heidikat72

Dr. Dumon is great. HUP was so so. They tell you up front that your recovery will be in a ward that only deals with bariatric patients but that wasn't true in my case. In fact, I was the first bariatric patient any nurse on my ward had ever dealt with and they had no idea what the protocol was - I had to keep educating them. For instance, the day after surgery I must have had 5 separate people bring me a can of full sugar ginger ale and a straw to drink. Had to explain to each of them why I couldn't use a straw, why I couldn't have any carbonated beverages and why I couldn't have sugar. Then they would offer to bring me coffee to "perk me up" and had to explain why I couldn't have caffeine. Plus my surgery was at 9:30am, I was in the post op recovery area before noon but didn't get to my actual room until almost 11:00pm and they refused in the recovery area to let me get up and walk and they hadn't even bothered to turn the compression wraps on until I complained for like the 10th time. I think they just take on more surgeries in general than the rest of the hospital is prepared to deal with. But all that said - I had no complications and it was only two nights in the hospital and the nurses I had did want to learn. And the pre and post support through Penn has been great. Just make sure you understand your immediate post op requirements (they will be explained to you in the nutrition class that you have about a week or two before surgery) because your nursing staff in the hospital may not actually be familiar with them. The next support group meeting at the perelman center (right next to HUP) that I'm going to is November 12th - if you attend, please come up to me and introduce yourself!

that was me - even over 100lbs down and I couldn't see a change when I looked in the mirror. I knew my clothes fit different and I had a lot less back and knee pain but couldn't VISUALLY see a difference. And I thought no one else did either but turns out most of them thought the change was so obvious they didn't need to comment on it! It actually wasn't until I cut my hair short that I started noticing a change and I could finally tell that my face was much slimmer and my neck.

At my bariatric center's monthly support group meetings we devoted a whole session to this very thing. Fortunately that was the session my friend and main support person attended. What we discussed was rather than making the compliment about looking good/more attractive (because as you pointed out, a lot of us then can't help but think - gee I guess you are saying I really looked awful before), to make the compliment more about accomplishments such as "I can tell you've really been working hard" or "I can see you have so much more energy now" or in my case as my friend points out to me "You are so much more active now. I am so happy to be able to see your journey" But I will say, it is nice to hear something, anything, that says the transformation is noticeable. I was over a hundred lbs down before anyone ever said anything - not even my close friends that knew about the surgery. I commented one day to one of them that it was frustrating to have lost a big chunk of weight and no one notices. She actually said everyone notices but I know I wasn't sure how to phrase it and also, it was so obvious that you had lost a lot that I just assumed you realized too how much your appearance was changing. So there is a fine line between it being a veiled insult and a welcome acknowledgement. And during that emotional initial phase - I know I never know how I'll react to even the most innocent of comments. So kudos to the friends that take the risk and talk to you about your progress.

I would definitely suggest the pouches of tuna and salmon. They have some great flavors, no refrigeration required and no can opener needed! Most of the ones I've tried have about 13-15 grams of Protein per 2.6 oz pouch. Keep some bottled Water with you and maybe the Syntrax nectar Protein powder - fruity flavors that go well dissolved in water? And the cooler sounds like a great idea for keeping some cottage cheese and greek yogurt, maybe some laughing cow cheese wedges etc.

I'm in the area as well and work with Penn Medicine. My surgeon is Dr. Kristoffel Dumon and surgery will be at UPenn Hospital (although there are other options of hospitals within the same practice). I'm about half way through my 6 month pre-op period. So far I love the team with Penn Medicine (my primary doctor is with Penn medicine as well). I'm able to do my monthly appointments at the Valley Forge office (which is only 15 minutes from my work) and the cardiologist is right there on the same floor so all my cardiac testing was done the same day as one of my monthly appointments with the NUT/surgeon. The sleep study consult is also right there in the same building. I'll have to go to the office in Philly for my 5th appointment but only because the psych evaluations are done at that office and I can have it done right after my normal appointment. There are monthly support group meetings at several locations (each has a slightly different format/style). I really like the ones held at the Perelman Center in Philly - the first hour they bring in a speaker to talk about a particular topic and then the second hour is more open forum. And those meetings get a good mix of pre-ops and post-ops at various stages, even some post ops that are more than 5 years out. https://www.pennmedicine.org/for-patients-and-visitors/find-a-program-or-service/bariatric-surgery

I would just like to say that in addition to your physical transformation being wonderful, it is really your emotional transformation that I find so inspiring! I can especially relate to the "I didn't hate myself because I was obese, I was obese because I hated myself" idea. Learning to love ourselves takes work and in many ways is the scariest/hardest part of this journey for me.