Celene’s POV

Speaker: Celene 

Hi, my name is Celene  

Please describe how obesity has impacted your health and well-being. 

Obesity had impacted my health because I had sleep apnea, as well as I had a fatty liver caused from obesity. I also got out of breath easily and was not able to do many things like others could because of carrying the extra weight. My inability to do things such as hiking, bicycling, kayaking and other activities that required a lot of energy and effort. I was unable to participate in with my friends and family. So it did impact the things that I was unable to do and also participate in that I would have enjoyed otherwise. 

Describe your experience with obesity care, such as medications or counseling, for example. 

My doctor unfortunately blamed everything on being overweight. Every ache or pain that I had and every symptom that I had was blamed on obesity. Unfortunately, one of the problems that I had was breast cancer and my doctor did not take me seriously whenever I was complaining that I was not feeling well after a lot of testing and reaching out to another physician, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. But I feel that if my doctor would have taken my symptoms seriously when I brought them to his attention, that my breast cancer would have been discovered much sooner than what it was discovered at stage 2A.  

Tell us why you think health insurance should cover obesity care. 

I think health insurance should cover patients that are having problems with obesity, especially if they’re looking for help and treatment. If you’re obese, you are more prone to have other problems. So, you would think from an insurance standpoint, that the insurance would be interested in helping you in the early stages whenever you want help instead of after you get so sick with other complications caused from the obesity to help you along the way early versus later.