How does your boss treat you concerning CPAP?

[kempo]

I have been using a cpap now for 6 weeks and I have lost 12lb. My primary Doctor said it was much easier for him to lose weight after he began using his cpap and it has been much easier for me too. I have a lot more energy.

Now your boss is a dumb-ass. One of my best friends rides a bicycle over 400 miles a week. He competes. He has about 5% body fat and he is a hose head.

If I were you I would google all of the athletes and people who are fine physical specimens and show him the list.

[kteague]

Your boss was wrong on so many levels - legally, managerially, personally - and it's likely that you speaking with him will put him on the defensive, as surely he must know he was inappropriate. That being said, the dynamics in any workplace varies. In my case, I had openly discussed my issues. First, because we had the kind of relationships where I felt safe doing so, and because I wanted to explain the change in my work performance. Had I not worked among friends and my work performance not been compromised, I may not have been so inclined to talk about it. I think me having openly discussed things with the group would have seemed like giving license for the discussion, though not for any form of public reprimand. If you had not openly discussed your weight being a problem before in the group, your boss went way over bounds to make mention of it. It's hard to know if his intentions were to help you or humiliate you. You are a better judge of that. How much of an issue that is to you is really up to you and based on the relationships and standing you have there. Do let us know how any further discussion goes, if you decide to talk to him about it. My personal opinion - Were you wronged? Yes. Should you respond? Probably. Should you make an issue out of it. Probably not.

[BlackSpinner]

I think there is a health problem. I think there are unhealthy eating habits. I think there is unhealthy lack of exercise. I think everyone needs to eat well and exercise. That should promote good health.

So yes, fuss at fat people. Fuss at skinny people. But also fuss at normal-weight people just as much. Because even if it doesn't show up in being too thin or too thick, due to their genetic makeup, the fact is that so-called "normal"-size, or "healthy"-weight, people need to eat healthy and to be sufficiently active for the sake of their health too.

Yes I agree however most people do not see this as a health problem - they use the very narrow western medical/insurance company definition of "physical body is not functioning at a certain defined (by the book) level" to define a health issue.

[who]

I think there is a health problem. I think there are unhealthy eating habits. I think there is unhealthy lack of exercise. I think everyone needs to eat well and exercise. That should promote good health.

So yes, fuss at fat people. Fuss at skinny people. But also fuss at normal-weight people just as much. Because even if it doesn't show up in being too thin or too thick, due to their genetic makeup, the fact is that so-called "normal"-size, or "healthy"-weight, people need to eat healthy and to be sufficiently active for the sake of their health too.

Yes I agree however most people do not see this as a health problem - they use the very narrow western medical/insurance company definition of "physical body is not functioning at a certain defined (by the book) level" to define a health issue.

Exactly. Obesity is a symptom of a health problem or problems. Treat the health problem(s), not the symptom(s). That would be ideal if anyone really knew how. But if the doc, or system of medicine, is too dumb, too lazy, or too understaffed or unequipped to find the underlying health problem, don't blame the patient who is left with the untreated symptom.

The stresses and shortcomings of modern living and modern lifestyles affect different people in different ways. We should not pick and choose and label to deal with the results of those overall problems, just as we should not do so with the genetic issues.

Simple models are easier to use than accurate models. And blaming the victims and the sufferers is easiest of all.

[Bearcat42]

Wow. I am overwhelmed by the support and the advice concerning this subject. I work in the oilfield industry and it is a cutthroat business where weaknesses are frowned upon. Having a medical condition is more often than not is considered a weakness and the old school types, like my boss, seem incapable of understanding something like sleep apnea.
I don't remember exactly how the subject was raised initially. I think it may have been the time I was taking off work for my sleep study and so on. This was the first time the weight issue was brought up by him, as if he knew exactly what caused it. I was so new that I didn't completely understand the causes of sleep apnea and therefore was unprepared to defend myself. There were other conversations like the first one burn I was better prepared to respond and tried to explain what the causes were. His reaction was one of unbelief.
Even after explaining sleep apnea to him he still thinks that weight gain was the cause. Some people are just impossible to reason with and he is old school oilfield so admitting he might be wrong is a sign of weakness. Makes alot of sense doesn't it.

[SleepingUgly]

Some people are just impossible to reason with and he is old school oilfield so admitting he might be wrong is a sign of weakness. Makes alot of sense doesn't it.

So what do you plan to do?

[Bearcat42]

There has been so much advice given on this subject and I believe that when it happens again I will have to first take a deep breath, so I don't lose my cool, then proceed to explain to him again why weight isn't an issue in sleep apnea, or the cause of it like he believes it is.
Also he needs to understand that anything medical told to him by an employee is to be kept confidential and not discussed with others. And at the same time his personal thoughts on what causes sleep apnea should be kept to himself and not shared with others, even in a joking manner.
If he can't agree to these then HR will have to be contacted and he needs to know that. Any legal response would be used only as a last resort.

[chunkyfrog]

My boss is very understanding--lets me off for appointments, pick up supplies, etc.
Our office manager is a hose-head--along with her husband.
At least one other co-worker probably needs to get 'hosed', but she dreads the mask and the bother, etc.
I really like these people, and if a little bit more info can save a life, my privacy be damned!