Yesterday a lady came in for an appointment, towing 3 toddlers with her. After signing in she took everything except the clipboard off the counter and handed them to her kids to play with!
When Mary asked her to put them back, she got angry and said "You act like this is my problem, that your office doesn't have stuff around to keep kids busy."
For those of you wondering: No. Neither of us sees kids in our practices.
76 comments:
Overindulged brats... you must live in my part of town. Just yesterday a lady came in for liquid Motrin for her obese 15 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER! I asked if she had a sore throat or something... "No, she just doesn't like swallowing pills," said the mother.
I couldn't help myself. Out it came... "It looks to me like she doesn't have any trouble swallowing pizza."
Maybe you need t explain the BYO rules: if you bring your kids, you bring your own stuff to keep em busy.
Yes, you dumbfuck, it IS YOUR problem.
Parenting fail.
FWIW, we have a plastic crate of toys in the office - but being OB-GYN, many pregnant patients bring their kids to appointments.
Ok, never, ever would I do that and if I have to bring my kids to an appointment I come with a bag of favorites. That said, I have worked full time and enjoyed the luxury fo getting to take time off to go to the appointments and my kids have stayed in daycare. I am switching to part time now and I am not sure how my appointments will work with at least one kid with me. Luckily I am very healthy and my appointments will be minimal. If you can not find a sitter or can not afford it, you have to bring them. I love it when doctors offices at least have some kid books.
I once had someone leave a suggestion in our waiting room suggestion box tha made me roll my eyes so far back in my head that they almost disappeared. The suggestion was for us to have juice boxes, cookies and toddler snacks available in the waiting room.
I'm an internist- we only see adults in the practice.
Just what I want- to turn my waiting room into some sort of toddler buffet.
is the beer for staff or the little kiddies?
It's very hard to understand why so many parents expected to be catered to....If you bring your kids, bring your own entertainment and food, simple as that!
Get a clue: The world does not revolve around you and your kids!
I am just not getting it. I would never take my kids to my doctors appointmnet.
I kvetched about the kid situation not too long ago:
http://springtimedog.blogspot.com/#!/2012/09/cute-kid.html
And sadly it is not the kids fault it is the arrogant and obtuse parent. Airline and restaurant stories are legion.
I have a 4yo, 3yo, and 2yo, and I totally agree with all of the above. I can't tell you how many times I have annoyed/amused fellow appointment-goers with the antics I resort to in order to keep my kids entertained - but I sure don't expect anyone else to do it!
I had to bring my children to many appointments with me. My husband was working two jobs so that I could stay home full-time, so affording a sitter wasn't an option. I brought a bag full of goodies, water bottles (I didn't want juice to spill all over an office), and dealt with it. I never, ever, EVER expected an office to cater to ME! And at the ped office, I won't LET them play with things....too many germy kids!
I don't see many doctors offices (even my old pediatrician) keep toys around anymore. One kid puts it in their mouth followed by about 50 others over the course of a day. It really is in the parents best interests to bring what they need to keep their kids busy regardless of if the office has toys for them.
"... stuff around to keep kids busy."
Aren't there prescriptions for that sort of thing?
(inferring birth control and NOT ADHD over-prescriptions)
Duuuude. Ok, I admit, I think it's a huge perk of there is something available for kids, even if it's just a magazine rack with a couple of books. But *expecting* something to be available? Particularly in an adult-only practice? Has this person never left her house before?
And just taking your random stuff? WTF? Sing a song, make a paper hat out of an old receipt, do ANYTHING but just grab other people's stuff. Unbelievable
*Shakes Head* Thank You ER's Mom. I did have to bring my daughter to some of my GYN appointments while pregnant w/ my son. No sitter. But afterward, if it was for me, they were in school (No appointments of any type for mom until then).
Dr. G, obviously this woman was in need of a psychiatrist not a neurologist.
Her kids were driving her crazy.
