Obesity! Will that word follow me to the grave :(

[RJ'S/beginning 5,357]

I was excited to go to my first appointment with a dietitian to help me figure out how to treat my hypoglycemia because nothing so far is working. All the ideas and advice I have gotten from Doctors, friends, nurses whoever. Nothing has stopped them from happening. And when they happen there is no warning.

My biggest fear is to be driving, one come on, me pass out and hurt someone. So I know it is reasonable to get help. Whether I have to take pills, needles or someone manages to figure out a diet that will level me out. I don't know.

So!!! I walk into my appointment and the lady is looking at me strange. We introduce ourselves and she asks me how she can help. I say you tell me, you are the one who is supposed to help me with my Hypoglycemia. lol She does not miss a beat. She pulls out a piece of paper and proceeds to tell me that the first thing she wants to do is have me keep a log on Calories, Protein, carbohydrates, sugar and sodium I consume in one week.

Side Note: If anyone knows me and my story I have been completely against spending huge amounts of my time planning what I eat. Let alone count it and log it. It has not been me. So I say look. i don't feel the need for that. She says we must get an idea of what you are eating because I think you are not getting enough carbohydrates in your diet.

I tell her that since surgery I have eaten this way.....Protein, vegetables, fruit and then if you have any more room..Carbs! I don't plan on changing now! That is how I got heavy in the first place. Way to many Carbs!

She said I understand how you feel but your surgery experience is not common. Not everyone gets hypoglycemia following WLS right. I said I did not know it could happen as it is a form of diabetes and isn't WLS supposed to improve your odds against diabetes. She said yes it should but you have not had an easy time and are suffering the consequences of the complications. So the conversation goes along and I agree to write down everything that falls into my mouth over the next week and she will look at it and see what changes she thinks I need to make.

She said. You know I need to get up and go to my office to get some handouts for you. I said okay! She leaves and comes back. Sits down and pushes the Doctors note over to me and said here is what the specialist wrote and I had no idea why you were here. I looked at the sheet and in the reason for coming to her was ....Wait for it......OBESITY! I burst into tears and sobbed like a baby. She said I thought you were coming here to lose weight and then when I saw you I thought why! So I was very confused when you sat down and told me you had WLS. And how much you lost and some of what you went through.....She kept talking and I kept sobbing. I looked up at her and said, how could he write that word about me now. I don't understand. I have worked so hard and I went to him about my hypoglycemia." You can see why I was confused she said. I told her that that word was repulsive, horrible and downright dehumanizing. I would rather be called fat. She looked at me. I said you have no idea what we go through when we are your so called obese. And I spouted a few examples of my own before I had WLS.

I said I think that that word will follow me to my grave. It has made no difference. He still called me obese. She apologized for showing me the form and said it was unprofessional of her. I disagreed. I think it was unprofessional of him. I think he does not know how to spell hypoglycemia. So he just threw obesity on the page.

I cried for an entire day over that. I think it hurt so much because I have worked so hard for the opposite affect and that's how he saw me.

She asked if I would come back to see her in spite of the form. I agreed to see her in a week!

I have a good mind to call his office and ask him what he was thinking when he wrote that! And how it affected me! What a bozo!

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

I'm sorry this happened to you.

[betrthnever 107]

@RJ'S/beginning I think she should not have shown you what he said. It was unprofessional of her. It was too upsetting.

[borg/assimilated 576]

@RJ'S/beginning

I sure hope you get some answers from her. I can't imagine why the specialist wrote that on the referral, you are obviously not obese. I am sorry that word hurt you so much.

[James Marusek 5,244]

Whenever I go to see the surgeon's office, even though I am 27 months post-op, the word obesity appears on the forms. This threw me for a loop because I am no longer obese. It dawned on me that this is all about insurance. They have to code my visit for insurance billing purposes and since I had WLS, this is the best coding they can use.

I was wondering about your hypoglycemia. There is one form that is tied to meals which is called reactive hypoglycemia. Reactive hypoglycemia (postprandial hypoglycemia) is low blood sugar that occurs after a meal — usually within four hours after eating. Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) usually occurs while fasting. Signs and symptoms of reactive hypoglycemia may include hunger, weakness, shakiness, sleepiness, sweating, lightheadedness, anxiety and confusion.

Someone told me that it is like a spike in blood sugar followed by a crash. If this is the type you have then you have a bit of control because you can time your meals.

[sweettea 300]

I was looking at my medical records on line through the online portal. I think my doctor copies and pastes. It said I was obese (at 125 pounds), had gerd , high blood pressure and sleep apnia. None of which is true anymore. I tried to get him to fix the record. He did finally take obese off. I think it was very unprofessional of the both of them. I'm sorry this happened to you.

