Deborah, a wife and mother of two, had an appointment with Dr. Mader and then one immediately following with Dr. Scheel.
Most people would dread two appointments, but that wasn’t the case with Deborah. This Healthy Me! Program participant welcomed the advice from the dentist and her physician. The appointments were her second step to becoming a healthier person.
Dr. Mader and his staff worked with Deborah to get several x-rays of her mouth and pictures of her smile. Lacking dental insurance has been a struggle for Deborah, who has continued to care for her dental needs by seeing dental students at Indiana University in South Bend. Following her appointment and consultation with Dr. Mader, it was a straight shot down Highway 23 to see Dr. Scheel, a physician with Family Medicine of South Bend, P.C.
After the nurse obtained her vital signs, Deborah and Dr. Scheel spoke about what she hopes to gain from the Healthy Me! Program. As Deborah had stated in her Healthy Me! Program essay, “All I want in life is to be healthy and happy, of which I am neither. My obesity plagues me and burdens my enthusiasm for life.”
Dr. Scheel noted that probably Deborah’s biggest problem is the extra weight she carries, which could at some point lead to Type II Diabetes.
He encouraged her to get on the scale every day. Although some physicians may not recommend this process, he believes it will help her to be accountable. His advice was not to worry about the day to day variability because that could change depending on salt intake and menstrual cycle, but to weigh at the same time of the day in the same outfit. By writing down her weight each day, she will be able to notice trends from week to week and changes from month to month.
Dr. Scheel also talked with Deborah about the importance of exercise. He wanted her to commit to exercise for a month, because as he stated, “you can do anything for a month!” Take it a month at a time, after this month commit to another month after that month commit to two months and before you know it, “you’ll feel better, if you are making dietary changes, you’ll lose weight, you’ll be toning you muscles and replacing fat with muscle, and at the end of 90 days you will notice changes.”
Deborah’s personal goal for weight loss is to lose 10 pounds a month, but Dr. Scheel cautioned her that her goal may be a bit ambitious and perhaps not realistic for the long term. Instead, that may be a realistic goal for the first month, but he hopes to see her lose approximately 2-4 pounds per month with diet and exercise.
The next step for Deborah is lab work at The Medical Foundation. She currently doesn’t have any medical issues other than allergies and isn’t taking any medications.
No comments:
Post a Comment