I'm dumbfounded. Today I finally went to get a physical, after 3 years of avoiding it. Dr. K, my therapist, recommended a doctor who has experience with EDs. I'm already having a bad morning by the time I get to the doctor's office - I realized that I had forgotten to put on a bra (who does that?!) and I started my period in the car on the way over. Fantastic. So I'm already in a foul mood. I get to the doctor's and I have to wait almost an hour to be seen and they didn't even have any good magazines to read while I was waiting. Ugh. Finally, a nurse comes and gets me and asks me if I want a flu shot. After signing a waiver promising not to sue if I die from the vaccine, I gritted my teeth and the nurse gave me the shot. All of a sudden nausea overcame me, but I thought I'd be okay enough to go give a urine sample. Wrong. I made it to the bathroom and the next thing I know I'm lying on the floor surrounded in urine sample cups. I had fainted and knocked over the whole cupboard of urine cups. I think it was the combination of getting my blood taken, getting the flu shot, and having not eaten breakfast (only because the doctor's office told me not too!). Thankfully I had a granola bar in my purse and after eating that I felt much better. If all this isn't bad enough already - it gets worse. The doctor finally comes into see me while I'm in one of those horrifically embarrassing little paper gowns (with the opening in the
front, ugh). And this is what happened next:
Dr. C: So I see that you have been having problems with an eating disorder and depression.
Me: Yeah.
Dr. C: Well an ideal weight for you would be __ pounds - so you need to lose 15 pounds...
Me: (WTF?!)
Dr. C: It's a good thing that you are on a diet. Weigh yourself once a week to make sure you haven't gained any weight.
Me: (ummmm...)
What the hell?! First of all, it is the BIGGEST faux pas to tell anyone with an eating disorder regardless of their size that they need to lose weight. And after all, she is supposed to be an ED specialist. Secondly, according to to the medical charts, my weight is currently in the healthy range. So I'm not obese (even though I feel like it). So what gives.
To make matters worse, I have to return and see this doctor to get my girly exam (which I've also avoided for the last 3 years) because she couldn't do it this time because it was "that time of the month." Bite me.
To sum it all up, I knew there was a reason I had avoided a physical for 3 years...
12 comments:
Doctor's are the dumbest people alive!
Ummm.. did you report all that to your therapist?? What the freak... I'm so sorry it was so obnoxious. Take it with a grain of salt cuz this lady sounds like a real space cadet...
So I'm just guessing there are other doctors out there and I'm thinking you could find one with a bit more "expert-ness". If it makes you feel better, I almost threw up on the girl who was cleaning my teeth when I was preggo...a 30min cleaning turned into about an hour...
Hey, at least the urine cups weren' full.
And WTF, insensitive much? I can't believe your doc would say that, unless it's some kind of weird reverse-psychology thing. If that's the case, it backfired.
That's weird about the girly-exam. My doc delivers babies, too, so I guess she'll take the mess of a period over the mess of a birth any day.
Wow, totally inappropriate doctor's response.
But then again, most doctors seem to be very insensitive around weight issues. You either weigh too much or too little -- I think that very few people weigh what their doctors would like them to weigh.
And welcome to the blogosphere. I write about food and eating disorders here:
http://avidalegria.blogspot.com
Take care,
Ai Lu
That doctor needs to be pimp-slapped. So I pass out usually getting shots, blood drawn, etc. I passed out in Claire's when I got my ears pierced at age 15. And I cried the first time I had my girly appt...something you can look forward to. ;)
What confuses me is why on earth did your therapist recommend this woman? But, what stumps me the most is why on earth does your therapist think this woman knows or has any experience with eating disorders? What is an eating disorder? What do I have to do/know in order to be labeled as someone who "has experience with eating disorders" ...I believe most everyone has some kind of disordered eating. I think people get confused with the difference of disordered eating and eating disorders.
I'm sorry you had to go through that, for whatever reason you are being "tested". I believe everything happens for a reason. I bet you were in shock, as would I have been...but man, would I have liked to give that lady a piece of me. And you still can. I think you should! Yeah, it sucks that she said that but honestly...I don't think she was purposely on a mission to make you feel like shit. I think she has no idea. She obviously has some weight issues herself if she spoke what she did to you. You have enough knowledge to know that she doesn't know crap about eating disorders and that she probably just googled the definition or something. That or she is just like most every other human being in the world trying to loose weight and believing that is the answer to all of lifes problems and questions. I can't count how many times I have heard bullshit like "loose this amount of weight and be happier" ...why should I trust that person knows what true happiness is. Very little do. Why do I even trust a person so much that I know nothing about... probably because of the way they look.... it's a bunch of horseshit and it's all about money and who can make the most. Well, NOT me. I'm not falling for it. Change is in progress with Obama as our 44th president and that doesn't mean that just by his victory we can stop voting for what he/we believe in. He asked for our help and I'm going to help with this change and that starts by baby steps. Body peace is just a small amount of what overall peace truly is. Peace begins with me, with you...we spread peace when we create it in ourselves. Only then, do I believe, we can truly help others and truly be united as one.
-erica hyland
That's HORRIBLE! I'm so sorry! That doctor clearly knows very little about EDs, I could go into the reasons why, but I think you already know. I'm infuriated. And sadly, I think things like this happen all too often. Please don't use this as an excuse to resort to ED or to weigh yourself, even if it was "doctor's orders." So sorry hon. Can you find a new doctor?
Kara,
I'm really sorry to hear that this happened to you. If you don't feel comfortable seeing this physician again, it might be a good idea to switch to a different doctor. I've had to switch in the past, when doctors have been totally insensative to the fact that I have severe pain.
Some people don't feel comfortable speaking up when their doctor does or says something totally inappropriate, and if that's the case, you can still call the office and have the desk make a note of your experience. I try to either explain to the doctor why I take issue with what they said or let the office know, so that other people don't have to deal with the same crap. Even though physicians go through years of training, there are still huge gaps in their knowledge base in certain areas, and some of them lack good people skills.
I hope you have a much more positive experience next time. It's good that you know that the doctor is at fault here and not you! If you ever need support, email or call me. You're not alone.
xo
Nikki
hey there,
new to your blog...
that fucking sucks sooo bad though! whoa. I once had a nurse tell me I needed to lose weight, but nothing to this extent. So sorry you had to deal with that, rediculously crappy doctor.
hope the remainder of the week goes better.
You've got to be kidding me?! What a F*$@ing retard that doc is! Seriously, don't listen to her. EVER. I'm so sorry you had to go through that.
Oh man. I don't like that doctor at all. I wouldn't ever go back if I were you. Don't even think one more second about what she said. I'm sorry that happened.
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