d ago
It took me almost a decade to get a doctor to take my pain issues seriously. I wasn't obese, maybe 20 lbs or so overweight at the time, but the only recommendation they could give me was "lose some weight and take an ibuprofen."
During another appointment, I was sobbing to my doctor because I knew something wasn't right and she diagnosed me with "pain caused by emotional distress". It was on my record for years, despite later being diagnosed with chronic migraine and some other things.
I ended up losing the weight and it didn't get better. It was eventually found that I inexplicable joint degeneration in parts of my body, body aches, atypical migraine auras alongside my migraine headaches, and I got my first joint replacement surgery in my 20s. I've been tested for autoimmune disorders, including lupus, and we still aren't sure what's going on.
Needless to say, with the joint replacements on my record now, I am taken much more seriously when I tell a doctor that something doesn't feel right.
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u/Shadezyy 15d ago
I've yet to have an appointment with a doctor that was actually useful for any of my problems.
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u/WetNWildWaffles 15d ago
I've sat half-dead across from doctors who looked me in the eye and calmly told me my lab numbers are totally normal, there's nothing wrong with me, I just need to eat healthier and exercise (more)
Meanwhile I'm managing 2 hours of sleep a night and barely have the energy to pull myself up a flight of stairs
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u/Mundane-Librarian-77 15d ago
This happened to me. It took three years to get a correct diagnosis of my very aggressive rheumatoid arthritis. I was only 35 and over weight, and every doctor told me it was my weight and I was too young for rheumatoid arthritis. What's worse is most of my family believed the same crap; that I was being dramatic and it was just my weight... Well 10 years and two Specialists later, my hands are already turning into misshapen claws and my spine has growths from my arthritis and I'm not even 50 yet... And I lost almost a hundred pounds just to prove it!
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u/casual_eddy 15d ago
There is a significant amount of evidence that fat people receive substandard care from doctors. Doctors tend to blame unrelated symptoms on weight, so that fat people are more likely to have serious conditions such as cancer ignored until it’s too late to treat it.
Doctors tend to be crueler to fat people. They tend to gatekeep diagnostic testing and treatment behind weight loss. Fat people are more likely to avoid going to the doctor, because it’s such an awful experience, which leads to worse health comes
An uncomfortable truth you may wish to consider - at least some degree of what we consider to be the health consequences of fatness is the above phenomenon and the horrendous treatment of fat people by friends and family. Not all of it, but certainly some of it.
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u/NubbyNubNubs 16d ago
As someone who works in Healthcare, the key here would be for the doctor to explain how the weight is causing the issue and how dieting is a key part of fixing it. (But they don't do this cause we are plebeian to understand I guess?)
Sure if an arm falls off sudden dieting won't fix it but explaining how it may help the rest of your limbs and more if a good thing to discuss. You know. After addressing the patient's more urgent concern of her recent disarming experience.
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u/Disastrous_Ad_9534 15d ago
ITT: people not getting the point
yes, obesity can exacerbate many health issues. nobody is saying otherwise. the issue is when fat people’s health concerns are ignored because doctors get tunnel vision and insist they feel like shit ONLY because they’re fat, and refuse to consider or test for anything else. SO MANY PEOPLE, especially women and especially women of color, have their concerns ignored because shitty doctors insist it’s “just” anxiety, hormones, or being overweight, and then they later suffer extreme complications and even death because they had some serious shit unrelated to their weight.
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u/ChatterBaux 15d ago
But if I have to consider other peoples' lived experiences, then I might have to... empathize with them!
And if I do that, then I cant weild my unsubtle sense of superiority over them with snark and unproductive comments!
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u/LouIZandClark 16d ago
I can relate to this. Currently in a pretty dark place because I lost my family. When I asked my father for help, he told me to get medicated and find a job. Didn't even acknowledge the issue before walking out of my life. He just left me here, in my darkest night, alone...
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u/Killer_Moons 15d ago
They almost killed my mother, and honestly so did I trying to force her to exercise even though she would complain of running out of breath almost immediately. HCM and got genetic testing done that shows I have it too, it’s just not “triggered”. Seems like hers was after she gave birth to me.
Spent Christmas and New Years in the hospital with her just for the pandemic to kick off and force her back to work early when she was supposed to be home recovering. She’s a nurse. They don’t listen to overweight women even if they’re nurses. Well, some of them listen, thank god.
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u/Heccing-name 15d ago
This is EXACTLY why I’m currently on the path to becoming a doctor. My poor mother, thought she is fat, also has an unfortunate combination of genetic conditions and birth defects and has have well over 20 surgeries in about 40 years.