It makes me crazy when Ellen trots out the coloring books crayons when the clueless parents are updating Facebook. Of course they never pick up after their kids. Ellen wonders why i simply use gloves to throw away the used up, broken, snotted on, sucked on, down-the-diaper nasty pieces of wax. Germs!
If you want your kid to get sick, just let them play with the toys in the waiting room. That's all it takes.
It isn't unreasonable to expect the parents of a toddler to keep the little beast within arm's reach and to keep it away from the other patrons. Parents fail at this, generally because they think their child is irresistibly cute. Now, if they didn't feel that way, most children wouldn't make it past the age of four and would never have a sibling. Chalk it up to Darwin or Divinity.
Do people do this at banks, lawyers offices, etc? I understand that some people cannot afford a sitter and may not have relatives available to help but what about friends? Kid's friends moms?? If you MUST bring them, bring something to entertain them and teach them about acceptable behavior! I always kept an "emergency kit" in the car with snacks, a few books and toys, crayons and paper. You never know when you will be delayed and will be glad to have it.
I'll be sure to post this on another favorite blogsite of mine: STFU, Parents, as the blogger Blair Koenig is RIGHT in the middle of a whirlwind publicity event since she appeared on GMA, the Today Show, and Ricki Lake promoting her website and new book.
Why? Because I love this blog, too :)
I am a parent of two. I ALWAYS took a bag of toys no matter where we went. That is ridiculous and frankly uncalled for. I think she should have been asked to return without the kids or when she herself could behave.
Another over entitled MOOOOOOO-MIE who thinks she deserves everything in the world because she's got a few crotch sprogs.
"Toddler buffet." Mmmm, sounds delicious!
I have to take exception to the comment by Crazy RxMan about the liquid medications. I had trouble swallowing pills for most of my life. I can eat OK, but I have a very sensitive gag reflex, I have trouble with dental work on my back teeth and to this day (I am 48) I can swallow small pills but not large ones. Your crass remarks about her weight are mean and uncalled for and if I were your customer I would report you to your manager.
At this once coffee shop in Berlin Germany a large concrete barrier was put up so you can't bring strollers in. The mothers angry that they can't bring the strollers in have dubbed the coffee shop "Cafe Heartless" shocked at their cruelty and prejudice. "I don't understand" said one mother "its like they don't want us there" PS the staff will remove it to allow wheelchairs.
I never go anywhere without packing some toys and snacks for my 20 month old. You think with 3 toddlers this mom would of gotten the hang of it.
Sadly, this kind of behaviour happens everywhere. And, I mean, everywhere.
Once on a commuter train kids were running up and down the aisles, the conductor asked the parents to please keep the kids in their seats.
The mother reponded that they were just being kids and that it wasn't harming anyone and that the train should provide something for them to do!
You missed the point, I don't think it's about a genuine gag reflex or an actual physical problem. It's about a prissy teenage girl who wants to be doted on and a parent who obliges that behavior. Further, OTC pain medications come in a variety of coatings that with a little water make them super easy to swallow.
As a pharmacist myself, I have worked with children who have issues with swallowing and with time and a few practice M&Ms have no problems at all.
I don't think RxMan's comment was offensive. Actually, it's pretty funny. I think you need to lighten up. Maybe the reason why most pharmacists look surly and belligerent is because they're sick and tired of people reporting every little thing to management. Jeez!
@Mary: I have had just enough kids run up and down the hall, start touching stacks of paper, etc. at my lawyer's office that we ended up getting a subscription to Lego magazine to stick in the waiting room to try to help.
That's entitlement syndrome right there. Idiot.
(Single dad of 2)
First of all, Grandchildren of the '70s. The me generation had children who all grew up being told it was all about THEM and now they've reproduced.
Where's my time machine.
Second, I'd love to address the first commenter, Crazy RxMan. I'd just like to say that I'm also "obese" and sometimes I don't like swallowing pills, either. You try saying something like that to my face and you will probably find your nose an integral part of your lower intestinal tract. Keep your opinions about someone's appearance to yourself.
