Podcast – Thrive Beyond Size

I had a podcast interview this morning that profoundly affected me.
I’ve struggled with many things about medicine for a while – I’m proud to be a physician and love my job, but I’m also deeply aware of the harm we often cause patients, and the medical trauma that results.

Somewhere along the way I lost blind faith in medicine, and I think that’s a good thing. We often do things in medicine because a guideline says so, but we don’t question the evidence (or financial motivations) behind them. Or worse, we do things because “that’s just the way it’s done” when the evidence clearly tells us something different.
But I often feel judged when I question things, and sometimes I doubt myself because of that.

And then I have an interview like this, and I realize more than ever how important it is to question medicine.
I interviewed Diana and Emma from Lipedema Canada.

You may have never heard of lipedema. Here’s why:
– it’s a condition affecting primarily women
– it’s not taught in Canadian medical schools
– very few Canadian doctors have even heard of it
– there’s no diagnostic codes available for it in Canada
– there’s no research done about it in Canada
– there are zero surgeons in this country with the skills to treat it
– it’s mistaken for being fat, and we all know the bias associated with that

Why does this matter?
– 1 in 9 women are affected by this – that means over 2 million Canadians!
– it is a painful and debilitating condition
– and treatment is available

What makes this all so shocking is that this isn’t some rare, unknown thing. There is a massive body of high quality literature about lipedema. Canada is literally 80 years behind the rest of the world.

Women affected often need to travel to the US or to Europe to get the treatment they need, if they’re even able to get diagnosed.
Can you imagine knowing something is wrong with your body, seeing doctor after doctor, and never getting an answer because your doctor doesn’t know (through no fault of their own)?

Or being told to just eat less and move more and then being shamed when it doesn’t work?
Or worse, doing research, and having questions about lipedema, and your doctor labeling you as “crazy” or a “problem patient” when you try to bring it up because they’ve never heard of it?

It’s one thing if it’s a truly rare thing that the medical community is still learning about. But that’s not the case with lipedema. It’s well known and a common diagnosis – just not in Canada.

This interview was meant to provide education on lipedema, and it ended up being so much more.

It will be released on my podcast on June 5th. I recommend listening to it to learn more about lipedema, and also how Canadian healthcare is failing women.

– Michelle