Pennie’s smile

Pennie is a former patient of the Peri Operative Program (POP). She came to meet us on the 10^th floor, her cane in hand and a contagious smile on the face.

She talked with high respect and gratitude about Dr. Carli and his team and the wonderful job they did, not only getting her ready for surgery, but also analysing her situation as a whole and sending her to the right resources for help.

‟They saved my life. When I first came in here, I was so weak I had to use a wheelchair. They sat with me, we did an assessment, they gave me whey protein and advice on what to eat and what to avoid in order to get stronger, and they built a whole exercise program that was designed for me, not too hard but just hard enough to build some muscles. They also referred me to a hematologist whose treatments helped me get back on my feet.”

Pennie had colorectal cancer and her tumor was bleeding, causing her to be very weak. Probably too weak to undergo the surgery she needed to fight the disease, but thanks to the POP Program and its devoted team, she is now in better shape than before, as she continues to follow their advice two years after surgery.

‟Their program embraces all of the person, and not only the cancer. All the work they do is to build the body up, so that when we go to have the operation, we are prepared for it much better than somebody who doesn’t have this benefit. I went through my operation like a breeze and afterwards it was a breeze even though I experienced some pain. I came out on a Monday and on the Saturday I was at the Brome Fair. I was hobbling but I was there!”