I had a neighbor argue with the city police about the true function of a paved street in a cul-de-sac. The bought a home there because the street is for the kids to play in. They had an 18 month old and a four year old who they left unattended on the street.
That's why I called DFS and they sent out the cop. Stopping your car at the bottleneck for an unattended toddler is dangerous. To the toddler. There were multiple new teenage drivers who would have plowed the child.
Threating violence fatboy? I doubt you could get that spoon out of you mouth fast enough to hurt anyone.
call security.
Ha,ha,ha,ha. There were eight of us and mother tried to make appointments all in the same day, so she brought her paper grocery sack of mending.
If a person doesn't feel embarrassed at the thought of their mother sewing up rips, holes in stockings, undershirts, and other items of underwear in public, then they have never felt on fire with self-consciousness on the state of other's holey underwear.
We were a pioneer family and our toys were pieces of wood chips, costume jewelry, Uncle Jim's Book of hand-made toys, wooden blocks, matchbox cars, Tonka trucks on the soil roads, spider webs, moth pupa, etc. and well-used hand-me-down store-bought items.
We were always interested briefly in what was in the doctors' offices (not too impressed if they had baby drool on them), but far more interested in books we'd brought (or the officee ChildLife magazines) or running after each other around and under the office furniture and selling each other drinks using office Dixie cups along with the fascinating hot and cold water cooler.
Nowadays, our wonderfully creative mother would've been crowned a saint, and siblings diagnosed with ADHD, Attila the Hun syndrome, psychopaths, monkeyism. Some of us were more well-behaved than others.
With my own kids, they had a tendency to wander and if they had to attend an office visit, they were well-supplied with interesting items. My purse ran the size of a satchel, with the chewing gum, set of colored pencils, game books, magnifying glasses, maracas, xylophones, mini flashlights, origami paper, school supplies. I was one of those mothers that wouldn't have been too shy about offering these opportunities for self-expression to other parents in the waiting room, but figured they might be worried about the germs my kids had from poking their own noses occasionally.
okay, so this moron thinks that the stuff on the reception counter is safe enough for her kids to play with? As Bugs Bunny would say...."What a maroon!"
I remember once while I was working in a retail pharmacy, a small nuclear family came to the window. Their precious rambunctious precocity 8 year old little boy proceeded to give three rapid-fire personal observations: 'Your mouth is very small like a rodent'; 'your eyes are close together behind those ugly eyeglasses', and 'you have three chins'.
While I was pondering my response, a technician entered the door, and next thing I knew, the small devil was lickety-split, running around the shelves of drugs in our large pharmacy with the intern hot in pursuit. (No whoops or yells, but silent cussing.)
My intern was tall and big as a infielder, and I couldn't help but gasp with laughter in private at the picture of him lifting the offender over the counter by his scruffy little neck.
To those offended by my comments, I apologize. The lady and her daughter in question are regulars of my pharmacy and they already know I have a weird sense of humor. Although I offended some readers with my comment, they weren't offended at all. In fact, the mother agreed with me and her snooty daughter just rolled her eyes and then they laughed.
And the more I think about this, the more I'm really starting to be jealous of that plastic and metal cow-like thing that shows the date.
Anonymous at 5:09pm -- Come try me, you anonymous coward. I'll use that spoon in places you'd forgotten existed.
Don't mess with the Moose.
@Crazy RxMan, I'm a 44-year-old professional who has a difficult time swallowing pills. It's enough of a problem that I will often simply not take prescribed meds if I can't get them in a liquid form or in small enough pills. This has included skipping prescription painkillers after surgery, so I really don't think it's a matter of me being prissy or overindulged. If my doctor is kind enough to understand and writes a script for a liquid form, I'd like to think I can take it into the pharmacy without getting an eye-roll by the folks on the other side of the counter.
