Four months ago, when I flew from Canada to Mumbai for bariatric surgery, I learned something life-altering. After waiting nearly three years for a procedure back in Toronto, Mumbai scheduled it in three days, and I am now 70 pounds lighter because of it. That contrast stayed with me, a reminder of how timing can shape outcomes.
I didn’t expect that lesson to echo so deeply again when my aunt came here seeking clarity for her worsening symptoms. She arrived from the UK with worsening cardiac symptoms. Her turning point didn’t come instantly, but it began when she met a doctor who was willing to look again and act when it mattered most.
The Bigger Picture for Women’s Heart Health
In India, cardiovascular disease causes around 1.18 million deaths among women every year, a silent but widespread reality that too often goes unspoken. When the conversation around gaps in healthcare systems takes place, we often gloss over an overly diagnostic culture built on the crevices of credit and very little on credibility or accountability.
Add to that the experience of living in a body that is clearly suffering but not being advocated for. In these situations, one of three outcomes usually follows.
When Care Fails, or When It Finally Works
One, you accept the state of your life and focus on getting by one day at a time. Baby steps, baby steps, and only baby steps. Two, you deny all treatment entirely, because viscerally and cerebrally, you are certain the healthcare professionals around you have dropped the ball, and receiving help, albeit the wrong kind, feels like a formality.
Or three, and this is rare, you encounter doctors like Salil Shirodkar, who are willing to pause, reassess, and listen beyond first impressions. They will listen to you. They will turn their own intuitive volume down and listen to your gut.
When a Doctor Becomes More Than a Name
In every medical journey, there comes a moment when a doctor becomes more than a name. They become hope. Dr Shirodkar did not arrive with all the answers immediately, but what mattered was that he stayed curious, open, and attentive enough to find them.
He restored her faith, calmed her fear, and helped her find her way back to herself. That may sound like a routine part of the job, but the compassion and intelligence we witnessed, and continue to witness as I write this from the ICU at Nanavati Max Hospital, are second to none. What struck my aunt first was not only his expertise, but the patience with which he explained every detail.
The Symptoms That Were Easy to Dismiss
This is a career where clarity is not optional, and accuracy is not negotiable, and sometimes accuracy comes from the willingness to revisit assumptions.
She first noticed it in the UK, a sudden sinking feeling that did not match what she was doing, how she was feeling, or what her day actually looked like. Her blood sugar seemed low, so she did what anyone would do. She grabbed something sweet, waited, and hoped the fog would lift. It did not.
The heaviness stayed. Her body felt wrong in ways she could not explain, and eventually she ended up in the emergency room, trying to put words to symptoms that felt both invisible and overwhelming.
They called it a panic disorder, offered reassurance without answers, and sent her home to rest. But the symptoms returned, louder and more physical. Her body kept signalling that something was wrong, even when no one else seemed to hear it.
Coming Home to Be Heard
So she did what so many of us do when we are scared. She went home. Back to Mumbai. Back to familiarity, instinct, and the sense that someone would finally listen.
And while the path to clarity was not immediate, Dr Shirodkar never dismissed what she was feeling. He asked the right questions, ordered the necessary tests, and allowed space for the truth of what her body was revealing, rather than the convenient version of it.
Where the system abroad dismissed her, he validated her. Where others told her it was just anxiety, he remained open to the possibility that it was something more, and he kept looking until the answer revealed itself.
Understanding the Balloon Stent and Why It Matters
At the centre of her recovery was balloon angioplasty with stent placement, a technology that has quietly transformed the treatment of obstructive coronary artery disease. While often simplified in conversation, the precision behind this intervention is anything but basic.
During the procedure, a thin catheter fitted with a small deflated balloon is guided through the vasculature to the site of arterial narrowing. Once positioned, the balloon is inflated, compressing plaque against the arterial wall and restoring blood flow. Mounted on the balloon is a stent, typically a drug-eluting metal scaffold, which expands with the balloon and remains in place once the balloon is deflated and withdrawn.
The stent serves both a structural and a preventative function. It keeps the artery open while slowly releasing medication that reduces the risk of restenosis by limiting excessive tissue growth.
In her case, imaging initially suggested a 75 per cent blockage, which angiography later revealed to be closer to 90 per cent. At that degree of obstruction, the margin for delay narrows considerably. Balloon stenting does not merely relieve symptoms. It restores perfusion in real time, reducing myocardial stress and lowering the risk of acute cardiac events.
Equally important is what this technology does not do. It does not replace long-term medical management, lifestyle modification, or follow-up care. Instead, it creates the physiological stability required for those measures to work. Her most critical obstruction was addressed mechanically, while other blockages were intentionally managed medically. This balance reflects thoughtful clinical judgement rather than aggressive intervention.
From a medical technology perspective, the success of balloon stenting lies as much in timing, placement, and patient selection as in the device itself. Used correctly, it is not a shortcut. It is a precisely calibrated intervention that gives the heart a safer baseline from which to heal.
For her, the stent was not just a piece of metal expanded inside an artery. It was a pause button. A chance for the body to reset, for symptoms to quieten, and for recovery to begin on stable ground.
Looking Forward
Now, with a successful stent and a clear plan for her ongoing care, she moves forward toward recovery, carrying immense gratitude for a doctor who did not claim perfection but demonstrated something far more valuable. The humility, attentiveness, and commitment required to get it right when it truly counted.
This conversation continues at ananya@sageandesther.com
If you write, I’ll read. Nothing gets lost in transit.
Sage & Esther — Global Health Communications Agency 