Managing Weight Bias in Healthcare

Good evening everybody!

I hope you're all doing really really well, massive that you to everybody who read the previous post it was an absolute pleasure to write it and the response to it was awesome! Because of such a fab response to the more practical advice based posts I'll be planning a few more of these to come up pretty soon. From this point on I'll be using my summer to do 4 things one being blogging for this account, blogging for my university blogging platform, reading for my dissertation and enjoying my time off with trips, so I'll try to write as much as I can for both of my blogging roles. So, today's post is a pretty important one all in all and I have to stress as a disclaimer that although this blog is aimed at promoting awareness for genetic obesity disorders none of the advice or tips/suggestions I provide are limited to those with genetic obesity. This post in particular will be about how to handle weight bias in healthcare, something that I know fine well that almost every single overweight or obese person in on the planet will have or will face at some point. I know I have done a similar post to this but this one is much more in-depth and should be so much more helpful, hopefully. 

Source: MyGutTellsMe.com

The fact that there is so much weight bias, hatred, prejudice or whatever you like to call it, in society is hard enough to handle at the best of times but the issue becomes more than hard to handle when that weight bias creeps into YOUR healthcare. To really kick off this post I am going to tell you all a story... It was about 9 months ago I went into my local GP surgery, West Cornforth Medical Centre for those who are interested in which medical centres to stay away from, and I had been suffering from a chest infection, sinus infection, the psoriasis in my inner ears had flared up and I had made an appointment to attempt to deal with my chest infection. Being Asthmatic from birth I know how serious chest infections can end up being, I sat and explained my symptoms to the GP manning the surgery at the time and the first thing out of that man's mouth was "May I ask how you are managing your weight?". This isn't an uncommon thing in the lives of obese and overweight people, we deal with this kind of thing on a daily basis in healthcare, then have strangers on the street telling us we are putting a strain on our healthcare system by being overweight... as a side note I will point out that it is not our weight that most often is wasting money or time for healthcare systems around the world, if Doctors were willing to listen openly and actively to our concerns as human beings maybe we wouldn't be wasting appointments constantly poking for new Doctors who understand out current, very personal circumstances. The following are tips and tricks that I have had to develop over the years to get the healthcare that I not only need but that I am entitled to as a human being. 

• Unless your appointment is weight related make it known that you will not be discussing your weight in the appointment - I don't know how many times I have had to do this. I've attended an appointment for dermatology or my chest infection and ended up being asked about my weight. Often times it can make you so angry you want to scream or hit someone but the most appropriate way to deal with that kind of question is simply say "that topic is not relevant to the matter at hand, I am here to discuss my original problem". It is as simple as that and you need not swear, shout or get upset. As long as you are confident in how you handle the doctor and remember that if it wasn't for people using their services they don't get paid, so make the most of your time at the Doctors office by only speaking about what you need to. 

• If your weight is brought up again, without you explicitly discussing or asking about it, leave - Again, unless the appointment was weight related, and you are asked about your weight repeatedly, leave. You have not wasted your time to be hounded by questions regarding your lifestyle which may not be directly related to the problem you are presenting with. I fully understand that weight does play a role in many other health complications but if you are aware  your problem is weight unrelated then leave. I had to do this with the situation with my chest infection, the matter was pushed by the Doctor so I left. I ended up making another appointment later in the week and specifically requesting another doctor who was much more objective. 

• Second opinion - This is a lead on from my last point. If your doctor is blatantly telling you that you health concern is weight related and you feel he or she may be incorrect then get yourself a second opinion and ask for an extended appointment to fully explain your concerns. Your health should be number one priority to all doctors but sometimes it isn't, often times doctors can be too focused on skin deep issues and associate everything with visible issues such as weight concerns. If you're not comfortable with your Doctor's decision, make an appointment at a later date and ask for a second opinion, it doesn't hurt and you might get a different or the same answer but at the least you have tried to ask. If it feels wrong keep asking, keep pushing for answers because you have been in your body all of your life and you know when something is wrong, a Doctor doesn't have that intimate knowledge of your body, this is especially true of those with genetic obesity problems as many doctors do not understand these conditions. 

