Why we should always listen to doctors and medical professionals? Health update + a fashion illustration of the day/ Zašto trebamo uvijek slušati doktore i medicinsko osoblje? Zdravlje + modna ilustracija dana

MY FIRST CHRON OPERATION AND MY WEIGHT GAIN AFTER THE OPERATION:

MOJA PRVA OPERACIJA KRONA I DOBITAK KILOGRAMA NAKON OPERACIJE:

I have had my first Chron operation about a month and half ago. Prior to that (this Summer and Autumn to be more precise), I struggled with weight loss and high fever that lasted for months, as well as other symptoms of Chron disease. Recently, I was able to gain some weight back (4 pounds) and naturally people are curious about it.  How did I manage to gain the weight back? Well, I did it by following advice from my doctors. This is something I believe in. We should be grateful to doctors and medical professionals that care of us. Furthermore, we should follow their advice- they know what they are talking about, as they have both theoretical and practical experience to fall back on. 

Prije otprilike mjesec  i pol  dana imala sam prvu operaciju odstranjivanja dijela crijeva (vezanu uz Kronovu bolest). Prije toga (ovoga ljeta i jeseni da budem precizna), borila sam se s gubitkom kilograma i visokom temperaturom koja je trajala mjesecima, kao i drugim simptomima Kronove bolesti. U zadnje vrijeme, uspjela sam dobiti neke kilograme natrag (oko dva kilograma) i naravno ljudi su znatiželjni kako. Kako sam vratila kilograme? Tako što sam slušala savjete svojih liječnika. To je nešto u što vjerujem. Trebamo biti zahvalni liječnicima i svim osobama medicinske struke koji se brinu o nama. Nadalje, trebamo slušati njihov savjet, jer oni imaju i teorijsko i praktično znanje na koje se mogu osloniti. 

In addition to following the diet prescribed by my doctors, I counted the calories and wrote down what I ate every single day so I would make sure I’m following both the diet and the appropriate calorie intake for my age and gender. So, basically I would count all the calories I ate and in case I didn’t eat enough I would eat an additional meal that day. It was only when I started counting the calories, that I realized that on some days I wouldn't get enough calories in my system. Despite eating 3 healthy meals a day,  I realized that I still wasn't getting enough calories so I started adding additional meal in the evening. Supposedly, eating before bedtime can also help with gaining weight because the body doesn't burn as much calories during sleep as it does while we are awake or something like that. A lot of people are against this method of counting the calories because they connect it to food disorders, but I think calorie counting can be a great way of keeping track of what we eat. Keeping a food diary is also a great for that. Being conscious of how and why we eat is important!  

Osim pridržavanja dijete koju su mi propisali doktori, brojila sam kalorije i zapisivala sve što sam jela svakoga dana kako bi bila sigurna da slijedim i dijetu i prikladan unos kalorija za svoju dob i spol. Tako da sam u biti brojila sve kalorije koje sam pojela i ako nisam pojela dovoljno, onda bi pojela još jedan obrok. Tek kada sam počela brojiti kalorije, shvatila sam da ponekad ne bi unijela dovoljno kalorija u svoj organizam. Unatoč tome što sam jela tri zdrava obroka na dan, shvatila sam da ne unosim dovoljno kalorija pa sam počela dodavati još jedan obrok navečer. Inače, navodno nam to što jedemo prije spavanja može pomoći da se udebljamo jer tijelo sagorijeva više kalorija kada smo budni nego kada spavamo ili nešto tako. Puno ljudi je protiv ove metode brojanja kalorija jer je povezuju s poremećajima prehrane, ali ja mislim da je brojenje kalorija odličan način da pratimo ono što jedemo. Za to je dobro i pisati dnevnik prehrane. Važno je biti svjestan kako i zašto jedemo. 

