A Sore Throat Shouldn't Be This Hard

A Wednesday morning

You wake up and your throat hurts. Not the worst sore throat you've ever had, but enough that you notice it. You're getting ready, packing lunches, moving through your morning routine, and somewhere in the back of your mind you're thinking: I should probably get this looked at.

You check your family doctor's portal. Next available appointment: three and a half weeks.

You could go to a walk-in clinic. But you know what that means.

You'll wait an hour. You'll see someone who doesn't know you. And then you'll have to explain everything.

The progesterone and estrogen you started eight months ago because perimenopause was wrecking your sleep and your mood and your ability to function. The tirzepatide you're getting from an online pharmacy because your family doctor didn't feel comfortable prescribing it, but you'd finally found something that was actually working. The escitalopram you've been on for three years that your GP prescribes but never really talks to you about.

You'll watch the walk-in doctor's face as you list these medications. You'll feel the judgment before they say anything.

And then they'll say something.

You know estrogen increases your cancer risk.

These weight loss drugs haven't been studied long-term.

Have you considered just eating less and exercising more?

And you'll sit there, exhausted, wanting to scream: I just have a sore throat. I just want someone to look at my throat and tell me if I need antibiotics. I didn't come here for a lecture about my life choices.

But you can't say that. So you smile and nod and wait for them to write a prescription for something, and you leave feeling worse than when you arrived.

Not because of your throat. Because of everything else.

Fragmented care

This is what fragmented healthcare actually feels like for people managing obesity.

It's not one catastrophic failure. It's a thousand small frictions that add up to a system that doesn't work for you.

It's your naturopathic doctor who manages your menopausal hormone therapy but can't manage your suddenly sore throat. It's the online pharmacy that ships your GLP-1—and honestly, they're often better at weight loss medicine than most family doctors—but they have no idea what else you're taking and can't help you when you need antibiotics or a referral. It's your family doctor who technically exists but is so overwhelmed that you feel guilty even asking for an appointment, and who doesn't really understand why you're on tirzepatide anyway.

It's you, in the middle, trying to hold it all together.

Being your own medical coordinator. Repeating your story to every new person. Fielding opinions from providers who've known you for seven minutes.

Your time isn't free. Your mental energy isn't free. The cognitive load of navigating this system isn't free.

You're paying for it. Just not in dollars.

The obesity care gap

Here's what most people don't realize: obesity is a chronic, lifelong condition that affects nearly every aspect of health.

It's not a temporary problem you solve and move on from. Whether you're in active treatment or in remission, whether you've had bariatric surgery or you're managing with medication, whether you're currently on pharmacotherapy or between treatments—obesity requires ongoing, informed care from someone who understands the condition at a clinical and physiologic level.

And it overlaps with everything.

ADHD. Mood disorders. Perimenopause and hormone therapy. Sleep. Joint health. Cardiovascular risk. The medications you can and can't take. The way your body responds to illness, stress, pregnancy, surgery.

When you do obesity care well, you end up doing all of this care—but through a lens that's deeply informed by what it actually means to live in a body that the medical system has historically misunderstood, mistreated, and moralized about.

That's not what most people get.

Most people get a prescription from one place, judgment from another, and no one holding the whole picture. They get care that treats obesity as a discrete problem rather than a condition that touches everything. They get providers who don't understand the social experience of obesity, let alone the clinical considerations that should inform every health decision.

What different looks like

Here's what it looks like when obesity care is actually comprehensive.

You wake up. Your throat hurts.

You open your phone and send me a message: "Sore throat since yesterday. No fever. Here's a photo."

You drop the kids off. You get on the GO train. Somewhere around Oakville, you get a voice note back.

"Got it. Took a look at the photo. A few quick questions: any dental pain or ear pain on that side? Any difficulty swallowing water? How's your energy—normal tired or different tired?"

You reply on your lunch break. Five seconds. "No to all of that. Just the throat. I have a presentation Friday and I'm worried about my voice."

By 2pm, you have a plan.

"Doesn't look bacterial right now—no exudate, no asymmetry. Here's what I'd suggest: saltwater gargles, throat lozenges, and let's watch it for 48 hours. Send me another photo Thursday morning. If anything changes before then—fever, worse pain, trouble swallowing—message me immediately. If you're still rough by Thursday and the presentation matters, we can talk about a short course of steroids for your voice. But let's see where you're at first."

