This is the Weight and Healthcare newsletter! If you like what you are reading, please consider subscribing and/or sharing! A very common issue for higher-weight people who are trying to access healthcare is healthcare providers (HCPs) who want to focus on weight and weight loss. Today I’ll give some tips that I’ve learned both from personal experience and as a patient advocate for navigating what I call Provider Weight Distraction.
I’ve always found the asking-for-studies approach to backfire. Doctors seem to never be able to cite studies, but they’ll name a major org like the American Heart Association or the American Diabetes Association and say that these orgs provide “gold standards” or some BS, and to look on their website for research.
I’m a big fan of “yes, and?” Nowadays. Like, “okay, I understand that you think weight loss will cure my condition, but weight loss doesn’t happen overnight, so are you saying I have to live with this problem for the next year or 5 years or 10 years that its going to take for me to lose weight? Or is there anything we can do today that will help me?”
Sometimes I get sassy, and say “how much weight do I have to lose to prove to you this isn’t caused by weight?” And “since it’s going to take over a year to lose the weight you’re talking about, are you refusing to treat me for the next year and change?”
I love this so much as it’s what I’m constantly dealing with again all of a sudden. I had great care for a few years and now I’m getting the run- around again where I can never do enough or lose enough weight to qualify for the surgeries they told me I needed. I said, okay let’s get going and got through 2 of 5 before I my next surgery was mysteriously cancelled by a hospital clerk or admin. I couldn’t appeal anything b/c it wasn’t insurance who denied it. It was the hospital. So, then I spent months trying to figure out who to talk to. Not only is it the constant weight bias barriers, but now the shame and stress of never doing or knowing enough to report back to the whole host of providers waiting for me to know what I can’t know because of the hospital’s black hole. I sound like an idiot who can’t figure out what’s going on. The pain doctor tells me sugar and pain are connected. I haven’t eaten sugar in forever. But people don’t believe me, I guess. I have a right to be believed and treated with respect and am struggling with that, and it turns into a downward spiral pretty quickly. Anyway, great help and I just love this developing community.
I am a weight neutral healthcare provider. I am specialized in family medicine and eating disorders. If you are really struggling to find a solution to your problem, I am happy to help guide you free of charge. I don’t practice in the US so I definitely can’t prescribe medications for example but I do practice evidence based medicine and I know I have been of help to people all over the world at least with suggesting options (other than weight loss) that they can discuss with their providers. Feel free to email me carolewehbeh@gmail.com
I appreciate this so much, thank you.
I’ve always found the asking-for-studies approach to backfire. Doctors seem to never be able to cite studies, but they’ll name a major org like the American Heart Association or the American Diabetes Association and say that these orgs provide “gold standards” or some BS, and to look on their website for research.
I’m a big fan of “yes, and?” Nowadays. Like, “okay, I understand that you think weight loss will cure my condition, but weight loss doesn’t happen overnight, so are you saying I have to live with this problem for the next year or 5 years or 10 years that its going to take for me to lose weight? Or is there anything we can do today that will help me?”
Sometimes I get sassy, and say “how much weight do I have to lose to prove to you this isn’t caused by weight?” And “since it’s going to take over a year to lose the weight you’re talking about, are you refusing to treat me for the next year and change?”
Being sassy has always backfired.
I love this so much as it’s what I’m constantly dealing with again all of a sudden. I had great care for a few years and now I’m getting the run- around again where I can never do enough or lose enough weight to qualify for the surgeries they told me I needed. I said, okay let’s get going and got through 2 of 5 before I my next surgery was mysteriously cancelled by a hospital clerk or admin. I couldn’t appeal anything b/c it wasn’t insurance who denied it. It was the hospital. So, then I spent months trying to figure out who to talk to. Not only is it the constant weight bias barriers, but now the shame and stress of never doing or knowing enough to report back to the whole host of providers waiting for me to know what I can’t know because of the hospital’s black hole. I sound like an idiot who can’t figure out what’s going on. The pain doctor tells me sugar and pain are connected. I haven’t eaten sugar in forever. But people don’t believe me, I guess. I have a right to be believed and treated with respect and am struggling with that, and it turns into a downward spiral pretty quickly. Anyway, great help and I just love this developing community.
I am a weight neutral healthcare provider. I am specialized in family medicine and eating disorders. If you are really struggling to find a solution to your problem, I am happy to help guide you free of charge. I don’t practice in the US so I definitely can’t prescribe medications for example but I do practice evidence based medicine and I know I have been of help to people all over the world at least with suggesting options (other than weight loss) that they can discuss with their providers. Feel free to email me carolewehbeh@gmail.com