Humiliation

[wisdomom]

I am still feeling really sick. Went to the doctor's office today, feeling bad but excited to show off my weight loss. That blasted doctor's office scale lied on me! And the dumb medical assistant announced the lie so loud that everyone in the office, and the other patients waiting to check out heard it! If my fever hadn't been so high I would have had a fit! :mad: :(

[missaec]

Aww I'm so sorry. :( I used to not let my doctor weigh me. But now I do cause its usually only off by a pound or two. They're proud of me now.

Don't worry, soon enough you'll have lost so much it won't matter how loud they yell it out. :)

[Breecita]

*hugs*

Sorry you had to feel like that.

[bunks]

Big hug and a kiss and hope you're feeling better soon.

[toopoles]

:hugs: So sorry. I have had the same type of experience and it is so embarrassing. I go down to the VA hospital and they have four scales in a row so there are often people getting weighed at the same time as me. It is always some skinny person(s) I am beside or between. sigh Marty

[Hbmich]

Hey sorry about that, you should have brought it to the medical assistants attention that that information is personal and that she was unprofessionnal and wrong to do what she did. Stupid people! ugh

[Paris]

{{{{{{{{{{Wisdomom}}}}}}}}}}

[LoriLoCarb]

*hugs* So sorry your day has been like that =( You are doing great though and just have to keep focused on your goals. Hope you are feeling better soon!

~ Lori

[jillinmo]

You are not the first, nor will you be the last person to experience that type of humiliation. I'm not making light of it, only emphasizing that these things do happen to us. Yes, the medical profession could use a lesson in dignity and respect of privacy but it would have most likely made the already embarrassing situation worse had you lost your cool. I'd use this constructively and release that frustration out in your workout. Hope you get to feeling better and good luck!!

jillinmo

[AntiM]

{Sorry that was so hard.}

The good news is that when those numbers keep going down, when that scale stops lying, it'll feel good to have 'em shout it out.

Take care!

[fracture]

Not only what Hbmitch said but in the US thanks to new HIPPA regulations its a federal crime. Gotta love the US Regulatory system out of control. Interstate Kidnappers and that doctors office both federal criminals. Write a complaint letter and mention HIPPA compliance and I guarantee it will never happen to you again

[fracture]

Sorry about the sarcasm just a bit concerned about the reasons for rising health care costs.

[ValerieL]

Wisdomom - sorry about that! It isn't right. People can be so inconsiderate. I would be sure to make a call or send a letter (after you are feeling better) bringing the inappropriate behaviour to their attention. If we don't speak up, it won't ever stop!

Valerie

[jennilu]

Wisdomom...

I'm so sorry that happened to you. I've been there, and I know how you feel. As if it's not enough that you're not feeling well, then something like that happens to make you feel 1,000 times worse!

It's amazing how inconsiderate people can be, especially in situations where professionalism is so important. I agree that you should write a letter expressing your concerns, and don't be afraid to be completely honest.

You're doing a fantastic job and you should be proud of yourself!

I hope you're feeling better.

Jennilu :)

[Judynyc]

:( So sorry!! That really bites!!

In my point of view, I'd think about calling the office and having a little chat with the person who was so insensitive to you. Perhaps she needs someone to tell her that what she did was highly insensitive and that she should be more respectful of people in the future.

I'd also tell her boss or write him a letter about what happened. If nothing else, at least you'll feel like you have done something to take care of yourself!!! Thats a powerful thing to do!!!

[liz175]

Fracture is absolutely right that it is illegal for your doctor's office to reveal any medical information about you to anyone without your permission and that includes your weight. Since they put that rule in effect, my doctor's office has gone from having a single scale in the hallway (where anyone can walk by while they are weighing you and see what the scale says), to having scales in each of the examining rooms where patients can be weighed privately. I would definitely write a letter of complaint to the doctor and if it happens again I would follow up with a letter of complaint to your local medical society.

Also, as a patient, you have the right to refuse any medical exams or treatments you do not want. That includes refusing to let them weigh you. It is your choice. The doctor may need to weigh you to prescribe certain medications that are based on body weight, but aside from that they generally don't need to know an exact weight. If you don't want to be weighed, ask them why they are doing it and then make a decision for yourself. I have refused various medical procedures at different times after asking for an explanation of why they are doing them -- including refusing an internal fetal monitor while I was in labor with my second child -- and I have never been given any problem when I refused to give consent.

[twinkles10]

Ditto on liz and fracture.

My doctor's office has also moved the scales to each individual examining room - with the typical "doctor's scales" in one particular examining room.

I, too, have refused to weigh before, and they have never given me any grief. Just the same as I have said, "No, we need to think about doing something else" when I didn't like a particular medication or treatment they offered.

[jemman]

man- i would be mortified if this happened to me. i cant even imagine how you would feel. if its any concellation, i have a drs appt next week and this thread helped me to know what my rights are and i will be ready to raise holy hell if my experience turns out like yours- so, u helped me- if that helps to make u feel better. thank you ((hugs))

[Marebear]

(((((Wisdomom))))) :bhug:

It was horrible and not right and I'm so sorry it happened to you. I know I would feel the same way if it happened to me. But sweetie, you are not a number on the scale. You are a wonderful caring member of our community and we value you very much. Please don't let them mess with your head. You are doing a great job and the staff there needs to be way more considerate.

