Why I don't like going to the doctor's office
So on Tuesday, I went to the doctor's office to ask about my ailing stomach. I hadn't been for a check-up in, oh say, years. Years. Bad, I know. That also meant that I needed to find a new doctor that was copacetic with my insurance plan.
But I digress.
I arrived for my appointment early, and of course, the office was behind schedule. So, I did the insurance paperwork and medical history questionnaire and waited for a bit before I was taken back to an exam room. Before seeing the physician, I had the usual round of questions and pre-exam checks with the nurse (or whatever she was). She asked me why I was there, about allergies to medicines, etc., took my blood pressure and weighed me.
When she directed me to get on the scale, I groaned and said, "I hate this part." She nodded in sympathy and said that everyone hated it (she herself was obese, probably more than 300 lbs.). I responded, "Yeah, I don't want to see this number because I know I'm at my heaviest ever."
And with that, I got on the scale. It's not an electronic scale, but the kind where you push the larger cube weight across the bottom bar in intervals of 50 lbs. and the smaller cube on the top bar gives you the pounds in between. Pretty much your standard doctor's office scale.
And what does the nurse do? She pushes the bottom weight across to 200 lbs.!!!
Now,many most of you have never met me, but take my word for it, but I do not look like I weigh more than 200 lbs., nor do I weigh more than 200 lbs.
After I scooped my jaw off of the floor, I said, "I think you can back that off a bit."
And she did, and the final number was a nightmare. But even worse was being told in not-so-many-words that I look like I top 200 lbs.
Okay, so maybe her perspective was off because she was well past the 200 mark, but that little encounter put me in a bit of a grumpy mood -- until I got back to the office and told everyone about it. And they all laughed and assured me that the nurse either was nutz or was trying to make me feel better by having to push the weight on the scale lower and lower rather than higher. (I'm not buying that last bit; while I would certainly rather have the scale read a lower number, that logic isn't helpful when she assumes a starting point of 200 lbs.)
And this is one of the reasons why visiting the doctor's office is no fun (this and when they draw blood -- no fun!).
But I digress.
I arrived for my appointment early, and of course, the office was behind schedule. So, I did the insurance paperwork and medical history questionnaire and waited for a bit before I was taken back to an exam room. Before seeing the physician, I had the usual round of questions and pre-exam checks with the nurse (or whatever she was). She asked me why I was there, about allergies to medicines, etc., took my blood pressure and weighed me.
When she directed me to get on the scale, I groaned and said, "I hate this part." She nodded in sympathy and said that everyone hated it (she herself was obese, probably more than 300 lbs.). I responded, "Yeah, I don't want to see this number because I know I'm at my heaviest ever."
And with that, I got on the scale. It's not an electronic scale, but the kind where you push the larger cube weight across the bottom bar in intervals of 50 lbs. and the smaller cube on the top bar gives you the pounds in between. Pretty much your standard doctor's office scale.
And what does the nurse do? She pushes the bottom weight across to 200 lbs.!!!
Now,
After I scooped my jaw off of the floor, I said, "I think you can back that off a bit."
And she did, and the final number was a nightmare. But even worse was being told in not-so-many-words that I look like I top 200 lbs.
Okay, so maybe her perspective was off because she was well past the 200 mark, but that little encounter put me in a bit of a grumpy mood -- until I got back to the office and told everyone about it. And they all laughed and assured me that the nurse either was nutz or was trying to make me feel better by having to push the weight on the scale lower and lower rather than higher. (I'm not buying that last bit; while I would certainly rather have the scale read a lower number, that logic isn't helpful when she assumes a starting point of 200 lbs.)
And this is one of the reasons why visiting the doctor's office is no fun (this and when they draw blood -- no fun!).
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