POST CHRON OPERATION/ABDOMINAL SURGERY DIET:

I don’t know about other countries (or cities) but when you’re discharged from abdominal surgery unit in Split city, they give you a sheet of paper that contains your diet for the next two months. So, everyone who has had abdominal surgery of any kind should follow this diet. The surgery I had is called restriction (the surgeon usually cuts out inflamed parts of intestine). It is also known as Chron operation, you can google it if you want more details. In my case, the surgeons cut out a part of my small intestine and colon. I’m still recovering from this operation and I’m still following this post operation diet.  As far as dieting goes, for me it is not really difficult because I’ve been on a diet ever since I was diagnosed with Chron- seven years ago. I’m prepared to be on a diet for the rest of my life if that is what is going to help me get better- and I think everyone should have this kind of attitude. So many people get into trouble for not listening to their doctors: don’t be one of those people! However, I should also point out that chronic diseases are unpredictable. We don’t know what causes them and you can get in trouble even if you follow the prescribed diet regime. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t all do what is in our power to stay healthy! There is no guarantee that keeping a healthy diet will help you with dealing with Chron disease, but it sure won’t hurt. I feel like dieting gives me a piece of mind- maybe it won’t help, but at least I can say I’m being responsible about my health.

Ne znam kako je u drugim zemljama ili gradovima, ali kada vas puste s odjela abdominalne kirurgije u Splitu, daju vam papir  na kojem je zapisana vaša dijeta za sljedeća dva mjeseca. Tako da bi svatko tko je imao bilo kakvu operaciju crijeva trebao zapravo slijediti postoperativnu dijetu. Operacija koju sam ja imala sastoji se od rezanja upaljenih dijelova crijeva i ponovnoga zašivanja crijeva, a naziva se i operacija Krona. Što se tiče dijete, za mene to nije teško jer sam na dijeti od kada mi je dijagnosticiran Kron prije sedam godina. Spremna sam biti na dijeti do kraja života ako će mi to pomoći da se osjećam bolje, a mislim da bi takav stav trebali imati svi. Puno ljudi upadne u probleme jer ne sluša doktore: nemojte biti jedni od tih ljudi! No, moram istaknuti i to da su kronične bolesti nepredvidljive. Ne znam što ih uzrokuje i može vam se dogoditi problem čak i kada pratite propisanu dijetu. No, to ne znači da ne trebamo paziti na zdravlje koliko možemo! Nema garancije da će vam zdrava dijeta pomoći u borbi sa Kronovom bolešću, ali sigurno neće štetiti. Ja imam osjećaj da mi dijete daju neki mir, možda ne pomažu, ali barem znam da sam odgovorna po pitanju svojega zdravlja. 

PEOPLE WHO LIE ABOUT HAVING BEEN UNDERWEIGHT

Some people actually find it hard to believe that I have severe case of Chron disease. I’m not sure why. Maybe because they don’t know much about it. Maybe because until recently I managed to keep weight loss under control. You know, not all people who suffer from Chron end up being underweight. Anyway, until recently I couldn’t have imagined that there could be people who could lie about having been underweight or having a serious illness. Then I discovered that there a lot of plus size models and body activities who lie about having been underweight and having been diagnosed with anorexia and food disorders just to get sympathy (and more likes) from people. Personally, I’m really shocked by their lies. Lying about having had a serious illness to increase a number of your followers is a horrible thing to do. As someone who has recently battled being underweight, I find it morally appalling. What is actually the case is that a lot of plus size models and body activist tried dieting, didn’t like it, and decided that diets are the worst thing. I feel for everyone who has struggled with their self image and body image, but that doesn't give them the right to lie about having a serious illness. 

