01/09/2025
𝑨 𝑷𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑨 𝑫𝒐𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓'𝒔 𝑫𝒊𝒂𝒓𝒚- 𝑻𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝑻𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒑
Seven years ago, Anaya walked into our clinic as a young, bubbly girl. She had struggled with obesity since puberty. She chose to undergo a bariatric surgery in the form of a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and stepped into a new phase of life.
Yesterday, she came in for a follow up consultation—a graceful woman, now married, mother of two, and running her own business. 𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔, 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅—𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. Unlike many other health conditions, obesity is rarely understood. The frustration, the social pressure, the silent judgment—it can eat you up from inside.
Over the last 7 years, we have walked this journey together as a team—helping her through phases of weight regain after both pregnancies. This time, too, we helped her achieve her weight loss target. 𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒔.
She told us about the joy and hope she regains with even a little progress, made possible through our support. And as she left, she said, “𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔.” Hearing that touched me deeply. It’s moments like these that make all the effort worthwhile.
𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒂 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒆. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆.
Obesity is a chronic and relapsing disease. And that is why it needs long-term care—care that continues well beyond the treatment itself.
©️Dr. Aparna Govil Bhasker