My doctor's nurse never announces my weight, but she must be about 90 pounds soaking wet, so I always get bummed out when she weighs me too.

Mary

[aqvaluqtuq]

I know how you feel. I live in northwest Alaska and have to fly on small bush planes to remote villages once a month or so for my job. You have to tell the ticket agent your weight so that they can calculate the load of the plane. There is always lots of people around to hear your answer. Embarrassing.

[potatofree]

You must have felt horrible. You've gotten great advice, so all I can do is offer sympathy...well, that, and offer to sit on her so you can get a good KICK in .. :D

[wisdomom]

Thanks everyone for your support-you've all made me feel better!

[LizzyMc]

I so feel for you, even if no one at my Drs. office hears the numbers, I know what they are thinking. I work in the medical field and I have to agree with Fracture... call them on it. I do transcription and when I hear sarcasm about a person's weight, I call the doctor on it... I don't care who they are. They are in a profession that is given rules and regulations (HIPPA) and even without these rules and regs, they need to show some compassion. Chances are, if you have a real good rapport with your physician, he would be appalled to hear that his right hand person treated you with such disregard. Whew, this is one of those things that really angers me and thanks for letting me vent... good luck in the future though, and let them know that we have feelings also.

[myturn]

I've been thinking about this and when I had a problem at my doctors ( he told me to call for a medicine for my son if he got sick and his nurse refused to even tell him I called, insisted I had to bring my son in for an appointment before the doctor would write a prescription etc. even though he had told me I didnt need to ( which he backed up when I told him what happened) Anyways, long story short..most doctors have no idea what their staff is doing, they practice medicine and hire an office manager to over see everything else and sometimes that staff takes on a philosophy of its own that can be in total opposition from what the doctor wants or would condone...he needs to be told and fast....I notice the nurse who hassled me is no longer working at my doctors office so I think others complained too!! I say you need to call because a letter complaining might "disappear" before he even see's it.

[dixiemamma]

As a NURSE.. I am telling you that you need to write a letter to the physician himself. That was so wrong.. besides the fact it is illegal, it is unprofessional. The aid needs to be warned. You usually do need to be weighd so that medications will be ordered in the proper dosages, but she has no rights to tell it outloud for the world to hear. I ALWAYS weigh someone and in the privacy of their own room tell them their weight, blood pressure, and all lab results. No one should do that. I also have seen nurses and aids teach how to collect a urine specimen or whatever in hallways. This is also wrong. Stand up for you self and all other who have been embarrassed at a physician's office and mail that letter! ;)

[Quest]

You are not the first, nor will you be the last person to experience that type of humiliation.

Getting weighed at the doctor is awful for many people. Once when my daughter was 16, she was insulted by a strange nurse. The nurse herself was probably about 35, short and fairly slender. My daughter at the time as 5'4" and weighed about 138. The nurse exclaimed that she "couldn't believe" my daughter weighed "so much" because she "looked so good". She repeated this a couple of times. And this was at the pediatrician! I did complain about it and felt I was listened to.

[Cicero]

I am still feeling really sick. Went to the doctor's office today, feeling bad but excited to show off my weight loss. That blasted doctor's office scale lied on me! And the dumb medical assistant announced the lie so loud that everyone in the office, and the other patients waiting to check out heard it! If my fever hadn't been so high I would have had a fit! :mad: :(

I know what you mean about those embarassing moments. I have had a few of them myself. I know that mortified feeling when your cheeks flush and you feel like the whole world is staring at you and laughing inside.

I remember once when I was in a store and was buying some Twinkies (before low carb) and a new pair of pants. I got up to the front of the store and there was no UPC tag on the pants. The cashier called on the little phones they have and asked the guy to bring a new pair of pants. He got halfway around the register and called back "what size?" The cashier yelled it out and I know the thirty or forty people in the lines around mine heard it. The people behind me glanced down at my Twinkies and up at me with that oh so condescending look. I just walked away at that point without my purchase. The worst part is as I was walkign throughj the doors I realized I had left my checkbook. I had to walk all the way back in there to get it in front of all those people. I started this lifestyle the next day.
I have since realized something. Weight and pant sizes or whatever do not define us. No matter what number they called out it has no bearing on who I am and those people that stared at me and the cashier that called out the size are just people. If look at me with that condescending look they are only taking advantage of an opportunity to feel superior for a brief instant. If they choose to judge me by their own warped worldview that is their loss. You and I are solving our problem, their smug myopic outlook is just as damaging to their well being and there is no nutrition plan for them.

[dixiemamma]

... If look at me with that condescending look they are only taking advantage of an opportunity to feel superior for a brief instant. If they choose to judge me by their own warped worldview that is their loss. You and I are solving our problem, their smug myopic outlook is just as damaging to their well being and there is no nutrition plan for them.

Well said...