Wherein WoodenSunshine Will Be Finding a New Doctor

[WoodenSunshine]

A little bit of background information: I run in the unified relay for my town's Special Olympics team. Basically, it's me, another partner and two athletes (the ones who are special needs). I'm not fit, by any means, and I do relay for fun which is the whole point of Special Olympics. Last weekend, we had the state games and I ran my best race ever according to my coach. Unfortunetly, my feet were killing me afterwards and, due to my history of ankle/knee problems, I wound up making an appointment with my doctor for yesterday.

I mentioned I'm not fit. I'm really not. I've gained a ridiculous amount of weight which is from inactivity, working in an office and recuperating from a couple surgeries. I requested that the nurse not show me my weight, because I just really didn't want to know. I'm trying to eat better and get out more and I don't need anything depressing me more </background>

So, I'm talking to my doctor about how I injured myself this time. After explaining the whole relay thing, he looked shocked and said, "I didn't know big girls ran relays."

<- My face. I asked him to clarify his comment as I was hoping he didn't mean what he said.

"Well, you're almost 200 lbs, and usually it's really thin people that run relays."

At that point, I did what I usually do and burst into sobbing tears. I explained to my doctor the reason for my weight gain and how frustrated I am trying to get the weight off.

His suggestion? "There's a new diet pill coming out in September."

I've had problems with this doctor over prescribing pills in place of real treatment (gave me Z-pack and codeine cough syrup for bronchitis, vicodin when I tore a hole in my cartilege in my ankle, more vicodin when I hurt my knee...etc.) The only reason I go to this guy is that he's a good diagnostician and has handled all of my joint issues. Plus, he can get me in an MRI in a week if it's necessary.

I think what he said really crossed the line. My weight may have had some factor in injuring myself (posterior tibial tendonitis FTW?), but the comment about the diet pill was inappropriate and really made me feel terrible on top of the crap that I already felt.

[dragon_wings]

Dude needs a new brain to mouth filter.

[WoodenSunshine]

This may just be my still pretty upset state right now, but I think he needs to have a new brain, period. I would have been less upset if he seemed apologetic about it.

[Pixilated]

That was seriously uncalled-for and unprofessional. I hope you can find a new doctor; this one sounds like more of a problem than a help, even with the advantages you've mentioned. A doctor whose first suggestion for weight issues is "a new diet pill" would be a major red flag for me. (I'm skeptical of my current prescription for metformin for high blood sugar -- though I'm taking it, LOL -- because I'm wondering why the doctor didn't suggest diet and exercise first.)

My longtime and awesome doctor in Toronto is very much a no-pills-if-they-can-be-avoided type, and I am very anxious about finding another similar one in My Hometown. I can go back to Toronto Dr. anytime, but once I get to My Hometown, that'll involve a four- to five-hour train trip ... not really feasible.

[WoodenSunshine]

My boyfriend's mom has been suggesting this nutritionist guy in the area. I'm doing some research to see if I can find a registered dietician in the area (there are three in a 10 mile radius of my house).

There are two other doctors and a PA in that practice, so I'll be requesting a different doctor for my next visit. Boyfriend wants to run more and I found out that I can bicycle with this new ailment, so I will be buying a bicycle and now that I'm cooking my own food, I can make healthier choices. My vice is caffeine...a lot of caffeine and I'm cutting back on that too.

I may talk to my ortho doctor and see if she has any suggestions for weight loss with injuries. She's great with conservative treatment. She saw me for about seven months before she suggested surgery.

[raudf]

Way out of bounds! If he's part of a practice, I'd suggest reporting his poor bedside manner to them. That's the least encouraging thing to say to someone who wants to get into a better shape, and the worst thing to say to someone who can't for various reasons!

Just makes me very happy with my Nurse Practitioner. He's very much a no-pills-unless-all-else-fails type. My weight is around the 200 mark and he's been pushing slow exercise and a reasonable diet. Though if I ran a relay, I think he'd only chide me for taking things too fast and to then use ice packs and heat packs on the various sore joints. And tylenol for the aches. Bonus for me, because it's a cheaper alternative.

I'd even started to slowly take off the pounds before I got preggers

[BlaqueKatt]

-- because I'm wondering why the doctor didn't suggest diet and exercise first.

possibly because of the people that try it for a few days, don't like to put in the effort, and come back screaming it didn't work and demanding a "magic pill". Now everyone's jumping on him because he suggested what is demanded by quite likely a large percentage of his clientele, doctors just can't win, just like we aren't mind readers, neither is a physician. Also current medical guidelines(which can be found here), advise if a patient has been having difficulty losing weight for 6 months or more pharmacotherapy should be considered, so he was following established medical guidelines, some medical professionals lack tact, some are trying to emulate the fictional Dr. House, not treating a patient like their best buddy*does not make them a bad physician.

