Risky sleeve gastrectomy surgeries
I could not believe it when I heard a friend of mine, Özge Şeker was dead. She was one of the most vibrant women in this world, so young, wild, colorful, brave and a wonderful girl. How is this possible?
I hold stage interviews about women’s issues at companies. She had accompanied me a couple of times in the Black Sea and the Aegean regions. She was an exceptionally smart and talented girl. For me, Özge meant life. She had recently shared photos with me of her and her boyfriend on Instagram, they were madly in love. And the day before, I learnt she was dead.
A woman whose name could not be thought to be mentioned with death was dead. And that is because she had a sleeve gastrectomy surgery. I was shocked when I heard.
Why would they take a person who weighs 78 kilos into surgery? Unfortunately, they did and something went wrong.
They said there was a leak, it caused an infection, her lungs became blistered and for a short time she depended on a machine to live and then everything was over.
You go into surgery joyfully and think you will wake up and be perfectly fit and thin afterwards, but things turn upside down and you find yourself connected to a machine.
You can lose your life by wanting to be thinner. I felt very sad. Last Tuesday was her funeral. My condolences to all of her family and those who love her. I spoke with her boyfriend. He was devastated.
There are many questions on my mind. How could that doctor operate on someone who is 78 kilos?
I hear so many negative things about these sleeve gastrectomy surgeries that I wonder if there is any sort of inspection.
Have we all become nuts about our body image?
What is the big deal if she was seven or eight kilos more than what she idealized? At least she would be alive today.
There is also of course, this dominant mindset, which always praises being thin and the effort people give for trying to stay thin. We must give up on this as well.
Today, even children want to be thin. I believe this is how the catastrophe starts.
I still cannot believe Özge is gone. I will not give up on this subject. I will question it and investigate.
That’s it! A 25-year prison sentence for the teacher who abused two young girls at school.
I am so happy to hear that in the last trial of an abuse case in the eastern province of Van, the court gave a 25-year prison sentence in total for the teacher who abused two young girls in primary school.
I had written in my column before about this abusive teacher. Let’s not forget he was actually released at the beginning of the case.
To be honest, I do not always believe I can create awareness as a journalist with my articles. Sometimes actually, nothing really changes.
But sometimes, just like in this case, I want to cheer up and say “Luckily, I am a journalist,” I feel I have at least been a little bit helpful.
When the public was informed about this incident, the course of events in the case began to change. Yes, I believe sometimes writing, drawing and speaking out loud works!
We will continue struggling and never stop. I congratulate the little girls and their families. They did not keep silent, they may have quailed but they spoke out and became the pursuers of this scandal. I also want to thank the court board and the little girls’ lawyer Müjde Tozbey Erden.
Hopefully, there will be more brave lawyers like her in the country.
