I get why doctors go straight to, “It’s the fat.” It’s not fair, but it’s understandable.
Put yourself in the doctor’s shoes. The majority of people they see are fat. Don’t believe it? Look around the waiting room. First time I realized this was a revelation. My old doctor serves almost exclusively senior citizens, who got to be seniors by not being fat. Now I go to other, closer offices and I’m often the only person in the room who isn’t overweight. And there’s always some morbidly obese person with a cast on their leg. Wonder how that happened?
Imagine how many cases they get in a week that are due to obesity, or aggravated by it. It’s kinda like doing tech support where you think you already know what the problem is because you see it every damned day. “sigh… another one”. If you’re sincerely listening, you’ll often catch yourself out! But docs now days gotta run us through the office like herding cattle.
They also have to talk to everyone like they’re a simpleton. I don’t like being on the receiving end of it, but I get it. I can only imagine how many people doctors see who have zero medical knowledge and need to gently be spoon-fed every bit of new information. It’s gotta be so frustrating, what with all the anti-science garbage filling society right now.
Know why I’m good at tech support? I quickly gauge my audience’s level of understanding and speak to it. Once you get a doctor that can do that, hang onto 'em tight!
My doc rarely sees me, but after a minute or two she’s dialed in to me personally. Best part? Old lady isn’t afraid to give me her “stupid look” when I ask a dumb question. “Yeah, thought that’s how it was.”
Had a young doc at CVS one day. Once he figured out I wasn’t a dumbass redneck, merely a redneck, we had a 45-minute bullshit session where I learned quite a bit. Left me angry that we can’t ALL sit down with a professional like that.
anti-science garbage
Got so frustrated taking my ex-wife to doctors for her first pregnancy, seeing all the vaccination posters and being harped on about shots and breastfeeding, finally popped on a nurse:
“Look. We’re not retarded. She’s breastfeeding as long as possible and hit the kid with whatever vaccines are called for at whatever age. Just do it.”
Look on her face was like Will Smith seeing that alien’s head grow back. I felt bad, but my frustration that they have to even talk that way! And fuck me, all the talk I hear now days about “evidence based” treatments. “Yeah! That’s how medicine works! I got it!”
Yeah, I’m guessing the downvoters have better doctors than I’ve seen lately (which is a weird reason to discount another person’s experiences, but downvotes don’t really matter, so whatever.) I’m still trying to find a good GP with my new insurance. Hopefully I can find someone like the CVS doc you met. I don’t have to be sold on vaccines, or be reminded several times to finish all of my antibiotics, or need a precautionary lecture about not needing antibiotics because something’s viral. I know how the immune system works, I learned about it as a child, I continue to read medical articles when I come across them, and I always read the pamphlet that comes with new medications.
Again, I don’t fault doctors for having to do all that - they’re just doing their job. I’m more upset that society has access to all this free information, yet there are still so many people that ignore science that doctors feel the need to explain things like we’re all new to it, just in case.
Add to that half the time someone who is obese and complains of an ailment, let’s say muscle pain, they are adamant that it’s not the weight. Because the weight is hard to deal with and they need it to be easy.
So yes, someone unfairly has a complaint without being properly heard, but it’s in a chorus of people that just won’t accept that their obesity is a problem.
No, they don’t, and that’s a horrific way to practice medicine.
Everyone is unique with unique diet, environmental pressures, and genes. We are not cattle.
Also, we have a working medical model for this - veterinary medicine, esp non-corporate vet med. No vet is looking at an obese dog without ordering a thyroid test at minimum and looking further. Only in human med do we blame the patient like this
I get why doctors go straight to, “It’s the fat.” It’s not fair, but it’s understandable.
Put yourself in the doctor’s shoes. The majority of people they see are fat. Don’t believe it? Look around the waiting room. First time I realized this was a revelation. My old doctor serves almost exclusively senior citizens, who got to be seniors by not being fat. Now I go to other, closer offices and I’m often the only person in the room who isn’t overweight. And there’s always some morbidly obese person with a cast on their leg. Wonder how that happened?
Imagine how many cases they get in a week that are due to obesity, or aggravated by it. It’s kinda like doing tech support where you think you already know what the problem is because you see it every damned day. “sigh… another one”. If you’re sincerely listening, you’ll often catch yourself out! But docs now days gotta run us through the office like herding cattle.
They also have to talk to everyone like they’re a simpleton. I don’t like being on the receiving end of it, but I get it. I can only imagine how many people doctors see who have zero medical knowledge and need to gently be spoon-fed every bit of new information. It’s gotta be so frustrating, what with all the anti-science garbage filling society right now.
Know why I’m good at tech support? I quickly gauge my audience’s level of understanding and speak to it. Once you get a doctor that can do that, hang onto 'em tight!
My doc rarely sees me, but after a minute or two she’s dialed in to me personally. Best part? Old lady isn’t afraid to give me her “stupid look” when I ask a dumb question. “Yeah, thought that’s how it was.”
Had a young doc at CVS one day. Once he figured out I wasn’t a dumbass redneck, merely a redneck, we had a 45-minute bullshit session where I learned quite a bit. Left me angry that we can’t ALL sit down with a professional like that.
Got so frustrated taking my ex-wife to doctors for her first pregnancy, seeing all the vaccination posters and being harped on about shots and breastfeeding, finally popped on a nurse:
“Look. We’re not retarded. She’s breastfeeding as long as possible and hit the kid with whatever vaccines are called for at whatever age. Just do it.”
Look on her face was like Will Smith seeing that alien’s head grow back. I felt bad, but my frustration that they have to even talk that way! And fuck me, all the talk I hear now days about “evidence based” treatments. “Yeah! That’s how medicine works! I got it!”
Yeah, I’m guessing the downvoters have better doctors than I’ve seen lately (which is a weird reason to discount another person’s experiences, but downvotes don’t really matter, so whatever.) I’m still trying to find a good GP with my new insurance. Hopefully I can find someone like the CVS doc you met. I don’t have to be sold on vaccines, or be reminded several times to finish all of my antibiotics, or need a precautionary lecture about not needing antibiotics because something’s viral. I know how the immune system works, I learned about it as a child, I continue to read medical articles when I come across them, and I always read the pamphlet that comes with new medications.
Again, I don’t fault doctors for having to do all that - they’re just doing their job. I’m more upset that society has access to all this free information, yet there are still so many people that ignore science that doctors feel the need to explain things like we’re all new to it, just in case.
Add to that half the time someone who is obese and complains of an ailment, let’s say muscle pain, they are adamant that it’s not the weight. Because the weight is hard to deal with and they need it to be easy.
So yes, someone unfairly has a complaint without being properly heard, but it’s in a chorus of people that just won’t accept that their obesity is a problem.
Right on. Legit complaints are drowned by the “it’s not the fat” crowd.
No, they don’t, and that’s a horrific way to practice medicine.
Everyone is unique with unique diet, environmental pressures, and genes. We are not cattle.
Also, we have a working medical model for this - veterinary medicine, esp non-corporate vet med. No vet is looking at an obese dog without ordering a thyroid test at minimum and looking further. Only in human med do we blame the patient like this
Didn’t say it was proper practice, said I understood it.
I don’t think it is understandable.