Dr Phil’s May 4th Show is about:
Topic : 05/04 Overweight and Forgotten
Created on : Friday, April 27, 2007, 02:02:37 pm
Dr. Phil speaks with women who say they feel forgotten by their loved ones because of their excessive weight. Lorna weighs 650-plus pounds and feels abandoned by her family. Lorna’s sister, Glenice, says Lorna got herself into this situation; now she has to take responsibility and get herself out. Lorna’s boyfriend, Blair, takes care of her, but Glenice says he’s not the Mr. Nice Guy he appears to be. She says he’s really an abuser. Lorna says Blair is exhausted and stressed from the hard job of caring for her, and her family needs to help rather than drive him away. Is Lorna ready to stop accepting the abuse and start accepting help? Then, Sunni weighs almost 300 pounds and wants to pursue her dream of being a plus-size model. Her boyfriend, Christian, however, says she’s too fat for the runway, and she should leave that dream to the skinny girls. Sunni says she is big and fabulous, and Christian makes her feel like she should crawl under a rock. Will Sunni be forced to pick between her relationship and her dream? Share your thoughts here.One of the commenters on the message board stated:
“IF your that overweight why in the world can you not do something about your weight? Dr’s can refer you for surgery. There are diet programs which I just did myself to help you eat healthy. I find this like alcholism……..just find help and make the choice to quit putting it in your mouth. When it comes down to it, your all by yourself. You should not have to depend on anyone to take care of you. For crying out loud……..do something to change the situation that you are in. Opinions?”
My response was:
Why do people always think it is quite so simple???
Somehow the first posting of my reply disappeared so here I go to reconstruct:
“I was absolutely livid when I read your comment. Why are folks so focused upon that the “fix” to being overweight is to redesign your eating habits? There is so much more taken into factor. While I am happy that your resolve was quite so simple, but for many it is not.
1. In Feb 04, I was in an auto accident where my knees hit the steering wheel then I had trauma induced lymphedema. While I had medical coverage under my auto insurance, the treatments worked. When they ended, the problems continued to escalate and cause more harm.
2. As a result of the non-insurance and lack of treatments, I have been biding my time until I do have coverage by continuing to elevate my legs and feet. I do so at all times (even try to do some while at work without disturbing those around me). When I am at home, I try to elevate my feet & legs constantly which finds me sleeping because I am bored stiff.
3. While exercise is a key to maintaining weight, it is difficult to do so while elevating my feet and legs. If you can figure that one out, please let me know.
4. SSI disability benefits is a joke. You can’t get it unless you are unemployed. Where is the concern for the disabling health?
5. Medicaid and other low-income medical programs are a joke. Public Citizen revealed the stats about Texas ranking 48 out of 50, which I wrote about in my blog posting — http://iwim.wordpress.com/2007/04/19/duh-texas-medicaid-program-scores-4850/ . Pull up the report of Public Citizen and you will see that there are big fat zeros by eligibility for individuals and couples. There is a reason for that. Unless you are a family with 6 kids, you don’t often qualify for these programs. One can’t survive off the income they require in order to have medical coverage provided.
6. Employers are often not wanting to pay for health coverage for their part-time employees. Although I work 40+ hours for my employer, I don’t qualify since I am not a full-time employee. According to the Texas Workforce Commission there is no law making employers to offer benefits to their employees who are working a specific number of hours, if they decree a job is only parttime.
7. Employers look down upon a person that is overweight and an overweight person will have a hard time getting hired on fulltime, even if their qualifications meet or exceed other contenders for the same position.
8. While one can get treated by the emergency room by federal law, one can’t simply walk in and say “fix me!” and expect all the ailments will be fixed — especially at a reasonable cost. What does that say about society’s viewpoint on having healthcare benefiting all of those needing it. Facing those exorberant fees of the ER keep many that need treatment away.
9. Your comment that one can be referred to doctors for surgery may be true if you have insurance. Otherwise, there are many doctors turning away folks because they have no insurance. I know. I have an umbilical hernia that is going untreated as well because I have no insurance. I have to wait until I have extreme pain to go to the emergency room for treatment. Sometimes I wonder how much pain is extreme; many don’t put up with the aches and pains that I do.
Until healthcare is re-thought, re-formed, and re-structured, it is unlikely that many people who are overweight will get the help that they so rightly deserve as the next person.
At any rate, I would hope that you would re-think what you wrote about being able to change the situation you are in. It is a judgmental statement that prejudges one’s own factor in being overweight is due to one’s own eating habits along. I am glad it worked for you, but don’t be thinking that it is indeed the issue behind these folks as well.
Grrrr…..
If you find some benefactor that wants to pay for my uninsured treatments and surgeries, please let me know. I would love to find myself weighing 150 pounds lighter!!”
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