That's it.

No waiting room. No re-explaining your medical history. No judgment about your medications. No hour out of your workday.

Just care, from someone who already knows you—including your metabolic history, your current medications, and all the context that should inform how I approach your sore throat in the first place.

Why obesity care becomes whole-picture care

When I started building The Shift Clinic, I knew I wanted to do obesity medicine differently. Not just prescriptions and weigh-ins, but real, comprehensive support for a condition that requires lifelong management.

What I discovered is that good obesity care naturally becomes whole-picture care. Because obesity doesn't exist in isolation.

The patient who comes to me for help with appetite regulation often also needs support with ADHD—which affects executive function, impulse control, and eating patterns. The patient on a GLP-1 often also needs hormone therapy for perimenopause—which affects metabolism, mood, and sleep. The patient who's lost significant weight often also needs mental health support—because identity shifts are hard, and the world treats you differently, and that's a lot to process.

I can't do good obesity care without understanding your whole health picture. And once I understand your whole health picture, it doesn't make sense for you to go somewhere else for your sore throat.

So yes, I handle the acute stuff too. Sore throats, UTIs, weird rashes, headaches that won't quit. Blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes management. The boring-but-important primary care that keeps you healthy long-term.

But I do it as someone who specializes in obesity medicine. Which means I understand the clinical considerations that should inform every decision—what medications interact with your GLP-1, what symptoms might be side effects versus something new, how your metabolic history affects your risk profile, what you need if you're planning pregnancy or facing surgery or going through a major life transition.

What the practice includes

The Shift Clinic is designed for people with obesity, metabolic disease, or appetite dysregulation who need comprehensive, ongoing support, not just a prescription.

Here's what that actually means:

Continuous care, not episodic visits. You can message me with text, audio, or video. Your healthcare isn't limited to the fifteen minutes we spend in a scheduled appointment. When something comes up, you reach out. When I need to check in, I do. This is what care looks like when it's designed for a chronic condition.

Nutritional support. We use RxFood for tracking and analysis—not as a diet tool, but as a way to understand patterns and make informed adjustments.

A digital appetite coach. Support for the moments that actually matter—3pm when old patterns want to pull you toward the pantry, before a challenging work lunch, when you can't tell if you're actually hungry or responding to stress.

A professionally moderated patient community. A space to learn alongside other intelligent women navigating the same complexity. No comparison posts. No shaming language. Just shared wisdom and accountability from people who get it.

Live education and coaching experiences. The Shift Weekender brings the motivation and energy of a group to the strategic work of health. Values clarification. Goal setting. Commitment rituals. The stuff that turns intentions into action.

After-hours support. Because health concerns don't only happen between 9 and 5.

Strategy development that actually fits your life. Not cookie-cutter meal plans or generic exercise prescriptions, but real work on what sustainable change looks like for you—your values, your constraints, your body, your goals.

This is what comprehensive obesity medicine requires. And because I'm also a family doctor trained in emergency medicine, you get primary care that's informed by deep expertise in the condition that brought you here in the first place.

Who this is for

The Shift Clinic is for people with obesity, metabolic disease, or appetite dysregulation who are ready for a different kind of care.

Maybe you're currently on a GLP-1 and getting great medication management from an online pharmacy, but you need someone who can handle everything else too. Maybe you've had bariatric surgery and you're in maintenance, but your family doctor doesn't understand the ongoing considerations. Maybe you're just starting to think about treatment and you want support that goes beyond a prescription.

Whatever your situation, if obesity is part of your health picture, you deserve care from someone who understands what that actually means—clinically, physiologically, and socially.

You deserve care that doesn't require you to be your own medical coordinator. That doesn't make you re-explain your choices to strangers. That treats your condition as the lifelong, whole-person issue it actually is.

Starting care

Not sure if weight loss medications are right for you? Take the quiz to find out where you stand.

Want to experience The Shift approach before committing to full membership? Join The Shift Weekender—a monthly strategy session where you'll move from values to action alongside other members.

Ready to stop navigating fragmented care alone? Learn more about The Shift Clinic and discover what comprehensive obesity medicine actually looks like.

Because a sore throat shouldn't get you a lecture about weight loss from a doctor who has known you for seven minutes. And people with obesity deserve care that's designed for what they're actually managing.

You deserve a doctor who already knows your whole story.