James McDonald of Palm Bay Loses 250 Pounds: Health First’s NewFit Enjoys Reputation for Safe, Supportive Weight-loss Surgeries

At his heaviest, James McDonald was about 440 pounds, Three years post-op, he hovers at 180

Health First’s NewFit Surgical Weight-loss Program and Surgeons Nathan Allison, MD, and Ken Tieu, MD, recently were again accredited by the American College of Surgeons Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP). “On top of our excellence across the board, we have to demonstrate that we’re constantly improving care. Our surgeons are involved in continuing medical education, and we’re improving patients’ post-operative experiences,” said Dr. Tieu.

NEED TO KNOW:

■ Health First’s NewFit has again received national accreditation from the American College of Surgeons Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program.
■ Accreditation is an endorsement by fellow surgeons that NewFit is performing safe and effective metabolic and bariatric surgeries, and continually improving.
■ “With NewFit, I knew what to expect, and I could call and someone would pick up or call me back,” says James McDonald, a patient.
■ “I do think we need to attack this disease process earlier,” says Health First Surgeon Ken Tieu, MD. “Done young, there’s a higher likelihood of success.”

National group of surgeons again gives Space Coast’s leading surgical weight-loss program full endorsement.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – James McDonald of Palm Bay is grateful he chose Health First’s NewFit Surgical Weight-loss Program.

He did his research, even scheduled consultations at other centers – “I did do some shopping around” – but he favored his hometown program. While he can’t compare the NewFit experience to the same one at another center, three years on, he gets a sense of how right he was from the online communities he belongs to.

“I’m in bariatric groups on Facebook. The gastric sleeve patient group on Facebook has 200,000 or 300,000 in it, and you see ‘How much should I be eating?’ get posted. Wait, they didn’t tell you?” he says. “I don’t know that I ever saw that question asked on the NewFit patient Facebook group.”

“We’re given a lot of information that maybe other surgery centers don’t offer. There’s a lot less confusion.”

‘Rigorous, and Peer Reviewed’

Quality patient outcomes – helped along by empowering patients with information – is one reason NewFit has once again received national accreditation from the American College of Surgeons Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP). Accreditation is an endorsement from the surgeon group that NewFit is performing safe and effective metabolic and bariatric surgeries.

“It’s a rigorous process, and peer reviewed,” says Health First Surgeon Ken Tieu, MD, “It’s proof that our surgeons are well qualified, safe and effective, that we have the staffing to meet patients’ needs, that our anesthesiologists, dieticians, physician partners and nurses are there for patients, and that our operating rooms and imaging equipment meet the highest standards.”

As an MBSAQIP-accredited hospital, NewFit also becomes an ACS Surgical Quality Partner. Being a Surgical Quality Partner signals that a hospital is dedicated to consistently improving procedures and approaches. Patients know the surgical center is dedicated to quality and self-improvement – verified or accredited by the ACS.

“On top of our excellence across the board, we have to demonstrate that we’re constantly improving care. Our surgeons are involved in continuing medical education, and we’re improving patients’ post-operative experiences.”

James McDonald was more than 440 pounds at his heaviest. A surgical weight-loss solution is the “tool” required to achieve medical significant weight loss, says NewFit founding surgeon Nathan Allison, MD.

EVERYONE KNOWS THEIR SURGERY DATE

At his heaviest, James McDonald was about 440 pounds. Three years post-op, he hovers at 180. He was told to count on losing 150 to 175 pounds. He lost more than 250.

His mobility is exponentially better. He is not winded doing light exercise – in fact, he does long hikes. His blood sugar (A1C) is below diabetic levels. Last year, he shelved his continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device – “I redid my sleep test, and they weren’t actually able to catch anything.”

His journey began 10 years ago when he took a trip to Philadelphia to visit a friend. From the seat on the train (which he chose over an airplane’s snugness) to the walk to the subway – he was at turns embarrassed about his size, then gassed because of it. “I knew I needed something, but I wasn’t quite ready yet.”

He had tried dieting, and while it was effective, it was hard to keep weight off. By early 2020, his A1C jumped a full point in just a few months, and he had grown uneasy about retrieving the mail at the end of his driveway, such were the limits of his fitness.

“Before, if you’d told me to get down on the floor, I’d have been terrified. If I didn’t have a chair to push off of, I might be unable to get up off the ground.”

A nurse in an end-of-life residential facility, he knew that, if he did nothing, he “would be somebody else’s burden” soon.

He had his first NewFit appointment in March of 2020. On November 8, he had a successful gastric sleeve procedure. He’ll never misremember the date.

“Everyone knows their surgery date. It’s the day your life starts to change.”

James McDonald of Palm Bay decided to pursue a surgical weight-loss solution in 2020. Since then, he has lost more than 250 pounds, sleeps without a CPAP machine, and goes on long nature hikes. He commends NewFit for keeping in touch with their patients long after surgery, and for keeping them properly informed of the changes they’re about to undergo.

‘ACHIEVE SIGNIFICANT WEIGHT LOSS’

Health First’s NewFit offers gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy and lap band procedures. Surgeons Tieu and Nathan Allison, MD are quick to dispel any suggestion that these choices are “cheats” for people unwilling to diet, or even easy fixes for treating obesity.

“Weight-loss surgery is a tool to help people achieve medically significant weight loss who have been given an unfair disadvantage,” says Health First General Surgeon Nathan Allison, MD, who founded the program.

Dr. Allison and Dr. Tieu both trained on robotic surgery equipment to perform bariatric procedures at a time when few centers were all-in on the technology.

“Training in 2011, there were maybe 3 or 4 centers in the country using robotics for bariatrics,” Dr. Tieu says. “Now, that number is over 50% of all programs.”

Robotic surgeries are minimally invasive. NewFit surgeons see fewer hospital readmission rates, lower rates of complications, and far shorter patient length of stays.

Along with the surgery, NewFit offers psychological screening and counseling. There’s access to directed medical weight loss therapies, and of course, there’s ample nutrition guidance. The online communities for NewFit are very active – and growing.

Today, McDonald’s fiancée is planning to have NewFit weight-loss surgery.

Education and support are the biggest reasons McDonald recommends NewFit – for his fiancée, for anyone. Following his surgery, months into his physical transformation, his weight loss had stalled. This is common – and a common post in the online forums.

“Online, you see people getting upset because, ‘Oh, no, ‘I’ve stopped losing weight!’ With NewFit, I knew what to expect, but if I still had questions, I could call and someone would pick up or call me back. And they want to see you back and note your progress.”

Visit HF.org/newfit to learn more about weight-loss surgery and see if it’s right for you.

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