The Fat Doctor Podcast

Jordan's Story: When Endometriosis Gets Blamed on Being Fat

• Dr Asher Larmie • Season 5 • Episode 28

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Jordan's seven GP visits for debilitating period pain, fatigue, and pelvic symptoms should have led to an endometriosis diagnosis within the first appointment. Instead, every symptom was blamed on weight, leaving them dismissed, traumatized, and untreated. In this episode, I expose how medical fatphobia intersects with misogyny to deny fat people proper gynecological care, and why being fat makes you fundamentally unsafe with most doctors. Through Jordan's story, I reveal the devastating reality that fat patients face when seeking help for legitimate medical conditions. 

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Hello, and welcome to episode 28 of the Fat Doctor podcast. I am your host, Dr. Asher Larmie. This is Season 5, believe it or not. Season 5, because it's 2025, which means I've been doing this podcast for almost 5 years.

I am doing back-to-back episode recordings. It's really hot in my room, I've had to open the window, and I live next door to a farm. Make of that what you will. It might get noisy today, the sound quality might not be great, but I don't know what to tell you. I'm really hot, I need the window open.

Today, we're going to be talking about Jordan. So, Jordan's story, folks. I'm very excited to be telling you about Jordan. For those who don't know, every three episodes or so, I will create a fictional character. I will give them gender-neutral name and gender-neutral pronouns, because I don't want gender in my fictional characters. I don't want that to get in the way of your listening pleasure.

So yeah, I create a character, and I tell a story, and I think it's really important, because I think stories are a really great way of imparting information, making a point in a way that people can really engage with. So I really like doing these, and so, without further ado, Jordan's story.

Jordan is 26 years old and has been struggling with severe period pain since their teens. For the last 8 years, they have been back and forth to their GP complaining of painful periods. And their doctors have said periods are supposed to hurt. You're just sensitive. Lose weight, and it will get better!

They kept being told that it was normal, it was to be expected, especially when they were younger, but still, you know, 26 now, keep getting told it's normal. Given birth control as a solution, here you go, take some birth control, start at quite a young age, maybe it helps, maybe it doesn't, not really. But yeah, no one cares. Not one single person.

So I'm going to tell you Jordan's story, I'm gonna tell you about a year in the life of Jordan. We'll assume it's a year. Maybe it's longer than a year, maybe it's 18 months. 18 months in the life of Jordan, alright?

Jordan goes to see their GP. Complains of severe period pain. The GP says periods hurt. That's normal. Says, lose some weight. It will get better. Because if you lose some weight, it will help with the hormonal balance, and of course, it's your hormones that are causing the pain. So lose some weight, the GP says, and sends them on their merry way.

Jordan goes back second visit. This time, Jordan says, I'm tired. Like all the time, I'm exhausted. The GP says that's because you're carrying around lots of extra weight. Have you tried exercise? Have you tried going for a walk?

No real investigations, no, like, oh, I'm gonna do some blood tests or any of that, just try and be less stressed, and less fat, if you would, and that will fix everything, you won't be so fatigued. So off Jordan goes.

And to be fair to Jordan, Jordan is persistent. I think by this point in time, I'd be like, well, that's it, I'm done. But no, no, Jordan goes back. It's a fictional character, I can do whatever I want. Third appointment now.

This time around is necessary, it's medically necessary one, because they're getting recurrent urinary tract infections. Like, almost every month. Around the time of their period. They get a urinary tract infection, it becomes very painful. They get pain and burning and stinging when they pass urine, and they take that cranberry stuff over the counter, they drink more water, they do all of that stuff, like be careful what underwear you use, and all that stuff.

So Jordan brings a urine sample to the doctor, the doctor puts a dipstick in it and says, oh, I can see a bit of blood, but can't see anything else. It's probably not an infection, I'll send it off to the lab. See if it grows anything, and it doesn't grow anything, and that's the end of that. Still getting the symptoms, though. But, you know, they've been dismissed.

Jordan goes back to see the GP. Fourth time. This time around, it's because they're constipated. And they've had a history of constipation actually going back years. GP spends a long time asking about their diet, asks all sorts of weird and wonderful questions, makes all sorts of assumptions about how they're eating, you know, too many fast foods and carbs, and not getting enough green leafy vegetables, and blah blah blah.

