30: Becoming the Doctor My Mother Needed
Ep. 30
This episode of Reset Recharge is different. In honor of Menopause Awareness Month, I wanted to slow down and share a story I’ve never fully told before — the story that shaped my purpose as a doctor, a daughter, and a woman.
It’s about my mom, her health journey, and the moment I realized that medicine could either make people feel invisible… or deeply seen. It’s also about how, decades later, her story became my own — and how that realization inspired me to build something new: a space where women can feel heard during one of the most transformative seasons of their lives — midlife and menopause.
Listen to the full episode:
By Dr. Komal Patil-Sisodia | Reset Recharge Podcast | October 2025
The Beginning: My Mom’s Story
When I was in my senior year of high school, my mom began feeling short of breath — something that seemed strange for a healthy 42-year-old woman. At first, everyone blamed stress. It made sense on paper; she was juggling life, kids, and endless responsibilities. But I knew something wasn’t right.
After years of appointments and vague reassurances, we finally got an answer. My mom had an 80% blockage in her left anterior descending artery — the “widowmaker.” We were lucky it was found before a heart attack happened.
That diagnosis changed everything. It set her on a path of surgeries, recovery, and searching for answers. It also set me on my own path — into medicine.
But this wasn’t the inspiring, polished version of that story. This was the raw one — the fear, the uncertainty, and the anger at how long it took for someone to take her seriously.
Becoming the Doctor My Mother Needed
In college and medical school, I started to see the patterns my mom had faced everywhere. Women being dismissed. Symptoms minimized. Concerns chalked up to “stress” or “hormones.”
Then, one day, I met my mom’s cardiologist for the first time. The same doctor who’d treated her for years. Within minutes, I understood why she always came home deflated. He was condescending, impatient, and uninterested in listening.
When my mom gently asked him to explain her heart condition again so I could translate it into our language, he looked her in the eye and said:
“Mrs. Patil, I’ve explained it so many times that it doesn’t matter what language you hear it in. If you haven’t understood it by now, you never will.”
That moment burned into my memory. I remember the look on her face — the hurt, the humiliation. And I remember the quiet rage I felt. I wasn’t a doctor yet, but in that moment, I decided what kind of doctor I would become.
That was the day I started becoming the doctor my mother needed — one who listens, one who explains, one who never forgets that healing starts with being heard.
The Unseen Struggle
My mom’s heart was just the beginning. Over the years, she developed arthritis, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Each diagnosis chipped away at her energy, but not her spirit.
I watched her navigate a medical system that wasn’t built for women like her — an immigrant woman, a caregiver, someone who rarely put herself first. And for a long time, I assumed it was because of her background. I never imagined that her biggest barrier might be gender.
It wasn’t until later that I realized how deeply women’s health had been sidelined. Women weren’t even included in most medical studies until 1993 — just a few years before my mom’s symptoms began. She wasn’t invisible because she was “noncompliant.” She was invisible because medicine wasn’t looking for her.
My Own Mirror Moment
Fast forward to 2020. I was turning 40, feeling strong, healthy, and ready to take on the next decade. And then… everything changed.
The pandemic hit, and so did perimenopause. Slowly, my body started changing in ways I couldn’t explain — joint pain, inflammation, rising blood sugars, creeping fatigue. Despite doing everything “right,” things started to unravel.
Then I got the lab result that stopped me cold: my lipoprotein(a) level — a genetic cholesterol marker that increases heart disease risk — had jumped 30 points.
I’d spent my whole career preventing this exact story, yet there I was, living it. That was my mirror moment.
I realized I wasn’t just treating women like my mom anymore — I was her. The woman trying to figure out what was happening to her body, searching for answers in a system that still didn’t know how to listen.
The Connection Between Hormones, Heart, and Healing
Around that time, something clicked. I remembered what one of my mentors had told me:
“If you map women’s chronic illnesses against their hormonal changes, you’ll see the connection. As hormones decline, chronic disease rises.”
It all made sense — my mom’s heart disease, her arthritis, her diabetes — all of it began in midlife. And now, I was standing at that same crossroads.
Menopause wasn’t just about hot flashes or night sweats. It was a hormonal shift that changed everything — metabolism, mood, cardiovascular risk, inflammation. And yet, no one was really talking about it.
That silence is what I wanted to change.
Building a Space for Healing
That realization became the foundation of Eastside Menopause & Metabolism. I wanted to build a space that felt completely different from the traditional medical model — quiet, calm, safe.
A space where women could talk openly about their symptoms and fears without feeling rushed or dismissed. A space where we could connect the dots between hormones, metabolism, and chronic illness — and empower women with knowledge instead of fear.
Because healing doesn’t happen when you’re rushed. It happens when you’re heard.
Menopause Awareness Month: Why This Conversation Matters
Menopause Awareness Month isn’t about marketing — it’s about rewriting the story. It’s about helping women see this stage of life not as a decline, but as an evolution.
For generations, women have been told to “just deal with it.” But the truth is — we deserve better. We deserve information, empathy, and care that honors our complexity.
Every time I sit across from a woman who feels seen — truly seen — I think of my mom. Every conversation I have is, in some small way, a continuation of hers.
The Heart of It All
My mom’s story was never just about her heart. It was about how invisible she felt when she needed help the most — and how her story shaped mine.
Today, I carry her voice with me into every patient encounter. Every explanation. Every quiet moment of connection.
And I hope that through this work, I’m honoring her — and helping other women feel what she didn’t always get to feel: heard, seen, and whole.
Closing Reflection
If there’s one message I want you to take from this episode, it’s this:
Midlife isn’t an ending.
It’s an evolution.
Our mothers taught us strength.
Our bodies teach us wisdom.
And when we put those together — we heal.