And no, I have no trouble swallowing pizza.
Moose, if I call you fat, you should call the manager. If you punch me instead, I'm calling the cops. You don't win. Obesity is a choice, and I judge you.
If you can swallow food then you sure as hell can swallow a pill stuffed into a partial mouthfull of food.
Anonymous at 5:09 - lol!!!!
I don't have problems swallowing pills but I do prefer chewables or liquids. For something like motrin, where there are many different dosage forms, it doesn't hurt if I want a chewable. THe last time I got amoxicillin I got the liquid in part because it tastes good (I had oral surgery and had trouble swallowing afterwards s that was my excuse)
However, if people make fun of me for being 26 and taking the
oink stuff" like the little kids, I don't care and realize I have it coming.
Speaking of CrazyRxMan,
Dear Dr. Grumpy, thanks for adding his blog to your blogroll!! I'm really enjoying reading it. As someone who went to a pharmacy school (but did not major in Rx) that had a direct-entry program, I have a ton of BSPh and PharmD friends, and his stories sooooo hit the mark!
I can't blame anyone on getting liquid motrin. I can swallow pills but prefer not to. With somethign that comes in so many dosage forms like motrin/tylenol, it doesn't hurt if I want a chewable.
Hell, the last time I got amoxicillin I got the liquid in part because it tastes good (I know I'm weird but I really do think it tastes good). I had just had oral surgery and had trouble swallowing at that time so that was my excuse.
However, I realize that if people make fun of me for being 25 and using liquid amoxicillin or chewable tylenol, I don't care and know I kinda have it coming.
Anonymous @ 9:00 pm: obesity is a choice? Always? Really? My neighbor's kid was the skinniest on the block until he has chemo for his brain tumor. My friend is 5'7" and was 125 lbs until she was prescribed large doses of prednisone for her inflammatory arthritis and gained a ton of weight despite eating light and exercising like hell. Do you judge them, too? Yeah, you probably do because I suspect you are in the camp that believes if tragedy befalls someone, they must have brought it on themselves.
What a horrible thing to say. I work in a field that requires our residents taking their medication in staff presence. I have seen many cases where a person has to use liquid medication instead of pills and being thin or obese doesn't make a difference. Your statement was cruel. As for the topic, it never ceases to amze me how entitled some people are. If a parent brings their kids with them, said parent needs to bring things to keep them occupied.
My obesity isn't my own choice. I was always very thin until I gained 30 lbs. in 3 months from risperdal and 30 lbs. in 6 months from its cousin pill seroquel. Because I live in non-stop pain, exercise is very hard to do more than a short period of time. I was just starting to lose some when nortriptyline gave me a further 10 lbs. But the worst was a gain of 60 pounds in 3 months from the depo provera, which I was using to combat the hormone element of my migraines, as I always got much miser during my periods.
So don't immediately blame those of us who are overweight or obese because it isn't always a choice, but rather a result of our disease!
Anon @ 11:36 - You have to admit though that those are rare exceptions, not the norm. (This is a different anon, btw)
Actually, I would recommend something stronger than beer - sounds like you and Mary need a really stiff brandy or something sometimes (if only to fortify yourselves before kicking some of your visitors out the door)
Ferral children will be given to the elves..
Anonymous 5:11 a.m.: Not sure they are actually rare exceptions, speaking as someone what was recently diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis herself and who recently sat in a waiting room at a rheumatology unit in a large tertiary center and saw lots of "obese" people waiting to see their rheumatologists.
Man, I can't wait for the weight gain from the recently-prescribed prednisone, because I'm really looking forward to the looks of scorn and derision everywhere I go when I become obese. Or even better, to know I'll be mocked behind my back or online by a bunch of anonymous @ssholes.
Then again, my getting fat will be a "choice," right? Because, hey -- no one is actually forcing me to take the prednisone, right?
