Tweet
This upset me at the time, but I look back at it and laugh now. This was an experience with a Sucky Nurse.
I don't know how much I weigh. I'm not overweight though, and people often disbelieve the estimate I give them. I look slimmer than I am. But my rule is (after years of watching the scales constantly and seeing them fluctuate madly) is- go by how you feel. I exercise daily, I belly dance...I'm not in great shape, but I'm not a slob either.
I estimate I weigh about 147lbs. Not lightweight, but not fat either. At all. This is 10stone 7lbs. And its only an estimate because I know my weight fluctuates.
I was 19 and on the Pill, and my doctor requires I have a BP check about once a year to renew my prescription, due to a DVT family history and the slight increased risk of DVT when on the Pill (although the risk is higher if you get pregnant, so you have to weigh it up
). I needed a checkup and arranged one with the nurse one morning before work.
This nurse was a middle-aged woman who I wouldn't describe exactly as fat, but definately overweight. And definately bigger than me. Heavy set. And for some reason she wanted to check my weight (I've never had this checked since).
I now joke that I don't believe she was even a real woman because she said some things no other woman I have ever known have ever said:
1) She told me there was no need to remove my shoes before getting on the scales!!
What!? All women know you need to be completely naked and not even wearing spectacles or earrings when on the scales! Joking aside, everyone knows you take your shoes off, and when you consider I was wearing a heavy pair of Doc Martens....
I just said "Err...yes I do, do you know how much these weigh?" She acted like the removal of my shoes was completely unecessary.
My weight came in at 10st 4lbs, or 144lbs. This was a pleasant surprise to me because the previous week I had weighed 146lbs, and I was on my period, during which, as a lot of ladies experience, I bloat and tend to gain weight. You know, water retention etc. So when she said 144lbs, I said, happily, "Oh!"
This was the suck part.
"Yes," she said with a sneer, "it is a little heavy, isn't it?"
(Hence the pot, kettle, black remark.)
(And this is where unwomanly-thing-to-say-part-2 comes in)
2) "Well, I'm on period at the moment, so I find my weight changes..." I began.
"Yes, you do tend to lose a little weight on your period," she says dismissively.
You know, I'm sure some people do experience that, but I've not met a single one who does. Every woman I have ever known has experienced slight weight gain during their period. This nurse said that the loss of blood (which you all know is something about the equivalent of what, a teaspoon or 2?) is what causes the weight loss.
I should have said: "You're not a woman really, are you? Or even a nurse! Not at all, I think you are an imposter!"
Instead, being young, naive and confused, I became very upset by this woman who had pretty much just called me fat
Nowadays, I look back and laugh. This nurse was very rude to me, and I don't know why. It was totally uncalled for, and it was very much not her place to make a comment on my weight at any rate- Dad said, when i told him later, I should have looked her up and down and said "Don't you think thats the pot calling the kettle black, love?" in a billigerent tone ^^;; But nowadays, I wonder if perhaps she was just determined to make me feel fatter than I was. I don't know, but perhaps (I suspect this), she saw a young slim-looking teenager enter the room, was feeling bitter about herself for whatever reason and just decided it would cheer herself up if she battered my self esteem and try and make me feel fat.
All I have to say on this sort of attitude (which I have encountered in other circumstances) is this- its not my fault you are fat. Do what you want with your body- is yours, all yours. If you don't like something about it, change it. Don't blame other people for your imperfections. If you want to lose weight, do something about it, rather than just make thinner people feel bad about themselves.
I don't make appointments with the nurse anymore, I just see the doctor.
I don't know how much I weigh. I'm not overweight though, and people often disbelieve the estimate I give them. I look slimmer than I am. But my rule is (after years of watching the scales constantly and seeing them fluctuate madly) is- go by how you feel. I exercise daily, I belly dance...I'm not in great shape, but I'm not a slob either.
I estimate I weigh about 147lbs. Not lightweight, but not fat either. At all. This is 10stone 7lbs. And its only an estimate because I know my weight fluctuates.
I was 19 and on the Pill, and my doctor requires I have a BP check about once a year to renew my prescription, due to a DVT family history and the slight increased risk of DVT when on the Pill (although the risk is higher if you get pregnant, so you have to weigh it up
). I needed a checkup and arranged one with the nurse one morning before work.This nurse was a middle-aged woman who I wouldn't describe exactly as fat, but definately overweight. And definately bigger than me. Heavy set. And for some reason she wanted to check my weight (I've never had this checked since).
I now joke that I don't believe she was even a real woman because she said some things no other woman I have ever known have ever said:
1) She told me there was no need to remove my shoes before getting on the scales!!
What!? All women know you need to be completely naked and not even wearing spectacles or earrings when on the scales! Joking aside, everyone knows you take your shoes off, and when you consider I was wearing a heavy pair of Doc Martens....I just said "Err...yes I do, do you know how much these weigh?" She acted like the removal of my shoes was completely unecessary.My weight came in at 10st 4lbs, or 144lbs. This was a pleasant surprise to me because the previous week I had weighed 146lbs, and I was on my period, during which, as a lot of ladies experience, I bloat and tend to gain weight. You know, water retention etc. So when she said 144lbs, I said, happily, "Oh!"
This was the suck part.
"Yes," she said with a sneer, "it is a little heavy, isn't it?"
(Hence the pot, kettle, black remark.)(And this is where unwomanly-thing-to-say-part-2 comes in)
2) "Well, I'm on period at the moment, so I find my weight changes..." I began.
"Yes, you do tend to lose a little weight on your period," she says dismissively.
You know, I'm sure some people do experience that, but I've not met a single one who does. Every woman I have ever known has experienced slight weight gain during their period. This nurse said that the loss of blood (which you all know is something about the equivalent of what, a teaspoon or 2?) is what causes the weight loss.
I should have said: "You're not a woman really, are you? Or even a nurse! Not at all, I think you are an imposter!"
Instead, being young, naive and confused, I became very upset by this woman who had pretty much just called me fat
Nowadays, I look back and laugh. This nurse was very rude to me, and I don't know why. It was totally uncalled for, and it was very much not her place to make a comment on my weight at any rate- Dad said, when i told him later, I should have looked her up and down and said "Don't you think thats the pot calling the kettle black, love?" in a billigerent tone ^^;; But nowadays, I wonder if perhaps she was just determined to make me feel fatter than I was. I don't know, but perhaps (I suspect this), she saw a young slim-looking teenager enter the room, was feeling bitter about herself for whatever reason and just decided it would cheer herself up if she battered my self esteem and try and make me feel fat.
All I have to say on this sort of attitude (which I have encountered in other circumstances) is this- its not my fault you are fat. Do what you want with your body- is yours, all yours. If you don't like something about it, change it. Don't blame other people for your imperfections. If you want to lose weight, do something about it, rather than just make thinner people feel bad about themselves.
I don't make appointments with the nurse anymore, I just see the doctor.
You should have said what you wanted to! 
And how ... here in the states, the nurse is the person that gets your basics, then shows you to the consultation room. How can you not see the nurse? 
Comment