Woman has 140-pound tumor removed

[BridgeTheGap]

Oregon mom was told for years she had to lose weight, but she couldn’t

REDMOND, Ore. - Throughout her life, Linda Rittenbach has struggled with her weight.

“You get bigger and bigger and bigger,” said Rittenbach, who has two grown children. “And then you go to your doctor and they tell you, ‘You need to lose weight — you’re fat!’”

Rittenbach had tried every diet, every workout, but the pounds wouldn’t go away. Doctors suggested weight loss surgery.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25680599/wid/11915773?GT1=43001

[groovedaddy]

1. There are two 140+ pound tumors I'd like to see removed from the White House!!! n.t

[AllegroRondo]

2. Mine was called a divorce

[BridgeTheGap]

28. They usually take that one out through the wallet!!! n.t

[Blue-Jay]

3. Did she get a divorce?

(only read the title, natch)

[NewJeffCT]

4. damn, that's like 40 pounds more than my wife's total weight

when she is soaking wet

[Kutjara]

24. Hell, it's only fifteen pounds less than my weight...

...and I'm 6'1". That's one enormous growth!

[groovedaddy]

5. How does a 140 pound tumor get missed by ANY physician? Nuts! n.t

[spinbaby]

6. Because when you're fat,

the answer to everything is "lose weight."

[groovedaddy]

7. A rather obese woman once told me that she was pregnant and didn't know it

until she was in labor! I guess she just that the movement in there was just gas or something.

[ghostsofgiants]

10. Wouldn't she notice that she wasn't menstruating?

Or does obesity mess with that stuff?

[lizerdbits]

12. Yes, often testosterone levels will increase with weight in women

I have PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) and I have been informed for the last 10 years that all my hormones will magically be normal if I lose weight. Too bad diet and exercise don't seem to do much for that. That's the standard treatment for abnormal periods- tell her she's a lying fatass and laugh in her face when she says she works out and doesn't eat much junk food.

ETA: And I'm not even obese, the weight tables say I'm 25 lbs overweight and assumes I don't lift quite a bit of weights.

[LeftyMom]

22. I don't get that, but the solution to my every medical ill seems to be that I must be pregnant.

I patiently explain that there's absolutely zero chance of that, but apparently I can't be trusted to keep track of when I last had sex, because they smile, nod and test my pee anyhow. Not to prescribe meds that make flipper babies or anything, I could understand that, just while I'm in for routine stuff like urinary tract infections.

I'm a pretty informed patient, but it's hard to find a doctor who realizes and respects that I generally have a good idea of what's up with my body.

[madeline_con]

20. And missing her monthlies?

I wonder what those women attribute that to.

[auntAgonist]

8. bingo!!!!

I saw a Dr when I had problems with my elbow. First question out of his mouth was "how much do you weigh? Have you tried to lose weight in the past?"

yup, my being fat was hurting my elbow. :shrug:


aA

[China_cat]

25. At one point I HAD a doctor

who blamed every symptom you might have on smoking. Unless you didn't smoke...then it was because you were fat. If you didn't smoke and were skinny, then you needed a psychiatrist.

Unless you were male. Then you were sick and he'd move heaven and earth to find out what was wrong.

I dropped him very fast but I see he's still practicing in this area.

[MorningGlow]

11. Seriously

About 10 years ago, when I was in my early 30s I started gaining weight like crazy even though I was dieting and exercising. Nothing stopped my ballooning size. I went to doctors, ob/gyns (my period stopped), a nutritionist, you name it. They all thought I was lying about my lifestyle (namely that I was secretly eating a pint of Ben & Jerry's every night or something) and just told me to lose weight. I informed one doctor that I was working out four days a week, and he said I had to do more. "I want to see you working out seven days a week, then." Damn, had he never heard of the fact that you're supposed to let your body rest from your exercise routine a couple of days a week? Even I knew that!

It turned out I had a thyroid problem. Two of my friends who had endocrine problems recognized the symptoms right away. But the doctors were blinded by the fact that I was young, female, and overweight (therefore it was my own damned fault), and it took me two years to get diagnosed (and during that time I packed on 50 lbs). Luckily a homeopathic m.d. also recognized my symptoms, or I doubt I'd be here today. And I mean that.

[BridgeTheGap]

14. It's some times very difficult to get good medical advice or an

accurate diagnosis. It's a real crap shoot out there!

[Blue Diadem]

9. A 140 lb cancerous tumor growing for 15-20 yrs and not one Dr.

could bother to run more tests because she was heavy. These stories make me really angry. I'm just glad the tumor didn't kill her.

[Spacemom]

13. Doctors don't listen to middle aged, overweight women

Period.

My mom was overweight and in her early 50s. She began LOSING weight left and right. She was vomiting all the time, having extreme stomach pain and couldn't stop the weight loss. She was going to the doctor every other month and telling them her symptoms and all they kept doing was patting her on the back and telling her what a wonderful job she was doing losing all that weight. And the pain was probably all in her head because you know she's in her early 50s and going through "the change." :sarcasm: Never mind that they knew she went through early menopause and hadn't had a period in 10 years.

