So fatphobia among doctors isn’t just harmful to the fat person, but to their entire families. My husband, who is very thin, was having horrible rectal bleeding. Blood was just pouring out. He was understandably very worried, and asked me to go with him to his doctor’s appointment for support. When we got there, the doctor barely even looked at him–but my presence was bothering her.

She said that his problems were obviously caused by our diet, and then began to lecture me for a good ten minutes on the importance of whole grains and proper portion sizes. My fat has nothing to do with my husband’s rectal bleeding! She sent us away without ordering any sort of test or making any recommendation other than I should, “feed him better and take care of yourself.” Not only was I in tears after being blamed for my husband’s health problems, my husband was freaking out because the amount of blood he was losing was obviously a sign of something seriously wrong.

Fortunately, we were able to get an appointment with another doctor who scheduled a colonoscopy. It turns out my husband had polyps in his colon, and he had been bleeding so badly he was anemic. He is fine now, but I am still blown away by the fact that he was essentially refused potentially life-saving medical treatment because he is married to a fat woman.