Woman secretly records doctors during surgery, 'scarred' by what she hears
Yahoo7 on April 6, 2016, 11:33 pm
A woman who says she was body-shamed by doctors and nurses while on the operating table has spoken out about the “physical, mental, and emotional scars” it caused her.
Ethel Easter from Houston hid a recorder in her hair extensions before undergoing a hernia surgery after a conversation with a doctor made her feel uncomfortable.
Ms Easter said she was “in dire need of medical attention,” when she met with a surgeon through the county’s Harris Health System and was very upset when told she would have to wait two months for a surgery date.
Ethel Easter decided to conceal a recorder in her hair after a surgeon was 'awful' to er during consultation. Photo: Facebook
“He wasn’t comforting… It was awful the way he spoke to me,” she told Yahoo Beauty.
Having few alternatives, she took the booking but said she decided to plant the recorder in her hair because she was worried about how he might treat her.
The tape, which was played in a Fox26 interview, captured the surgeon and a number of OR staff commenting on her body and her temperament.
“Did you see her belly button?” a female could be heard saying, while a male staff member referred to her as “Precious,” in an apparent reference to the obese protagonist in the Sapphire novel.
Ethel Easter says she has “self-esteem issues” after hearing what doctors said about her during surgery. Photo: Facebook
The recording also picked up complaints about Ms Easter’s frustration over having to wait for an appointment, with the surgeon calling her “a handful” and a number of references being made to her being a “queen”.
“When you are lying there and these people have you uncovered and you trust them and they speak like this, it’s a bad situation,” Ms Easter said.
In an emotional interview with Yahoo Beauty, she said the conversation she had recorded was “appalling” and had given her “self-esteem issues”.
A spokesman for Harris Health Systemn declined to comment for reasons of patient confidentiality, Fox26 reported.
