Fatty Boombalatty!
So, let’s get a few things straight, shall we??
First off: Hidradenitis Suppurativa is not caused by being overweight, being obese or even morbidly obese. It can, like many other conditions out there, be exacerbated by weight gain, and helped, but not cured, by losing weight.
Hmm, let’s go ahead and repeat that again for those medical professionals in the back of the room that might not have heard me: Hidradenitis Suppurativa is not caused by being overweight nor can it be cured by losing weight!
I know, I know – a lot of you out there are going, “Yeah, duuuuuhhhhhh, everyone knows that!”
Well, apparently not everyone – because, ladies and gentlemen, I hold in my very hands a letter from an aforementioned Endocrinologist that reads, and I quote, “I suspect that a lot of this patient’s problems are all caused by obesity.”
A lot of my problems?? I only went to him for two things: hirsutism and HS!
So, then the next question that comes to my mind is: just how did he come to his diagnosis of ‘obese’?
Well, easy – he used an antiquated, unreliable system of ‘measurement’ called the BMI (Body Mass Index, but I like to call it Bad Math Inducer), because using an arbitrary formula developed almost 200 years ago in modern medicine is always a good idea!
The actual formula was developed by Adolphe Quetelet around 1830 and, get this, it wasn’t even developed as an indicator of an individual’s health! Nope, it was originally meant to be used as “a simple means of classifying…populations, with an average body composition.”
Even the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute acknowledges there are limits to the BMI!
So, I have to ask, why on Earth is an antiquated system of population measurement still used to evaluate an individual’s health, even though it’s been debunked by various medical institutes?
Sigh…who knows…or dares to dream…?
Yes, ok, fine, I will admit that I’m pretty angry at the letter he sent. And for various reasons. Number 1: I’m angry at the ignorance of HS, as well as the use of a horrible system of measurement to classify my health – but most of all I’m angry because being labeled ‘morbidly obese’ means that I don’t have a voice in the medical community. For whatever reason, doctor’s only listen to skinny people.
A lot of you out there understand where I’m coming from. In fact, I’ve known someone who went to a doctor complaining of inexplicable back pain. She was told to lose weight and sent home. The back pain only got worse, so she went back to the doctor, who told her again to lose weight and sent her home. It was only a few months later when she was able to procure an MRI that it showed that she was suffering from a broken back! (A broken back, by the way, despite the medical advice she was given, can not be cured by losing weight.)
It is infuriating. It is shameful and it defies the Hippocratic oath, which is: Do no harm.
Hippocrates didn’t just mean, “Do no harm physically.” Doing no harm includes not fat-shaming and not refusing to treat people of certain sizes.
Plus, the very idea that there is a portion of our society that has been deemed ‘not good enough’ until they change their appearance speaks very ill of our civilization – especially when we are taught, as children, not to judge a book by its cover.
It also defies generations of prior thinking. See, for so many eons, before our current modern era, a person with a thicker outer layer was seen as the picture of health. Artist painted women with soft, bulbous features and it was very common lore, up until almost a generation ago, that keeping a certain amount of heft prevented you from being emaciated whenever you became ill or had to visit a hospital for an extended amount of time.
I suppose that way of thinking is outdated – but if we’re hell bent on using the BMI as an indicator of health, and it was developed nearly two centuries ago, then why can’t we use the traditional thought that carrying a little more weight is actually a healthy thing? (Granted, I am speaking of people who may be overweight but do not suffer from obesity-related issues such as diabetes, heart disease and high cholesterol – which are actual indicators of health.)
I am who I am. A healthy individual, both mentally and physically, who happens to suffer from a debilitating condition that is not my fault! I did not cause my HS and I refuse to be shamed or blamed into feeling like I did. If the medical community can not find the cause or cure for Hidradenitis Suppurativa that doesn’t reflect on me, or my lifestyle, but on them. I hope one day that someone out there sees the lack of patient care with regards to HS, and feels the need to change things, but until that happens I’m afraid I will continue to take what the ‘medical professionals’ say with a grain of salt.
(Now, if you want a sorta fun exercise in the perception of healthy weight, etc – take a look at this site. In my opinion the photoshopped ‘modern’ women look frail and easily breakable, while the originals look healthy and strong – but maybe that’s just me and my perception…)
Boo Doctors! Boo BMI! Yay healthy and vibrant Kiley! Another excellent post! I love your blog! I was blown away by your picture last night. You are a lovely, beautiful, strong Amazon Goddess! Love & Hugs! ❤
Aw, once again Patti you lift my spirits! 😉
I have HS. A handful of doctors, am in UK, have told me because I am overweight I will have more ‘sites’.
Thank you for posting what many of us forget. With Summer looming, I know I shall develop numerous abscesses and cysts.
Hi, louebelle30! I dread the summer months, too. They are the absolute worst for me and my HS. If you’d like to meet some friendly, supportive HS friends please come see us on Facebook! There are many great HS support groups. Kiley has kindly referenced our group in her Blogroll below. You are most welcome to join us! Love & Hugs! 🙂
and thank you for reading! (also, to mirror what patti says, if you ever want a place to just vent and/or find some positive support join us in the Facebook group. It’s a great place to remind us we are not alone in our struggle!)
This is so accurate.. I have been sent home from many doctor appointments livid because I was told that I am obese (I weigh 200, at 5ft, so I’m not just gigantic) and that if I lose weight, I will not have these issues.. I was literally told by a surgeon (who by the way REFUSED to even speak to me about surgery) that I should go home, try Turmeric, and exercise. He then proceeded to inform me that I was depressed because I completely lost control, and told him he could take that Turmeric, shove it up his ass, and go jog a mile with holes the size of quarters in his crotch.. It’s ridiculous that we are ignored for being overweight.. I can’t seem to get it through anyone’s head that I can barely wipe my own ass, much less exercise.
I really can not understand the logic fail that doctors seem to have in regards to HS patients! They (sometimes) acknowledge that HS is incredibly painful and yet tell us to move more?? This month I have visited three different specialists (all in regards to HS) and all of them said I am “morbidly obese” and to lose weight immediately. I’m 6ft tall, 290 lbs. I’m also an athlete. My friends and family are in shock that anyone would even remotely classify me as “morbidly obese” but the doctors won’t talk to me until I lose over half my body weight. But, if I did as they asked I would a.) look sickly and frail and b.) be laughed out of the gym where I’m a kickboxer. (As a female, it’s already tough enough to get respect in there, lol)
As far as exercising, I went from training 2-4 hours a day, Monday thru Saturday, to training 45 minutes a day, three days a week. Sometimes the pain is so great, I miss whole weeks at a time. But then the doctors insist I exercise more and they don’t seem to get it through their heads that I WOULD IF I COULD MOVE! But there is just NO sympathy from them…
I was also an athlete. I played softball, and lifted weights in the off-season. I have always had a muscular build. I used to be around 115 pounds before I got on the depo provera shot (worst mistake of my life). I gained 80 lbs in a year! But even when I was 115 lbs, I was still built like an athlete, I was never a twig. I was working out 5 hours a day, outdoors, in July, and was still gaining 13-15 pounds a month!! (I was later diagnosed with PCOS, these contributes to my lack of being able to lose weight, and my excess hair growth).