Fighting for Obesity Care: Inside My Advocacy Trip to Washington, DC

I just got back from Washington, DC. Honestly, I am still unpacking everything that happened, in my suitcase and in my soul.

This was my first time in Washington, DC. My first steps onto the grounds of the National Mall felt significant. The ground beneath me felt sacred. It was emotional in a way I did not expect. Even the shouts of protestors around the White House brought tears of gratitude to my eyes. Not because of the subject of the protests, but because the right to descend on the nation’s capital and be heard is a precious one.

Whether you were there to shout curses at the president, to buy a MAGA hat from a street vendor, or to advocate for access to obesity medicine like I was, there was a common beauty in all of it. Despite how polarized we have become, we still live in a country where voices can rise and change is still possible. I was eager to raise our voices too, to carry our fight into the rooms where real power listens.

This is where the fight for real change truly began.