Ugh

[fredericks]

Yesterday I went to see the orthopedist about my much resolved leg pain. I know I walked in defensive, but I knew what I was going to be told: one, we do surgeries here and so I can only recommend surgery, and two, you need to lose weight. Which, yes, fuck you very much. The surgery part was more straightforward - my second surgery left me with a number of screws and two long plates in the front of my tibia, with an opening of bone between the two plates. This makes it more likely for me to break along the opening of bone. And if such break were to occur I'd be sort of fucked, because they'd have to remove some screws, leaving holes in my bone.

But we didn't discuss worst-case scenarios (i.e. what would be the logical steps to take surgically if I did end up with a fracture, seeing as I've been feeling intermittent leg pain), because I mentioned the swelling that occurs to my bilateral knees with activity and he got up on the "losing weight" horse. Which, I know, joints and added weight, blah blah blah. But the belief always seems to be that I'm sitting on my ass eating Bon-Bons when I know I'm more goddamn active than a lot of folks out there. Doc recommended low-impact activities like the elliptical and I had to roll my eyes and stop him right there to tell him that low-impact is all I do (outside of my brief foray into running) and my knees still blow up like Stay-Puffs at the end of the day. Why wouldn't you inquire as to what activities I am doing before you make recommendations, huh? Then he said I should start swimming because, and I quote "if you can get one mile of laps in a day, three days a week, it will help get your heart rate up and get your weight down." Note that at this appt they did not check my BP, HR, or temp. Love it.

I relayed most of my visit to sternel, who I ended up grabbing lunch with afterward, and she inquired as to what doctors ask skinny people who complain of bilateral knee swelling after low-impact activity. I'm thinking they probably just tell them to take NSAIDs, do blood draws, and schedule them for surgical intervention. I mean, what irked the most is that there was no inquiry as to my current habits, prior weight loss, nothing, just the "oh, you're overweight, you need to lose weight" bit that happens more often than I care to acknowledge.

So my plan is to keep gingerly continuing with my activity, join a swim class (because I *have* been looking for an activity that will tone upper and lower body, seeing as I tend to get complacent as all hell on the cardio machines) and see how my knees and leg hold out. And if the problem persists I'm going to have to find another doctor. Maybe a rheumatologist this time around.

Comments

[mysticalchild_isis]

Have you ever read Lessons from the Fat-o-sphere by Kate Harding? It's a book that talks a lot about doctors and their fucking prejudices about these things, among many other bits of awesome.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

I've been hearing about it, and I'm going to get it on my Kindle. I understand from a medical standpoint the effects of increased weight on joint wear and tear, along with its long term effects on hormones, blood pressure, etc (well, what we think we know, anyway). So while what the doctor was telling me was completely valid I didn't and cannot stand for the way they always throw that shit at me without asking if I've been doing anything in regards to fitness or diet. The implication being if I really *wanted* to be thin I would have been thin as soon as I walked through their door. Which, hmm, it's a little bit more complicated than that, but thanks for constantly reducing it to the simplest elements, random health care professional who doesn't know me AT ALL.

*breath*

Okay, I'm just a little tired of this whole thing. I just want to go "doctors suck" and leave it at that.

[alicetheowl.livejournal.com]

You're not even heavy. I'm way heavier than you, and somehow, I get the privilege of walking around all day without my knees swelling up and hurting. I hate the "lose weight" solution, because, when it hurts to move, it's harder than it sounds.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

I've (re)gained about twenty pounds since you saw me, to be fair. But my knees were going crazy even then, which is part of the reason why I backed off my intense cardio workout schedule. He didn't really care very much when I told him that, that's when he threw out the whole swimming workout idea.

I knew he'd be somewhat oblivious when I read his profile page and it emphasized he was a lettered varsity athlete and he was all about working with sports people blah blah blah. I'd still held out hope. Completely dashed.

[paradise-city.livejournal.com]

...she inquired as to what doctors ask skinny people who complain of bilateral knee swelling after low-impact activity. I'm thinking they probably just tell them to take NSAIDs, do blood draws, and schedule them for surgical intervention.

That would make a great hidden camera story. I'm sure thin and overweight people get completely different diagonoses/treatment recommendations, but it would be interesting to see how wildly they differ.

(On a related note [and I'm sorry I can't seem to keep my ranty pants off in your health-related posts], I had a similarly frustrating experience with my migraines before weather causes were considered valid. Every doctor wanted to talk to me about how I ate and how I slept and my hormones when none of those were the cause. I know doctors are experts, but sometimes you have to trust that the person who lives in a body knows a little something about it, too. )

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

That would make a great hidden camera story. I'm sure thin and overweight people get completely different diagonoses/treatment recommendations, but it would be interesting to see how wildly they differ.
It would make an awesome sociology/public health experiment. I have a thesis project! Awesome. Now I just have to get into grad school.

[and I'm sorry I can't seem to keep my ranty pants off in your health-related posts]
Ps-shaw, I always want to hear from and about the folks on my FL. And I think med professionals are too quick to brush folks off when there is no clear answer in their opinion.