By HamSandwich12 - 08/05/2013 14:17 - United States - Cleveland

Today, I was leaving my doctor's appointment when a nurse stopped me. She exclaimed, "Wow you are so skinny! What's your secret?" My secret? Having an autoimmune disease. FML
I agree, your life sucks 54 812
You deserved it 3 378

HamSandwich12 tells us more.

HamSandwich12 14

I think I need to gain about 5 more pounds to look "healthy". I'm not even 100 pounds. It's impossible for me to gain weight with this disease!

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Top comments

twilightriforce 10

Well at least she was throwing you a compliment. Her Not knowing your situation is unfortunate but don't let it get you down. Live life to its fullest OP. :)

285 8
maz95 17

I'm sorry OP, that must've hurt to be reminded of it even though the woman meant well. I know how it is to be told that you're too skinny, it's just as damaging as being called fat. You must look pretty good to be called out for it though! :)

147 6

Comments

Sputnikspak 13

I have an autoimmune disease. *Daps* The steroids I have to take for it make me fat, though. Stupid steroids. I eat well and exercise and I still gained 40lbs the first month I was on them. Oh well. At least I have big boobs.

13 14
HamSandwich12 14

Well that's certainly a plus! My condition took what boobs I had... but they're slowly but surely coming back : )

2 1
Himynameislauren 1

"I lost like 27 pounds!" "Oh. My. God. WHAT is your secret?!" "...I had my arms ripped off..."

20 8
r0cks0 6

As a nurse myself, I can't imagine walking up to a patient like that. Very unprofessional. Body image is a major concern with all patients. Many diseases cause weight issues.

19 1
Ceejay1 13

That nurse is a idiot ,so stupid. Sorry that happened to ,she must be new in the field.

7 4
barfcannon 24

Once I got super sick and lost 30 pounds, when everyone saw me again they told me how good I looked. it's kind of horrifying how people thought I looked better while I was obviously unhealthy. Society's rules I guess.

8 2
Zebediabolical 39

If you're 40 pounds overweight and get sick and lose 30 pounds, you will probably have a better body shape than you did 30 pounds ago. So I can see why they'd say that. Now if you were normal weight and lost 30 lbs and ended up 30lbs underweight, that's a different story.

6 2
Izabushel 65

Similar thing happened to me. I have Crohn's and Entropathic arthritis. Lost a lot of weight quickly and people complemented me on my weight loss. I just said thanks, too hard to explain that it would be better if I had tried to lose the weight myself rather than my body destroying itself. I would rather be over weight than being in so much pain, screaming on the toilet. Then having to have a blood transfusion because I have lost so much blood. You have no energy, can't do anything, can't go anywhere, feel dizzy when you stand up, hair falling out. I would much rather have been the weight I was before. I also hated when people would say "You can't have arthritis, you are to young". I was 24 when my arthritis was first diagnosed, and there young children who have juvenile arthritis. So it's just ignorance to say that someone is to young.

3 1
HamSandwich12 14

So sorry to hear that!! Poor thing. I was diagnosed at 24 as well, but I have Graves' Disease (a thyroid condition). My symptoms were a nightmare. I had NO energy. I was dealing with this while taking PhD classes and working a full-time job. It's so stressful. I hope that you're able to live a long, healthy, happy life! Best of luck to you!!

1 1
Coeliacchic93 21

One thing I must say I've noticed OP in your replies you seem (apologies for saying it) 'positive' (personally when people say how positive I can be it can get to me because I have many days where I just want to disappear and I guess sometimes my positivity can be put on for other people) Anyways I digress, I just wanted to your an inspiration for someone like me who so far has one autoimmune disease but is waiting for lots more tests as I'm still very very ill. So I wanted to say thank you and I hope everything does get a bit easier for you :)

0 1
longtimesunshine 4

well funny people can openly question someone's small size but careful not to mention heaviness - both can be a result of illness and hurt equally as much when pointed out.

4 2
bfcc25 5

God damnit stop being such an over sensitive whiny bitch and take the damn compliment. You are what is wrong with America

0 1
edgarallanwoe 8

I have an autoimmune disease too, but unfortunately mine makes me gain weight. Neither are healthy, but people judge less when you're underweight :/ good luck op

4 1
SMHsohard 22

To #25 and #37: if you had bothered to look at my profile you would have seen that I am a nurse. As a nurse, you have to learn when to keep your mouth shut. Most people don't go to the doctor's office to read the wonderfully up to date magazines in the waiting room; generally they have something wrong. Obviously this nurse didn't know the OP, or she wouldn't have said what she did. As it is, she came off sounding insensitive and a bit dim.

4 0
fleur_de_fevrier_fml 22

That's a pretty dumb nurse, clearly the people she is dealing with have health issues and it's very likely that their body shape will be linked to it. What a moron.

1 0
tj4234 35

not necessarily. Not all health issues affect the shape of the body. It's also very likely that this nurse did not know why OP was there. If confidentiality were being followed only O.P's doctor, and possibly a nurse helping them, would have known.

0 2