Basically dismisses it as poor diet choices. Suggests some kind of fiber supplements, gives some dietary advice, you know, eat your five fruit and veg a day, maybe try eating more, you could probably do with that. That kind of stuff. Fourth visit now in 18 months.

Jordan goes back to the doctor. Fifth time now. This time with back pain. Back pain comes and goes, like, they've had a few episodes of it now, it only lasts a few days. But when they get it, it's really, really bad. It's kind of all, like, a band across the back of their lower back. Across both sides, doesn't spread anywhere, but, like, it really hurts when it happens, and they've tried massage, they've tried stretching, they've been doing Pilates, that's not been helping.

You know, that plus the period pains, plus everything else, you know, it's really getting them down. The GP goes, yeah, back pain is very common in fat people. It's because your core is weak, it's because you don't do enough exercise, it's because of all that excess weight that puts pressure on the spine. I tell you what, I'm gonna refer you to a physiotherapist.

This is the first time the GP has actually done anything. So, congratulations to the GP for actually doing something, but they get referred to the physiotherapist, and they wait, you know, 6 months to finally see one. Physiotherapist goes, yeah, you need to lose some weight, and here's some back exercises you can do. One appointment, this is the NHS after all, get sent home. That's it.

Sixth appointment. Jordan goes back to the GP. This time, Jordan goes to is describing symptoms of low mood. Are we surprised? Just to recap, painful periods every month. Chronic fatigue, recurrent urinary tract infections, constipation. Recurrent back pain. These are all very good reasons to have low mood, to be feeling low. Especially because no one's listening to Jordan. And everyone's making Jordan feel as if they're the one that's at fault. They are to blame. It's Jordan's fault.

So not only are they not being listened to, are they not being cared for, are they not having their needs met, but in addition, they're blaming themselves. And they're being made to feel like it's all their fault, so I'm not surprised Jordan's feeling a little bit low.

And a very smug GP sort of acknowledges, you know, I'm so sorry that you're feeling sad, checks that they're not suicidal, very important. Because a GP doesn't want to get sued for missing a potential suicide. So lots of questions about suicidal ideation and self-harm, very important. But not much beyond that. Okay, you're not a danger to yourself, have you tried going for a walk? Try getting outside for fresh air.

Listen, nothing wrong with fresh air and going outside. I find walking, especially mindful walking, being out in the countryside, being outside, can be very, very soothing and healing. But that's not gonna fix what ails Jordan. That's not going to improve Jordan's problems, that's not getting to the root of the issue, is it? That is just bullshit, standard, kind of, thoughtless, inconsiderate advice. So Jordan leaves feeling low, feeling helpless.

Jordan goes back to see the GP 7th time now. Again. Debilitating cramps, period cramps. Heavy bleeding, like, bad cramps, being told it's normal, but it doesn't feel normal. People are saying, oh, everybody's period hurts, and Jordan's thinking, well, I get that people have period pain, but I don't think that they get this kind of period pain. Like, I feel like this is different, but how do you prove it? You can't prove how much pain you're in, right? You can't demonstrate the levels of pain you're experiencing. So, what they consider debilitating cramps, they're thinking to themselves, maybe I'm just making it up, maybe I'm just too soft, maybe I'm weak, maybe I just can't handle pain.

But they're also getting heavy periods. They've also noticed that sex is painful. And that, by the way, is a red flag. Painful sex should always alert a doctor to, something's going on here. They're fatigued, they have all these other symptoms. They see the GP.

Now, you have to bear in mind that they're not seeing the same doctor every time. This is 2025. They live in the UK. This is the National Health Service. Not a chance. You're lucky if you see the same GP twice. More often than not, you're going to be seeing a locum GP, it's not even going to be part of the practice, who just wants to get you in and out as quickly as possible so they can get paid and go home.

So this new GP asks all the questions. Again, even though, look back through the notes, mate, I have answered these questions over and over again, doesn't matter. Start again. Ask the questions, answer the questions. You know, tell me about the periods, tell me about the cramps. A few minutes doing that.

