Northwest Specialty Hospital

I had a Roux-en-Y procedure about two years ago at this hospital. It was through the holidays and there was a slight mix-up in exactly what type of diet I was supposed to have been on immediately afterwards and was given some of the wrong things. That being said, Dr. Pennings was great; experienced and knowledgeable, and though his bedside manner may not be so good, he still understands your needs and how to fix it. I have a failed Nissen fundoplication from about 20 years ago and there was a lot of scar tissue that resulted in my losing some of my stomach and bypassing other parts. This was all explained to me before the surgery. Before my surgery I had chest pain, (not heart issues as the testing ruled this out), I was pre-diabetic, pre-hypertensive, and my A1C was elevated along with leukocytes. Needless to say my total body was running on tilt with the weight gain as well. I read about some of these things on line and did some research and then took up the conversation with my family physician. Dr. Pennings had also found the cancer that eventually took my first husband. Since the surgery, my counts and lab work have returned to normal. I follow a high protein diet so I don't feel faint as is what happens when your blood sugar drops or you become ketoacidotic. I will be on vitamin supplements and this diet for the rest of my life and though it is awkward sometimes, going to dinner and I can only eat a couple of bites at a classy restaurant or wherever I go, it's still much preferable to what I was going through beforehand. My stomach is now the size of an egg so I cannot over-eat. Needless to say, as a side effect, I've lost from 210 pounds to between 157-160. It will probably never be beyond that. Overall, I feel so much better and I would do it all again if I needed to. I would recommend to anyone who is having problems with being overweight or other issues related to weight gain, that you check out Dr. Pennings' office.