Response to Mary about her question "Do people do this at lawyer's offices?" I'm a legal secretary - OH YES. Absolutely. And, my favorite part, when they go back to the lawyer's office to have their appointment, they want to leave the kid in the LOBBY with ME and expect me to entertain them. Nope. Not happening. I've had parents start taking things off my desk (paper, pens/pencils, etc.) for their kid to play with - stuff I was working with. Legal documents.
Moose, I love you. I think you're great. The anonymous coward who is baiting you (I'll call the police! I'm gonna tell!) would never in a million years backed by a fifth of courage say any of those things in person.
Unlike you, who I tend to believe would step right up and say what was on your mind.
I, by the way, am overweight. I'm using a combination of diet and exercise to loose weight, and by this time next year I'll look a whole lot better in my speedo.
Anonymous Coward really is a coward, and next year he'll still be a coward.
Being morbidly obese is usually a "choice" the way being gay is a "choice."
Yeah, who wouldn't want to weigh as much as a small nation? It's just so much fun.
I could list all of the reasons I'm so fat, and why the only ways I've lost weight in the past 15 yrs have been extreme risks to my health [as in "nearly died"], but listing them all would be, let's see, NONE OF YOUR FREAKIN BUSINESS.
I'm one of those people who has been bullied since I was 10 lbs "overweight" as a kid. I am much tougher now. I may be fat, but I'm neither stupid nor lazy, and I'll kick the ass of any jerk who tries to bully me now.
Moose - I hope that you wash that spoon after using it in places that one forgot existed before putting it back on your face (or do you, in fact, have a spare spoon for such emergencies? hehe, something like a BIG spoon - you know, the kind that usually hangs on the wall along with the BIG fork)
I'm surprised the patient didn't demand snacks and juice boxes for her kids plus a tv tuned to Nick Jr. Btw Mary is a saint and a keeper.
Yeah, I'm obese. I totally woke up one day and decided that I *wanted* to be so fat that I'm at risk for diabetes and CV disease and joints. How much fun is that!? Do you view alcoholism as a disease? Well, guess what? So is food addiction! So don't tell me that I chose to be obese. Or else I will choose to hurt you.
Do you folks (on both sides) know that October is Bullying Awareness Month?
Obesity isn't a choice? Bullshit.
When I see someone who is 10-15lbs overweight I can understand that they might work long hours and have a demanding home life so maybe they really don't have time to exercise and they might opt for an easy McDinner more often than they should.
When I see someone who is truly obese I know that they have put effort into achieving their weight. With the exception of someone who has an untreated metabolic disorder or something of the like, if you weigh 50+ pounds more than you should it IS your fault. The amount of food you have to consume and the amount of time you have to spend being physically inactive is most definitely a choice.
I'm sure obesity was not a goal for most people but there must have been some point when you realized you needed to lose weight but actively decided that you would rather remain obese than work towards a healthy weight.
And no, I don't view alcoholism as a disease or drug addiction for that matter. I have consumed alcohol, and drugs in the past, I have even consumed them during periods of depression but I never became addicted to them because my common sense always over ruled my impulses. But that's irrelevant anyway because at least alcohol and drugs have scientifically confirmed addictive properties which food does not.
I don't ridicule obese people to their face or behind their back because that's just rude. But to hear this nonsense about obesity not being your fault just pisses me off. You know that your weight is bad for your health, you likely cost yourself more money between the grocery store and your healthcare costs, you're defensive about it so it must make you unhappy on some level.. yet you refuse to take action to change any of that. Fair enough, that's your decision, but don't try to justify it by saying you have a food addiction that's beyond your control. I'll bet you have fibromyalgia too.
If the reasons for being fat are none of anyone's business, then why do you keep hijacking the thread and making it all about you?
OK nurse nasty, please educate us non-fibromyalgia autoimmune disease patients on heavy doses of steroids how we are supposed to keep a trim figure. Especially those of us who need to use a cane to get around sometimes because of joint erosions. Most of us, by the way, are not 50+ lbs overweight. We're more in the 15 -30 lb overweight range.