But then, instead of transitioning into, okay, this sounds really bad, it looks like nobody's done any blood tests, or nobody's done an ultrasound scan. Nobody has considered the various diagnoses. Nobody has considered sending you off to a specialist. Even though you've come back about this several times, and we know that when you keep presenting with the same symptom, we really should be sending you on to a specialist by now. They don't do that, which is what they should be doing. Instead, they go tell me about your diet. I've noticed that your BMI is let's make it about 37. What have you been doing about your diet? And they spend more time talking about diet, and they spend more time talking about weight than they do about the thing that Jordan came in with.

Which was the debilitating cramps, the heavy bleeding, the pain during sex. The fatigue, the recurrent urinary tract infections, the recurrent back pain, the constipation, all of which. In case you haven't figured it out yet, dear listener. Are signs and features of endometriosis. In fact.

I could have told you! Right at the very beginning, if you had told me the story, and you'd said, 26-year-old struggling with severe period pain, and didn't tell me anything else, and said, Asher, what is your differential diagnosis? Right at the very top of my list would have been endometriosis. You didn't have to tell me all the other stuff. I made it very easy for you folks. I made this fictional character very easy, because all of the symptoms that I've been describing are classic features of endometriosis. It does not take a genius, and you might be thinking, oh, Asher, this is a fictional character, this doesn't happen in real life.

My fictional characters are always, always based on a combination of people that I have met in real life. And if you don't believe me, go find a Facebook group for endometriosis sufferers. Go find them. They'll tell you. And a lot of people who talk about endometriosis are thin. Thin people talking about endometriosis. Thin, cis women, actually, I will say that. They are thin cis women talking about endometriosis, which is fine.

I have to say that when it comes to endometriosis, one of the biggest issues, one of the biggest barriers that people find is medical misogyny. Symptoms are dismissed because periods are supposed to hurt. Stop complaining. It's really not that bad. We're not gonna take you seriously, it's period pain, I swear to God, if a man, a cis man experienced 20 minutes of period pain once in their lives, I guarantee you that that man would take endometriosis seriously. It doesn't even have to be endometriosis level of period pain. It could just be regular period pain, right? Just cramps. They have no idea.

Sometimes, when I'm menstruating, I look at Junior, my dear, beloved, sweet, lovely, never did anything wrong, never hurt a fly, really understanding, super, super cool about periods partner. And I'm like, I just want to punch him in the cock. I really do. I just want to he sort of jokes about cock punching, because I'm just like, I just want to hit you. I want to punch you in the dick. I cannot explain how uncomfortable and miserable and in pain I am, and it's not fair. Why should I have to go through it and you don't have to go through it? I've done all the hard work. The heavy lifting, especially when it comes to reproductive organs. You did nothing whilst I was busy making babies, growing babies, delivering babies, and all that shit. How come it's so much harder for people with ovaries and uteruses? Why? Why is it like that?

So, I will acknowledge that medical misogyny plays a huge role here. But as we know, systems of oppression intersect with one another. So if you're a thin cis woman, experiencing endometriosis, that sucks. And if you're a fat, non-binary person experiencing endometriosis, it sucks even harder. It's worse. It's way, way, way worse.

Poor Jordan. I just want to talk about, like, what is life actually like for Jordan? Apart from the fact that they're in pain every month, and it's agonizing pain, and nobody gives a damn, and nobody is treating them. You can't get time off work for period pain. Right? You can't just say to your employer, I can't come in because I'm in pain. But the pain is excruciating. It's not the kind of pain you can ignore and just carry on working. So what do you do? Having every month, what do you do?

Friends, family, well-meaning friends and family are constantly saying, well, it can't be that bad. We all get period pain. It's not that weird. Oh, you know, your grandmother used to be the same, and like, all sorts of things, you know, your aunties on my side are always like well-meaning sometimes, not helpful.

Then there's the pain during sex, which is actually often a really big thing for endometriosis sufferers, because of where the uterine lining for those who don't know what endometriosis is, I'm going to really butcher this. But basically, it's when the endometrium means the lining of the uterus grows outside of the uterus. It's not meant to go outside the uterus, it's meant to stay in the lining of the uterus, and when it's outside, on the surface of the uterus, sometimes in the fallopian tubes, the ovaries, and sometimes throughout the pelvic cavity. That's no good, and it's extremely painful, and it can cause all sorts of problems, and it is a woefully under-diagnosed and poorly treated condition for reasons I've already said. Misogyny and also, fatphobia.