LJUDI KOJI LAŽU O TOME DA SU BOLOVALI OD NEUHRANJENOSTI

Nekim ljudima je teško vjerovati da imam težak oblik Kronove bolesti. Nisam sigurna zašto. Možda zato jer ne znaju puno o tome. Možda zato što sam do nedavno držala gubitak kilograma koliko toliko pod kontrolom. Znate, nisu svi ljudi koji boluju od Kronove bolesti neuhranjeni. No, sve do nedavno nisam mogla zamisliti da postoje ljudi koji lažu o tome da su bili neuhranjeni ili imali ozbiljnu bolest. Onda sam otkrila da ima puno plus size manekenki i takozvanih aktivista (body activist) koje lažu o tome da su imale anoreksiju i poremećaje prehrane samo da bi dobile simpatije ( i lajkove) od ljudi. Mene osobno šokiraju njihove laži. Laganje o tome da imaš ozbiljnu bolest da bi povećao broj svojih sljedbenika je grozna stvar. Kao netko tko se nedavno borio s neuhranjenošću, smatram da je to krajnje nemoralno. Ono što se zapravo dogodilo je da je puno plus size manekenki i aktivistkinja pokušalo ići na dijetu, nije im se svidjelo i odlučile su da je to grozna stvar. Suosjećam sa svakom osobom koja je patila zbog svoga izgleda, ali to im ne daje za pravo da izmišljaju da su imale ozbiljnu bolest. 

DIETS ARE NOT ALWAYS BAD

 Diets are not always a bad thing. One more thing. Not feeling good about your body doesn’t mean you have anorexia. Anorexia is a serious mental disorder with a very high death toll. Telling those individuals who really suffer anorexia to ‘go and eat a sandwich’ is not the way to go. It is exactly this kind of thinking that stops us from helping anorexic and underweight individuals. This kind of 'eat and be merry' approach promoted by some (not all) in the body positive community is what feeds prejudice about this extremely difficult condition. Individuals who have anorexia (and individuals who are underweight for other reasons) usually try to hide it. Not all of them want to be models- some of them actually want nothing less. Even in cases when anorexia and underweight condition is cured, the prolonged starvation individuals were exposed to can cause many health problems- and possibly also death. Do you now understand why people who are lying about having been anorexic or having been underweight make me angry? Some of these plus size models haven’t been slim for a single day in their life, let alone underweight. They have no idea but it feels like to be underweight, but they play the ‘anorexia’ card because they know people are sensitive about this subject. 

DIJETE NISU NUŽNO LOŠE

Dijete nisu nužno loše. Još nešto: ako se ne osjećate ugodno u svome tijelu to ne znači da patite od anoreksije. Anoreksija je ozbiljni mentalni poremećaj koji ima iznimno visoku smrtnost. Govoriti tim pojedincima da idu pojesti nešto nije pravilan pristup. Upravo takvo razmišljanje nas sprječava da pomognemo anoreksičnim i neuhranjenim pojedincima. Upravo takvo „jedimo i budimo veseli“ razmišljanje koje promoviraju (neki, ne svi pojedinci ) u zajednici koja tvrdi da potiče pozitivan stav prema tijelu (takozvana body posivite community) je ono što hrani predrasude o ovom iznimno teškom stanju. Osobe koje imaju anoreksiju (ili pojedinci koji su iz bilo kojega razloga neuhranjeni) obično to pokušavaju sakriti. Ne žele svi biti modeli, nekima je to zadnja stvar kojima bi se željeli baviti. Čak i u slučajevima kada se izliječi anoreksija i stanje neuhranjenosti, dugotrajno izgladnjivanje kojemu su pojedinci izloženi može rezultirati nizom zdravstvenih problema, a moguće i smrću.  Shvaćate li sada zašto me ljute osobe koje lažu o tome da su bile neuhranjene ili anoreksične? Neke od tih plus size manekenki nisu nikada bile vitke, a kamoli neuhranjene. Nemaju pojma kako je to biti neuhranjen, ali igraju na kartu anoreksije jer znaju da su ljudi osjetljivi na tu temu. 

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE UNDERWEIGHT?

