Content Warnings: eating disorders, anorexia
I am writing this letter in hopes that it creates awareness in the impact of words, especially when in a medical setting.
I have been through intensive treatment for a restrictive eating disorder that caused me to lose so much weight that my heart was starting to shut down. I was quite literally skin and bones and nearly lost my life due to the hold my mental illness had over me.
But I am happy to say that I am in recovery and doing really well! So well that I have regained all the weight I have lost and actually reached my goal weight set for me in treatment, despite it being over 2 years later. And I have been doing so well; I have spent a year in college on my own, proving all the doctors wrong who told me that I would not make it a few months without someone watching what and how much I ate. I have worked through various triggers and am proud to say that I have reached a point where comments like the one I received at the doctor’s office recently do not cause me to immediately spiral and stop eating.
I was at a doctor’s appointment to follow up on an issue completely unrelated to my eating disorder when the person who checked me into the room weighed me, did all the normal stuff they do at the beginning of an appointment, and then sat down to go over all of the questions they were told to ask. But the question that caught me off guard was when she asked me if I had gained weight, which makes absolutely no sense to me because…. 1) if you look at the numbers you shouldn’t have to ask me that, 2) I know that it is listed in my medical history that I have anorexia and extreme weight loss, and 3) I had abdominal surgery only months before, and that was the weight she was comparing it to: one where I had not been able to eat or drink for multiple days and completely cleared out my entire digestive system. I know that this woman did not mean any harm by this question, but I think it is a great example of how important it is for people to be aware of the impact of their words, especially in a medical setting where I thought that I could trust not being judged for whatever fluctuations occurred with my body. So if you are hearing this, I hope that it might make you think more closely about the things that you say and the effect that they have.
Be kind and be well!