@ Anon 10:10PM
15-30 pounds is not obese, it is overweight.
You are obviously an example of the type of person I mentioned in the very beginning of my little rant, a person who is moderately overweight due to circumstances that are not easily overcome. This weight range, while not ideal, is not greatly detrimental to your health thereby making it not that big of a deal and not what I was talking about.
My point was that one does not become morbidly obese without some effort on their part. By effort I mean inhaling mass amounts of high calorie foodstuffs on a frequent basis combined with several hours per day spent seated on one's lazy ass.
I am quite aware that most people with a mobility limitation are not going to be within the CDC target weight ranges and I don't think I implied that they are expected to be.
In fact, a person with a physical handicap who is only 15-30 lbs overweight is living proof of the point I'm trying to make here. Even someone who is NOT able-bodied does not have to be obese just living a normal life to the best of their capabilities.
Off topic, but @Moose and other fellow fat "for medical reasons!!!!!!!!" people :
You define yourself entirely by your obesity and health issues. We got over your appearance a long time ago. You should too, maybe.
But then again, if you got over it or lost the weight it would give you no reason to steer every discussion towards it, and you.
This happened to me right after I got sick and the weight came on. After realizing how truly obnoxious I was, I got over it. I can have normal conversations again and people don't avoid me anymore.
The CDC estimates that about 10 % of obese people are fat for medical reasons. The rest are just because of choice.
This applies to me. But here's the deal. NO ONE CARES.
My life got a lot easier once I realized it.
What about me? I still am scarred for life by having my mother mend my panties at the doctor's office. Well, I guess I shouldn't have complained. No one mends my underwear except me, anymore. And, as my husband says, why try to fix it in the time I spend, I could have made enough money to buy 10 more pairs.
'Choice' is an odd word. When we're talking life-threatening obesity, it's often an eating disorder, like anorexia or bulimia. Yes, these people are over-eating, but this can be a compulsion, rather than a choice. Anyone who's lived with a compulsive disorder - or any mental illness - understands the difference.
It matters. A LOT. Especially when people in the medical profession so clearly harbor contempt for overweight/obese people, and stereotype them and pass judgment. My mother was borderline obese but a great woman generally and a compliant, pleasant patient specifically, -- one who only saw the doctor when she was really sick. Despite this she was always treated a lot differently than I or any of our other "normal weight" family members whenever she had a doctor appointment. Symptoms that she complained of were always dismissed as part of her weight problem, even when she begged the doctors to trust her that something was very wrong. You could read it in their faces -- yeah yeah yeah, lady, try losing a little weight and then tell me if you still have shortness of breath...
Her PCP sent her home one day with a "I just don't know why you have trouble breathing - it must be your weight" comment. Barely even put the stethoscope to her chest before booting her out the door. Four hours later, ER docs were draining a liter of fluid out of her chest. She had cancer.
So its does matter and sorry if people on this site are feeling a little defensive, but I think they are perfectly reasonable in feeling that way because they get sh@t on constantly by others who clearly DO have a problem with fat people.
You make a disparaging comment to an obese teenage girl and you assume you didn't hurt her feelings because she rolled her eyes at you and laughed? When she's in therapy as a 30 year old, trying to figure out why her self-esteem is shot and she's not in a good place in her life, there's a chance she might tell her therapist about the day when even the "friendly" neighborhood pharmacist openly mocked her about her weight, enjoying a good laugh at her expense. And the fact that her mom laughed does not in any way mean what you said is ok.
Professing that you have a weird sense of humor also does not get you off the hook.
For the nay sayer that thinks a person cannot possibly be addicted to food, it has been proven by research that sugar IS ADDICTIVE for people that are sensitive to it. Choice my ass.
I am over 50 years old. I am usually classed as being underweight by the age-height-weight charts.
