Rob knew it was bad when he saw the doctor's expression. The good doctor didn't even need to say anything; the worry was written all over his face. He was frowning as he stared at the medical records, finger tapping on his chin, then his worried eyes flickered up to meet Rob's.
"Mr. Hutchinson, I think you know what I'm going to say."
Rob sighed. "The numbers are bad, right?"
Dr. McGraw tipped his hand in a see-saw motion. "So so. They're not the worst I've seen, but they're definitely not the best. In fact," the doctor put down the reports and looked at Rob seriously. "If you continue with this lifestyle, you probably will become the worst."
"Seriously?"
"I'm not saying that just to scare you, Mr. Hutchinson. The truth is, coronary disease and diabetes run in your family. You'd be signing up for a heart attack on a plate if you don't get healthy now."
"Yeah, I understand." Rob was staring at the desk, thinking of his dad's heart attack at 46, his mom sobbing beside the coffin. "I need to do something about the weight."
The doctor nodded. "I know it's not easy to lose more than 200 pounds. But you have to start somewhere. Have you tried any weight-loss program before?"
Rob shrugged. "I've been to the gym a few times, tried to lose the weight on my own. Feels like I've tried every diet in the book. Then my previous doctor put me on some kind of pills but they made me tired and thirsty all the time, and they made my heart beat faster too. So I stopped taking them."
"Do you remember which medication was that?"
"No."
"Well, I'm not going to put you on any kind of meds, Mr. Hutchinson. I don't believe in that. Because once you're off the meds, you'll just go back to your old habits," Dr. McGraw explained.
"Oh yeah, I definitely agree." Rob nodded sincerely.
Dr. McGraw tapped a pen against his chin, seemingly considering something before he spoke, "If I left you to your own devices, would you be able to lose the weight on your own?"
Rob took a deep breath, looking at the doctor for what felt like eons before he finally replied, "Honest to God? No. I can't." He looked down at his hands. "Sure, I can stay on whatever meal plan you give me and do whatever exercises you ask me to do. But at night, when I'm on the computer, that's the worst time for me. Because that's when I'll go and inhale a whole bag of chips. Or Twinkies. I'm not gonna make any excuses, doc. It's the lack of self-discipline."
Dr. McGraw nodded seriously, before looking down at the reports again. "I appreciate the honesty, Mr. Hutchinson. I have an idea, sort of. But let's go through the numbers before we decide anything, yes?"
"Okay." Rob's heart was in his throat.
"Now, as of today, you hit the 400-pound mark. Now you weigh 401 lbs. Your cholesterol level..." Here, the doctor shook his head and Rob felt like hiding somewhere, wishing that a cartoon hole would appear at his feet so that he could disappear.
"There's a whole list of other numbers but I'm only going to tell you the ones that matter." The doctor laid out the reports and started going through the numbers with Rob, who was getting more and more confused with all the different terminology: LDL, HDL, triglycerides, ECG...it was all too overwhelming. He squinted at the word 'lipids'. What the heck was that?
"I know this is a bit too much for you, Mr. Hutchinson," Dr. McGraw said, with a twinkle in his pale blue eyes. He wasn't so bad after all. "I can sense when a patient's eyes start to glaze over."
"No, I mean, it's not you, personally." Rob chuckled. "It's just that it's too much jargon for me, y'know?"
"I know, I was just kidding. Well, to sum it all up, these numbers are awful. And you need to lose at least 200 pounds to get down to a relatively healthy weight. You're pretty tall at 6' 2", so don't lose too much or you'll be skinny."
"And then I'll be coming right back to you, right Doc?" Rob was grinning.
Dr. McGraw laughed. "Exactly. Now, I know it's not easy to lose so much weight." He reached into one of his drawers and took out a blue brochure. It had the letters 'NATURE SHADE RANCH' printed on the front, with a picture of a very pretty farmhouse on the cover, and a happy, healthy woman posing in front. "This is a weight loss ranch run by my old friend from college, Dr. Elliot. She and her team have been helping many overweight individuals to lose as much as 300-400 pounds."
"Wow." Rob was suitably impressed as he flipped through the brochure. There were more pictures of the ranch's facilities, and the one that struck him the most was of the relaxing, airy gym that had a beautiful view of the mountains. It was gorgeous. "Where is this? And is it expensive?"
"Montana," Dr. McGraw replied. "It is not cheap, yes. But I could talk to her and see if she can put you on a payment plan, if money is your concern. Whatever it is, we can work something out. My main worry is your health. Once we can get you in good shape, then everything else is secondary."
Rob slowly put down the brochure. It was a tempting offer, just the right kind of push that he badly needed, but he wanted to think it over first. And at least talk it over with Ethan. "I'll think about it, Doc," he said at last.
"Good." Dr. McGraw smiled. "Let me know once you decide. If you're not going, we'll put you on an exercise and eating plan. Don't worry, Mr. Hutchinson, we can beat this."
"Thank you," Rob said with a smile, feeling like there was a light at the end of the tunnel for once.