Here is the link to my video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-sGb2aRkw4
When you are a fat human living in a thin world, you sort of become immune to fat shaming. It is so common, most people of size skip their annual exams and skip getting a physical because we know that it is very likely we will be shamed by the staff, the PA, the nurses and probably even the doctor.
And, if you take that to the next step, you can imagine what that means for our survival rates when we get something very serious like cancer or pneumonia. People always say “OBESITY KILLS!” I call bullshit on that. I think some fat people die young because we avoid going to see medical professionals because of how horribly we get treated. We do not go and get our early diagnosis when we feel like shit or have a tumor growing somewhere.
That means no preventative care. When we get the flu we tough it out. When we scratch the cornea of our eye, like in my example above, we get medical staff at Acute care taking our blood pressure 5 times because it keeps reading 118/75. (Although I am pretty sure by the 5th reading it was MUCH MUCH higher.)
Something really needs to change when it comes to fat people and the care we received from the medical community. I have had way too many fat friends die from cancer and stuff that could have been caught earlier. ENOUGH is ENOUGH!
My friend Jeanette Miller gave me this great idea for going to see your doctor. She suggest that fat people bring a friend with you to your doctor’s appointments and have them advocate for you in case things get uncomfortable. And, medical staff are more likely to treat you with dignity and respect if you bring a friend into the room with you. (If it is just and your doctor or P.A. they have not witnesses to them being an asshole to you.) Thanks, Jeanette, for this idea.
Edited April 19, 2018
I saw this beautiful woman on Good Morning America today talking about how medical bias almost
killed her since none of her doctors could see passed her fat body. This makes my blood boil.
You have to love someone on a national t.v. program talking about this and making the world know about how
widespread this is. https://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/a19608429/medical-fatshaming/
Cosmopolitan also ran an article about her appearance on GMA. Her name is Rebecca Hiles and she is one of my SHEROS!
This quote is from the Cosmo article:
When blood tests kept coming back normal, her doctors would say,
“We don’t know what to tell you — it’s clearly just weight-related.”
THIS HAS TO STOP. Click on the Cosmo story and you can read about 2 other women that had similar
experiences, too.
I wrote this a few years ago about one of my BFF’s that told off her fat shaming doctor:
My Curvy BFF Told her Doctor Off Today and I am so PROUD of her!
And, boy do we all need this app! I am so excited for this app to be created.
Can We All Go? Have You Heard about this Amazing New App Being Created?