This is excellent, and caused me to re-read the two earlier articles that are linked here. All of the above help my spirits.
So here's a request for Ragen: could you write some articles like these *aimed specifically at non-clinical healthcare office staff*? Because they can be the *worst.* It's usually passive-aggressive, but you know from the outset that they see you as lesser (than doctors and other patients, yes, but also lower than themselves). Your procedural needs will become something they (sigh) have to help you with, but don't ask any clarifying questions or ask for something off the standard script. Before you know it you will be a "problem," and the eyerolls will cannonade amongst them.
Yes, to be fair, they are probably understaffed and treated like serfs themselves. And they pick up on the clinical staff's contempt for fat patients. It becomes the one time it's okay to act out your bully anger.
But to understand is not to endorse. Weight stigma among admin and clerical staff is just as hurtful, and harms our healthcare too. We need to push back on this too, now.
Hi Lizbeth! Thanks so much for this comment. This is a great idea and I have it on my list to write about (though it's a really long list so I appreciate your patience in advance!)
Thank you for this. As my knee replacement + tendon rebuild surgery approaches, I'm getting more and more nervous about what might not work for me because I'm over the BMI limit for knee replacements. I'm guessing there might be specific ORs for joint replacements--what's not going to fit me? I already know most OR tables are too narrow. What comments are going to be made once I'm under anesthesia? What comments are going to be made where I can hear them? I'm already not being accommodated for/listened to about a genetic condition that requires me to be treated differently when having surgery. And that's something I've been VERY loud about. I don't want to become a statistic that then adds to the stigma that fat people shouldn't have joint replacements.
Having had a total knee replacement two years ago, I can recall my own “high anxiety” before the procedure. I obsessed over all the possible things that could go wrong, but my orthopedic surgeon and his team do several knee and hip replacements every week and I now can appreciate that I was in very good hands.
Don’t worry about equipment not fitting. Your surgical team wouldn’t take you into an OR suite if they could not accommodate a larger body.
You may have been told that the biggest key to your success will be the work you do in physical therapy after surgery, and that is true. I found the most supportive and amazing care with a local hospital-based physical therapy practice. I think physical therapists are amazing and are willing to work patients of all sizes at their own pace.
This is excellent, and caused me to re-read the two earlier articles that are linked here. All of the above help my spirits.
So here's a request for Ragen: could you write some articles like these *aimed specifically at non-clinical healthcare office staff*? Because they can be the *worst.* It's usually passive-aggressive, but you know from the outset that they see you as lesser (than doctors and other patients, yes, but also lower than themselves). Your procedural needs will become something they (sigh) have to help you with, but don't ask any clarifying questions or ask for something off the standard script. Before you know it you will be a "problem," and the eyerolls will cannonade amongst them.
Yes, to be fair, they are probably understaffed and treated like serfs themselves. And they pick up on the clinical staff's contempt for fat patients. It becomes the one time it's okay to act out your bully anger.
But to understand is not to endorse. Weight stigma among admin and clerical staff is just as hurtful, and harms our healthcare too. We need to push back on this too, now.
Hi Lizbeth! Thanks so much for this comment. This is a great idea and I have it on my list to write about (though it's a really long list so I appreciate your patience in advance!)
Thanks, Regan!
I know you get bombarded with all our brilliance, what can we say. And I love all the topics! Patience is no problem!
Thank you for this. As my knee replacement + tendon rebuild surgery approaches, I'm getting more and more nervous about what might not work for me because I'm over the BMI limit for knee replacements. I'm guessing there might be specific ORs for joint replacements--what's not going to fit me? I already know most OR tables are too narrow. What comments are going to be made once I'm under anesthesia? What comments are going to be made where I can hear them? I'm already not being accommodated for/listened to about a genetic condition that requires me to be treated differently when having surgery. And that's something I've been VERY loud about. I don't want to become a statistic that then adds to the stigma that fat people shouldn't have joint replacements.
Having had a total knee replacement two years ago, I can recall my own “high anxiety” before the procedure. I obsessed over all the possible things that could go wrong, but my orthopedic surgeon and his team do several knee and hip replacements every week and I now can appreciate that I was in very good hands.
Don’t worry about equipment not fitting. Your surgical team wouldn’t take you into an OR suite if they could not accommodate a larger body.
You may have been told that the biggest key to your success will be the work you do in physical therapy after surgery, and that is true. I found the most supportive and amazing care with a local hospital-based physical therapy practice. I think physical therapists are amazing and are willing to work patients of all sizes at their own pace.