One of the women on one of my mailing lists sent us an email regarding a recent surgery she had. She's okay, thank heavens, but she talked very candidly about being an overweight patient.
Having had experience with being a patient lately I emailed in response and I felt it was important enough to be included in my blog. Nothing funny today...just serious discussion on weight and being a patient.
You brought up some VERY valuable points that all of us need to take heed of. I'm going to offer the view from the other side. This is in no way to make you feel bad, but what you said is SO VERY VERY important regarding weight and medical issues.
I had just hit goal when my health problems began, completely unrelated to my weight loss. (For those who are newer to the list, I had a pancreatic tumor that was discovered in December when I had a CT scan due to kidney stones. I had to have a surgery in January to have it out, but it was bigger than they thought. In April I had a Whipple Procedure, and then another procedure when my intestines blocked. Let's just say this has NOT been a fun year.)
I went into all of this weighing about 125 pounds.
My surgical incision goes from my sternum to below my belly button. Had I had my belly (I started WWers at 222, having lost some weight prior to that and I carried most of my weight in my belly) it would have been excrutiatingly painful. It would have taken longer to heal.
Moving was very important to recovery. At 222 pounds with an incision running down my belly I would have not had any desire to get out of my chair. With my new healthy habits I made myself walk on the treadmill and every day I exercised I found I felt better and better. I truly think it helped me heal faster.
I had to be taken in an ambulance twice. One time I could walk out to the stretcher. The second time they had to carry me out because it couldn't fit in through my door. I am so thankful that they carried the new me out, and did not have to try to haul 225 pounds of me out. As it was I felt like they nearly dropped me and at that time I was close to about 100 pounds (having lost WAY too much in the hospital).
I had to be moved from one bed to another in each of my surgeries. It was much easier and much more comfortable to be moved at a small size.
I honestly think that had I been overweight the doctor would have been much more likely to have ignored my symptoms. I have noticed a marked improvement in the way I am treated by health professionals as a person of so called "normal" weight. Had they ignored my kidney stones, chalking it up to poor diet or needing to lose weight, I would still be living with a pre-cancerous tumor today that I knew NOTHING about. Sometimes I think about that and thank the Lord right then and there. Pancreatic cancer has about a 4% cure rate...It is seldom caught until it is too late. I would NOT HAVE KNOWN if I hadn't had kidney stones and a doctor (not my regular doctor) who sent me for a CT scan. I truly believe that would not have happened if I hadn't been my current weight. I would have been just another fat chick with health problems.
Being overweight affects us on so many levels. For YEARS I was in denial about the impact my weight was having on my health. I felt fine. I always did have a lot of energy. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, other than normal aches and pains of getting older. If I was sick I never attributed it to being fat. I always just thought it was getting older or a bug. But you know what? Since losing weight:
- My feet don't hurt at the end of the day.
- My energy isn't good, it's great! Through the roof! Astounding!
- I have NO MORE heartburn. I have no had heartburn once since I hit goal. I had it one time since starting WWers. Why? Because I no longer over-fill my stomach!
- I have not had the "stomach flu" other than one time since starting WWers. I think that time was related to my evil pancreas. Why? Because I no longer over-eat!
- I had chronic lower back pain. I one time threw my back out bending over to pour water into a measuring cup from a water cooler. My back NEVER hurts any more unless I overdo it at the gym.
- I am not tired at the end of the day.
I like wearing smaller sizes and feeling body-confident, but I'm telling you by FAR the best thing about losing weight is the health benefits!
WeightWatchers.com: Community - Message Board Posts
Oh my dear lord...what the hell is the matter with people? Yeah, the cookies are going to hold you down while the cake forces its way into your mouth. What a knob!
Come ON people! Take responsibility for your own actions! Choose what you put into your mouth. There is nothing wrong with saying to your husband, "Can you do me a favor and keep the cookies out of sight?" but when he forgets, because it's probably not the highest item on his priority list, it isn't sabotage. It's just cookies sitting on a freaking counter.
I understand temptation as much as the next guy, but good Lord. When I eat it is because I have chosen to move my hand from the plate to my mouth, chew, swallow, repeat. Even when I was fat I knew what I was doing...I just didn't choose to do anything about it. I never whined that it wasn't my fault, though.
Take personal responsibility people!
Not to be mean...but she'll be posting tomorrow that she's so disgusted with herself because she ate the cookies...
