Doctor ignored signs of cancer because of weight.

I can provide proof to the mods if they request it.

Two years ago I started jumping through hoops to get approved for a gastric bypass. I was 425lbs. Every month for almost a year I had to go to my doctor and discuss weight loss. In October 2019 I mentioned to my doctor that I had a lump on my neck. I wasn’t terribly worried. My mother made jokes about it being my secret adult Adam’s apple (I’m a woman). I told my doctor that I thought it was getting bigger and causing pain and complications with swallowing larger bites. She said it was most likely a fatty cyst that would decrease in size with weight loss and that the swallowing shouldn’t be an issue, considering how fine I needed to chew my food post-surgery. She told me my insurance wouldn’t cover any testing unless I lost weight first, anyway.

In October of 2020, I went back to my doctor purely because of my worry over my neck. It went from being a mass the size of a golf ball to being the size of a grapefruit. The kicker? I was down 126lbs.(YAY! 200 CLUB!!) Doctor’s now worried. After testing, I get sent to a specialist. Results came back today that not only is it cancer, it’s most likely spread to my lymph nodes.

This isn’t my only health problem attributed to my weight. When I shattered my ankle, a previous doctor told me that it wasn’t broken but that it hurt because of the weight of my body standing on it. Six months later and still in pain, sent to a specialist to find it healed incorrectly and I’ll be in pain the rest of my life. For years I’ve spent at least two days a month every single month passing out and vomiting, completely bedridden due to my periods. I know it’s not normal. I can’t take birth control so I am told to “tough it out” and that it will all get easier when I lose weight. It’s been 136lbs. How much weight is enough to be taken seriously? How much do I need to lose before I won’t hurt anymore? I’m so angry. I’m so scared. I’ve worked my ass off, literally and figuratively to become a healthier person and I’m still ignored and tutted, like an ignorant child. If you read this, I appreciate it. I just want to be seen as a patient, not a fat blob by a doctor.

Edit: I wanted to say I’m only 30.

submitted by /u/samladyjam
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