Do you know what it feels like to be underweight? It actually hurts. Literally. You feel like your bones are on fire. You have problems concentrating. Your cognitive processes are negatively affected by it. You have problems following even a simple conversation. You are constantly cold and shivering. You have to carry a towel around because when you sit, you’re are literally sitting on your bones and it hurts. That is what many patients suffering from Chron disease have to deal with. Patients suffering from anorexia have to do deal with it as well. Same goes for people who were imprisoned in war camps and systematically starved. There is so much talk about how fat people are being discriminated against, but personally I have witnessed much more 'skinny' shaming than 'fat' shaming. I personally believe that all body shaming is bad. That being said, it is important to educate ourselves about dangers of being both  underweight and being overweight.  The way we look is not necessary connected with the way we feel or with our health status. Still, most of us can spot when somebody is morbidly obese. I'm not saying we should judge morbidly obese individuals, but we should not turn them into body role-models either. All being said and done, being both underweight and overweight can be potentially very dangerous. Sometimes we don't have a choice, sometimes we might end up with an illness that makes it very hard for us to control our weight- but that doesn't mean we shouldn't strive for a healthy weight. 

KAKAV JE OSJEĆAJ BITI NEUHRANJEN/ NEUHRANJENA?

Znate li kako je to biti neuhranjen? To zapravo doslovno boli. Imate osjećaj kao da vam kosti gore. Imate problema s koncentracijom.  Neuhranjenost negativno utječe na vaše kognitivne procese. Teško vam je pratiti čak i jednostavan razgovor. Stalno vam je hladno i tresete se. Morate nositi ručnik sa sobom jer kada sjednete, doslovno sjedite na svojim kostima i to vas boli. S time se mora nositi velik broj pacijenata koji boluju od Kronove bolest. Osobe koje boluju od anoreksije moraju se također nositi sa tim. Isto vrijedi za ljude koji su bili zarobljeni i izgladnjivani u logorima tijekom rata. Puno se govori o tome kako su debeli ljudi diskriminirani, ali ja sam osobno vidjela puno više verbalnih napada na mršave nego na debele osobe. Ja osobno vjerujem da nije u redu nikoga posramljivati zbog izgleda. Ipak, bitno je I da se svi mi obrazujemo i o opasnostima neuhranjenosti i pretilosti. Način na koji izgledamo nije nužno povezan s onim kako se osjećamo ili sa zdravstvenim stanjem. Ipak većina nas može primijetiti kada je netko veoma pretio. Ne kažem da trebamo osuđivati osobe koje su bolesne pretile, ali ne treba ih ni pretvarati u uzore po pitanju tjelesnoga izgleda.  Na kraju krajeva i pretilost i neuhranjenost su potencijalno jako opasna stanja. Nekad doista nemamo izbora, nekad možemo imati tu nesreću da imamo bolest zbog koje je veoma teško kontrolirati našu težinu, ali to ne znači da ne bismo trebali težiti zdravoj težini. 

*** BTW I haven't stopped drawing and painting during this time I was ill. I have a lot of fashion illustrations and painting that I want to share with you! This illustration was done in pencil and later filled in with watercolours. 

***Usput, nisam prestala crtati i slikati tijekom ovoga vremena dok sam bila bolesna. Ima hrpu modnih ilustracija i slika koje želim podijeliti sa vama! Ova ilustracija je nacrtana olovkom i kasnije popunjena s vodenim bojama. 

WHY WE SHOULD LISTEN TO OUR DOCTORS?

  I do believe that we should listen to our doctors when it comes to the question of our weight. I don't have a problem with body positive movement as long as it doesn't promote unhealthy lifestyles.  What worries me is  that normal size women are often called 'unrealistic' and 'skinny'. People are starting to perceive normal weight as unhealthy weight. They are starting to claim that the cure for anorexia is encouraging overweightness. I’m not saying there aren’t cases of people who had anorexia that managed to gain a little extra weight- I’m just saying those cases are rare. Some plus size ladies out there are clearly lying about having had anorexia. Putting an idea that you can solve anorexia by overeating, or indulging in junk food is extremely dangerous. Don’t tell me that some individuals in the body positive and fat acceptance communities aren’t promoting just that because some of them are. Some of them constantly repeat to their followers that diets are the devil and that they should eat whatever and how much they want. The truth is- if you are truly underweight, you need to be conscious of what you eat. You need to listen to your doctors. Diets are not evil. Diets prescribed by medical experts actually save lives. 

