Vital voices: Victoria's story living with ulcerative colitis

In this video Victoria tells her story of almost losing her life to ulcerative colitis, getting a diagnosis and her story of implicit bias in healthcare.

Transcript

00:00

In one week, I went from 130 pounds to 98 pounds. They kept telling me all kinds of things that I had.

00:07

They were saying everything but what it really was. [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:14

My journey to receive a diagnosis almost cost me my life. When I was pregnant with my first daughter,

00:20

I started noticing blood in my stool. I told the OB/GYN. She told me that was normal.

00:27

She said you're pregnant, and you have hemorrhoids. After I gave birth to my daughter, the blood and my stool never stopped.

00:35

We started going to the hospital. In one week, I went from 130 pounds to 98 pounds. They kept telling me all kinds of things that I had.

00:44

They were saying everything but what it really was. When I did get to the emergency room,

00:50

I was not met with compassion. I was met with accusations of drug use. My pain has always been minimized by doctors.

00:58

I've heard doctors and nurses tell me that I am a strong Black woman with regard to pain.

01:05

People think that because I'm a Black woman that I'm stronger. It's not fair. There are so many Black people, Black women

01:14

that have died for no reason simply because of that implicit bias. At the end of the day, this is my body,

01:22

and no one can tell me what I'm feeling. [LOGO SOUNDS]