I have been traveling a lot lately for work but I managed to get in my pre-op testing and I am waiting for the insurance submittal. Let me tell you, it all has tried my patience. My surgeon's team has been really great but the nutritionist piece was a nightmare. Under staffed and they are mean! The office staff treats me like I have the plague and I have read about how others have been treated. So I have some words to share.
Dear Nutritionists, PCP's and others involved in this process:
Don't get me wrong, I get that people start this process and think it is a magic pill or quick fix as the media portrays it, but I do not. I have studied and read and read and read books, websites, blogs, etc. I have a friend who has been through RNY WLS. I know you do not know this about me but please don't judge me. Please try to get to know me and treat me like I have feelings. I am SCARED! I am so scared it makes me shake. This is life altering.
We NEED your help and your compassion. I am a patient and human being. I have been picked on, ignored and belittled my whole life for my weight. I want you to be able to answer my questions and not look at me with disgust. I NEED this surgery. I really have tried to lose weight and I need help. It took everything I have to walk in the seminar that day. I had to ADMIT I was Morbidly Obese.
Don't get mad when we are desperate for our medical records. We are clinging to a string of hope and terrified that we will be denied. Oh and it is not funny. It is not 'elective surgery' to us. We just want to be happy and healthy. We want to start our lives and not be and feel humiliated on planes, in amusement parks, at the movies, on buses....... We don't want to be the fat person in the room or the fat friend anymore. Contrary to popular belief, WE WANT TO BE IN CONTROL. You are our life line. Every day that passes we die a little inside.
Please remember this the next time you dismiss me or my community. Signed, The Scared Fat Girl
