A sharing by Tung Yew Cheong
There is no magic cure, no making it all go away forever. There are only small steps upward; an easier day, an unexpected laugh, a mirror that doesn’t matter anymore.
A quote by Laurie Halse Anderson
Utterly Powerless
When she joined my clinic on staff five years ago, she was already noticeably thin. Her clothes looked oversized on her petite frame. But what she lacked in weight, she more than made up in her sincerity in helping patients and colleagues,
I caught a glimpse of her one afternoon during the course of a busy clinic day. She did not look well and appeared even thinner than before. I made a mental note to speak to her supervisor, and was subsequently informed that she was already seeing her own psychiatrist. Six months after that encounter, we were informed that she had been hospitalized. Another six weeks later, following several hospital visits and multiple communications, I was standing with my colleagues in the medical intensive care unit, watching her take her last breath at the age of twenty-eight.
Commentary
Anorexia nervous a is a complex and serious disease that is often reported to have the highest mortality among all psychiatric disorders. The premature and tragic death of Karen Carpenter in 1983 propelled the disease into the forefront of public awareness. It has been called the curse of the blessed, since many of those who have fallen prey to it tend to have been the most talented and accomplished amongst us.
Frequently, it is the family members of patients with anorexia nervosa who have concerns about their weight loss and persuade them to seek medical attention. The first port of call is usually the primary care doctor.
The primary care clinic is often crowded, multi-faceted and faceless, almost always short and sharp. With anorexia nervosa, making the diagnosis is only the initial step of a long and arduous journey. I find myself wondering how equipped we are to support our patients and their families in their journey to overcoming anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders.
—- Dr Tung Yew Cheong
Tung Yew Cheong practices in a polyclinic and is also involved in overseeing quality and safety matters.
The vignette and commentary were reproduced with permission from the book ‘Being Human, Stories from Family Medicine’ edited by Cheong Pak Yean & Ong Chooi Peng and published in 2021 by the College of Family Physicians Singapore.
Pictures of illness experiences were drawn by NUS medical students in workshops conducted from 2012-2017 by A/Prof Cheong Pak Yean. Senior family physicians subsequently shared vignettes and commentaries based on the pictures.
