Comments on: The Scarlet O

By: nina

nina — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 03:22:34 +0000

recently my employee insurance instituted a “wellness program.” i was sent to a health screening with an n.p. i’d never met before. actually, the clinic i had to go to was affiliated with the “other” local medical system, which has never failed to reinforce how much i like my own providers.
it went surprisingly well. the (thin) n.p. was actually pretty cool. part of the exam was a waist measurement, and she wasn’t at all mean or smug or shaming about it, or my weight, even though i think that was meant to be the point. just sort of “this is on my list.” she even told me that she was jealous of my cholesteral score! i left feeling pretty good about my overall health. only my size and triglycerides (wtf?) were high. she mentioned that more activity was a good idea, but hey, you have a new baby so i can see where that’s low on the list.
i got a health reveiw a week or so later with all the same numbers explained in greater depth, only EVERY SINGLE PAGE warned me that i needed to LOSE WEIGHT. or i’d get really, really sick. really. yeah. i’ll get right on top of that, AND i’ll drop my pediatrician, midwives, and really AWESOME hospital all for you guys, who, btw? have a mcdonald’s in the basement of your hospital. right.

By: Kris

Kris — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:04:32 +0000

The mole thing was kind of addressed, but another point is that – in order for your doctor to notice if a mole is behaving abnormally (growing in size, for example) there is a certain degree of being aware of what your moles look like on a routine basis necessary. So I’d personally also be inclined to worry more about a doctor who DIDN’T make some comment if I had a lot of moles than one who did. (Granted, I would not expect the comment to be ‘we should remove them all now’ but rather ‘I see you have a lot of moles. We should schedule regular skin cancer screenings for you as part of your routine care.’)

I think I’m pretty lucky with my doctors, though. My GP also sees both of my parents, who are overweight, and he’s never once said anything to me about it, even though I’m firmly overweight according to the BMI chart. Actual health issues, sure? Weight? Nope. Likewise, the doctor I see for arthritis has mentioned exercise to me – but in the context of keeping my joints moving to reduce swelling and fluid build up. She doesn’t care if I do 60 minutes a day in a gym or 10 minutes a day leisurely walking my dog. (Actually, she’d probably complain about 60 minutes a day in a gym because that’d be over-stressing things.)

So it is possible to find doctors who’ll stick to the things that matter, not just numbers on a chart.

By: Cecilia

Cecilia — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 03:39:49 +0000

@jade:
I’m 5′10″ too, and my boobs aren’t that big, but I’m not certain that if I were anorexic I could weigh 165 pounds! The top end of the BMI “healthy range” for 5′10″ is 174. I am intimately familiar with that number, as during my bout of bulemia I was obsessed with it. Even vomiting everything I ate immediately, I could only hit 179. I ended up at a bariatric doctor (someone who deals with weight, but not the surgery) because I do have a binge eating problem (although I know many, if not most, overweight people do not.) She did a measure of my lean body mass, and was like, “Well, actually, your bone structure doesn’t fit in the chart. You could weigh s much as 195 and still be healthy. [Her words]) I was elated, At the same time, I have slowly become appalled. How could it escape every doctor I’ve had my whole life that my structure was this big? It isn’t like I can bloody hide it! My family (except for my mom, who has some serious, undiagnosed food and body issues) looks like a Viking. We look like we should be pillaging and carrying people off left and right. If someone had figured this out earlier, could I have avoided the hell of bulemia and a lifetime of disordered thinking about my body? It’s wrong. Just wrong. I’m much fatter now, because of a medication that’s keeping me alive. OOOh, I must be told I’m fat by EVERY doctor!!! They’re all a**holes, and I don’t know what to do if I have kids. I do know Iwon’t let a sick establishment make them hurt like I do.

By: Mary

Mary — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 23:31:26 +0000

I once went to a doctor who, when I went in to get antibiotics because I was coughing up bloody scabs from acute tonsilitis, told me if I just lost 50 lbs my throat would stop bleeding.

I had to threaten a malpractice lawsuit just to get some damn antibiotics. It’s insane.

Needless to say, I’ve never been back to that doctor.

By: Surprise! at Kindly Póg Mo Thóin

Surprise! at Kindly Póg Mo Thóin — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:08:43 +0000

[...] be honest, the whole creeping Scarlet O phenomenon was one of the things that kept me away from going to the doctor all those years. I [...]

By: Friday Roundup « Finally, A Feminism 101 Blog

Friday Roundup « Finally, A Feminism 101 Blog — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 23:48:09 +0000

[...] The Scarlet O from kateharding.net by fillyjonk [...]

By: jade

jade — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 23:55:29 +0000

My new female doctor has been like this, never once mentioning my weight; which has been a very weird experience for me. She’s the first one ever that hasn’t commented on it. The last time I went to a male doctor I weighed 165 (keep in mind I’m 5′10″ with H cup size breasts (thats a good ten pounds right there), he took one look at me and told me my all my health problems were due to my ‘obesity’. I was absolutely shocked.

By: fillyjonk

fillyjonk — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 02:47:14 +0000

It’s hard to tell, but I think I also get better medical treatment. Somehow, not having the exact number seems to obviate some of the revulsion reaction from the doctor. It’s nice being treated as a person.

Now that is really interesting. I know some people decline to be weighed, and I’ve even seen a form letter that you can give your doctor. (Anybody know where this is?) But I usually get on the scale because I figure that if they’re going to lecture me about being fat, well, they can tell I’m fat. I also worried that refusing what they see as a routine procedure would actually make me a target for weight talk, because they would see it as me being embarrassed or anxious about my weight and therefore vulnerable. I think it’s really interesting that you’re experiencing better treatment. Maybe this is worth an experiment!

By: jaed

jaed — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 02:38:02 +0000

Before he could be seen by the doctor, of course, he had to be weighed — and lectured about his weight. Why??

“Had to” is a relative term. When I was in the hospital a while back (for something completely unrelated to weight – specifically a nasty soft-tissue bacterial infection that I’d let go too long), a volunteer announced she was going to bring in the scale and weigh me. I suppose I moaned a little – I was extremely dehydrated, feverish, possibly physically unable to stand, and certainly I didn’t want to get out of bed, let alone deal with the obligatory scolding.

A friend who was with me, bless her heart, leaned over the bed and whispered, “It’s a medical test. You have the right to refuse it.” It is and I do, so I did. The volunteer was upset – ran to the nurse with “She doesn’t want to be weighed!!!” – but the nurse was unruffled.

Since then I adopt a “just say no” policy to being weighed whenever possible. It actually seems to help: if I’m being seen for something that couldn’t possibly be weight-related, such as a sinus infection or a cut that needs stitches, I don’t get the “have you ever considered losing teh WEIGHT?” lecture. It’s hard to tell, but I think I also get better medical treatment. Somehow, not having the exact number seems to obviate some of the revulsion reaction from the doctor. It’s nice being treated as a person.

By: fillyjonk

fillyjonk — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 20:42:12 +0000

I guess I should have chosen a condition I was more familiar with! It was the only one I could think of offhand that could be purely aesthetic if unaccompanied by other complaints.