Y’all, I just want to testify about the benefits of having a doctor who respects me, and who is not fat phobic!

I just came from another amazing appointment with my doctor and…I am the healthiest I’ve been as an adult. And it’s not because she’s done a ton of things to heal me, but because she has done so much to set me at ease about my existing health. When I came in a while ago, asking her if my arthritis was punishment from a vengeful god for years of being overweight, she laughed and said ‘no! who in your family has arthritis?’ I had to say, ‘my skinny ass dad. And my sister who runs marathons.’ She helped me understand that arthritis just runs in my family, and I should focus on reducing inflammation in my joints, and getting more active in my daily life. The whole team is up on game – I had an arthritis bonding moment with two (much smaller than me) staff members on her team. Afterwards I noticed that my ease was connected to the fact that neither of them assumed or even implied (as so many nurses and aids and X-Rayers and others have done over the years) that my weight was their business to discuss or diagnose.

I show up to her office with a list that shows my (also inherited) tendency towards hypochondria – every twitch and dis-ease that’s happened since my last visit. She listens to each thing and makes sure we have an action item, or that my concern is addressed (which often means telling me that my late night web MD-inspired health conclusion was, in fact, imprecise). She teases me only in relation to my own self-deprecation…but she takes each concern seriously.

She’s also a human being when it comes to sexuality, drugs, gender, healing – I can tell her what I’m actually practicing and feeling, how I’m moving through life. That way, I get the best wholistic guidance and treatment. She discourages unnecessary treatments and medication, and celebrates how healthy and happy I am in my daily life as a forty year old.

Get you a doctor who cares for you as you are and celebrates your miraculous body!