When I walked into the room, I immediately categorized everyone who was sitting and waiting for the lecture to start into two groups – bright young medical students and old people in pain. I could have been wrong since I myself was a young person in pain, but regardless, as I looked into the audience I thought, “My people! I’ve found my people! Let’s turn off the lights and moan together!”

I attended a free seminar last Wednesday at the IUPUI student center called “Myths and Facts of Pain: Is it all in your head?” that is part of the IU Mini Medical School 2009. I heard about the series on a local radio show, Sound Medicine, after they did a segment about chronic pain. The lecture was free, and I work downtown anyway, so I decided to stop by. Plus, they had free snacks! The caterers were even considerate and included a veggie tray along with the brownies and cookies, a true rarity in modern society.

The first speaker was Dr. Palmer MacKie, Assistant Professor of [...]

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My allergist says I am not allergic to food. As a former 372-pound woman, this comes as no shock. I wanted to be surprised and to discover an easy cure for my never-ending headache. I was hoping the doctor would say, “Just stop eating dairy products and you’ll have your life back!” Sadly, the 20 minutes I spent lying on my chest with a grid drawn on my back after being scratched fifty-something times with a variety of food samples only led to the obvious answer: the former fat girl is not allergic to food.

Though he has not cured me, I like my allergist very much. I was hesitant at first, sitting in his waiting room which looked like it had not been renovated since the early 80’s. I further psyched myself out as I waited in the examination room reading a chart with about 90 things I did not know you could be allergic to. Then the doctor walked in, an older man who has seen it all and is on the case and [...]

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When I respond to e-mails asking me for diet and exercise advice, I always note that I am not a doctor or a nutritionist. I have a friend in med school who is working her ass off for that official doctoral degree. (She’s doing it figuratively, not literally like me.) I’m not going to pretend I crammed the name of every bone into my brain like she has. I tell people to consult a doctor or nutritionist dietitian in addition to whatever advice I give, stating that I am just a girl who happened to lose a lot of weight.

But I wonder, does anyone really ask their doctor for weight-loss advice?

Many overweight people avoid going to the doctor because they don’t want to talk about their weight problems. They don’t want to see the number on the scale when they’re weighed. They don’t want to deal with it. But if you are ready to do something about a serious weight problem, do you turn to your primary health provider or do you turn to [...]

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