Stupid Insensitive Doctors

In the past week two of my female shigh school tudents have come to me to
tell me that their doctors told them they are overweight. I was
flabbergasted in both cases. One girl is about 5' 4" and 125 pounds. She
is an athletic girl, btw. I thought her weight looked just about perfect to
me, as far as I could tell. The other girl is about 5' 8" and weighs 170
pounds. She is a very big boned girl -- tall and big boned, also really,
really pretty in that blonde, Swedish-looking sort of a way. She is not a
delicate creature, but her weight appears to match her frame just fine. For
obvious reasons (upper body development), this girl is very popular with the
boys and has never heard any complaints about her weight before. Well, I
wanted to kill the doctors for the blunt, insensitive ways they spoke to my
girls. My blonde girl was told she needed to lose 50 pounds immediately!
50 pounds! What the heck was that man thinking? Both girls were very upset
and said the doctors were cold and condescending and dismissive and did not
even answer the questions they had. So, I put it to the group, what do you
think? Are the doctors right? I though 5' 4" and 125 was just about
perfect. I don't see a major problem with 5' 8" and 170 on a big-boned
girl -- certainly there is no need to lose 50 pounds! If I am missing
something, let me know. If there is any advice you would give to girls in
this situation, let me know. Thanks.

--
nimue

"...but I want you to know I did save you... not when it counted of course,
but after that. Every night after that...every night I save you."
Spike to Buffy
After Life

Gosh, when Spike says heartfelt, sincere things like that -- things straight
from his full heart, well, it just makes you wonder why women are crazy
about him, doesn't it?

In article ,
"nimue" wrote:

In the past week two of my female shigh school tudents have come to me to
tell me that their doctors told them they are overweight. I was
flabbergasted in both cases. One girl is about 5' 4" and 125 pounds. She
is an athletic girl, btw. I thought her weight looked just about perfect to
me, as far as I could tell. The other girl is about 5' 8" and weighs 170
pounds. She is a very big boned girl -- tall and big boned, also really,
really pretty in that blonde, Swedish-looking sort of a way. She is not a
delicate creature, but her weight appears to match her frame just fine. For
obvious reasons (upper body development), this girl is very popular with the
boys and has never heard any complaints about her weight before. Well, I
wanted to kill the doctors for the blunt, insensitive ways they spoke to my
girls. My blonde girl was told she needed to lose 50 pounds immediately!
50 pounds! What the heck was that man thinking? Both girls were very upset
and said the doctors were cold and condescending and dismissive and did not
even answer the questions they had. So, I put it to the group, what do you
think? Are the doctors right? I though 5' 4" and 125 was just about
perfect. I don't see a major problem with 5' 8" and 170 on a big-boned
girl -- certainly there is no need to lose 50 pounds! If I am missing
something, let me know. If there is any advice you would give to girls in
this situation, let me know. Thanks.

Regardless of the proportionality of their height and weight, the
description of the doctors' manner would make me advise they get new
doctors asap.

Priscilla

nimue wrote:
|| In the past week two of my female shigh school tudents have come to me to
|| tell me that their doctors told them they are overweight.
snip
Both girls were very
|| upset and said the doctors were cold and condescending and dismissive
|| and did not even answer the questions they had. If there is any advice
|| you would give to girls in this situation, let me know. Thanks.

|| nimue

This is a bit weird and makes no sense. Why would two students go to you
and complain about their personal doctor visits - and by coincidence over
the exact same issue in the same week? Why would two different doctors, in
exactly the same situation, the same week in the same town, give the same
"poor" advice to two teenage girls who did not need it? Why would both
doctors be "cold and condescending and dismissive?". What are you leaving
out? Did you solicit these comments? And, since you are in ASDLC, I assume
that you are overweight -- It makes it even stranger that two "normal size"
(according to your post) girls would be so extremely *rude* as to go to an
overweight teacher to say that their respective doctors told them to lose
weight! Something's wrong here.

