She weighed 86 kilograms before we operated on her and removed her uterus. The specimen did not weigh more than 300 grams. So weight was practically unchanged. When I examined her on the next day, she was comfortable in bed, and was OK surgically.
"You are all right" I told her. She seemed happy it that.
"What will be the first thing you will do after going back home?" I asked, though it was too early to be talking of going home.
She looked at me uncomprehendingly. I smiled at encouraging her to answer that one. We continued like that for half a minute. Then she understood.
"I will reduce my weight" she said.
I was surprised. That was the answer I wanted, but I had not thought she would read it on my face. "Was it readable on my face?" I asked the Resident Doctors. They did not say anything in response. Probably they had spoken to her at length about the problems of obesity, both for her and for them (from the patient care point of view), and that too in no uncertain terms.
A week later this patient went home and we had another, weighing 103 kilograms. We performed a cesarean section on her for fetal distress. The baby weighed 3 kilograms. So she had a full 100 kilograms weight of her own. I did not have the heart to ask her the question I had asked the previous woman, because I knew she would get even fatter, what with the nutritious diet and supplements given as a routine to all women after deliver in our society (provided they have the money required for that).