[scarletwitch19 302]

I am so sorry to hear this happened to you! I agree, it is a horrible word that always makes me sad to hear. He never should have wrote that, and she never should have shown you. Hang in there, it's going to get better. You are not obese, you have worked so so hard to get where you are today. Don't let some ignorant doctor make you forget that! Keep your chin up

Edited August 15, 2015 by scarletwitch19

[AngelaWilliamsMD 290]

Your doctor didn't make a mistake. Your medical chart will always denote that obesity is a diagnosis, even if you are now thinner. The information is critical to know, especially if you're still living with chronic co-morbid conditions from being obese.

[RJ'S/beginning 5,357]

Whenever I go to see the surgeon's office, even though I am 27 months post-op, the word obesity appears on the forms. This threw me for a loop because I am no longer obese. It dawned on me that this is all about insurance. They have to code my visit for insurance billing purposes and since I had WLS, this is the best coding they can use.

I was wondering about your hypoglycemia. There is one form that is tied to meals which is called reactive hypoglycemia. Reactive hypoglycemia (postprandial hypoglycemia) is low blood sugar that occurs after a meal — usually within four hours after eating. Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) usually occurs while fasting. Signs and symptoms of reactive hypoglycemia may include hunger, weakness, shakiness, sleepiness, sweating, lightheadedness, anxiety and confusion.

Someone told me that it is like a spike in blood sugar followed by a crash. If this is the type you have then you have a bit of control because you can time your meals.

Yes it is called reactive Hypoglycemia. If this is true then it certainly would make me feel a little better, somewhat, maybe. I have to say though. I really really hate that word!

[RJ'S/beginning 5,357]

Your doctor didn't make a mistake. Your medical chart will always denote that obesity is a diagnosis, even if you are now thinner. The information is critical to know, especially if you're still living with chronic co-morbid conditions from being obese.

Actually, I am living with worse conditions since surgery then before. I not only take more drugs but I have reactive Hypoglycemia because of it. Other then a bad back I was a healthy over weight person.

The chronic co-morbid conditions happened after the surgery. K

[AngelaWilliamsMD 290]

That's unfortunate but obesity is still a relevant diagnosis, even if you are no longer obese!

[RJ'S/beginning 5,357]

That's unfortunate but obesity is still a relevant diagnosis, even if you are no longer obese!

Maybe in reality it is! But it undermines everything a person has worked so hard to change. To me when you change you are no longer who you were.

I did not go to him for this particular issue. I went for another.

I went to my Gynecologist and not once did she write obesity on the form she was filling out. I know I watched her fill it out.

When it is no longer relevant then put it in my file if you so chose. But not as a diagnosis that is not even there now!

If that is how it is supposed to be then there is a list of things that has happened to me that should be on that damn report then.

That word is horrid to me. I don't care what size a person is. I personally find that word repulsive!

Relevant or not it did not apply to this situation!

[sweettea 300]

@@AngelaWilliamsMD

He removed the obese diagnosis. It was in the visit section of the portal. He was still putting the diagnosis of obese after each visit. None of my conditions exist anymore. I'm very fortunate. I noticed. His notes for each appointment are the same, exactly. Copy and paste.

[sweettea 300]

@RJ'S/beginning

Well said.

[LipstickLady 25,682]

No shocker here, but I have to disagree with the OP.

Disclaimer. The OP is the OP, I am me. I am *in no way* putting her down, saying she's wrong to feel as she does or discounting her feelings.

About five years ago, I was diagnosed with a lemon sized brain tumor. It was benign and it was successfully removed. The surgery itself left behind a lot of scar tissue on my brain and about 45% of my skull is metal. I am still at a risk for seizures, short term memory loss, and inability to fully focus due to the location and size of the tumor. I am no longer a person with a brain tumor, but I will ALWAYS be a brain tumor patient.

About two years ago, I had weight loss surgery to fix my morbid obesity. I am now in the normal range of BMI, I am fit and healthy. I will ALWAYS be an obesity patient. Because of my sleeve I have to follow a special diet, I am not supposed to have NSAIDs, and there is that question about intubation I am still not clear on. I have no doubt that after several decades of being obese, I have done permanent damage to something -- whether it be my knees, by feet, my insides, my skin. I, too, was a perfectly healthy fat person, and I am no longer a fat person, but my records still retain the obesity diagnosis.

I do not find the clinical word "repulsive, horrible and downright dehumanizing". It's fact. I was obese, I still live with the effects of obesity and I will always live a different lifestyle due to my obesity.

I do not let words "trigger" me, "shame" me or make me feel badly about myself. I fought my obesity and I won. It's a relevant part of my past medically and emotionally and it's made me ultimately a better person. I will never allow words to have power over me. I am in control of ME, and since my WLS, now more than ever.

I hate that the OP feels so badly about her experience, and I truly wish it didn't happen the way it did. That said, we have more power over our own emotions than others do.