So, I have to starve myself to get surgery that I need?
Thin privilege is not going to a new orthopedic surgeon to beg and plead for a partial knee replacement because your quality of life is so poor that you can’t really call it living. I had a brief moment of happiness after being told by the surgeon that yes both my knees do need partial replacements and then in 10 - 15 years full knee replacements, but that I need my left one done as soon as possible because he’s officially diagnosing me with end stage patella femoral osteoarthritis. Only there is a catch, he won’t do it until I’m below 190 pounds and he’d like me to drop down to between 500-900 calories a day and that it’s a myth that women really shouldn’t eat below 1200 calories a day. I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or cry. To get much needed surgery so that I can WALK again semi normally this…man wants me to STARVE MYSELF to get my “excess” weight off and the kicker was when he told us (me and hubby) most surgeons wouldn’t even consider this type of surgery on someone as “massively” obese as I am. Massively obese? I’m 5’2 and 215 pounds and I wear a 18/20 size pair of pants because all my weight is through my hips and thighs. The surgeon was very careful to reiterate several times that should he do the surgery and I slip back into my current eating habits, which he was sure included laying on the couch eating ice cream and candy bars that the knee hardware would fail and that I’d be a jobless and homeless cripple. I’m smaller than many posters here and I know that I miss out on a lot of issues that many people experience every day, but in my experience if your not “perfect” these days you’ll at least catch hell for it from your doctors. Just goes to show how vicious fat shaming is becoming.