If it did indeed happen just as you said, the only thing that would make
sense is if they collaberated and were saying this to hint to you that you
need to lose weight.

The advice that you should give to the girls? Tell them you are not a
medical professional, don't know their medical histories and not qualified
to give medical advice. Suggest that they go to a second doctor for another
opinion.
--
Peter
website: http://users.thelink.net/marengo

Obviously, common sense should be the guide. Some doctors are wedded to
charts that lead to nonsensical diagnostic results.

--
JC

"nimue" wrote in message
...
In the past week two of my female shigh school tudents have come to me to
tell me that their doctors told them they are overweight. I was
flabbergasted in both cases. One girl is about 5' 4" and 125 pounds. She
is an athletic girl, btw. I thought her weight looked just about perfect
to
me, as far as I could tell. The other girl is about 5' 8" and weighs 170
pounds. She is a very big boned girl -- tall and big boned, also really,
really pretty in that blonde, Swedish-looking sort of a way. She is not a
delicate creature, but her weight appears to match her frame just fine.
For
obvious reasons (upper body development), this girl is very popular with
the
boys and has never heard any complaints about her weight before. Well, I
wanted to kill the doctors for the blunt, insensitive ways they spoke to
my
girls. My blonde girl was told she needed to lose 50 pounds immediately!
50 pounds! What the heck was that man thinking? Both girls were very
upset
and said the doctors were cold and condescending and dismissive and did
not
even answer the questions they had. So, I put it to the group, what do
you
think? Are the doctors right? I though 5' 4" and 125 was just about
perfect. I don't see a major problem with 5' 8" and 170 on a big-boned
girl -- certainly there is no need to lose 50 pounds! If I am missing
something, let me know. If there is any advice you would give to girls in
this situation, let me know. Thanks.

--
nimue

"...but I want you to know I did save you... not when it counted of
course,
but after that. Every night after that...every night I save you."
Spike to Buffy
After Life

Gosh, when Spike says heartfelt, sincere things like that -- things
straight
from his full heart, well, it just makes you wonder why women are crazy
about him, doesn't it?

In article m,
marengo wrote:

And, since you are in ASDLC, I assume
that you are overweight

You know what they say about assumptions! Are you not aware that many
diabetics eat low-carb to keep their blood glucose in line?

Priscilla

"JC Der Koenig" wrote in message
. ..

: Obviously, common sense should be the guide. Some doctors are wedded to
: charts that lead to nonsensical diagnostic results.

Common sense should be the guide for these doctors too.

David

marengo wrote:
nimue wrote:
In the past week two of my female shigh school tudents have come to
me to tell me that their doctors told them they are overweight.
snip
Both girls were very
upset and said the doctors were cold and condescending and
dismissive and did not even answer the questions they had. If
there is any advice you would give to girls in this situation, let
me know. Thanks.

nimue

This is a bit weird and makes no sense. Why would two students go to
you and complain about their personal doctor visits - and by
coincidence over the exact same issue in the same week?

It may sound weird, but it happened. I don't know why. I have 150
students, so it's not too odd to think that some of them may have gone to
get their check-ups at the same time. Furthermore, my students like me --
they come to me with a lot of questions and issues. Furthermore, I did
teach The Bluest Eye to one of those students, and during that book we had a
lot of discussions about the destructive power of the beauty myth. In fact,
I am known for attacking the damaging, demoralizing standards the media sets
for physical appearance, so if students were to talk about something like
that, they would talk to me.

Why would
two different doctors, in exactly the same situation, the same week
in the same town, give the same "poor" advice to two teenage girls
who did not need it?

Well, I teach in Brooklyn -- big town, you know?

Why would both doctors be "cold and
condescending and dismissive?".

I have known many doctors, and many of them are...arrogant. Not all -- many
are wonderful, but the ones who aren't really rankle.

What are you leaving out?

I just gave you what I was told.

Did you
solicit these comments?

