[Anxious Patient]

The patient

had tried every diet, every workout, but the pounds wouldn't go away. Doctors suggested weight loss surgery. "You get bigger and bigger and bigger," she said Friday. "And then you go to your doctor and they tell you, 'You need to lose weight, you're fat!'"

Then, a new doctor

told her a 140-pound cancerous tumor - a rare kind of liposarcoma - was growing near her stomach. They said it had likely been growing for 15 to 20 years. It took doctors three surgeries, over two months, in Redmond and at Portland's Oregon Health and Sciences University to remove the tumor.

In the comments section, the son of this patient made a very nice tribute to the nurses who cared for his mother at the hospital.

http://www.ktvz.com/Global/story.asp?S=8663477

[CHATSDALE]

i am so glad that she finally got someone to listen to being sick and everyone glossing over it is so frustrating

[rph3664]

If this thing was spreading around under her skin, yes, it could be missed. I once heard about a woman who had a breast cancer that grew to 14 centimeters in diameter before it was discovered, and I wondered how on earth that could happen but it was like a pancake, just a few millimeters thick, and stuck to her chest muscles.

[Anxious Patient]

here's a photo of a 93 pound tumor for reference:

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Co...70305.300w.jpg

[azgirl]

I remember when I was a teenager going to a new doctor with my mother. She wanted me there to take notes because she had a whole list of things to discuss. The doctor walked in and took one look at her and said "I can tell you right now whats wrong with you. You're fat!". Then when my mother burst into tears he stomped out the door.

She had a tumor at that time but it was two more years before it was diagnosed and she was miserable.

[talaxandra]

[She] had tried every diet, every workout, but the pounds wouldn't go away. Doctors suggested weight loss surgery. "You get bigger and bigger and bigger," she said Friday. "And then you go to your doctor and they tell you, 'You need to lose weight, you're fat!'"

Originally Posted by azgirl

The doctor walked in and took one look at her and said "I can tell you right now whats wrong with you. You're fat!". Then when my mother burst into tears he stomped out the door.
She had a tumor at that time but it was two more years before it was diagnosed

This is one of the serious, unacknowledged health issues related to being fat - the weight is blamed for any and all medical problems, and the standard response is "lose weight," even when the presenting problem isn't weight-related. In her book Fat! So? Marilyn Wann gives a number of anecdotal incidents like this, where the treating practitioner's focus on weight obscured their vision of the patient as a whole.

[Turd.Ferguson]

Twenty-one years ago I had a 140-pound tumor. I divorced her.

[angelique777]

I dont know either one of you but to be fair I would have to say. If you think you lost a 140lb tumor maybe she in turn thinks she got rid of cancer (Turd.)

All joking aside I am so glad that this women got this found out in time
I once notice that under my neck it did not look right one year it just kept getting bigger and bigger and I kept feeling sick. I went to a thyroid specialist and he said as we get older we can get fat under our neck. Since all my thyroid function came back negative he totally ignored by complaint. I weighed about 140lbs then and I was 5'5". (This was about three years ago).I am not that old either. I was kinda offended and went about my business. I went away to another country to help out with a group that was providing free eye care to a certain region thinking everything with me was ok. However I felt very weak during the trip but saw about 100 people a day. When I came back from my trip my neck looked even bigger and Iwent to my primary doctor who again said that as we get older we can get fat under our neck. Finally I asked a fellow nurse to recommend a Ear Nose and Throat doctor b/c I just felt this was not normal and that no way this could be fat.

This was a much older doctor who was the chair of the Department of the Ear Nose And Throat dept and very pleasant and listen to me. The minute he saw me I got the impression he knew what I had or suspected what I had because he immediately had me lye down on the exam table and took the biggest freaking needle I ever saw and stuck it in my neck and out came a lot of pus. He then called all his residents to come and take a look at me. It seems I had an infected tyroglossal cyst (which normally occurs to children and very rarely to adults) and I required surgery to remove it. The first specialist I went to totally missed this. I went back to my primary and told her I most definitely did not have fat under my neck and proceeded to never return to her care. I was so grateful to the doctor that saw me as a favor to the nurse I knew and the Surgeon who did the surgery and did not even leave a mark.

I guess like the article says when something just does not feel right keeping seeking out help. However it is very hard to get someone to listen.

Angela

[TemperTantrum]

Originally Posted by talaxandra

This is one of the serious, unacknowledged health issues related to being fat - the weight is blamed for any and all medical problems, and the standard response is "lose weight," even when the presenting problem isn't weight-related. In her book Fat! So? Marilyn Wann gives a number of anecdotal incidents like this, where the treating practitioner's focus on weight obscured their vision of the patient as a whole.

This is one issue I have had a few debates over. There are tons of studies (that are NOT funded by weight loss companies, BTW) that are overturning the more popularly reported studies (which are more heard of because of the large amounts of FUNDING....) that fat is unhealthy.

Obesity didn't become a "problem" until dieting became insanely prevalent- and some of these new studies are showing that the problems associated with obesity could be attributed to dangerous dieting activities.

The real problem, in my opinion and from what I've read, is that people give up on exercising. Particularly the "obese" who feel it won't do any good because the whole point is to get skinny--- at least that's what we are all told.


SORRY FOR THE DERAIL!
I'm glad they were able to help her after the got over how she looks.