Ed Levine's Serious Diet, Week 56: Doctors Tell the Truth, Don't They?
"Did I really just hear a cardiologist, the butt of too many jokes on Serious Eats, tell me that I was skinny?"
In the last couple of weeks, I've been spending too much time in the company of doctors. Last Wednesday, the day before I left for Miami, I saw my regular doctor, my referrer in HMO parlance, to see whether he could tell me what was causing the tightness on the right side of my chest (the side across from my heart). He couldn't find anything, and he didn't even notice I had lost weight. Doctors you see regularly are supposed to notice such things, aren't they?
I went down to Miami to see if eating a mess of burgers and barbecue would cure what ails me, but for some reason burgers from Bobby Flay, Rachael Ray, and Spike Mendelsohn didn't chase away the tightness in my chest.
So when I returned to New York, my doctor, the one who hadn't noticed there was less of me to examine, sent me to a get a stress test. I'd never had one before. A technician attached all these wires to my chest before putting me on a treadmill. After I had been running for a few minutes a cardiologist came into the room. He examined the lines on the graph that the electrodes were producing as he made small talk—small talk that turned out to loom very large.
"So what do you do?," he asked as he told the technician to make the treadmill go faster. "I'm a food writer and blogger," I said as I started to breath harder. As soon as I told him what I did, I felt sure I was going to get a lecture on what I should and shouldn't be eating. Was I going to level with him and mention that I had had bites of many, many bacon cheeseburgers just a few days before finding myself in his office getting a stress test?
Before I could confess he uttered a few words that I never thought I would hear: "You're pretty skinny for a food writer, aren't you?"
Holy shit. Did I really just hear a cardiologist, the butt of too many jokes on Serious Eats, tell me that I was skinny? I believe I did. I'm going to dine out on that remark for years, and I won't ever gain a pound.
After a few more minutes on the treadmill the cardiologist had me get off. He looked at all the data my heart had produced. "I don't know what's wrong with you, but I can tell you it has nothing to do with your heart."
I was happy when he said that, but as any person who struggles with his or her weight will tell you, I was even happier, I would say ecstatic, about his "skinny" remark.
No doctor had ever said anything like that to me before, and boy did it make me feel good.
The Weigh-in
Of course, nothing makes me feel better than getting on Thinner to see how he's going to treat me after a weekend eating burgers and barbecue in Miami. The cardiologist may have called me skinny, but Thinner never has. I have been pretty good all week since I got back on Sunday, but we'll see where we are at this moment.
228. Up a pound from last week, but last week was one of those really good weeks, Thinner-wise. Even gaining a pound, I think it's been a pretty good week, because I gained even more self-esteem. Thanks, Doc, wherever you are. You have a most excellent treadmill-side manner. And we will stop with the cardiologist jokes on Serious Eats.
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9 Comments:
Ed, I hate to rain on your parade, but I feel compelled to tell you that it's possible to have a negative stress test with significant coronary artery disease. It happened to both Bill Clinton and my husband - within weeks of each other - in 2004.
"Clinton passed a stress test at a recent physical designed to detect heart problems, McAuliffe said. An angiogram, which might have revealed the blockage earlier, would not ordinarily be performed, even in a presidential checkup, without symptoms suggesting it was warranted, heart experts said." full article here
My husband experienced two episodes of minor chest tightness one day while lifting a PC. His boss, who had once suffered a heart attack, insisted he go to the emergency room, where his stress test results were "normal". They sent him home with a recommendation to follow up with a cardiologist. Had this cardiologist not recommended an angiogram based on his high cholesterol and family history, my husband would almost certainly have had a heart attack. Instead, he had quadruple bypass surgery at age 55.
I don't know your health history but you might want to follow up with a cardiologist. I'm just saying.
overw8 at 9:51AM on 02/27/09
I was about to make some kind of "cute" comment, but the sobering first comment changed my mind. That's good advice--but only if you're still feeling the tightness in your chest. In any event, call your referring Dr. and see what he says.
I love your depiction of the "treadmill-side" manner of the stress test doctor! Your weigh-ins are always interesting reading, and I appreciate your willingness to share with the Serious Eats family.
Teachertalk at 10:02AM on 02/27/09
@overw8,thanks for the suggestion. I am still monitoring the situation carefully. Thankfully I have very low cholesterol. @teachertalk, cute comments are allowed on this post.
Ed Levine at 10:08AM on 02/27/09
Ed, I'm not a doctor, but if it is on your right side, heck, if it is on your left side, there are many, many other causes of chest pain and tightness than heart problems. I agree, get it checked out, but it's also possible to pull a chest muscle, have indigestion, strain a rib (even without trauma) and so forth.
I'm delighted to hear about what your doctor said--sometimes it's hard to see yourself until someone who hasn't seen you in awhile gives you validation.
HeartofGlass at 10:39AM on 02/27/09
Are you doing much yoga? It's great for stress. Great for your joints. Good for all kinds of tightness. It can't hurt.
And I've gotta say... the transformation of Arthur Boorman video that's running around on the web right now is one of the most inspiring things I've ever seen.
missginsu at 12:57PM on 02/27/09
My stress test was negative (as were the ekg and the weird scan they did with the radioactive fluid), but my doctor put me on an aspirin regimen anyway and my chest pains have gone away completely. Perhaps the aspirin are just a placebo (what can 81 mg do anyway?) but it's working for me...
gingercookiewithlime at 6:52PM on 02/27/09
maybe it's a gas problem ed, not to be indelicate, but gas can do that to you..... maybe it was bobby flay's burger!!!!
if the doc called you skinny, then skinny you are!
pooch at 11:49PM on 02/27/09
Congratulations on the skinny comment!!!!!!!!! And someone else mentioned this, but seriously, have u tried a gentle yoga class where they focus on breathing....and a couple of child's poses and up cats, and triangle poses...yoga isn't about the poses it is about the breathing and that might help with your chest issues......
Jbout at 10:11AM on 02/28/09
Congrats on such a stellar compliment! You totally deserve it.
Christina at 3:00PM on 03/01/09