Why doctors have a hard time talking about obesity
“For someone with your breast size, the risk of a complication is pretty high. I would recommend against the surgery.”
I smiled at the 50-year-old woman who sat in front of me wearing a pink, paper gown and a crestfallen look. She had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and was planning on undergoing a mastectomy as part of her cancer treatment. Her breast surgeon had referred her to me to discuss the possibility of beginning her breast reconstruction at the time of her mastectomy: an immediate breast reconstruction.
Prior to her arrival, I had reviewed her chart in the electronic medical record — the body mass index was lit up in a highlighted yellow: “42.” Morbidly obese. I glanced to see if this had been documented in the patient’s problem list — it was not. It appeared that no one, including her primary care physician, had listed her morbid obesity as a disease to be tracked and followed. Every other condition associated with it had been: type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, and knee pain.
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Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: Journals (General) Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/vik-reddy" rel="tag" > Vik Reddy, MD < /a > Tags: Physician Obesity Source Type: blogs
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