Story #thread. Content warning: medical interactions

OK so as a fat Black queer disabled woman I hate going to the doctor. Some medical professional always says some weird, oppressive, offensive shit to me. So I only go when it’s bad.
Recently things got bad. My feet felt like they were asleep all the time & it started to hurt. So I went to the doctor & explained my symptoms as well as other stuff I’ve been dealing with: fatigue, seasonal depression, & occasional issues with my eyes.
Rather than just tell me to lose weight she actually listened & sent me for a bunch of tests. Today I learned that I have B12 deficiency—as in levels so low they could not give an proper reading. Somewhere below 170 (typical range is 200-800).
There are a few expected causes for B12 deficiency namely being vegetarian/vegan (not me) & certain medicines, none of those apply to me. So in a week I have to go back in & start the process of figuring out why my body isn’t absorbing B12.
What’s wild is I read the list of symptoms and I have almost all of them: fatigue, breathlessness, vision loss, numbness, balance issues, and decrease in mental health. I’ve likely been living with this for weeks if not months but I just chalked it all up to the pandemic.
Fatigue and depression often go together and I normally get seasonal depression so that wasn’t strange for me. Breathlessness I blamed on exercising less in the past year. It wasn’t until the numbness in my feet got painful that I actually got concerned & made an appointment.
So I’m sharing this in case there is something going on with your bodymind that you have dismissed as “just”pandemic stress. Go see a doctor. Don’t wait. I should have gone in weeks ago when I first noticed the numbness but I waited until it got painful.
I waited because I didn’t want to just be told to lose weight. I waited because I felt ashamed that my body was somehow failing me. I waited because I was worried they would tell me there was nothing they could do to ease my pain.
This is what fatphobia & racism & sexism in medicine does. It keeps patients away who need care. Esp. during a pandemic where going to the doctor already feels like taking on an additional risk of exposure. But if you’re reading this & you’re hurting, get help. I’m glad I did.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Dr. Sami Schalk is Stressed

Dr. Sami Schalk is Stressed Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @DrSamiSchalk

17 Jan
I worked in the dean’s office, the student community engaged learning office and the women’s center. I always worked at least 2 jobs plus a summer job as a student. I think a lot about how different my experience would have been if I didn’t have to do that.
I think having to work so much only to have white boys whose parents were paying their tuition question why I couldn’t just chill out & party like they did was an early awakening moment for me. They lived in a totally different universe.
One time I had to explain to a peer that I only ate on campus because my scholarship included room & board. He genuinely asked me why I didn’t have a credit card from my parents to use and I didn’t know how to explain it to him.
Read 4 tweets
6 Jan
These are terrorists.
These are terrorists.
These are terrorists.
These are terrorists.

White men have been terrorizing BIPOC, women, & queer folks for generations. They cannot stand that we have survived.
Call them what they are.
These are terrorists.
I spent my young adulthood being told that Brown men with turbans and guns who hated America and hated democracy and hated freedom and hate women and hated queers were the threat against my life and wellbeing but I have always known that white men are the most dangerous people.
White men commit most mass murders. White men control most of the money not being used to feed and house the poor. White men ARE ACTIVELY TRYING TO STOP AN ELECTION. White men are the terrorists. Always have been.
Read 6 tweets
14 Dec 20
Professors of color, has anyone written about the complicated dynamics & emotional harm of grading student work that reflects their unconsciously held racist beliefs that just get dropped on you suddenly? Asking for me.
And generally my rule of thumb is don’t talk about student work publicly, especially critically, but also how the fuck are Black & other POC professors supposed to develop strategies & support each other in the wake of white student racism if we don’t talk about it?
My students are 95% trying very hard and would not consider themselves racist but every finals season I get at least 5 papers that are emotionally horrific for me to grade. They are often trying to learn and don’t mean to be harmful but WOOF. Fucking woof.
Read 6 tweets
14 Dec 20
What if I just anxiously livetweet my window install because having strange men in my house makes me hyper aware of everything and too distracted to work. Here is the crane downstairs below my unit that they’re gonna use to lift the picture window up here.
Last night I moved all my plants away from the windows and Ritter into the spare bedroom or the loft. It’s 23 degrees outside and 8 windows need to be removed and replaced in the living room (which is open to the dining room, kitchen and loft/office) and master bedroom.
They said this will basically take all day which makes sense. It’s a lot of work. But between COVID & the weather, this is a pretty miserable day.
Read 9 tweets
14 Dec 20
Today friends I ask you to pray to Beyoncé or whom/whatever you believe in bc I’m getting new windows installed AND the first set of finals are due which means:
1. My one or more windows will be off during 20 degree weather
2. There will be strange men in my house all day...
3. I may have to interact with said men
4. I will be freezing in my house trying to handle all the student emails and meetings that happen right before papers are due
These windows were ordered in July when I bought the condo as part of the closing deal but I have a really big picture window which had to be specially made and got massively delayed in production so it just finally is now being installed!
Read 4 tweets
17 Sep 20
Oh did you want a long early morning rant #thread? Yes? No? Too late, here it is. Let’s talk about how the insistence on returning to college football not only a reflection of racism & capitalism, but also the deep failures of patriarchal culture. Ready? Let’s go.
Ok so yesterday I talked a bit about racism & capitalism in the organized sport industry particularly football. Here’s that thread. Note: I’m sure there are scholars who have written about this, this is just my Black feminist quick take.
So football relies heavily on the athletic performance of Black men for the entertainment & profit of predominantly white men. In the NFL when players protest, they’re told to shut up & play or that they make enough money so they shouldn’t care (racist capitalist perspective).
Read 27 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!