# Fat Positive Docs



## superodalisque (Jan 26, 2009)

i recently had surgery to remove bone spurs from my spine to relieve sciatica symptoms. it was my very first operation of any kind ever because my health is pretty good; no high blood pressure , no diabetes, not even high cholestrol levels. i don't smoke or drink. i know about all of the horror stories we hear about these terrible doctors that are so mesmerized by the fat issue that they can't even manage to provide decent healthcare. its true i had to kind of train in and nurse along my internist and neurologist. they are on the weight off band wagon and my neurologist actually hinted that i should get WLS. i let him know in no uncertain terms that at this point i would never think of having it done. i told him that i understood the risks and it didn't make sense for me to do that since my health is very good. but my neurosurgeon was an entirely different animal. i had an excellent situation and with him and i wanted to talk about it here.

my neurosurgeon never balked at my size once. he never waved is finger and said you should lose weight. he actually sat down with me and talked about all of the incidents that had happened in my life. after that talk and a lot of thorough testing he finally figured out that i'd probably had a fracture to my spine that had gone undetected after a car accident 15 years ago. he never once assumed or noted anything about my weight being the cause unlike my neurologist. when i asked him specifically about weight being an issue he said that it was impossible and he wished people would stop using weight as the sole reason for everything that ails patients. he went on to tell me he had many larger patients and thier weight was very seldom the cause of injury or any difficulties they might have healing after the surgery. he added that he didn't expect me to have any problems with surgery. he was right . i had none. 

i'm nearly 2 weeks post op. even though they had to do more work than they originally thought i was up walking the evening of the operation. i'm only taking tylenol occassionally for the little ache i have left over now. i'm starting my physical therapy ( to manage the noticeably less neuropathy caused by the spurs) this week. i was really happy with the outcome, and more than that, i was very happy with the care and respect i recieved. people go through a lot of horrible things trying to take care of themselves when they are fat. you see it everyday on the forums. the kind of insensitive treatment people can get is enough to make anyone give up on thier health. i just wanted to share my story because maybe it will help someone who is worrying about having to go through the system. not every doctor is a caveman. there are people who really care about us as human beings first and they realize that we can have health at every size. it would be great to know about other fat positive health related experiences. maybe it will give people the strength to be more proactive about thier health. 

PS: if you are in the atlanta area and need a good fat friendly neurosurgeon i'd be happy to give you the name of mine


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## ashmamma84 (Jan 26, 2009)

That's really great that you had such a positive experience, Felicia. I agree with what you said -- all docs aren't the devil, it's just a matter of fishing out the good ones. Something else though is that you were able to advocate for yourself and I think that can make all the difference in dealing with docs who just want to throw being fat in your face. It's like with any other ailment -- patients have a right (and a responsibility) -- to get a second opinion if they feel a doc isn't helping. I think far too often we just get upset/discouraged and go home. 

p.s. I'm glad you're healing well! I had no idea you were having surgery...if I lived closer I'd come cook for you! Good luck with PT, baby cakes! :kiss2:


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## Lamia (Jan 30, 2009)

That's a great story and it's good to know that there is a dr out there who isn't on the fat is the source of all your sorrow bandwagon. I hope you are feeling well.


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## Risible (Feb 5, 2009)

There's a link to a fat-positive physician's guide in this post, if you care to share your experience with them, or if anyone is looking for a fat-positive physician.


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