Nope. One girl just told me. She talks to me a lot. She's an excellent,
hardworking student. The other girl was talking to a guy friend of hers,
and I overheard their conversation and asked what was going on. She then
told me.

And, since you are in ASDLC, I assume that
you are overweight -- It makes it even stranger that two "normal
size" (according to your post) girls would be so extremely *rude* as
to go to an overweight teacher to say that their respective doctors
told them to lose weight! Something's wrong here.

Well, I am not significantly overweight. Furthermore, many students don't
see us as human -- not in the same way they are. Think back to your
teachers. Didn't you think it was weird that they, oh, had husbands or
parents or real lives? I am sure you did. I am not saying they don't like
us. They just don't "get" that we are as "real" as they are. It's as if
they think we live at school.

If it did indeed happen just as you said, the only thing that would
make sense is if they collaberated and were saying this to hint to
you that you need to lose weight.

One is a senior and the other is a freshman. One is a white Russian girl,
the other an African American. The senior is on early schedule and the
freshman is on late schedule. There are 4,000 students in my school. We
have four schedules because our school is so over-crowded. I would be
shocked if these two girls knew one another. Furthermore, what a bizarre
way to hint to someone that they need to lose weight! Jaysus -- most of my
students would just come out and say something like this if they felt it!

The advice that you should give to the girls? Tell them you are not a
medical professional, don't know their medical histories and not
qualified to give medical advice. Suggest that they go to a second
doctor for another opinion.

I told them they looked fine to me. I did tell them to find other doctors.

--
nimue

"...but I want you to know I did save you... not when it counted of
course, but after that. Every night after that...every night I save
you." Spike to Buffy After Life

Gosh, when Spike says heartfelt, sincere things like that -- things
straight from his full heart, well, it just makes you wonder why women
are crazy about him, doesn't it?

nimue wrote:

In the past week two of my female shigh school tudents have come to me to
tell me that their doctors told them they are overweight. I was
flabbergasted in both cases. One girl is about 5' 4" and 125 pounds. She
is an athletic girl, btw. I thought her weight looked just about perfect to
me, as far as I could tell. The other girl is about 5' 8" and weighs 170
pounds. She is a very big boned girl -- tall and big boned, also really,
really pretty in that blonde, Swedish-looking sort of a way. She is not a
delicate creature, but her weight appears to match her frame just fine. For
obvious reasons (upper body development), this girl is very popular with the
boys and has never heard any complaints about her weight before. Well, I
wanted to kill the doctors for the blunt, insensitive ways they spoke to my
girls. My blonde girl was told she needed to lose 50 pounds immediately!
50 pounds! What the heck was that man thinking? Both girls were very upset
and said the doctors were cold and condescending and dismissive and did not
even answer the questions they had. So, I put it to the group, what do you
think? Are the doctors right? I though 5' 4" and 125 was just about
perfect. I don't see a major problem with 5' 8" and 170 on a big-boned
girl -- certainly there is no need to lose 50 pounds! If I am missing
something, let me know. If there is any advice you would give to girls in
this situation, let me know. Thanks.

I really want to know whether the doctors just look at height,
weight and a chart and that is all. What about muscle
development? What about bone structure? What about how large the
girl's breasts are? Are any of these things taken into
consideration?

--
Jean B.

"David S." wrote in message
...
"JC Der Koenig" wrote in message
. ..

: Obviously, common sense should be the guide. Some doctors are wedded to
: charts that lead to nonsensical diagnostic results.

Common sense should be the guide for these doctors too.

David



It's surgically removed in medical school.

Priscilla Ballou wrote:
|| In article m,
|| marengo wrote:
||
||| And, since you are in ASDLC, I assume
||| that you are overweight
||
|| You know what they say about assumptions! Are you not aware that many
|| diabetics eat low-carb to keep their blood glucose in line?
||
|| Priscilla

Oops, very true, my gaffe! And I apologize to all those who are here for
that reason! (As a recently diagnosed T2, I now have several reasons to be
here myself).
--
Peter
website: http://users.thelink.net/marengo