I have never been able to swallow any but the most teeniest tiniest of pills, about 1.5 mm, or smaller, on their longest dimension, using applesauce.
If I swallowed an m&m whole, I would choke. Food must be thoroughly chewed, before it can be swallowed. If I ate a piece of pizza, the melted cheese would make me vomit, so I never eat pizza.
Some, but not all, capsules can be opened, and their contents taken using applesauce; IF they do not taste too horrible.
Some, but not all, tablets can be crushed, and taken using applesauce; IF they do not taste too horrible.
If I could swallow pills, I would; because while taking meds in liquid form is the easiest method, using applesauce is a time-consuming hassle. It is not that I do not want to swallow pills, rather that I am unable to swallow pills. It is physical reality not a choice that I made.
To take meds using applesauce; I first place a thin, but not too thin, layer of applesauce on a spoon using a second spoon. Second, I place a very small portion of the powdered med in the center of the spoon. Third, I completely cover the med with another thin, but not too thin, layer of applesauce. Fourth, I put the spoon in my mouth, and carefully take the applesauce off without disturbing the meds within it. Once I get the applesauce positioned just right, I swallow it. Then I take a swallow of water and a nibble of candied ginger. I repeat these steps until the dose is completely consumed, which can take from 20 to 45 minutes, depending on dose size.
To the others above who cannot swallow pills: It is a relief to finally learn that I am not the only one like this.
Oy vey!
OMFG you people are pulling at straws with this. Yes, food can be addictive if you have an addictive personality or whatever mental problems you might have that cause you to rely on a certain item. I suppose if a person was in the right mindset they could become addicted to just about anything.
Sure, sugar can be addictive like caffeine but no one said you had to eat sugar. I believe this started on the general topic of food. Let's see you get addicted to raw fruits and vegetables... fruit even contains natural sugars and maybe that could be like your methadone to wean you off of processed sugar :)
But really, food is addictive to us all. Food sustains life and as long as we'd all like to remain alive I suppose we're all technically addicted to food then aren't we? Just as much as we're addicted to oxygen and water. So why aren't we all obese then?
This would be a fun experiment, give 50,000 healthy people a 6 month supply of heroin and another 50,000 healthy people a 6 month supply of french fries and cake. In the end which group do you think would be more addicted?
Take away your comfort food and tell me what kind of withdrawl symptoms you experience. Vomiting? Rage? Pain? Mental breakdowns?
No, probably mild to moderate anxiety at most. Quit trying to make this something it's not and be reasonable. The fact that people go to extremes to think of excuses for themselves is frightening. Step out of yourself for a second and look at the way you're acting, trying to justify your weight in any way you can. If people can overcome addictions to crack cocaine then you can put down the damn fork!
I'm really not trying to insult anyone I'd just like people to admit the truth which is that you have no willpower, you enjoy overeating, you like to eat the wrong kinds of food (hey, so do I but I know to keep it in moderation), and you are unable to motivate yourself to get regular exercise.
This reminds me of the man who sued McDonald's because he gained weight working there and they provided him free meals during his shifts. Take some freaking responsibility for your own actions.
I can't speak for everyone, but I do not treat heavy patients with less respect than anyone else. If I had to pick 10 of my favorite regular patients only 2 of them are not obese. I don't have a problem with anyone simply because of their weight. I have a problem with people being in denial about the root of their problem because I know that as long as someone does that they have no chance of changing and no chance of stopping the self inflicted destruction of their bodies. Did it ever occur to you that your healthcare providers might want what's best for your health?
Damn it Mary...see what not allowing the children to play with the stuff on the counter has done?
Nurse Nasty, just as you may want some fat people to admit they simply lack willpower, some of us (including those who are not fat) would like some medical professionals to admit that some nurses, PAs, doctors are pretentious, judgmental jerks. Not everyone in medicine is a martyr, working exclusively for the benefit of their patients. Some are in it for other reasons and do not give a damn about their patients, or only care about the patient so long as the patient's interest is aligned with his/her own. Some discrminiate on weight, race, religion, and other factors. A medical professional can tell a patient to lose weight because it is in the patient's best interest to do so, and still be mean, nasty and/or dismissive of the patient. The two concepts are not mutually exclusive.