• Make Leaflets - This is something that I have had to do for a long time and I know other parents and people with genetic obesity conditions have done also. I have created an information sheet and a leaflet outlining what genetic obesity condition I have, what it is, what it means for me and what medications I can and cannot take. I often find that doctors do not read my notes which puts a serious barrier between myself and and good quality healthcare as they often treat me as the average oversight individual which is absolutely not the case. If you have complex healthcare needs I would highly recommend making information sheets and leaflets that tell your doctor everything he or she needs to know, especially if you will be working closely together in terms of your health. Often I do this when I get a new Gynaecologist, dermatologist or GP because they simply do't know about my genetic condition. Make those Doctors read the leaflets, make them understand YOUR healthcare needs because after all YOU are the most important person in that room when you have an appointment. 

So those are my main tips for dealing with weight bias in healthcare on a day-to-day basis. Eventually you will find a doctor who truly understands you it just might take time. Often you have to wade through all of the rubbish to find some treasure. I hope you have found these helpful and I will leave you with some parting wisdom:

Doctors do not know everything! You have been in your body longer than most doctors have been practising, you know yourself and your body so trust your gut!

You are a human being who is entitled to care, good health and supportive healthcare professionals. You can always make a complaint if you feel you've been treated unfairly. 

Bringing a dictaphone to your appointments can be a godsend, especially for those with chronic illnesses or memory troubles, dictaphones are a lifesaver.

You never EVER have to accept the words of one single doctor. There are many more who are willing to give you a second opinion. 

If your problems are weight related you are entitled to ask for psychological support to manage your emotions during a difficult time, even if those psychological problems are caused by your weight. Being overweight or bees is a stress on your mental health too!

Bring someone else along with you, its a lot less scary if you have someone you know will support you next to you during any appointment. 

I hope this has helped you and I shall be back sometime soon, once I have more posts ready to go that is! :) 

Katy xx

5 Games for Nights In - Drinking or Not

image from Google

Hi everyone!

A few weeks ago me, my friends Annie, Aidan and Matt were all together at Annie and Aidan's house and we had a bit of a 'get together' type affair as all 4 of us aren't really together very often. Each time all four of us are together it's always a really good night in my opinion because I, personally, am definitely not the clubbing type, I'm not even a fan of going to pubs if I'm totally honest. So, for me good nights in with good people are top notch, I'm also not a big drinker really as I'm actually quite allergic to alcohol so when we do get together and there is drinking there's always some fun games to play that, usually, don't involve a whole load of drinking for me as I'm pretty good as games like these. I've managed to get together my top 5 favourite games to play for those people who drink and those who don't. 

1. Fuzzy Duck - This is a British word type game that can be played with 2 players but more players makes for a better game. One person from the circle of players is nominated to start, they begin by saying "Fuzzy Duck", going clockwise the next player will say either " Fuzzy Duck" or they will ask "Does He?". The circle then goes backwards anti-clockwise, with players saying "Ducky Fuzz" instead of "Fuzzy Duck". This carried on as players alternate what they are saying. This is a really fun game to start the night with whether you're drinking or not because it's just as easy to make a mistake with the pronunciation (if you catch my drift), the swearing from this game can become seriously funny if you individuals decide to take a shot whenever a mistake is made. 

2. Suck and Blow - Now this one isn't as bad as it sounds, I promise. For this game one individual gets a cars to their lips and sucks air in to keep the card to their lips, they then to to the player on their left and pass the car to the other players lips. The aim of the game is to keep the card going in a circle for as long as possible, if you're drinking take a drink whenever you drop the card. 

3. Roxanne - The Police recorded their song Roxanne in 1978 and decades later people are still playing it... as a drinking game too! This is a game that should only be played if you're drinking, if not it becomes very boring. Divide into two teams e.g. guys v. girls, stand opposite one another and put 'Roxanne' on loud. Team A: whenever you hear the word 'Roxanne' drink and whenever you hear 'Red Light' spin on the spot. Team B: Do the exact opposite, spin on 'Roxanne' and drink on 'Red Light'. Keep repeating this, the more times it's done the funnier it becomes watching people wobble. 

4. I Have Never - This is a drinking game classic, it's brilliant to get to know people and get to know the scandalous things they've gotten up to! One person in the circle says something they have never done e.g. "I have never ridden a motorcycle", those of the group that have ridden a motorcycle must drink. The game continues like that and is much more interesting if the statements get... well mischievous. 

5. Drive By - Drive By is one of my favourite games to watch as the end result can be highly amusing. This game was first suggested to me by Aidan Ford, take a single shot glass and fill (halfway) with a drink of your choice, the first person to finish 10 shots wins. This is one of the more... intense drinking games and although it's fun to watch it's essential that you don't drink too much. The last time myself and Aidan went head-to-head in this game Annie Filmed it on her camera whilst her and Matt laughed at us both, Aidan ended up being... ill. I believe firmly although he managed 6 shots I was the true winner and I sort of managed to keep my senses. 