She finally ended up in the hospital and was diagnosed with stage 3C ovarian cancer. They said it probably started growing about a year previously. Funny, that was just about the time she started getting sick and going to the doctor.

If they had only listened, she'd probably still be here.


I'm glad someone finally listened and this woman got treatment.

[GreenPartyVoter]

18. I am so sorry that happened. *hugs* My MIL was wrongly diagnosed with Shingles and then when

they finally started looking around for other possibilities the tests they did didn't center on the right area. In the end she died, in a coma, from pancreatic cancer with a tumor the size of a lemon that was growing into three organs.

My mother was given a clean bill of health and permission to teach aerobics classes just 3 weeks before she dropped dead of a massive heart attack. Between women not knowing heart attack symptoms, not wanting to be a bother to doctors, and the medical establishment assuming that a low blood pressure and reasonable cholesterol, she didn't have much of a chance. :(

[groovedaddy]

23. That's horrible! This country really needs a healthcare overhaul! n.t

[Connonym]

33. not just women

My dad had a 3-pack a day history of smoking for over 20 years. At around 68 he started losing a ton of weight and started sleeping a lot. The doctor told him he needed a psychiatrist. Finally days before his 70th birthday he died of lung cancer that had metastasized to his liver -- according to the oncologist, based on the size of the tumor in his liver it had to have been there for years. Of course it was too late to operate when they finally diagnosed it. He was dead within 8 weeks of diagnosis. I still get so angry when I think that he got told to go to a psychiatrist. How does a doctor NOT look for cancer in a former heavy smoker who is wasting away? Idiots.

[undeterred]

15. Her doctors are idiots.

[libodem]

16. I knew a woman

who had a huge tumor in her uterus. Damn I wish I could remember how much it weighed now. I'm sure it was no 140 lb tumor but something like 38 lbs. She was short and stocky. She had problems with her 'cycle' and started bleeding in a Shop-ko. She said she filled her shoes with blood and was trying to wipe it up as she left the store. She looked very different after the hysterectomy. Much, slimmer. She had no insurance so she kept putting off doing any thing about her symptoms. Our 2 hospitals around here are supposed to be 'non-profit' and so they are not taxed because they assist the people who can't pay. What it came down to was they wanted to put a lien on her home so that if she ever sold it they would get their umpteen thousand dollars. She went with the $100.00 a month payment for life, instead. Hard working lady!

[NewEnglandGirl]

17. This is what we get

having doctors afraid of the insurance companies and insurance companies dictating medical advice. It is so sick, people probably die everyday because of it. :grr:

[BridgeTheGap]

19. WE NEED A SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE SYSTEM!

It needs to be a right and not a privelege.

[ThomCat]

31. We need more than that. We need doctors who aren't sexist

assholes. We need doctors who don't treat women less seriously than men. We need doctors who actually listen to complaints from women, run tests, and make an effort to find out why they're really having symptoms.

I've watched two women I love get shitting medical care while I got wonderful care. One is my aunt, an elderly white women. One is Tracey, one of my dearest friends who is a black woman my age. Both of them were repeatedly told that their pain was all in their heads. Both were told to see psychiatrists.

My aunt was finally diagnosed with MS after 5 YEARS of complaining about the pain and obvious symptoms. Tracey survived the world trade center on 9/11 with serious injuries and was finally diagnosed with head and spinal injuries. Meanwhile, I'm a white middle class man, and doctors listened to me.

I want to choke the doctors that refused to listen to them and give them real medical care. x(

[Orsino]

21. Impeachment was off the table. n/t

[groovedaddy]

27. ??? n.t

[Eurobabe]

26. Jesus, that was ME!

Well almost.

Sounds more like one of the Bush twins?

[Fleshdancer]

29. Holy dear goddess. That poor woman!

:wow:

I'm so glad she survived the surgery and is healing properly. I can't begin to imagine everything she has had to go through.

[Withywindle]

30. DAMN!

I've never weighed that much in my life! She had, like, me +15 removed.

[ThomCat]

32. If this woman isn't suing the living crap out of those doctors

who didn't bother to run basic tests then they are far luckier than they have any right to be. x(

They should be losing their medical licenses for giving her stereotypical platitudes instead of professional healthcare, and then they should be paying for her all those years of pain and suffering and for the high risk of the much-delayed surgery.

That lost kidney is their fault. And if she died, they would have been guilty of murder as far as I'm concerned.

[Common Sense Party]

34. What, did Katie finally get rid of Tom Cruise?

[CreekDog]

35. here's a photo (warning: not for the squeamish)

[BridgeTheGap]

36. It's too early in the morning for this shit...but I can't say I wasn't warned! n.t