So, yeah, pain during sex is very, very common, but again, it's one of those subjects that's really hard to broach, not just for the healthcare professional, but with your partner. If you're having penetrative sex and it's painful, especially if you're a fat person. Do you remember what I was talking about in the previous podcast when I was like, we're taught to, like, you know, any affection, any attention, there's, you know, it's something that we should be super grateful for. So I think my experience when I talk to patients with endometriosis, especially fat patients with endometriosis, is that they often can't tell or won't tell their partner that it's painful, so they just put up with painful sex, which is so wrong on so many levels.

So, you know, is the time off work, the financial, like, you know, the emotional, the even the sexual in terms of sexual health, this is a really, really serious condition. So what happens? Poor Jordan. What does Jordan do?

I can just imagine the late-night Googling, you know? Asking Dr. Google. They've obviously able to self-diagnose. They've figured out they have endometriosis. They're smart. They know how to work the internet. They've figured out that they have endometriosis. But they don't know how to tell the doctor, I have endometriosis, so they go to tell the doctor about their symptoms, and the doctor dismisses it. And even if they have the ability, somehow, in that consultation, in spite of that very, very problematic power dynamic to speak up and say, could this be endometriosis? It will often be dismissed by the doctor. No, I don't think so. Oh, it's very hard to diagnose. Oftentimes, because doctors don't know enough about endometriosis.

So I can just imagine that Jordan is BFFs with Dr. Google. And of course, Dr. Google will be telling Jordan on a regular basis, you have cancer! Because that's what Dr. Google does. So, there's that added anxiety, you know, for example. I know that people who have endometriosis will often have irritation of the bladder. And that can lead to symptoms that are misdiagnosed as urinary tract infections, because they present very similarly. So I know that. And it all makes sense to me.

But, of course, if you just type the symptoms into Google, recurrent urinary tract infections, no obvious cause. What's Dr. Google gonna say? Bladder cancer. So then there's anxiety, right? Even at 26, there's that anxiety. You hear those horror stories of people even in their 20s having cancer, and like, what if it's me? But you can't tell your doctor that, because they're already dismissing you, so the last thing you want to do is say, is it cancer?

There is financial stress on poor Jordan. What do you do? You're losing work. You can't afford to carry on like this. You're missing work every month, you know? Puts your employment at risk. But you're not getting the referral that you need, so what do you do? Do you seek out private consultations? Expensive ones.

And then it's not just the consultation, but after the consultation, it's all of the investigations that need to take place, those are really expensive. In the UK, we have this fantastic nationalized health service, which, when you can access care, assuming that the care is provided in a relatively timely fashion, which sometimes it is, if you're lucky. If you live in Scotland, it certainly is, but oftentimes, it's not even that. But even when you can access care, often there are limits as to what kind of care you can or cannot access.

So, for example, with endometriosis. If you're fat, well, you can't have a laparoscopic procedure, for example, which is often necessary to make the diagnosis. You certainly can't have surgery to treat your endometriosis if you're fat, that's never gonna happen. So then what do you do? Go to a private doctor? Can you afford it? You're already losing money.

And then, how is poor Jordan coping with the pain? They're loading up on painkillers. Right? So they're getting side effects from the painkillers. It's impacting their relationship, it's impacting every part of their life. When one thing starts to malfunction the rest of your life often follows suit. It's just so unfair for a condition that can easily be treated. I mean, let's be fair, medical misogyny means that there isn't much money being thrown at research into endometriosis care. But there is stuff that can be done, and if we'd done everything we could for Jordan and they're still suffering, that would be one thing. But the doctor hasn't done the basics. Like, not even a blood test, and that is the reality that so many people face.

Every, you know, in a fat person with these symptoms, every symptom is attributed to weight. Right? Oh, it's because you're fat. Back pain, fat. Urinary tract infections? Fat. Fatigue, fat, and stressed and quote-unquote, hysterical. We all know the root of the word hysterical, right? There are no tests offered. An ultrasound scan, at the very least a pelvic ultrasound scan, but no.