Doista vjerujem da bismo trebali slušati liječnike kada je u pitanju naša težina. Nemam problema s pokretom pozitive prema tijelu dok god taj pokret ne promovira nezdrave stilove života. Ono što me zabrinjava je što se žene normalne težine često nazivaju „nerealnim“ i „mršavim“. Ljudi su počeli gledati na zdravu težinu kao na nezdravu. Počeli su tvrditi da je lijek za anoreksiju poticanje pretilosti. Ne kažem da nema ljudi koji su imali anoreksiju koji su dobili višak kila- samo kažem da su rijetki. Neke osobe iz zajednice punijih manekenki očito lažu o tome da su imale anoreksiju. Poticanje ideje da se anoreksija može izliječiti prejedanjem ili nezdravom prehranom je jako opasno. Nemojte mi reći da neke osobe u toj zajednici koja promovira prihvaćanje svoga tijela ( i privaćanje debljine) ne rade upravo to jer neke to doista rade. Neke stalno ponavljaju svojim sljedbenicima da su dijete pogubne i da bi trebali jesti što god žele, kada god žele i koliko god žele. Istina je da ako je netko doista neuhranjen, onda treba još više paziti što jede. Treba slušati liječnike. Dijete nisu zlo. Dijete koje propisuje medicinsko osoblje spašavaju živote. 

This is a very important subject, it is not something to be treated lightly. I plan to talk more about this important issue on my blog. To sum up, my advice is – always listen to doctors. Forget about influencers. Influences will tell you what you want to hear so that they would get more money, more likes and more followers. Doctors will tell you the truth- because it is their job to tell you the truth. The doctors are paid by the state you live in, the influencers make their money from you (in same cases they even do it by emotionally blackmailing you).  It takes years of hard work and studying to become a doctor, all it takes to become a body activist is to post a naked photograph of yourself, whine a bit how life is so hard for you because of the way you look, and use the right hashtags. Please stop helping the individuals who are sabotaging the efforts of medical professionals. Those same medical professionals are working hard to save our lives. Just because someone failed to educate one's self about the right way to exercise and diet, doesn't mean that diets and exercises are bad for everyone. I personally feel the need to thank my doctors. I have listened to their advice and I plan to continue doing so.

Ovo je veoma važna tema i nije nešto o čemu treba olako govoriti. Planiram još pisati o ovom važnom problemu na svome blogu. Nekakav moj savjet bi bio da uvijek slušate svoje doktore. Zaboravite na takovane influencere. Zvijezde društvenih mreža, osobe koje žive od Instagrama će vam reći ono što želite reći da bi dobili vaš novac, više lajkova i sljedbenika. Liječnici će vam reći istinu, jer je to njihov posao. Potrebne su godine teškoga rada  i studiranja da bi se postalo liječnikom, a za postati nekakvim aktivistom pozitivnoga stava prema tijela, sve što je potrebno je objaviti svoju golišavu sliku, malo kukati o tome kako vam je život težak radi toga kako izgledate i koristiti prave hastagove. Molim vas da prestanemo pomagati osobama koje sabotiraju rad medicinskoga osoblja, tog medicinskoga osoblja koje teško radi da nam spasi živote. Samo zato što se netko nije dovoljno obrazovao o vježbanju i dijetama, ne znači da su vježbanje i dijete loši za svakoga. Ja osobno osjećam potrebu da zahvalim svojim doktorima. Slušala sam ih i planiram ih nastaviti slušati.

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