(no subject)

[greghousesgf]

Just got back from the doctor, they won't even schedule the surgery till I lose 40 pounds and who the hell knows how long that's going to take. They signed me up for the hospital's weight loss clinic and I have to wait for them to call. in the meantime my leg hurt so damn much I could not walk to the doctor's office and had to take a taxi, which took over an hour to show up. It's a good thing I didn't miss the appt.

Comments

[acelightning73]

An awful lot of people I know have sore knees and such, and are told "we can't fix it until you lose weight." And you can't exercise effectively if you can't put weight on one leg. Or they don't check for other possible causes of pain, they just say, "Lose 50 pounds and you'll be perfectly healthy." This is now changing, largely because all of us fat broads complained that their being overweight didn't have anything to do with their ulcer or their skin cancer, and someone eventually listened.

[greghousesgf]

skinny people get arthritis too.
I swim laps so that's some exercise where I don't have to put weight on my leg

[acelightning73]

It's just that the doctor doesn't see the arthritic knee; they just see "fat whiny person with a minor complaint" and then they offer weight-loss advice. "You're knees will stop hurting after you lose 50 pounds." Someone once lost all the weight, and said to the doctor, "My knees still hurt." I don't know what the doctor replied.

[greghousesgf]

no, the doctor realized my arthritis wasn't caused by my weight. The doctor never said "you're knees will stop hurting after you lose 50 pounds." She didn't even say "YOUR knees will stop hurting after you lose 50 pounds." She said "the surgery will be much easier for us to do if you lose weight". I should lose some weight anyway, and it's only 40 pounds, it's not like I was asked to lose some giant amount.

[zvezda9]

40 lbs is a huge amount of weight to lose!

[acelightning73]

They often use the "lose some weight" shaming on women who show up with ankle, knee, back, or hip problems "You know you wouldn't have this trouble if you hadn't let yourself gain so much weight."

40 pounds is a considerable fraction of a normal human weight. Losing that much in a short time puts all sorts of stresses on the body. I think I developed heart failure when I lost 60 pounds in five weeks. I lost muscle mass, and I suspect I lost some heart muscle.

[greghousesgf]

they never said anything like that to me and I've had arthritis for years.
I do not expect it to be a short time, I don't know why you assumed that. I certainly don't expect it to be five weeks or anything like that. Anyway I should lose some weight.

[enchanted_jae]

Sorry you got such rotten news.

[zvezda9]

It is frustrating when they won't provide medical care until you lose weight because even on specific plans, that can be very hard, especially past 40. I hope that the weight loss clinic helps.

[greghousesgf]

they will probably help. I just hope it isn't too frustrating.

[haebin]

I am so sorry you are in such pain. :(
*offering a gentle hugs*

I am overweight as well and I can't count the doctors who told me that I would be without any pains when I lose weight. I lost weight but it didn't get better.
And when you are overweight and you have mental health problems, that's even worse. They just don't care about a real reason.
Either your weight is to blame for the problems or you have these problems BECAUSE you are depressed or something similar.
It is a shame how people with overweight and mental health problems are treated (or not treated!).

[greghousesgf]

The doctors didn't tell me my arthritis was caused by my weight, they said they need me to lose some weight to do the surgery. I should lose some weight anyway.