I personally know 3 people that were given diets and easy exercise regimes by their physicians, all three were gradually losing weight, all three went off the diet to "prove" they couldn't lose weight, because they wanted "lap band surgery", because they felt it was easier.

I explained to my doctor the reason for my weight gain and how frustrated I am trying to get the weight off.

His suggestion? "There's a new diet pill coming out in September."

Did you ask for help losing weight with diet and exercise that won't aggravate your injuries? If not, a physician is not a mind reader, see above, unless you tell them you want to try diet and exercise, they will assume you're looking for a "quick fix" like 90% of the population.

I wasn't there(and may be way off base), but is it possible he was more shocked and impressed by your athletic endeavors(my health care providers are usually concerned about my blood pressure[which would be dangerously low for a "normal person-it's around 80/60] until I say "I'm a cyclist"), rather than criticizing and the fact that you were feeling bad about yourself(which you admitted), you projected that negative self-talk, and saw a positive as a negative?

*your best buddy is likely to not say anything that may upset you, because they know what upsets you, your doctor doesn't.

[dragon_wings]

This may just be my still pretty upset state right now, but I think he needs to have a new brain, period. I would have been less upset if he seemed apologetic about it.

My post was one of my tamer thoughts/comments. I have some stronger ones but they're most likely fratching worth. I agree you should find a new doctor. And good luck with loosing weight. It's hard but loosing weight helps in so many areas (I need to loose about 30 pounds. Not much in comparison to some but my knees will like me much more).

[Sapphire Silk]

WoodenSunshine: give yourself some time to get over the mad, THEN write a detailed letter to this doctor explaining what he said and how badly it hurt your feelings.

Tell him that your expectation of his care is that he will not just write a script for every complaint, but offer other sensible, evidence based, medical solutions to your problems.

That the comment about the relay was totally insensitive; he should not assume just because someone is over weight that they might not participate in events like this in an effort to get more active.

What he should have said was, "Wow, that sounds like it was a great event. I think you should keep doing these kinds of things, but I want you to take some precautions to prevent a medical issue and prevent an injury, which include a, b, c, d etc, etc. Keep me posted and let me know if you have any new symptoms or problems."

It may be that he is oblivious to what he said and how it affected you, sobbing notwithstanding. He may not understand WHY you got upset, but he needs to.

[WoodenSunshine]

Thank you for all the advice! I keep forgetting that there is a stress on finding a magic pill which would explain my doctor's immediate jump to a diet pill (my thought was that he spoke to a pharmaceutical rep recently). When I see my orthopedic doctor, I will ask her suggestions on the best kind of exercise for me. She is really good about offering suggestions and advice that work. She is pretty sensible and barring an actual tendon tear, I probably won't have to go through surgery again as she opts for a more conservative "let's try these stretches and these orthotics, if that doesn't work, then physical therapy" type.

I think I will write a polite letter to the doctor explaining my feelings. It may help my doctor understand where I'm coming from and why I'm upset.

After talking with my boyfriend, I'm going to buy a bicycle as it is low impact enough that I could do that without hurting myself more (let's hope at least lol), I'm also doing a little yoga to help stretch myself out.

[Crossbow]

This was very much out of bounds. While your weight might have been a factor in the injury, that's not why you're there. You're seeing him to treat the injury first. Any attempt to prevent a recurrence comes later.

That's pretty much the reason I left my last doctor. I know I'm grossly overweight. You don't need to remind me. But when all you can do is discuss my weight when I'm there because of a shoulder injury (minor strain in the rotator cuff), you're done. Well, that and the fact that you get pissed every time you check my blood sugar and find out that I'm NOT diabetic. Seriously? telling me I must be diabetic because of my weight? Nope. Done.

Yeah, time for a new doctor. Good luck on the exercise routine!

[Catwoman2965]

that would annoy me as well. I weigh more than I should, and actually classified as obese by medical standards. I also gained about 10+ lbs over the last 18 months. yet when I went for my physical, while my dr. suggested it might be to my benefit to lose some weight, he certainly didn't harp on it, nor did he make any inappropriate comments. Not that he told me anything I didn't already know, but he's very diplomatic about what he says.