Fat-shaming by doctors is real and total bullshit.I have been fat shamed by MULTIPLE doctors, every one of them telling me that all my problems would be solved if I just lost weight.
Brian and I started to get pregnant as soon as we got married. After a year of trying without any luck, I made an appointment at a local clinic (no health insurance then). I was positive that I had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, and that it was preventing me from ovulating. The doctor I saw told me to lose 100lb and then I'd be able to get pregnant, and told me that any other doctor I saw would tell me the same thing. I asked him about PCOS and he didn't know what it was. Then he tried to sell me a diet book that he co-wrote! I left the clinic and cried. That doctor left me feeling so awful about myself, I refused to go to the doctor for 3 years after that.
My next doctor was excellent, officially diagnosed me with PCOS and actually listened to my concerns about infertility. But he still told me that I needed to lose a considerable amount of weight before he'd help me get pregnant.
Once we moved, and I found a new doctor, she also told me to focus on losing weight before trying to get pregnant. But she found out that I had a thyroid that was barely functioning. That, combined with my PCOS, it's no wonder I was having trouble losing weight! She was actually pissed on my behalf that none of my previous doctors had ever checked my thyroid function.
Then I found out that the PCOS had caused endometrial/uterine cancer. I can't help but wonder if I would've ever gotten cancer if I'd had doctors who took my PCOS seriously from the start. Doctors who even knew that PCOS could cause cancer, and who told me that if was a possibility, because I had no idea it was something that I should even worry about. I had no idea it was something I should've been getting checked for regularly. Thankfully, my cancer is very slow growing. But it's also something that will continue to come back as long as I keep my uterus. The medications to fight the cancer caused weight gain. I gained 40lb in 6 months. Finally went into remission, only to have it start to come back after 6 months. Once again, I'm now in remission. (YAY!) I've lost 40lb in the last year.
Then I found out that the PCOS had caused endometrial/uterine cancer. I can't help but wonder if I would've ever gotten cancer if I'd had doctors who took my PCOS seriously from the start. Doctors who even knew that PCOS could cause cancer, and who told me that if was a possibility, because I had no idea it was something that I should even worry about. I had no idea it was something I should've been getting checked for regularly. Thankfully, my cancer is very slow growing. But it's also something that will continue to come back as long as I keep my uterus. The medications to fight the cancer caused weight gain. I gained 40lb in 6 months. Finally went into remission, only to have it start to come back after 6 months. Once again, I'm now in remission. (YAY!) I've lost 40lb in the last year.
My AWESOME oncologist completely supports my decision to try to get pregnant now, while I'm in a window of remission. He referred me to one of his personal friends who is an ob/gyn. I saw him in June, right after getting my remission news.
This new ob/gyn is the FIRST ob/gyn who took me seriously, who didn't tell me to lose weight FIRST. He told me that there's no reason why we can't try to pregnant with some medication help WHILE I'm working on losing weight.He was the first doctor who saw my weight as a symptom of PCOS, and looking past it to see what else was going on. I actually cried when I got in the car, I was so relieved to be heard and taken seriously as a woman, not just a fat woman. My new ob/gyn has put me on Clomid, to try and get my body to ovulate. He agrees with me that I've probably never ovulated, and that's what prevented us from getting pregnant. I just finished the first round! It doesn't look that I ovulated in the first month, but I'm not worried! I'm hopeful for the next round. He said he'd give me 6 rounds (months) to try to ovulate on this medication before ordering more tests.
But it's taken me almost 9 years of doctors and trying to conceive before I've finally found a doctor who has looking past my weight. You have to advocate for yourself and your health! If you have a doctor who doesn't listen to you, who tells you to lose weight first, LEAVE! Find a new doctor! I am completely serious. If you walk into a doctor's office and start describing symptoms that you feel aren't related to your weight, and that doctor tells you to "JUST LOSE WEIGHT" then walk out. Get up and leave! Because you deserve a doctor that listens to you, who doesn't just see your weight and write you off as an unhealthy person because you're heavy. YOU DESERVE BETTER! Fat shaming by doctors is ridiculous. Fat shaming by anyone is ridiculous actually, I shouldn't be given dirty looks at the gym either. But I can't do anything about that. But by doctors is even worse. If you feel like your doctor is writing you and your concerns off due to your weight, find a new doctor. 100% No one deserves to feel unheard by their doctor.
This new ob/gyn is the FIRST ob/gyn who took me seriously, who didn't tell me to lose weight FIRST. He told me that there's no reason why we can't try to pregnant with some medication help WHILE I'm working on losing weight.He was the first doctor who saw my weight as a symptom of PCOS, and looking past it to see what else was going on. I actually cried when I got in the car, I was so relieved to be heard and taken seriously as a woman, not just a fat woman. My new ob/gyn has put me on Clomid, to try and get my body to ovulate. He agrees with me that I've probably never ovulated, and that's what prevented us from getting pregnant. I just finished the first round! It doesn't look that I ovulated in the first month, but I'm not worried! I'm hopeful for the next round. He said he'd give me 6 rounds (months) to try to ovulate on this medication before ordering more tests.
But it's taken me almost 9 years of doctors and trying to conceive before I've finally found a doctor who has looking past my weight. You have to advocate for yourself and your health! If you have a doctor who doesn't listen to you, who tells you to lose weight first, LEAVE! Find a new doctor! I am completely serious. If you walk into a doctor's office and start describing symptoms that you feel aren't related to your weight, and that doctor tells you to "JUST LOSE WEIGHT" then walk out. Get up and leave! Because you deserve a doctor that listens to you, who doesn't just see your weight and write you off as an unhealthy person because you're heavy. YOU DESERVE BETTER! Fat shaming by doctors is ridiculous. Fat shaming by anyone is ridiculous actually, I shouldn't be given dirty looks at the gym either. But I can't do anything about that. But by doctors is even worse. If you feel like your doctor is writing you and your concerns off due to your weight, find a new doctor. 100% No one deserves to feel unheard by their doctor.
