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!

It's just a medical term. We all suffer from the disease of obesity.

Just like an alcoholic, even if you stop drinking, you are still considered an alcoholic.

@@WL WARRIOR @@Babs I never thought of it that way.

I am so sorry this hurt you so much. I have to agree with lipsticklady and others though..obesity is a medical term. It took me YEARS to admit it applies to me. I feel like you put yourself through emotional turmoil when you give it so much power. Its just a word.

I hope you see the humor in the story i will share. In the 1990s a friend was expecting a baby and at nearly 40, that was unusual at the time. She accidentally saw her chart and written in huge letters at the top was the phrase "advanced maternal age". We joked about that for a long time because no woman wants to be called "old" for any reason..haha. Damn doctors.

@@SWEETTEA

I don't want to derail the thread, but yes, I had a doctor explain it to me that way. We have the disease obesity. And like any disease, there are treatments and there are cures. WLS is a treatment for the disease, not the cure. Eating right, exercising, tracking calories etc is the treatment, not the cure. That's why if you stop the treatment, the symptoms of the disease return (weight gain). Made total sense to me.

Somehow I got it in my silly head that if you work hard enough and lose enough that no one will remember who you used to be. I know that is wrong thinking. But the word jumped out at me from the page and I handled it badly!

Today it is just another day. I don't care anymore!

But I think if we give people labels and don't see changes or growth then that is a sad commentary on how we view life. Once in a box of labels, always in a box of labels!

@RJ'S/beginning

I get it. The first time a doctor called me "morbidly obese" I wanted to cry

And I can understand the shock of you seeing it on your chart now, when you are actually on the "normal" BMI category. I would have felt it too, until I thought about it a little.

But my initial reaction would be like "Hey! How DARE you say I'm STILL OBESE!" Lol.

@RJ'S/beginning

I get it. The first time a doctor called me "morbidly obese" I wanted to cry

And I can understand the shock of you seeing it on your chart now, when you are actually on the "normal" BMI category. I would have felt it too, until I thought about it a little.

But my initial reaction would be like "Hey! How DARE you say I'm STILL OBESE!" Lol.

the point is that nothing else was on the sheet. none of my other problems. Or issues. Just OBESITY! That was not even the reason I went to see him. It was because of my Hypoglycemia. Then he transferred me to the Dietitian. There was no reason for that to be on that sheet. Yes I see it is part of who I will always be but it had nothing to do with either visits.

Monday I go see a cancer doctor. I am sure that he won't have OBESE written as the reason I am there. It is just stupid!

My size or previous condition had nothing to do with the visits to either appointments.

I hope that is nothing serious.

I DO tell all docs of my obesity history because my body is changed permently by obesity. Example is that xray did not show arthritis in my hip but it hurt.liked made and got worse with PT. My detailed description of medical history prompted a different series of xray that of course found advanced arthritis in that hip. They called it "central" arthritis which is related to obesity history.

Anyway glad you are over it and I often get pissed off that even losing all that weight I STILL have consequences to deal with... so i can relate.

Monday I go see a cancer doctor. I am sure that he won't have OBESE written as the reason I am there. It is just stupid!

My size or previous condition had nothing to do with the visits to either appointments.

What an unfortunate incident! I am sorry it happened to you and made you so upset. It sounds like it was an innocent but difficult to forgive mistake on the clinic’s part. It also sounds like it was just coincidence that it happened to you (a successful WLS patient).

It is unfortunate, but true, that diagnoses stay with you for pretty much forever on your health record! At least it’s a good reminder of where you’ve been and how far you’ve come.

Regarding the hypoglycemia, it is does seem possible that it is reactive hypoglycemia. One thing your doctor might test for – if you haven’t already gotten this done – is your A1C levels, which are a better indicator of blood sugar levels over time.

About carbs: is it possible for you to consider eating small amounts of “healthy” carbs if that seems to be what your doctor suggests? Or do you feel that even healthy carbs like oatmeal and whole wheat Pasta would be trigger foods or too hard to keep under control?

Anyway, sorry you had to deal with this mistake!

What an unfortunate incident! I am sorry it happened to you and made you so upset. It sounds like it was an innocent but difficult to forgive mistake on the clinic’s part. It also sounds like it was just coincidence that it happened to you (a successful WLS patient).

