I've posted here complaining about my awful, terrible, no-good obeast receptionist before. Obviously I have other coworkers, they mostly range from average to fit to thin. (I'd describe myself as average BTW, not American average but actually average)
My work friend was seeing the doctor due to some symptoms of carpal tunnel. She is a tiny Pacific/Asian lady, probably 4-11" and around 99 lbs. She talks about her weight a lot, saying she wishes she could gain a few pounds, as being over 100 lbs would make her feel more "womanly." Haha, yes, turning the whole "REEEE-al Woman" thing around.
Totally unsolicited, her doctor started bugging her about her weight. She was repeatedly told she was MALNOURISHED. Based on nothing but her appearance. Friend said her BMI was calculated at 20. Twenty!!
She was almost in tears. I told her not to worry, 20 is totally good. It's on the lower side of normal, but it's not even in underweight category, is it? Besides, coworker eats plenty, I see her chow down at lunch on the daily and she's always talking about the endless dinners and banquets her friends and family put on. I asked her if the doctor was fat, and she said "she was American, it's hard to tell."
Burrrnnnnn. Would this be reverse-thin-privilege? Skinny shaming?
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[–] PCOSBelle 1 point 37 points 38 points (+38|-1) ago
You should tell her to switch doctors. If the doctor is part of a larger practice, I would file a complaint. She's perfect the way she is and her carpal tunnel is probably from the way she types or whatever work task she does. Hell, find her an Asian doctor. I go to an Asian doctor and I gained 5 lbs between visits once and got asked if I was going to blow up on her, lol.
[–] BuzzingBeaver 1 point 10 points 11 points (+11|-1) ago
Now Asian doctors everywhere in America will suddenly get hit with an influx of normal people. Good, decent people don't take suggestions on improvement as personal insults.
[–] cthulhu_stories 0 points 18 points 18 points (+18|-0) ago
Asian doctor here. Please yes, send me someone who isn't obese. I'd say about 80% of my surgical patients are obese. Some of them think theyre normal weight, and I've even had one butterbeast tell me im malnourished and need to eat. She lost a goddamn toe to diabetes later that month.
[–] AislesOnFire [S] 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago
It wouldn't be hard to find an Asian doctor, in our area most doctors/dentists are Chinese or Indian. Must have been (bad) luck of the draw. I'll encourage her to look for a different provider if she keeps getting shit for her healthy weight!
[–] Swole_is_life 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Be careful not to be the other side of the coin from the fatties and declare your doctor a quack just because you don't like what he says.
If he's basing it purely on BMI then yes he's a fool, but there are other signs of malnutrition than being underweight and he should be trained to look for them.
[–] PCOSBelle 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Hmm, good point, she could have had some deficiencies in her bloodwork.
[–] somebuttoronebutt ago (edited ago)
Was just about to post the same comment. Asians can be prone to vitamin D and B12 deficiencies in particular, which can lead to a lot of other shit.
She should follow up with a different doc (hopefully one who is better at communicating with patients) to double check that her bloodwork is all ok.
[–] lystmord 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Unfortunately, repetitive strain injuries seem to be one of those things that you're prone to or not. I have some sort of injury in both wrists (officially carpal tunnel, but who knows), and I started getting symptoms by 12-13 just from writing by HAND. Never mind typing.
She's likely not going to find relief simply by changing her work station once. She's going to have to change it up constantly. It's probably going to be a lifelong issue for her. Being careful about the strain she puts her wrists under is something OP needs to tell her to constantly watch, or she will end up in braces and high levels of pain for months on end from pushing it.
[–] DammitMoonMoon 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I've had to get a wrist brace for my wrist pain. It helps during times when it's really hurting. just supports the wrist while I'm typing.
Also, I always tell people with unexplained joint pain like that to check your vit D levels. I was having a shit ton of joint pain and was afraid I was developing rheumatoid arthritis (it's in my family), doc did the blood test, no RA but I was deficient in vit D. He had me taking something like 3 times the RDA for 3 weeks and all the pain went away.