Tales from a Plastic Surgeon

Every once in a while, there comes a surgical case which makes you feel ‘Yes, I made a difference’ and it inspires  you to work harder than ever before.  There is one such girl, Riya (name changed to protect identity) who walked into my office few months ago. A chirpy 28 year old professional, with a beautiful face, Riya was like any other modern day youngster, raring to go. When she walked in, she was wearing a t-shirt with a dupatta wrapped around her body.  It was for that very reason that she had come to visit me.  Her breast size was Size F. Ever since she hit puberty, her breast size kept increasing disproportionately to her body. She needed to order her brassieres from abroad as the sizes she needed were not available in India.  Needless to say, she was subjected to rude looks and body shaming which made her uncomfortable. Heaviness  of breasts took a toll on her back and she started suffering with chronic neck and back pain. Eventually she started seeking solutions and had fina

 11 years back.  2010. I was in final year, doing Master's in Surgery. I had just married the love of my life, my best friend. I was looking forward to cracking all superspeciality entrances, I was looking forward to a life full of adventure and travel with my lovely husband.  I was neck deep with thesis preparation. Being chief resident was a huge responsibility, this was the right time to get all the experience, 'all the cutting' in surgical terms. I had my hands full. And then, barely in a couple of months into my marriage, I was pregnant. Unlike any other woman who would probably be on cloud nine, I felt doomed. How did this happen! At 26, I was myself a child. How could I bring a life into this world? I was just not ready. This was definitely not the plan! In my mind I knew what I wanted, what I was capable of. The additional burden of motherhood would take me away from my dreams. I knew that my parents and in-laws will support me with whatever decision I take, but wha

Mr. Qureshi, a 30 year old gentleman suffered with Burns to his abdomen due to spillage of hot tea. Since he suffered with this injury during the lockdown, he refrained from approaching a doctor and applied  creams and ointments as advised by his relatives. Unfortunately after 10 days, his wound got infected and he suffered with severe pain at that site. He then approached a plastic surgeon, where after treating with multiple specialized dressings his wound was healed eventually without any surgery. On the other hand, another 10 month old baby also suffered with chest burns due to spillage of hot water from a steamer. Her parents were vigilant enough to get her immediately to the hospital. Here she was treated with an advanced dressing which allowed her to heal painlessly within 7 days.  Burns are one of the commonest form of domestic accidents. Each one of us must have suffered from some type of burn in our lifetime. Most of the injuries which occur are minor burns. However sometimes

The COVID 19 virus arrived in the beginning of 2020. As have different calamities come and gone in the past, everyone expected this virus to go away and the situation to get normalised in due course of time. A lot of things were kept on hold. Travel plans, important events, elective surgeries and so on. However as we know, Time and tide waits for no man. Half of the year has gone by and the virus is still around. Life cannot be kept on hold, so we have to learn how to deal with it and dwell in the new normal. How can we move forward in this scenario? We need to reinvent ourselves. A lot of things are probably going to change forever. And possibly for the better. One of them is Telemedicine. Telemedicine  refers to the practice of caring for patients remotely when the provider and patient are not physically present with each other.  With the use of technology patients can consult various doctors from the safety and comfort of their homes. They can discuss their issues and get presc

I saw the TV series FRIENDS for the first time when I was in college. Me and my brother used to watch it on our desktop. Sometimes we used to catch an episode or two on Star world. But as I moved out after graduation and into residency I hardly watched TV. Knowing my love for the TV series my brother even gifted me the whole DVD set few years ago. But I hardly ever got a chance to go through it. The COVID lockdown gave me the opportunity to go through the entire 10 seasons uninterrupted. Being a FRIENDS fanatic I decided to analyse and put it in words why I like the series so much. There may be many other 90s kids like me out there who love it too, so this is for them. 1.Discover 'What you are' in life. The first episode of FRIENDS started with Rachel eloping from her own wedding. As a  teenager I always thought what a fool she was. Why would anyone give away a life of privilege and security  to become a waitress? But when she was made to cut all her daddy's credit car

Malathi, a 35 year old house wife was otherwise fit and fine. But she was bothered about the deep scar over her left cheek. She suffered with a condition called lupus panniculitis due to which, the subcutaneous fat in her left cheek got absorbed leaving a hollowed out appearance. Due to this deformity, she would refrain from attending weddings and social functions and remained confined to her household duties. But a brief consultation, allowed her to overcome this deformity easily with minimal downtime by undergoing a procedure called fat grafting. Fat is usually considered an unwanted part of out body and many of us just want to get rid of it. But this store of fat in our body when used judiciously can work wonders in enhancing certain areas of our body and correcting contour abnormalities. The technique of harvesting fat from one's own body and using it to enhance or correct some other part of the body is called fat grafting. This technique has been known to the plas