You know, people are giving Jordan is giving generic lifestyle advice, they're not giving medical care. You know, going about constipation, tell me about your diet, going about feeling low, have you thought about going for a walk? That's not care. That's just fobbing someone off.

And they're made to feel as if they're wasting their doctor's time, every time, right? Because they go in, they explain their symptoms, the doctor says, it's all your fault, because you're fat, lose some weight, get better. And so, what's the message that they're hearing? You know, this is a bit of a waste of my time, is what the doctor is saying. You're wasting my time. Because if it was something important, I would be doing tests or prescribing a medication or something.

And so, you know, I said, Jordan is a braver person than me. I would have stopped at the second appointment, maybe at the third. I wouldn't have got to 7. And yes, Jordan is a fictional character. More often than not, people in this situation have developed profound medical anxiety have been traumatized over and over and over again, and as a result, are avoiding doctors like the plague. So they don't go and see them anymore. They're too afraid to. Understandably so.

I'm gonna say something really important here, and I need you all to hear it. And I mean it from the very bottom of my heart. If you are a fat person, you are not safe with doctors. You cannot trust doctors. They may be able to earn your trust. They may be able to prove to you that you're safe, but they have to work very, very hard. And if I were you, I would be very, very, very careful before trusting any doctor if you're fat. Different rules if you're thin. The system is a threat to you. To your very well-being. So the fact that you're avoiding appointments makes sense.

When we are threatened, what do we do? We fawn, we fight, we flight or flee, or we freeze. And when it comes when there's a big threat, like a doctor, sometimes we do the fawning. Yes, doctor, no doctor, whatever you say, doctor. Sometimes we do the fighting, but very unlikely, because, you know, generally, fighting only happens when you have when you think that you could possibly win, like, your instincts, your survival instincts tend to kick in. We generally don't fight our doctors because we just don't know we just know that we can't win. So fighting is usually off the table, but fighting, fleeing, running, that's very common, so we avoid our doctors, that's what we do. We avoid them.

Or we freeze. Just freeze. And sometimes we freeze so hard that we just collapse, that we're just like, I can't anymore, I just can't, I can't, I don't have the will to live. Let alone to go see a doctor and try and get this sorted out.

Poor Jordan. Poor everyone else who's listening to this that goes, yeah, that's happening to me. Poor everyone with endometriosis.

So, a couple of episodes ago, I told you about the way forward. That was a package that I had created specifically for people who were being denied treatment because of their weight. And if you have endometriosis and you require surgery, and you're being told that you can't have it because of your weight, I have successfully helped people fight that decision. It is possible. And so you might be a perfect candidate for the way forward. If you don't know what I'm talking about, either go back two episodes, or check out my website for more information.

And then last week, I was telling you about the waiting room, which is just a place for people who have, you know, so just to support one another, and pretty much everybody in the waiting room has chronic pain of some kind and or chronic fatigue. They often have multiple complex medical conditions, and they are masters of their own condition. That's the thing about the waiting room. Is people know their shit. And I guarantee you, someone like Jordan in real life knows their shit. They are experts in endometriosis. They have to be, because their doctors don't give a shit, so they have to learn themselves. They've done the research. They know the facts and the figures. They actually know a lot about what they're talking about. They do not need a doctor to turn around and go, ooh, have you thought about doing this? So I don't do that in the waiting room. I'm just here to say, yeah, that sucks. I'm really sorry you're going through that.

But there's this group of people that I'm aware of, and they are people often who have multiple unresolved health concerns, right? They keep going back to their doctor about stuff. And either the doctor dismisses them, or the doctor sends them to a specialist. And the specialist, like, hyper-focuses on their speciality.

So let's just say, Jordan goes to see an orthopedist about their back, goes to see a urologist about their urinary symptoms, goes to see a gynecologist, goes to see a gastroenterologist about the constipation, they'll probably end up with an IBS diagnosis, they'll have some kind of with a urogynecologist, like, I don't know, recurrent UTI or something, there'll be some stupid diagnosis that, you know, I can't think of what it is. The orthopedist would say, there's nothing I can do about it. Probably won't even do an MRI. If they do an MRI, the MRI will come back normal.

