Being Enough: 20

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"Step up on the scale, Lee," Doctor Taylor instructed

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"Step up on the scale, Lee," Doctor Taylor instructed.

I did as she asked, watching as the numbers fell from the last time I'd seen her.

113.

I immediately moved to the measurement.

"6-foot and half an inch," she said. "I think you've grown. Again."

I took a seat on the examination table as Doctor Taylor took a seat at her computer.

Parker glanced up from his phone, looking at my digital file, which Doctor Taylor was skimming through. "I thought this was just a check-up."

"It is," she said, without glancing away from her computer.

Parker's eyebrows furrowed together as she continued reading my file.

After a long bout of silence, Doctor Taylor swiveled around to face me. "Lee, have you met with our Dietician onsite?"

I shook my head. "Didn't know there was one."

She pulled out a referral form. "I'm going to set you up with an appointment."

"What for?" Parker asked. "What's going on?"

She stood up, crossing the room toward a BMI chart taped to the wall. "Lee is just over 6-foot, which puts him here." She pointed to a specific point on the chart. "And at 113 pounds, that puts him here." She moved her finger so that it rested on the number 15. "In the underweight category, significantly underweight."

Parker let out a slow exhale, nodding. "Lee's BMI has always been underweight."

She moved her finger again, resting on the 18. "When I first saw him, he was borderline between underweight and normal."

As if I'd ever be classified as normal.

"Since treatment here, his weight has been steadily decreasing," she continued. "And he's greatly at risk for serious, medical problems."

"What target weight are we looking at?" Parker asked. "I get the BMI chart, but how much weight has he lost exactly?"

"I love being talked across," I said, raising an eyebrow at Parker.

Parker's jaw clenched. "Sorry," he said through gritted teeth. "Didn't realize I was doing it."

Alison would be proud.

Doctor Taylor turned so that she was facing the both of us. "When I first started seeing Lee, he was teetering at about 130."

"And he's 113 now?" Parker asked.

She nodded. "A significant decrease for someone who's already classified as underweight."

I already knew where this conversation was going. "I am eating more," I said, before Parker could say anything. "I'm just not always hungry."

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