All of the above games can be played with or without alcoholic drinks, however if you do choose to drink with any of these games I must stress the importance of drinking responsibly. Listen to your body and stop drinking before you feel you've had enough. Be sure to eat at regular intervals and DO NOT UNDER CIRCUMSTANCES drink and drive.  Always drink responsibly and be safe. 

Love Katherine. X

Update on New Years Resolutions!

Afternoon All!

It's been a month since Christmas Day and almost a month since I made my 2015 year years resolutions (see that post here) and I thought I'd do a quick update type overview of how I've been doing when it comes to sticking to my resolutions, I did mention that I would use my blog to hold myself accountable as to how I've been doing so that's just another reason to do this update/overview of the first month of my resolutions. 

• Eating/Cooking Better - My first resolution was to eat and cook healthier foods. I've made this resolution several times over the years and I've never stuck to it for more than a week or so but I'm pleased to say that I've been sticking to this resolution without much difficulty, I'm learning to cook healthier foods and I'm actually enjoying them too. I've learned several new recipes and my favourite is the Garlic and Honey Chicken (pictured right) which is very yummy.  At the moment I'm borrowing my Mam's and Grandma's cookbooks but I'm hoping to buy myself some nice cookbooks of my own sometime this week so I'll be able to make even more delicious things. Overall I'm pleased with how I'm sticking to this resolution so far, hopefully I'll keep going with it. 

• Exercise More - This one is the resolution I had the biggest apprehensions about, normally I would make resolutions like 'lose weight' or 'get down to a size...' and so on but I literally never stick to them at all. So this year I decided to change that to 'exercise more' not like go running everyday or walk 10 miles just little things like take the long way to my class in college, walk to work, park further from the college entrance and stuff. I'm extremely happy to say that I have been doing all those things and more! I've been doing simple things like that and I've also been walking for 20 minutes every other day and I even signed myself up to a Yoga class (I love Yoga) and I went last Wednesday and it was absolutely fab! I'm noticing a major difference in how I feel, I don't necessarily want to lose weight as I simply don't think size matters but I care about my health and I want to host my fitness levels a bit and it's definitely helping my health. For the past few years I've been overly stressed, not eating properly as I'd skip meals or grab unhealthy stuff before college/work for lunch and I'd go the quickest rough to get to wherever I needed to go just to save time. Thankfully between the healthier eating, Yoga and a few other changes I've made to my daily lifestyle I've been much less stressed, I feel better in my general health and I'm much happier. I'm so pleased I've managed to stick to this resolution this year and I'll definitely be keeping it up. 

• Leave My Comfort Zone - This is something I'm not very good at but I have made a major step this year in leaving my comfort zone as I am currently in the middle of creating a Demo CD to send to a vocal agency in a local town! I've always enjoyed singing and I thought this resolution would be a great way to get things started so I shall have to see how this goes and I will keep everyone updated in that front. :)

German notes :)

Image from Google

• Learn a New Language - I was most excited about this resolution as I've always wanted to learn a different language and for a while now I've wanted to learn German, so I bought myself the Mindsnacks Learn German app form the app store, I believe there's 50 lessons including numbers, colours, adjectives, grammar, months, days and lots more. So far I've managed to blast through 24 lessons and I'm really enjoying them, also I've recently found out about a 10 short night course that my college provides for only £85 which starts February 26th so if I can build up the money I will definitely be taking that opportunity!

So, I think my resolutions have been going pretty well so far and I hope that I can keep up with all of them, thanks for reading everyone!

Love Katherine. X

Garlic and Honey Chicken Pieces: Quick Lunch Recipie

Hi Everyone!

Today has been a pretty slow day to be honest, I woke up around 8:30 this morning and I've been on doing an assignment for college ever since so as you can all probably guess today's been packed full of fun. Anyway, I've been looking to post a few recipes on my blog but I haven't found any I really like enough to post until now. I am far from a good cook, in fact a personal goal is to learn to cook healthily as soon as I'm feeling better; today everyone is the house was out so I took the opportunity to test out a recipe I found in a book a few weeks ago - Honey and Garlic Chicken Pieces. Turns out it's delicious and I'll definitely be making it again. I'll put the ingredients and directions below if you fancy a go. 

