WORST DOCTOR EVER

I am still in shock... hours after my visit.  Today, I had the absolute most offensive doctor I have ever come into contact with.  If anyone even recommends you to Dr. Walsh with Obstetric Manipulative Medicine you better have thick skin or the common sense not to go.

I'll give you some background.  I was originally recommended to Dr. Walsh because of what I thought was a pinched nerve in my back.  Apparently, my ribs are cracked and also popping out of place because Baby Girl is running out of room.  I've been going to see a WONDERFUL chiropractor- Dr. Crisp.  However, my midwife group thought it might make sense for me to go see a specialist since this problem has been going on for about two weeks now.

The day started out like any other.  I waited in a waiting room to see the doctor for about 45 minutes.  Finally, I hear him approaching the door as he says to the nurse, "ANOTHER pregnant woman?!  UGH!".  The nurse apologizes (I guess for my being pregnant???).  And IN walks Dr. Walsh with two trainees. 

Dr. Walsh introduces himself and his trainees.  He asks a little about the history of this rib issue I've been having.  I told him I've been seeing a chiropractor and he tells me that there is no way a chiropractor knows what she is talking about.  He then has his trainees "take a guess" at what might be wrong with me.  This goes on for about 10 minutes.  Finally, he steps in and examines my back.  He then informs me, "It seems like your ribs might be slightly cracked and popped out of place because you're fat."  Yes, you read that right.  He told a pregnant woman she was "fat".  I said, "Excuse me.  I'm not fat.  I'm pregnant."  He says, "You ARE fat but its a good fat.  You're beautiful!  Embrace it.  What other time in your life can you get as fat as you want and no one can say a thing to you?".

The training session continues for another hour where he has his trainees fumble around on me and try to make adjustments that were not correct.  He would show them how to do it properly on his test dummy... aka me.

Some of the other highlights from today's visit included him asking me, "Are you leaking yet?  I don't want to get any of that stuff on me.  I had a friend who was 8 months pregnant like you and did it on purpose."

The referred to my boobs as "watermelons".

He had me laying on my back with his hands cupped over my ears (he was in the process of cracking my neck) for a good 10 minutes while he taught a lesson to his trainees about the proper way to adjust a patient's neck.  I finally interrupted him by saying, I can't lay on my back this long.  It's not good for the baby.  And he FINISHED his sentence before he released my head!!!

Oh, and he told me that the reason my baby doesn't have enough room and my ribs are cracked is because I slouch.  And if my husband catches me slouching, he should YELL at me.  He actually instructed me to go home and tell Travis that if he sees me slouching, YELL at his pregnant wife.

Some advice I read in an article a few months ago fortunately for me prepared me for just this very visit.  The article talked about how to handle unwanted or rude comments during pregnancy.  The author said, "take your pregnancy out of the situation.  If someone said this to you when you weren't pregnant and it is STILL offensive, then you should say something."  The author didn't recommend a full on rage at every person who put their foot in their mouth but this doctor obviously had no clue that his behavior was unacceptable.  So, knowing if I didn't say something, I would go home and stew about it... I said something.

"Dr. Walsh, just so you know, in the future when you are dealing with pregnant women or just women in general, maybe you should avoid using the term fat.  It's very offensive.  Also, terms like watermelons and leaking might not be the most professional way to address your patients.  I don't think this is a good fit for me so I will not be coming back to see you."

Maybe not the witty response I would be proud of years from now but I got my point across.  And considering I have ungodly amounts of hormones racing through my body this close to the end of my pregnancy, it was the best I could muster.