078: AP Young on Hashimoto’s, Osteoarthritis, Black Maternal Health, & Being a Special Needs Mom

Alicia Young (aka AP) is a writer, blogger and public speaker who lives her life out loud and unfiltered. She has built her platform to include in-depth, first-hand experiences of mental health concerns, body diversity, being a special needs mom (one of her sons has Tourette’s syndrome, ADHD, and is on the autism spectrum), and navigating life with chronic illness and disability (including autoimmune disease and osteoarthritis). Like Lauren, she was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease — but by the time she was treated, she had to have her thyroid removed because it had formed a goiter. Additionally, she has had harrowing birth experiences as a plus-size Black woman, and candidly shares her story — from multiple miscarriages to birth itself — here. Alicia has a vested interest in teaching plus size women how to advocate for their health care in the face of weight-discriminatory culture in healthcare (and beyond). As a fat woman living with disability, she has been told she has to lose weight (via a gastric sleeve) before she will be given a much-needed hip replacement — and has been navigating the experience with grace, honesty, and total candor. AP also has a passion for fashion and beauty, specifically for women of extended sizes. Through her blog and social media platforms, she encourages and inspires women to shed stereotypes and step out of the boxes society has dictated for them — whether they exist in larger bodies, or not.

Tune in as Alicia shares:

that she was diagnosed with seep apnea in 2010 that in 2016, she started having pain in her body during a pregnancy — and was diagnosed with osteoarthritis that she grew a goiter in her neck and was later diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease that she miscarried her son’s twin and has had 8 miscarriages, as well as a blighted ovum that despite all her miscarriages, no doctors ever flagged fertility issues in her medical file until she had her last son the medical PTSD she developed in relation to her fertility because of her many miscarriages that fat women have to fight harder to be treated normally when it comes to pregnancy — because so many doctors resort to C-sections before they become necessary that as a fat Black woman, she has been discriminated against in multiple medical scenarios — from being told to lose weight, to being put on unnecessary medications, to being ignored and not believed (re: pain, labor, and more), to procedures performed while she was unconscious that were not communicated — to facing her own mortality that in hindsight, many of her later birth experiences were likely influenced by mounting thyroid concerns that she developed Asherman’s syndrome in the midst of her pregnancy issues how her weight, age, and race played into delays in treatment tantamount to medical malpratice that she’s been told she needs a hip replacement because of her osteoarthritis, but her doctors are requiring her to get a gastric sleeve (to lose weight medically) in order to give her the replacement how she feels about weight loss surgery as a proud fat woman — and how this new experience relates to her struggles with eating disorders how food deserts affect health — and how food deserts often surround Black communities and communities of color why it’s so important to know your family medical history why she uses mobility aids what it’s like to be a special-needs mom in the midst of her many personal health concerns that she’s been committed to the psych ward before (for a week, about a decade ago) — and recognizes the importance of mental health in her total wellness journey her tips for living a full, self-aware life — from one’s own health, to being a special needs momma

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