Today I was making for my family so the portions/measurements were for several people. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
• 2 medium eggs
• 1 cup of sesame seeds
• 1 cup of breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup of honey
• 1/4 cup of soy sauce 
• 3 cloves of minced garlic
• Salt and Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Firstly, you're going to want to preheat your oven to around 370/375F and line a baking tray with parchment paper. 

Put the breadcrumbs into a medium sized bowl and mix in the sesame seeds, once you've done that put both eggs into a bowl and beat them, add salt and pepper to the beaten eggs to taste. 

Next, cut the chicken into strips or cubes of about 1 inch in size and put the chicken into the egg mixture, make sure each piece of chicken is coated thoroughly with the egg mixture. 

Next you'll need to place each piece of chicken into the bowl of seeds and breadcrumbs and coat generously, ensure the whole of the chicken piece is covered. Place the coated chicken pieces on the baking tray and place in the over for 20 to 25 minutes on a high heat. 

For the sauce:

Crush the cloves of garlic or mince them, add the minced garlic to the 1/4 cup of honey and 1/4 cup of soy sauce, add salt and pepper to taste. One that's all mixed together pour it into a saucepan and put that on the hob on a high heat. Leave it there stirring regularly until brought to a boil, once boiling turn down to a medium heat and leave to cook for a minute or two, stirring at regular intervals. 

Once that's done you're ready to plate up! You can either drizzle the sauce over the chicken pieces or you can have it as a dipping sauce, personally I prefer the dipping sauce but it's totally up to you.

I hope you enjoyed that recipe and let me know some of your favourite quick recipes.

Love Katherine. X

New Years Resolutions 2015!

So, it's finally arrived, the last day of 2014 and the anticipation of the forthcoming year (big words, I know right?)I thought I would post my resolutions. Anywho, I'm positive there'll be countless posts on this throughout the day on other people's blogs but I thought I would make my own little contribution to that; so here's my 2015 New Years Resolutions.

• Eat/Cook Better - I'm no different to the majority of people out there, I enjoy my food and I always eat more than I should at Christmas time but in 2015 I'd like to make an effort to eat at home more often rather than grabbing something from a shop or - eek- a takeaway when I'm too busy or running late. It's really important to eat as healthy as possible particularly as you get older and I haven't been the healthiest of individuals this year, well in the last 6th months at the very least. So, hopefully I'll learn to cook some healthy new recipes.

• Exercise More - This is really important to me as keeping health as I get older isn't just important for health it's becoming very clear that I'll have to have a significant amount of physical stamina if I'm to pursue the career I would like; midwifery. I'm not one of these people who sits idle most of the time, I exercise at home and I walk whenever I can rather than using my car however I'd just like to give my fitness level a little boost so I'm going to do about an extra 30 minutes of exercise per day and build up the time spent over a few months; I'm planning on holding myself accountable via this blog and posting about my fitness routines and plans in the very near future. 

• Find an Outlet for Stress - I'm a stress head. There's absolutely no denying it anymore. Stress gets to me far too easily and it's hard for me to wind down once I've reached that level of mania, this year I'm making a point to make sure I find an outlet for all of my stress to keep myself calm and relaxed rather than manic and uptight. I have a good few ideas of how to wind down after being so stressed, those being cross stitch, knitting, reading or writing. Hopefully I'll find something that suits me down to the ground. 

• Make Time for Blogging -  I adore blogging so as my fourth and final New Years Resolution I want to make it a priority to find time to post as often as absolutely possible, it may be difficult to post everyday for obvious reasons but I'd love to make time to post every second day and more often if I can. This blog is very important to me and I appreciate all those who read on a regular basis.

• Leave My Comfort Zone - This is pretty important to me, I've always been really shy and introvert but since starting college I've been much more confident. However, I still have difficulty leaving my comfort zone therefore I am going to work hard at leaving my comfort some whenever possible. Maybe through volunteering, travelling alone (I hate that) or even making a talent show audition. If I'm feeling really brave I may even try for X-Factor... unlikely but it's worth a try. 

• UPDATE: Learn a New Language: For about 10 years now I've wanted to learn a new language, literally any new language and when I was around 11 I discovered how much I love the German language and Irish Gaelic so I'm making it a priority to learn one of these two languages, I'll probably start with German as it seems much easier... if Imanage to learn two words in these languages I'll be happy. I may even move on to trying to perfect my English first haha!

So, there you have it. My new years resolutions have been made and I have to say it will be a miracle if i manage to stick to two of these, never mind four.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! Do you have any New Years Resolutions? Please let me know I'd love to hear from you.

Love Katherine. X