2023-12-01 05:00:00
A father from Longueuil suffering from stomach pain was told for several months by his family doctor that he simply had to lose weight for his “fatty liver”, even though he had serious cancer of the small intestine. .
“We always came back with the conclusion: you need to lose weight. Given that I was fat, it was the easy answer to give,” realizes Simon Doucet.
“They didn’t push further, they didn’t do more tests!” adds his partner Jessica Brodeur.
Aged 46, the resident of Saint-Hubert, in Montérégie, is convinced that he was the victim of medical grossophobia. Standing 5 feet 7 inches tall, his weight has always hovered around 220 pounds.
“It still hurt”
In May 2021, he consulted the emergency room of Charles-Le Moyne hospital, in Longueuil, for stomach aches. Medical tests showed nothing at that time.
“But it still hurt,” recalls the man who says he has a high tolerance for pain. I’m not the type to go to the doctor for nothing.”
During an initial follow-up with his family doctor, Mr. Doucet was told that the tests showed that he had the beginnings of a “fatty liver” and that he needed to lose weight to resolve his stomach ailments. .
“She told me that, but I more or less believed it,” admits the patient who started taking medication for daily relief.
In the fall, another doctor at his clinic gave him the same speech.
“He said to me, ‘Sir, you still have pain, but you haven’t lost any weight.’ There was nothing to do,” laments Mr. Doucet, who found it “insulting”. But I went to the meetings, I said to myself: sometimes they find something!”
For almost a year, Mr. Doucet says he consulted his clinic at least four times for the same stomach aches. Each time, he was only told to lose weight without ever sending him for further tests.
At one point, the pain prevented him from eating all kinds of foods that were too acidic, too spicy or too fatty.
“I no longer ate many things, everything hurt,” recalls the financial security advisor.
“I was in shock”
For his partner, it was clear that something was wrong.
“I didn’t believe it!” she repeats. It’s not true that weight is the cause of all ills.”
Portrait of Simon Doucet who experienced medical fatphobia, in Longueuil, Monday, November 13, 2023. In this photo: Simon Doucet and his partner Jessica Brodeur. Photo Agence QMI, JOEL LEMAY Photo Agence QMI, JOEL LEMAY
On April 13, 2022, nothing was going well. Bent over in excruciating pain, Mr. Doucet was rushed to hospital. Tests quickly revealed cancer of the small intestine.
“I was in shock,” admits the father. There was a tumor that blocked 100% of the small intestine.”
Emergency surgery, the man was lucky in the circumstances: the surgery removed all traces of the cancer. He did not need any further treatment.
Now recovered, Mr. Doucet continues to see his family doctor, but admits that the relationship has taken a hit.
“I trusted. She studied there, I know nothing about it,” he admits, adding that he did not have the energy to file a complaint against his doctor.
“But no one talks to me about foie gras anymore. Nor my weight!” he quips.
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