@yrfatfriend on Twitter Asks an Important Question
Your Fat Friend asked a simple but important question:
Fellow fats: what has happened during your WORST experiences with health care providers? (Later in a separate tweet she asked for positive experiences, to be fair.)
The resulting thread is stunning.
https://twitter.com/yrfatfriend/status/961304516556500992
A few:
"I was maybe 9 or 10 when a MALE doctor who wasn't even my normal dr just a substitute told me that I would need to loose 30+ pounds to be like the "pretty " girls my age. He told me if i didn't loose weight I would die by the time I was 16. In reality i was 6 pounds over weight."
and
"I was twelve and had to go to a different doctor than my regular because he was out of town. Also had to go with my dad to the appointment since my mom was working. I told the doctor I was tired all the time and she told me the reason I was “always sick” was because I was fat. I hadn’t been to the doctor in over a year. For anything. I left crying. Two weeks later we found out I was tired all the time because I had mono."
also
"Told to get stomach-stapling surgery by a dermatologist, to treat my dermatitis..."
and wtf?
"1. I was given info for weight watchers when I actually had a dangerous blood infection that causes drastic weight loss/ weight gain- both of which I've experienced.
2. Therapist said my weight was the cause of my major depressive disorder and then fell asleep during the appt."
I want to print them all and send to every med school. Final one (many more at link, above)
"Was in the ER for an MS flare up. Which was causing temporary blindness in my right eye. The attending neuro-ophthalmologist went about trying to talk me into gastric by-pass. Clearly my fat was pressing down on my optic nerve and it wasn't my chronic illness. /sarcasm"
That one gave me flashbacks. Seriously no matter what I'm seen for, most docs wants me to have a gastric bypass.
Fellow fats: what has happened during your WORST experiences with health care providers? (Later in a separate tweet she asked for positive experiences, to be fair.)
The resulting thread is stunning.
https://twitter.com/yrfatfriend/status/961304516556500992
A few:
"I was maybe 9 or 10 when a MALE doctor who wasn't even my normal dr just a substitute told me that I would need to loose 30+ pounds to be like the "pretty " girls my age. He told me if i didn't loose weight I would die by the time I was 16. In reality i was 6 pounds over weight."
and
"I was twelve and had to go to a different doctor than my regular because he was out of town. Also had to go with my dad to the appointment since my mom was working. I told the doctor I was tired all the time and she told me the reason I was “always sick” was because I was fat. I hadn’t been to the doctor in over a year. For anything. I left crying. Two weeks later we found out I was tired all the time because I had mono."
also
"Told to get stomach-stapling surgery by a dermatologist, to treat my dermatitis..."
and wtf?
"1. I was given info for weight watchers when I actually had a dangerous blood infection that causes drastic weight loss/ weight gain- both of which I've experienced.
2. Therapist said my weight was the cause of my major depressive disorder and then fell asleep during the appt."
I want to print them all and send to every med school. Final one (many more at link, above)
"Was in the ER for an MS flare up. Which was causing temporary blindness in my right eye. The attending neuro-ophthalmologist went about trying to talk me into gastric by-pass. Clearly my fat was pressing down on my optic nerve and it wasn't my chronic illness. /sarcasm"
That one gave me flashbacks. Seriously no matter what I'm seen for, most docs wants me to have a gastric bypass.