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Jay Kallio, a transgender male who transitioned from female to male at age 50 (and is now 56), is fighting back after his doctor failed to reveal his breast cancer diagnosis or provide treatment options.
More after the jump.
Kallio, who has undergone hormonal treatments, but no surgical treatment explains to the New York Daily News, that he went to the doctor after finding a suspicious lump in his breast. The doctor "appeared bemused by the fact that his body did not match his apparent gender."
Because bemused is what you want when you've got a strange lump on your body.
The doctor apparently didn't know whether to refer to him as male or female and inexplicably didn't tell Kallio that the lump was cancerous.
Kallio says he found out the diagnosis “accidentally” from a lab technician. The doctor was also “hostile” and refused to provide him with treatment options.
Kallio says, “It delayed my care past the therapeutic window for chemotherapy. You should have chemotherapy within three months of cancer therapy. Because I had to change providers and kept encountering discrimination, it delayed the care. So much of cancer care has to do with early treatment.”
He continues, “I kept hitting this stone wall of non-acceptance. It’s a systemic problem. It was at all levels of providers, from doctors to housekeeping to the nursing staff. People need to be aware that this discrimination will not be tolerated.”
According to Leon Rodriguez, the director of the Department of Health Human Service’s Office for Civil Rights, it's illegal for federal health programs and companies receiving federal dollars to discriminate against transgendered people.
Hopefully, this while shine a light on the discrimination faced by trans people in their care and treatment (and we're hoping there's some serious punishment being levied on the doctor in question).
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