I embarked on my bariatric surgery journey after a brief decision-making phase, rather than the more common longer journey many patients undertake. As such, I was somewhat under-informed about the procedure, but like most people, approached it with a mixture of hope and apprehension. The decision to undergo such a life-altering procedure comes with its share of anxieties and concerns. Mr Jenkinson and his team executed their multi-disciplinary, holistic care model exceptionally well right from the beginning, structured to sensitively and skilfully coach me and navigate my education on the procedure to address and manage my questions and anxieties.
- Kate Waller, consultant bariatric Nutritionist, guided and coached me on my nutrition journey including great self-education resources like Denise Ratcliffe's insightful book, "Living with Bariatric Surgery: Managing Your Mind and Your Weight". Kate’s adaptive and pragmatic approach carefully anchored my long-term success in changing my understanding of nutrition and learning the new skills I would need, distilling the key success criteria very precisely for me.
- Dr Danielle Cottee-Lane, consultant Psychologist, guided and coached me on my psychological journey, helping me to understand my motivations and the root causes of my obesity. She sensitively and empathetically explored the risks that my thinking, patterns and habits might pose to long-term success in maintaining weight loss. She also gave me practical and useful resources for staying focused on the long game when temporary setbacks crop up, as they inevitably do in such a big change.
- The irreplaceable Natalie Cole, Mr Jenkinson's Practice Manager, expertly orchestrated everything and guided me through all the practicalities. I can't even begin to list the exhaustive things Natalie did for me to keep everything on track - but I must mention her patience and endurance in supporting a patient who struggled at times with the pace and scale of this journey. I don't know how she keeps ten thousand balls in the air - perhaps she ought to write her own book on that subject.
- And of course, Mr Jenkinson himself, who aside from obviously performing the procedure itself and no complications, provided me with encyclopaedic knowledge and education on the procedure before and after. This inspired huge confidence in his experience and command of his discipline - in particular, Mr Jenkinson's counsel on the risks of complications to a nervous patient was delivered in very skilfully balanced way, blending empirical sources of facts about risks with great empathy and kindness. What has stayed with me is Mr Jenkinson’s deep understanding and deep empathy with his patients – to a degree unlike most any other medical professionals I’ve met. I was at the time, and remain, greatly reassured and impressed by his care ethic and his compassion as much as by his medical knowledge and experience. I'm sure most people recognise that this is truly a rarefied combination - this makes him a brilliant surgeon.
There was some stuff that went wrong - there inevitably is with a life-changing procedure as profound as bariatric surgery is in its scope and ambition - but what went right is that the team responded immediately and sorted problems out very quickly. I didn't mention Dr Maan Hasan the anaesthetist until this point because he deserves a special mention as one of the best medical practitioners I've ever come across – and I’ve had more than half a dozen surgeries for other conditions to date. Dr Hasan saw me experiencing some unusual pain on waking from surgery and acted decisively with muscle-memory speed to manage it. I will remember how him holding my hand in that moment felt for the rest of my life.
In summary, Mr Jenkinson's multi-disciplinary, holistic care philosophy transcends the conventional patient-doctor proposition; I've been launched into a totally new healthier, happier lifestyle. I've lost 80% of my excess weight in 6 months since the sleeve gastrectomy procedure so to merely say I am grateful to him and his team scarcely captures the depth of my profound appreciation for what they did for me. To patients who are not sure yet whether this is for them, consider picking up a copy of his excellent book Why We Eat (Too Much) like I did, just to get a start. To those looking for a surgical team, I would wholeheartedly recommend booking a consultation with Mr Jenkinson – picking up the phone to Natalie and booking myself in is a decision I’ll never regret.
TR