It is unfortunate, but true, that diagnoses stay with you for pretty much forever on your health record! At least it’s a good reminder of where you’ve been and how far you’ve come.

Regarding the hypoglycemia, it is does seem possible that it is reactive hypoglycemia. One thing your doctor might test for – if you haven’t already gotten this done – is your A1C levels, which are a better indicator of blood sugar levels over time.

About carbs: is it possible for you to consider eating small amounts of “healthy” carbs if that seems to be what your doctor suggests? Or do you feel that even healthy carbs like oatmeal and whole wheat Pasta would be trigger foods or too hard to keep under control?

Anyway, sorry you had to deal with this mistake!

Good point Alex. I will ask about testing for my A1C levels.

She did suggest healthy carbs. Both that you mentioned, I am having trouble digesting them. I will look at more legumes as she got excited that I enjoy them.

So far this week I have had two attacks. But was able to catch them before they got really bad!

I know it is Reactive Hypoglycemia. I was diagnosed with that. But for some reason as I am an emotional person and affected by things around me. It seems to trigger the attacks more then say others who are less sensitive to their surroundings. This is who I am. My nature! I cannot change this part of me. If I/they can't figure out a way to help me then it will be one more pill I have to take daily.

Still it does not change the fact that I would do it all over again. To be where I am today!

IMHO, I feel like I will always be an obese person, no matter what my weight. I've been morbidly obese, normal weight, and back to obese many times that my weight and health WILL always be something I will have to fight for.

I think that is a very realistic attitude. People assume the further you are out from your surgery the more it is "behind you" but I think maintenance is really just as hard and without the constant "wow you look fabulous" type encouragement. I am hanging in there more because i love how I feel and I just cant bear the idea to be obese again...

IMHO, I feel like I will always be an obese person, no matter what my weight. I've been morbidly obese, normal weight, and back to obese many times that my weight and health WILL always be something I will have to fight for.

Whenever you go to an appointment where body weight and nutrition are the subjects of the care, it will always be there. However, when it is not a current diagnosis, some may still treat it as one because of the always elevated risk that we could backslide and re-enter that reviled land. Same with diabetes, many medical professionals never actually officially removed your diagnosis as a condition since they prefer to treat that (and obesity) as dormant and in remission, rather than cured. But that is obviously a fiery debate that you can read all over the internet. Of course, there's an elevated chance we return to either of those conditions than the average skinny person whose never had either one. For the most part, though, it would just appear as part of your past medical history. And who cares about the past. We live for now and for the future.

If it makes you feel better, if you go to a specialist for reasons unrelated to weight or weight loss surgery, I don't see why it would ever be noted as part of your history, even in cases where you need to list WLS as part of your past surgical history. It isn't a label that follows you around except in cases where your past weight is directly relevant to a current condition or treatment plan.

I completely understand why the OP takes such offense to the label of obese. I am considered a healthy obese which seems to be a contradiction in terms.

When I was pregnant, my OB forced me to take the 3 hour glucose test 4 times despite all the results being within the normal or even hypoglycemic range. They just couldn't understand how someone so fat wasn't diabetic.

I also have a history of epilepsy. I haven't had a seizure in 16 years following brain surgery and have been off all seizure medication for 6 years. There are no medical devises, metal plates in my brain or any other risk factors. However, this didn't stop a masseuse from refusing my massage appointment a few years ago. I think this was simply an excuse after she saw me to not have to touch the fat rolls, but regardless, I no longer disclose this when I make a spa appointment.

IMHO, I feel like I will always be an obese person, no matter what my weight. I've been morbidly obese, normal weight, and back to obese many times that my weight and health WILL always be something I will have to fight for.

I am glad that you can laugh at this. Whatever gets you through the day and whatever you can do to handle how others see you. But for me it was a time in my life where I dealt with a lot of crap over it and no one ever pulled punches either.

For me that is over and was shocked to see the word or even read it on a paper that had nothing to do with my former obesity state!

I think it is wonderful if you are the kind of person to let this word roll off your back! Unfortunately I am not one of those!

I guess I will always detest that word and would love to throat punch the person who came up with it!