This story has been percolating for a while... now it's time to get it out there. Even ragazz' hasn't heard this one yet.

I have this thing about wanting female doctors. Ever since I was old enough to pick them for myself, I've seen female docs.. dentists, dermatologists, gynos, general practice, orthos, all of 'em. Oh, I'm sure there are good male docs out there, but given the choice, I'll take the lady, thanks.

Except about a month ago, I wasn't given the choice. I had to see an orthopedic surgeon, so my stupid cracked kneecap could get looked at, and the only doc available was a man from Hong Kong. But, I thought, "How bad could it be?"

Yeah. Hence, this story.

He breezed into the room, x-ray in hand. He looked at me and said "Did you hurt your knee because you're fat?" He had a really heavy accent.
I said, "Excuse me?" I thought I heard him incorrectly.
"Did you hurt your knee because you're overweight. You're fat, you know."
I said, "No, I hurt my knee when I tripped on an uneven sidewalk."
"Oh, because when I look at this x-ray, I don't know if your knee is hurt because you are overweight and you should exercise."
I said, slowly and carefully, "No. I tripped and fell directly onto my knee, which my other doctor said may have caused a hairline fracture. Do I have a hairline fracture or not?"
"Yes, you have a small crack. But you really need to lose some weight."

I know I'm not the same size that I was in high school. But I also know that a) I'm not gigantic (I'm fairly certain that ragazz' could pick me up if he had to...heh); and b) tamoxifan AND bupropian both cause weight gain. But taking both meds was an easy decision to make. Fat or cancer? Fat (and happy) or depressed? Yep. I'll take the fat. Besides... I like to think of it as squishy. *smile*

I stood up, and walked over to him. I got right in his face and said (again, slowly and carefully), "Did you know that my BP is 89/60, my HDL is 70, my LDL is 90, and my triglycerides are 120? Did you know that I'm on two long term maintenance drugs for other conditions, both of which have weight gain as a known side effect?"

And then I just stood there and stared and stared at him... I stared at him for about 10 seconds too long, which is something that my crazy mother taught me. Heh. It's quite effective. He looked like he wanted to either sink into the floor or cry. Chele: 1, Mean Doctor: 0.

He stammered, "No. Of course I didn't know that."

I said, "Well then. Now that we understand each other, let's just move on from here."

He was only in the room for about a minute after that. He told me to rest the knee for a couple of days, then start exercising it, and that because I had the meniscus mostly cut away after another injury, I have pretty bad arthritis in that knee (duh.) Then he pretty much ran out the door.

I sent an email to the clinic manager the next day, and I got a phone call about 10 minutes later. She was falling all over herself apologizing. I explained that it wasn't her fault, and that, really, Dr. ThinksImFat should be the one apologizing to me. I've yet to hear from him, of course.

So - note to self. Yeah, SOME male docs are good, but really, just stick with the ladies.