To the above poster, and this is it then I'm done (how relieved you all must be).
I was not taking up for the pharmacist who made a remark at the teenage girl, I did not address that in any way. I was responding to the people who said it wasn't their fault they were morbidly obese.
Personally, I would not make such a remark to anyone whether I was at work or on my own time. No, I am not a martyr, I don't sacrifice myself for others.. well, not often anyway. But I do care about my patients and yes I do want the best for them and their health. If you are paying a provider to do otherwise I would recommend you find another doctor. But I'll tell you this, it's a lot easier to show compassion towards a compliant patient. Some of us can show it to non-compliant ones but I guess everyone can't and I'm sorry if some of you have been treated poorly and spoken to in condescending ways by physicians or staff.
I don't even tell patients to lose weight, I'm not the doctor, I don't advise patients to do anything. But if they ask me I will certainly provide them with all the help I can.
I am often subjected to a lot of complaining about "poor me" "it's not MY fault" and yes that gets to me when I know they would have fewer medical problems if they would help themselves and try to be healthier. And it really gets to me when I think about all the patients that do try to be healthy but end up with diseases anyway, they'd love to have the genetically superior bodies some people destroy.
Oy vey, indeed. I am still scarred for life from the public exhibition of my holey diddies in the doctor's office, clean but frayed and stained underwear just 'out there' in the presence of other people outside my own immediate family, not unlike the matter of lipoidal abundance sported by those for whom the equation of active energy vs. stored energy is at an imbalance.
At a recent oncology meeting discussing the merits of Rituxan + or - fludarabine and carboplatin after the house salad just after the presentation of prime rib and much before the house special turtle pie, nurses across the table were discussing recent trips abroad, most notably to England. There would be no such thing as bringing home a 'doggie bag'...we concluded because people don't have places to store such an abundance in their homes (refrigerators are teeny-tiny), and there be no reason to do so when there is a corner store within walking or bicycling distance with the food variety necessary for sustenance. It's all part of their national policy of how things work there for the citizens. It's that way in Japan, as well.
Here, our government subsidizes abundance in sugar beet industry, corn, grain-fed beef, etc. Simple carbohydrates and fatty substances are available cheaply if only dressed up with fake flavors to increase marketability. Ease in public transportation is available in largest of cities. Fast food of questionable nutritional quality is everywhere. Two breadwinners in each family allows for the luxuries of citizenship when expensive toys are the signature evidence of a life well-lived.
If a person is laid up from illness, we return them to the front lines as quickly as possible.
Our society rewards the easily prolific. NOT abdicating individual responsibility, but some people ALSO do have the genetics to be able to eat at the all-u-want buffet, then walk the dog three hours later, whereas some others can't move after such a gastronomical experience. Others do not have have the inflammatory conditions that slow one's ability to move no matter how much one has consumed.
Think back to the time when travel ad photo displayed a traditional Japanese family that could not sit on their knees at the low table? How many of us have RA and cannot think of it?
Well Moose, now what have you got say?
heck, next time, dangle one of those high-dollar bank-type suckers out the window and say "come and get it"...
Isn’t it wonderful how some comment threads develop lives of their own? I have to say I’m with Nurse Nasty and the traumatised Anon with the holey panties (or pants as we Brits would have it). WRT doggie bags, it’s not just lack of storage in the UK - we just don’t get served helpings that large! Quite a few are developing the pizza and KFC habit, though, and obesity is getting to be a problem. Also, more and more people have desk jobs but carry on eating as though they didn’t, unfortunately.
As for the toys on the desk problem, may I suggest the addition of a rectal thermometer? :-)
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