This is the story of a family with a history of obesity that had twins. Both struggled with obesity during their early life. One decided to become a preacher as his family wanted him to be and the other decided to join the military. The one that joined the military ended up in really good shape. The one that became a preacher ballooned to over 500 lbs and faced medical problems.
The family had the obese twin go to a doctor that told them what they wanted to hear; that becoming that fat wasn't their own fault and that africans are just predisposed to struggle with obesity and diabetes but that he could send them to clinics that he owned for profitable treatments that do not cure the underlying problems. He essentially made money off gullible people telling them what they wanted to hear instead of giving them the brutal honesty they needed to hear that they eat too much food and the wrong types of food at that.
https://journal.crossfit.com/article/genetic-cooper-2?sf115236007=1Quote
The man in the bed weighed 555 lb.
He was in his 30s, a black Southern Baptist preacher. His father was a preacher and his wife’s father was a preacher. Both families were morbidly obese and the kindest of people.
Collectively, they discussed how the one cardiologist who treated all members of both families had told them their Type 2 diabetes and obesity were genetic conditions common to the African-American community.
“Mr. Jason,” the man's aunt cried, “we have already had four of our family die this year. Why, Mr. Jason? Why? Why has God stricken us with this disease?”
The man came to be my patient on a weekend. They couldn’t fly him to me in a helicopter because he was too heavy. He barely fit into the EMS bus.
The man was experiencing lymphedema, a condition caused by blockage of the lymph nodes and common to Type 2 diabetics and the morbidly obese. The man's legs were so big with adipose tissue that his lymph nodes were blocked, causing massive swelling in both lower limbs. The man went to a lymphedema clinic his physician owned and ordered him to visit. There, he had his legs wrapped—a profitable treatment that does not cure. Wrapping the legs tightly squeezes the edema/swelling out and pushes the fluid into the lymphatic system to drain.
conversation with the family, they rejected the idea that the morbidly obese man had brought this upon himself citing their previous doctors statements
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Against policy, I broke protocol and asked a simple question: “Has anyone ever discussed how your family eats?”
The only sound in the room was the ventilator that was filling the patient's lungs.
“Mr. Jason,” the man's aunt began, “I don’t understand what you mean.”
“There is a link between what we eat and obesity, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. I can show you.”
“Mr. Jason, are you telling me that this is his fault?” she asked.
The moment she asked the question, I knew they couldn’t unhear what their physician, “Dr Heart,” had told them.
No. It’s your doctor's fault. Dr. Heart killed your nephew by wrapping his lymphedema legs and flooding his heart. Your doctor intentionally sought your family out as a target market and sent you all to his heart clinic, his lymphedema clinic and to this hospital. And he lied to you about your genetics. Your doctor is targeting the obese and selling a lie about genetics.
“No, ma’am. That is not what I am saying,” I responded.
“Our cardiologist said that our diabetes, our heart disease and our obesity are all genetic,” she asserted.
“How do you know? Did they test your genetics?” I asked.
“So as a nurse you know more than our doctor? You know more about obesity than our cardiologist?”
And with that, she asked me to leave the room.
“Yes ma'am, I do know more than these physicians about food and its role in chronic disease," I said, and I walked out.
The fit brother returns to see his morbidly obese twin before he passes away and it turns out the family ostracized him for trying to show his brother how to lose weight because their feelings were hurt. The idea that every morbidly obese person in their family had become morbidly obese through their own actions was extremely offensive and they hadn't seen him in 6 years for making such outrageous statements. Naturally the obese twin died from his medical conditions.
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“I need a minute. My family has not seen me in six years,” he said, staring through the glass door from afar.
“What happened with you and your brother?” I asked. “With the exception of your brother’s obesity, you look exactly the same.”
“The Marine Corps happened. I told my family that I wanted to live a life of service, and they told me to be a preacher. I didn’t feel that my calling was in the church. I told them I wanted to be a Marine. No one in my family has ever been in the military. Ever. And against my family's wishes, I went to Parris Island just after my 18th birthday. I was an obese, scared kid, and when I returned home from boot camp, I was a confident athlete. I lost 45 pounds in boot camp alone,” Brandon said to me.
“I was so excited to tell my brother about my experiences in boot camp. I wanted to show him how to lose the weight. And when I did, it caused a rift in my family. They said that our disease is genetic. They said that it’s not their fault and that Dr. Heart knew more than I did about obesity,” Brandon said.
I nodded in agreement, having just heard the same statement from his aunt.
“So I left home for good that Christmas. I never looked back. I requested to try out for the teams. When I made it through Force Recon, I knew there was nothing I could not do. I knew everything I thought growing up was a lie. I called my brother and told him that. And he stopped communicating with me after that. The years went by and we lost touch.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, sir. I’m so very sorry.”
And now one twin is dead because of a society that coddles fat people telling them what they want to hear instead of giving them the brutal honesty they need to hear in order to become healthier. Worse yet there are sick fucks like the doctor mentioned in the article who knew better yet took advantage of these people telling them what they want to hear, prescribing ridiculously expensive treatments for his own personal profit.
This post was edited by duffman316 on Sep 20 2017 10:48am