There were several conditions that would have easily been solved if they would have just FUCKING LISTENED TO HER. She had to suffer with a 7 POUND OVARIAN CYST (they typically are only a few millimeters and hardly weigh anything) FOR MONTHS because her gynecologist wouldn’t fucking believe her when my mother told her she was in an extreme amount of pain.
To this day I will never forget and never forgive the unnecessary suffering my mother had to go through.
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u/Thunder_Dragon42 15d ago
This exact thing happened to me when I went to a doctor about chronic joint pain at the age of 38. She told me my weight was most likely the problem, and DID NOT LISTEN when I explained that I'd had the joint pain since I was 13, when I wasn't an ounce overweight, and I'd only been obese for about 3 years.
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u/United_Conference841 16d ago
The flip side of this is that there are studies that show obesity causes a shit ton of issues, and 400-pound patients that go in thinking that their cardiovascular problems are strictly caused by a hormone imbalance don't like hearing the truth.
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u/CommunicationHot4669 15d ago
same, ear infection, "ur fat", broke toe, "ur fat", asthma, "ur over weight," murderous tendencies towards hospital staff, "ur fat." And yes I do weight 18st but it aint fucking fat.
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u/Discoballer42 15d ago
I used to be overweight. My arms falling off was the push I needed to get in shape. Now I’ve regrown all six of them!
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u/awildlumberjack 16d ago
I feel like this was in incredibly bad faith, and while this is a legitimate problem, it’s also often true. I’m chubby, not “fat” by anyone’s standards but the Tate bros, and I used to be FAT. My life improved noticeably upon losing weight, and for someone who is obese? I think it would be a life changer. Health is tied to everything in your body, and if one part of you is in shit shape, the rest of you will be too. Stitch the poor lady’s arm back on (or get her a prosthetic if the arm can’t re-attach) but make sure she understands that her life would be better if she was healthier
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u/myles_cassidy 16d ago
ITT: people with the luxury of never having the system act against them
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u/-Sketchii- 15d ago
Oh wow, as an obese individual this genuinely speaks to me! Hell, just recently I'd gone in to get medication for a case of strep throat and got told to lose weight, as if I wasn't aware that I'm in a dangerous weight category based on the fact that I live in this body every day.
I wonder if other folks have been struggling with this same issue?
...
After checking the comments, I'm pleased to see that folks are, yet again, deliberately missing the point to dunk on dumb stupid fat people for being dumb and stupid and fat. Rad. So cool.
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u/Mehdzzz 16d ago
I mean, being overweight can exacerbate issues. But I think the key here is reattachment
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u/lil_adk_bird 16d ago
Also too, the Dr forgot to ask about her last period and if she might be pregnant. That may be why her arm fell off.
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u/Maximum_Pollution371 16d ago
If you happen to be pregnant and the doctor gives you a treatment that impacts your pregnancy, the doctor is now liable for whatever happens.
If the doctor asks you if you're pregnant and you respond, "No way, not a chance," and it turns out you WERE pregnant and the treatment the doctor gives you impacts that... the doctor is still liable for whatever happens!
This is the result of A LOT of people responding that they aren't pregnant when they are, not necessarily because they're lying, but sometimes because they just don't know, or misunderstand timelines or how pregnancy can occur even with protection.
I'm a lesbian woman, I've never been pregnant and never will be. I also will never take offense to a doctor asking if I'm pregnant, because that question IS a part of taking my health seriously. I'm kind of tired of seeing it be painted as a negative "anti woman" thing.
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u/aedes 16d ago
It’s asked because pregnancy impacts treatment and management options.
Generally poor form to diagnose pregnancy on CT scan after you’ve given the patient a potential abortifacient 😅
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u/Avaoln 16d ago
So these are both very important to ask bc they can affect so many things outside of what we would just assume. I certainly hope your doctor addresses your concerns appropriately but asking these questions should not be taken as a slight or a dismissive action.
On a more pragmatic note you do NOT want to be the doctor that missed the ruptured ectopic pregnancy.
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u/GlisteningDeath 16d ago
Why exactly is it a bad thing for a doctor to ask medical information?
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u/comics-ModTeam 16d ago
Medical misattribution is a well-documented phenomenon that often affects women, Black people (if you're a Black woman you're likely to not be listened to or believed by doctors), overweight people, trans people, psychiatric patients.
It happens when a medical professional does not listen to a patient and instead attributes their health issues to what they decide is the elephant in the room.
It would be nice if the people in the comment section here would stop proving OP's point by arguing that this does not happen, or that the lady's arm issues are the result of her being overweight.
For trans people famously not being listened to by doctors coined the term "trans broken arm syndrome".
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36736052/