I'm not talking about people that are just "overweight." I'm talking about 400-500 pounds or more. I do take issue when patients are so large that we have to haul them and an empty bed out to the hospital loading dock to put them on a freight scale---> haul the patient in bed on to the scale (685 lbs)... roll them off the scale... roll the empty bed (+ sheets!) on to the scale (175 lbs.)... substract the two, and gigantor weighs 510 lbs.
That's a bit too much. Show me a person that large and I'll show you a patient that's in the Emergency Room for either "shortness of breath" or (my favorite) "abdominal pain."
Trouble is, there's not much we can do for these people. Medical equipment is NOT designed to treat human beings this large. CT scanner weight limits top out around 400-450 lbs. Plus, the diameter of that 'donut hole' is finite.
I had a patient once that weighed 760 lbs... at least that's what the freight scale had him at the last time he was admitted about a month before I saw him. Chief complaint? Yup, "shortness of breath," what else? He was 29 years old, and his father could NOT understand why he was so short of breath?!?!? I finally explained to him that if he laid down on the ground and had 2 people stand on his chest, he might have a better understanding. He never got it. He also didn't make the connection (and the patient didn't either) that part (all) of the reason that he was so short of breath was due to the fact that he sold his home oxygen equipment the week before for some quick cash...
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