So as the title of this blog post states, I'm going to try and write about my personal experience when it comes to being fat, and the access I have to health care. I was born and raised in Canada. One of the first things people mention as a perk of being Canadian is "free" health care. The older I get the more I realize nothing in this world is free! I stopped being under my mothers work insurance once I finished high school. My point is- yes I had access to health care, and to some degree I still do. BUT, and this is a huge BUT I don't feel comfortable seeking medical attention. I can sit here, and recall incident after incident where it would have been in my best interest to seek some sort of medical attention and I decided against it.
I have been fat for as long as I could remember. I was a very active child , contrary to popular belief. I was on school teams, I did extra curricular activities that were physical, I had swimming lessons, ballet lessons. My mom made sure I was involved, and that even if I was chubby, I would still be active. So that may debunk the myth that all fat children are lazy, it might not... but I'm just putting my truth out there. To move on from this picture of an active childhood I tried to paint, I'll address my teenage years. I was evidently far less active once I had more control on the things I got to take part in. That meant, no school teams, far less physical activity on the weekends, and so forth. I wasn't lazy per se, but I wasn't super active either. I'm going to highlight one of the first incidents in my life that made me extremely apprehensive of healthcare professionals aka doctors & specialists. When I was 16, I started experiencing excruciating back pain. Initially I didn't think much of it because I was used to painful menstral cycles and thought to myself "this too shall pass". Oh contraire mon Freire! The pain didn't pass, it was constant, and became unbearable. Eventually I asked my mom to make a doctors appointment for me, because my body was informing me that something was up. My doctor didn't have anything concrete to tell me, he thought it might be gaulstones, but stated I was far too young for that to be a possibility. He ordered me to to get some ultrasounds, that ultimately confirmed his initial suspicions. My doctor recommended me to a pediatrician, because I was so young he was under the impression that she would give me the best medical counsel (he was wrong.). My doctor had discussed what my ultrasound revealed with my mother and I, prior to me meeting this pediatrician. During our first consultation, before even examining my file the pediatrician assumed I was there for some weight management program, and started speaking to me about a nutritionist. Even at the young age of 16, I was not shocked that she assumed my weight was what brought me to her office that day. I kindly told her, I didn't need a nutritionist, and that I was there for her medical expertise pertaining my gaulstones. At that point, she glanced at my file and said " You only have 1, and surgery isn't necessary.", I was really confused because my doctor had told me I had more than 1, and that's probably why I was experiencing the pain I was. She (the pediatrician) discussed my weight for 10 more minutes, and suggested I eat less fried food, and my pain should go away. I left her office, discouraged, hurt, angry, and still in pain. A week later, I went back to my doctor and asked for a surgeon's recommendation to remove the Gaulstones. I told him not to send me back to incompetent doctors. Fast forward to my surgery, they actually ended up removing my entire Gaul Bladder because it was badly infected.
As a fat person I shouldn't have to beg for equal medical assessments and that is how I feel. Regardless of what I go into those offices with, my weight is always the topic of dicussion. Someone they deem as physically fit/healthy can go into a doctors office, and explain what is wrong without them being told "it might be the way you're eating." I don't know if the health care professionals know how degrading and embarrassing it is. Just treat fat people like they are patients. That's all we want. I want to be able to sit there, and get a routine check up without being fat shamed. I'm 25, and I honestly haven't had a routine check up in 5 years. Doctors give me anxiety, they make me cringe, they make me cry. It's a sad reality that I live in a country like Canada, a developed nation, where I have access to relatively free healthcare.... and I don't take advantage of that. Any time I've gone to the doctors in the past 5 years, it's because I've been forced. I fainted, and fell down a short flight of stairs... and the ambulance had to be called in order for me to go the hospital. The whole time I was there I was thinking "This doctor is going to say I fell because of my weight.", I ended up spraining both my ankles so I'm glad my mother and best friend forced me to go... but STILL.
ALL IM SAYING IS THIS, if you are a doctor, or a nurse, or some kind of healthcare professional: PLEASE TREAT FAT PATIENTS WITH SOME DECENCY. YES WE GET IT, WE ARE FAT- BUT WE ALSO MIGHT JUST HAVE A COMMON COLD & THAT IS OKAY.
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