Are just as pissed at me as the call gods.
:(
Every few months, I operate on someone with a BMI significantly north of 50. I always hate myself in the middle of the case and the next day when my back is killing me. So WHY do I get temporary amnesia a few months later when another shows up needing something? And I then agree to do the case?
I'm nuts.
7 comments:
Just take the "this is too complex for a country doc like me. Ya'll need to see one of them big city docs" approach.
Why don't you just let patients know that you don't like fat people? I am QUITE sure that most would rather spend their copay on a doctor that sees them as a human being and rather than just a BMI.
I'm a nurse. I know that caring for super obese patients can be a lot of extra work. I understand the frustration brought on by patients that seem to be choosing to slowly kill themselves. They're still human beings and deserve the same respect you'd want for your own family memebers.
When you chose to become a doctor and you knew that you hated fat people that much you should have become a specialist in anexoria or boob jobs.
Man, you really hate operating on fat people.
You can still be frustrated doing extra work on an obese person and not hate obese people.
I'm a pharmacy student. I treat everyone who comes into our pharmacies with respect, regardless if they're very odd, smell bad, or 600 lbs. I don't tolerate disrespect towards me, but I actively treat everyone the way I would want to be treated.
However, my husband occasionally hears the frustrations. Letting them out makes it easier to deal with day to day. And if I end up sitting on an airplane next to someone who needs to shower, someone with bad gas, or an obese person who takes up half my seat, I can still complain about it, and I don't think many would think I was in the wrong or that I hated these people.
See the difference?
I do see the difference. And I think I was almost more annoyed with Dr. Grumpy's response than what ER's Mom wrote.
I get shop talk, really I do.
I admit this did touch a nerve. I have Cushing's Disease. I'm fat and it's NOT within my realm of control.
If our good blogger was complaining about any other subset... something involving a cultural difference or a religious group... would it be okay to turn them away? Fat seems to be the last okay prejudice.
P.S. Maybe you need better shoes (Z-coils are great)
Hey folks, I can separate the person from the obesity. I hate operating on folks with BMIs north of 50 for technical reasons. Plain and simple. And every single person who is in the OR will agree - anesthesia has airway difficulties (like this week), surgeons have visualization issues, the instruments are inadequate (regular instruments are too short and bariatric one have torque problems), assists have positional issues...and so on. But I don't hate the person. And for those commentators who can't figure that out, well, too bad.
It's like when my kids do something awful - I hate the act but not the person.
Dear Er's Mom,
I do understand that, and that's why I posted a second comment. I don't always read your blog but a friend that does pointed out your post to me.
I've read through your blog. I think that if I worked with you I'd probably like you A LOT.
It was Grumpy's comment that really touched a nerve. Super Obese patients can be complex. And there are LOTS of doctors (even in the big city) that DO tell patients that.
In the end, it's probably better for the patient that they do.
And as a side note... if your back really does get to you you might want to check out http://zcoil.com/ but make sure that you go to a store that will fit the shoe to you. They do a lot of adjustments to the shoe to make it just right.
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