Let me set the stage…

Last year, I lost my health insurance.  Instead of paying the exorbitant price for COBRA, I chose to give Medicaid a try.  I live in NYC and had not heard anything terrible about it.  So…why not?  Follow me on a ride.

A few important disclaimers here:

  • I go to the doctor…for everything.  I am not one of those “I ain’t goin’ to no doctor” kind of black women.  I ask for what I want, and I ask questions.
  • I’ve had high blood pressure for probably 12 years, I manage it with meds.   
  • I decided to lose some weight at the end of December on my own, meaning through diet and exercise because I was tired of taking meds. 
  • Since then I’ve lost over 25 Inches around my whole body and 25 pounds.  I’m still working out at least 5 days a week.

My first Medicaid, experience was with a gynecologist.  She was awesome!  Young, thoughtful and thorough.  My only issue was appointment times were hard to come by.  But I loved her bedside manner.  In fact, I asked her if she could be my primary care doctor cause I loved her.  Anyhoo, yes, the doctor office was packed and yes there was a long wait but overall, the experience wasn’t bad. 

Now let’s fast forward to last week.  Because of COVID I hadn’t been to the doctor for months and I needed to in order to get my BP pills refilled.  I choose a doctor online based on location.  I wanted a black doctor, but they don’t list that on the websites.  This woman was white, eastern European, which was interesting because I live in the land of Latinx.  First visit, she walks in, says Hola, which I say hello and she goes “Oh!  You speak English?!  None of my patients normally do!”.  Me ?. 

She pulls up the chart on the computer, and the very NEXT thing she says is “You’re over 40, and based on your weight you need to have bariatric surgery.”  What?  You don’t want to ask me any questions about my history?  Like you don’t know I’ve been working my ass off to lose weight and that have been losing weight.  So, I respond, well I’m not doing it because I’m trying to lose weight without medical intervention.  Then once she hears I’ve lost weight, I’m an English speaking unicorn again.  She only has had 5 patients who have ever lost weight naturally. 

I don’t know if I can even convey how annoyed I was at this point.  It was as if Drumpf, was in person talking to me about being black in America level of annoyed. 

She changes her tune when I say I work out 5-7 days a week.  Then it’s all your heart sounds like someone who works out regularly.  Blah blah blah.  So I get bloodwork done, which I’m curious about because I want to compare my stats.  She says “she’s fairly certain I will be prediabetic”, I reply back, I won’t be because I’ve never been pre-diabetic or diabetic in my life, even at my biggest weight.  So, I leave with an appointment to come back this week to get my results.  When I left, I was mad but admittedly not, I’m never going back mad. 

So now, it’s today.  I get in there, and she starts telling me about how my numbers are so marvelous.  Even my Vitamin D, she asks if I take vitamins and I say yes and she goes on to say I don’t believe they work.  YOU JUST TOLD ME MY VITAMIN D WAS GREAT.  I digress, I’m like ok what are the numbers?  She’s like doesn’t matter they are good, let’s talk about your cholesterol.  I’m a little peeved because I want to know all the numbers.  #nerdalert

Me:  OK fine, what is it? 

Her: Its 243. It’s very, very, very high and we need to fix it. 

Me (looking at my numbers from a year ago): Ok it went down from last time.  It was 253 and last time my doctor told me it was nothing emergent. 

Her (gets up from her chair, clearly annoyed):  which Dr?  It’s too high. 

Me: Well, I don’t want to take another medicine, what are my other options?

Her (shrugging): if you don’t want to take medicine, I don’t know what to tell you.  I guess you can try on your own, but I don’t think it will work.  Doesn’t matter, up to you.

Me (no change in posture or anything):  So there isn’t any way to impact this with a change in diet? 

Her: I mean the only times I’ve seen numbers change is after dramatic weight loss after a bariatric surgery.  (Here we go again)

Me: I’m not doing bariatric surgery, so you are telling me there are no cases of people changing their numbers without pills or surgery? 

Her:  I only know of 5 people who lost weight naturally, so I recom…

Me: so your only recommendation is meds or bariatric surgery? 

Her:  I don’t like the way you are talking to me, it’s very aggressive and I’m not talking to you anymore. 

Me (shocked and appalled):  Oh, what’s aggressive, the fact that I’m a black woman asking you questions about her health care as opposed to just listening to you? 

Her (screaming now): NO, I AM NOT TALKING TO YOU ANYMORE.  My son is married to a black woman. 

Me: You are being very aggressive by yelling at me.  I’m glad you know one black woman.  But since I came here your only suggestion to me has been to get bariatric surgery.  You aren’t even trying to give me options. So, what medicine would you be prescribing?

*I haven’t moved from the chair and my voice is the same as it was from the beginning. *

Her (pouting):  Statins

Me: And what level and why that level?

Her: Your questions are strange, you act like you are a doctor. 

Me (Getting up because this is fruitless):  I’m leaving because you are the worst doctor I’ve ever been to. 

Then I left, and as I was leaving I told a girl in the lobby filling out paperwork to not go to this doctor because she’s rude as shit and walked out. 

Now, maybe I’m bougie, but I have NEVER had a doctor be this rude and unwilling to think outside of the box and give me options to consider.  I am furious.  But it made me realize, no wonder we are dying.  If we don’t know to ask questions and speak up for our own health, then who will?  And if this is what happens when you do stand up for yourself, then we don’t stand a chance.  I’m reporting her to Medicaid, without question.  Now, I need to go ahead and find a new doctor or new insurance.  Plus, I need to do some lower your cholesterol research. 

Who out there has been treated like this? How did you handle it?  And if you have any tips on the cholesterol-lowering let me know that too.  Comment below!

Toodles!