ER fat with back pain This one’s for @Miaiam who requested more medical stories. Non-trigger warning: this story is pretty boring compared to a lot of the stuff that’s on here. Nothing outrageous happens; it’s just an example of the common, everyday bullshit we see from fat people. To me, that’s where the real horror lies.  A lady comes into the ER stating “back pain” as her chief complaint. Sure, not a problem, this certainly must be something you come to the ER for /s. Check her history before I go in. My name is on one of the reports, but I don’t remember her at all. But what I read is almost reminiscent of a Stephen King story. She’s what we call a “frequent flier.” She treats the ER like a private doctor’s office by coming in for every little thing. Long history, nothing stands out except the fact that she’s a type II diabetic. Not uncommon for the South. I come across a report stating that she came to the ER for necrosis of her great toe. This is followed by a surgical report of amputation of said toe. I would like to think that this would have been her wakeup call, but we all know it wasn’t. A later report states necrosis of the 4th and 5th digits of the same foot. Surgical report states amputation of those digits. Comes in again for necrosis of the last two toes of that foot, and this time they take the whole foot. She has slowly watched herself being chopped away, but she has yet to receive her wakeup call.  So she’s back again. I go in and she’s laid back in the bed, watching TV. The first thing I noticed was that both legs were swollen and discolored with a scaly appearance, but she’s not here for that. Her back hurts. I ask her about her legs but she says they're fine. No complaints. They're "just bruised" is what she tells me, which is very helpful because I often forget that I just fell off the turnip truck yesterday. She’ll return eventually, but today it’s her lower back. She gives me the spiel about how it just started hurting out of nowhere, so I send her to xray for a few images. Radiologist’s report comes back and she has mild spondylosis with some facet degeneration: basically what could be considered normal wear-and-tear on a back for someone her age, and certainly for someone out of shape at her age. There’s no real cure for this. There’s no pill or surgery. Sometimes someone can be approved for a regular steroid shot to help with inflammation, but I wouldn’t recommend it for someone in her condition. There really is nothing that can be done except to LOSE THE GODDAMN WEIGHT.  I go and explain to her what’s going on with her back. There isn’t really anything that can be done, but if she would like relief then she could find some exercises she can do to strengthen her back muscles, but the absolute best thing she can do is lose some weight so that there’s less pressure on her spine. At this point, it won’t make the problem go away but it will make things more bearable. “I know, I know. I’ve been working on it a long time. But I hurt so bad RIGHT NOW. Can’t you just give me something RIGHT NOW, I hurt so bad.” And that’s when I see it. That hollow look of desperation coupled with the “Woe is me, please pity me” attitude. Somewhere along the line this thing discovered the joy of prescription painkillers. “Sure. I can write you up a prescription for some ibuprofen. You can get it filled in our pharmacy on your discharge, and once you run out you can use regular over-the-counter stuff; it’s the exact same as what I’m prescribing you.” A dumbfounded expression came over her face. She was so sure she was going to get the good stuff and I just shot that down. Before she has a chance to argue, I simply tell her “I hope you feel better” and walk out.  In my perfect world this lady would realize she has an addiction. Not just a pill addiction, but a food addiction. One addiction gets her high while the other one chops her up into smaller pieces. And in my perfect world she’d fix these addictions. And then we’d all ride unicorns that shit rainbows. In the real world I’m wondering if she’ll even live long enough for more amputations. That’s something to look forward too, right?