So they're going to see all these specialists. But the specialist kind of, like, hyper-focus in on their speciality, and so, again, they have all these diagnoses now, oh, they have IBS, and oh, by the way, they picked up non-alcoholic fatty liver disease when they were doing the scan of my abdomen, and oh, now I've got a new condition, like, oh, my A1C was slightly high because you're really stressed. And so, now I have prediabetes, you know, so they accumulate all of these conditions. And sometimes they accumulate a whole bunch of medications as well, and they're just like but still, nobody has told me what is wrong with me, like, you know, I have all these conditions, but what about the underlying condition?

So, either they have unresolved health concerns, or they have a bunch of diagnoses that don't quite make sense, or a whole bunch of blood tests that come back that can't really be explained, like, you know, that it's still a bit complicated. It's a bit messy, is what I'm saying.

I meet a lot of these people. I meet a lot of people who are being told that their symptoms are not real. That's not a real thing. That's are you sure you're not making that up? Or made to feel that way. I meet a lot of people who are not having the test that they should be having. And they don't know what they should be having, because they're not experts. And sometimes, actually, they've done the research, and they do know what they need. But they need someone to tell them that that's what they need, if that makes sense. They need the validation. Yes, your symptoms are real. Yes, you do need that blood test. Yes, you absolutely do need that scan. Go, go, go!

And I meet a lot of people who are just like, even if they do know, like, there's one thing to know it yourself, it's another thing to tell your doctor and convince them to do it, and they need help preparing for their appointments, you know, advocating for their healthcare. It's really tricky, isn't it? It's really, really tricky, and I meet a lot of people like this, and again. I've been doing a bit of thinking. And I have created what I believe to be well, a couple of good solutions for people who are in this situation.

So on one hand, I do one-to-one consultations. You come to see me. We go through your symptoms, your test results, past medical history, all the medications that you're on. And we talk things through, and we have a look, and we just, you know essentially, what a doctor is supposed to be doing. Come up with a diagnosis and or treatment plan. And of course, I can't be your own doctor. There are very strict laws about who can be a registered doctor and who can't. So, I'm offering advice and advocacy and guidance and information, I can't actually diagnose you and say no. I mean, I can say I think you have this, but I can't actually make that diagnosis. You have to go and see your own doctor for that. But we come up with a plan, and then we also come up with a plan of how to enact the plan, that makes sense. It's not just like, oh, here's what we think it is, we're like, this is what needs to happen next, and this is how we're gonna go about doing it.

So, it's a 90-minute conversation, and during those 90 minutes, we talk about medical stuff, but we also talk about all the other important stuff that needs to be said. We talk about the shitty doctor's appointments that you've been having, the way you've been mistreated, the way that you've been ignored and dismissed and stigmatized and traumatized. I'm here to say, oh, I'm sorry that happened to you. I'm here to say, no, you're absolutely right. You know what you're talking about. I'm here to validate you and empower you, and help you to realize that, you know this isn't okay. But the situation is what it is, and this is what we're gonna do about it.

So there's a kind of, like a supportive role, and then there's a kind of very practical role as well, within this consultation. It takes 90 minutes. I have never, ever been able to successfully do it in less than 90 minutes. It will always take 90 minutes. Some people say, Asher, can I just book half an hour of your time? No, because it won't work. It needs to be 90 minutes. You pay £300 for that initial consultation, and if you need to have any more consultations after that, you just, we book some follow-ups, that's easy. Usually we can get things done in one consultation. And that's great.

Some people just need that, you know? They just need somebody like Jordan would be really perfect for that, or just be like, this is what's been happening to me, and I'm like, okay, Jordan. What do you think is wrong? And Jordan will say, I think I have endometriosis, and I'll go, I agree, I think you have endometriosis. And then I'll say, so Jordan, what do you think we need to do next? And Jordan will say, oh, well, I think I need to have blood tests, and I need to have an ultrasound scan, and I need to see a gynecologist, and I say, yeah. I agree with you, that is exactly what you need to have. And so, let's make a plan, and let's talk about how we're going to ensure that your doctor does what they need to do, and we have, like, a step one, step two, step three, et cetera, et cetera. So that's great.

