I have had bad knees for a long time, and I am well aware that my weight is not conducive to relieving said pain. Things got really bad for me when I had to have emergency surgery to remove an infection that had been building up. I had to stay in the hospital for a month to get the infection under control, and I was not visited by the physical therapy team except for 3 times in a month, and for a total of less than 20 minutes. I had a month of physical therapy 5 days a week, and they did a great job, but my dilapidated muscles just couldn't support me without a walker. It was so painful that I barely ate, and was physically ill from the pain even if I didn't eat. It two months to finally get into a pain clinic, and then I met with a doctor who really shouldn't have a license. First appointment he did prescribe pain meds, and also gave me appetite suppressants and a referral to a bariatric clinic, even after I told him that I have an eating disorder. I'm a binge eater, and I've been working hard with a therapist who specializes in that arena. With this recovery, I don't have the appetite to binge, I barely eat as it is. I emailed her and she told me she was unequivocally against either the suppressants or the bariatric clinic. So I go back in, and when the conversation came around to the pills, I told him that on the advice of my therapist, who specializes in eating disorders, didn't think it was appropriate for my treatment. Then I told him that I'm barely eating right now, so a suppressant doesn't make a lot of sense. Now here comes the crazy part... He looks at me for a second and says "You don't look like you're starving. You can take the pills and drink water for 2-3 weeks without eating and you'll be fine". I was flabbergasted. I know that not eating sends the body into starvation mode, and when it finally gets nourishment, it stores it as fat. I told him that, and he told me not to worry about it, I had plenty of fat to feed my body. Then to add the final touch of shame, I told him I'd lost 60lbs in 3.5 months because of this, and he asked my current weight. I told him and he said there is no way I'm that light, how did I know my weight? I was so shocked that I did my urine test and walked out to my car and called my bestie. I started crying, and for the next hour and a half I couldn't stop. Then I got pissed, and I decided that I'm not going to let an ignorant doctor undo all the work I've been doing (my regular therapist was helping me on the phone). So I would rather live in pain than go to a doctor who counsels someone with an eating disorder to starve herself using appetite suppressants in order to lose weight for a knee replacement. I also left less than stellar reviews so that others don't fall into his false narrative either. Thanks for the read. #iamworthy #stopweightshame #quackquackdoc