Amanda Lee was shattered by her experience with the rude doctor, but many kind people online encouraged her to see another doctor.
Amanda Lee did not think her visit to the doctor would turn out to be a nightmare. She came back feeling worse adding more stress to her existing health concerns. Despite the doctor dismissing her concerns, she followed her intuition, which was right from the beginning. Her harrowing experience led her to become a champion for women's health and inspires everyone to be their own health advocates.
According to People, Lee stated that she decided to consult a doctor after she dealt with stomach pain and gastrointestinal distress for months. The uncomfortable health ordeal caused her to lose a shocking 35 lbs, and the woman found it challenging to eat. Concerned about the pain, the LA-based actress, singer, and photographer visited a gastroenterologist to understand the reasons behind her declining health. However, her experience with the doctor left her deeply scarred.
Instead of conducting tests to deduce her issues, the doctor body-shamed her and even suggested that it was good that she could not eat. The doctor insensitively added that it was, in fact, a "blessing" she could only eat digestible food and that she did not look "malnourished."
"I've been dealing with abdominal cramping for months now and no doctor will listen to me, so I though I'd go to this new GI doctor that I had to fight for, and I told him that I hadn't been eating because it causes pain and I have pain when I eat. He looked at me and had the audacity to say, 'Maybe that's not such a bad thing,'" said Lee in a Tik Tok video, soon after the appointment. She continued, "I'm so upset. I'm so upset."
"He said, 'Maybe that's not such a bad thing' that I couldn't eat because of my pain. He was praising the fact that I was not eating," said Lee, according to Today. Besides body-shaming Lee, the medical practitioner refused to run any diagnostic tests on her. Lee was devastated and left the appointment in tears.
The video garnered a lot of attention and many encouraged her to see another doctor. Motivated by the support she received online, Lee went to see another doctor. It is then that she heard the shocking news of her illness. The woman who was sent for a colonoscopy returned with a heartbreaking tumor diagnosis. This explains how potentially fatal a situation she would have been in had she let the ignorant doctors dismiss her concerns. The tumor was removed through surgery. Unfortunately, the cancer spread to her lymph nodes, and Lee was diagnosed with Stage 3A colon cancer.
Consequently, Lee began chemotherapy. She said everything was going as planned. She added, "I still have a lot of hair, so I still look pretty normal. Chemo is hard, but I can do it. It's a small price to pay for a long life." The woman also thanked all the people online, who lifted her spirit and inspired her to go for another consultation.
"I am so grateful ... to everyone who reached out and said, 'Please go find another doctor,' " she said.
Further, Lee urged people to be their own advocates, especially when it comes to their health. If you feel something is not right, trust that instinct. "I'm not saying the cancer outcome is normal. That's not normal. But the way he handled the situation is normal, and it is way too common. It's barbaric and something our medical system needs to change," Lee said. She continued, "If one woman wakes up tomorrow and hears my story and decides to find another doctor after a doctor had treated her poorly, then I have done my job."
References:
https://people.com/health/woman-body-shamed-by-her-doctor-about-losing-weight-later-learns-she-has-stage-3-colon-cancer/
https://www.today.com/health/colon-cancer-young-adults-woman-28-shares-diagnosis-t220806
Cover Image Source: Amanda Lee's Tik Tok video