And, but, sometimes people just want to be able to, like, ask the little nagging questions. People just like, I've got my blood test results back, and I'm not sure what this means, or my doctor won't explain it, or my doctor says it's got to do with my weight. Or they might say, oh, I've got this symptom, I just don't know whether or not to visit the GP about it. Or oh, my doctor's, you know, told me that I have this but didn't explain what it is. I've got to go and see a doctor tomorrow, and I'm really anxious about it, like, I just need a pep talk. Things like that, you know? Little things that come up, because they do, they come up all the time.

And I wanted to offer my services. I wanted to offer a membership, an opportunity for people to have direct access to me, so that when they have any of these things come up that they could just message me in the moment, just be like, help. And I am like, yeah, cool. I mean, it's obviously not an emergency service, I'm not on call 24-7, this is not, what's it called? Concierge service, like, that's not what I'm offering.

But, I'm calling it the consulting room. Because you've got the waiting room, and the waiting room, that's my online community, right? And that's where we're sitting in a waiting room as fat people discussing life. But then sometimes you need to go into the consulting room, and you need to see, not Asher, the person, but Asher the doctor. And so when you need to see Dr. Asher, you need to be part of the consulting room, you see? Because then you can go into the consulting room, you know what I'm talking about, you know I love me some wordplay.

So the consulting room is a membership, it's £75 a month. It gets you direct access to me via voice note or text, whichever you prefer. And, it's just an ongoing membership, so as long as you're a member, then you get access to me. You also get access to my masterclass library. And there are, I think, 14 masterclasses, plus three much more in-depth courses.

So let's just say you get diagnosed with prediabetes, and you're like prediabetes, and then you go and Google prediabetes, and you're like, this is really terrible. And then you just go to the masterclass, and you watch you can either listen to it as a podcast or watch it as a video. And it's just me talking about prediabetes and telling you exactly what it is, and by the end of that hour, or 45 minutes, or however long it takes, you're like what a relief! I don't have to worry about that anymore. And if you still have any questions, that's okay, because you can message me.

So yeah, you get access to the Masterclass library, you get access to me, and then once a month, we'll also have a Zoom call that you can join in. Plus, you also get access to the waiting room, so you're already a waiting room member, you'll be a waiting room member by default as well as being a consulting room member.

So yeah, the consulting room, what do you think? Tell me what you think. Maybe you're thinking that sounds like something I want to join. Cool. The link is in the show notes, you can find out all about it, and you can join anytime. It's a membership, so you can cancel any time as well.

And I hope you've enjoyed Jordan's story. I got a message the other day. Somebody messaged me to say, I really love your podcast, and it was really cool. Like, I don't know how they did it, but they did it through Buzzsprout, maybe? I don't know. I also get messages on YouTube every so often, and I wish I would respond to them quicker than I do. I'm not very good at responding straight away, but I thank you for all of your feedback. It is so I can't tell you how wonderful it is when someone tells me, oh, I listened to your podcast. Not because I need them to praise me, because it means that people are actually listening to my podcast, and it's not a complete waste of time.

Because, honestly, what happens is I sit here in front of my microphone, and I say all this stuff, and I don't know if people are listening or not, or whether it's actually helping, or whether I, you know feedback is helpful sometimes, so I appreciate your feedback. I'd love you to get in touch with me. If you've got any suggestions, if you've got any requests. If you want me to create a character with a particular medical condition or a particular set of circumstances. And you're like, oh, Asher, you haven't done one on insert, you know, whatever here, and please get in touch, let me know, and I will. Why not? Give me some ideas.

Alright, so next week is my it's my break. It's my it's my week off. It's lovely. I'm looking forward to it. And I will return beginning of next month. And in the meantime, I've got a newsletter that comes out once a week. And if you haven't subscribed to it, please do, because sometimes I go into more detail about the stuff that I talk about in the podcast, sometimes I offer some insights that you wouldn't get in the podcast. It's completely free, so I urge you to join it.

And yeah, I will see you in a couple of weeks' time. Thanks very much, everybody. Thanks for listening. And take care of yourselves.