Speak Up!

Be your own advocate. Don’t ever let the opinion of someone, even a medical professional, make you feel less than others. Never give up. Find someone who will listen,, who will help, because they are out there.

Full Disclosure:

I am in my 50s and am overweight, but over the course of 5 years, I have lost over 100 pounds. I have more to go, but that is easier said than done. I recently went to an Orthopedic doctor who, in my mind, doesn’t care about people. You cannot do what you do, day in and day out, and think that it’s ok to treat people like they don’t matter, I don’t care what you do for a living. I have arthritis in my hip that has been bad for 4 years. I have finally decided that I will get some help. He looked at me and said, “You’re too fat for surgery.” That threw me. I hadn’t even asked about surgery. He then quickly followed that with “and a cortisone shot won’t help you because they don’t make a needle long enough to penetrate your fat.” This is not true since it’s on the inside of my hip joint. The final kick was when he said “Oh, and I’m not giving you anything for pain.”

He said this to let me know that I didn’t matter. That being fat equals being less than a human. Now, this is a common occurrence in the outside world. Heavy people are mocked, teased, bullied, and looked down on. For a medical professional, who should understand how difficult it is, to say those things is beyond hurtful. I am not going to lie, I was not good. This took me to a dark place. He might as well have said that I don’t deserve to live because that was how I felt.

So I took a step. I called my regular doctor, who has been less than helpful in the past, and I made an appointment. I had a list of things I have been dealing with. I t him the tests I wanted and I wasn’t taking no for an answer. He said ok. I was shocked that all it took was me standing up and saying what I wanted.

Don’t be afraid. You deserve help, you deserve compassion and you deserve to have someone in your corner.

I am here. I know, not often, but that will change. I have to force myself to come here. This is good for me, and maybe it will help someone else.

Take care.