Focusing on You: Comprehensive Weight Management Program for Patients

UHealth gastroenterologist Michelle Pearlman, M.D., offers a comprehensive weight management program to her patients.

TRANSCRIPT

Narrator:
Focusing on You: Innovations In Modern Medicine from your team of experts at UHealth, the University of Miami Health System.

Narrator: 
A year ago, Dennis Hernandez weighed 280 pounds and was turning to food to cope with the loss of his brother and sister.

Dennis Hernandez:
Basically, I could die at any time, any minute.

Narrator:
Dennis went to see UHealth gastroenterologist Michelle Pearlman, who offers a comprehensive weight management program to her patients.

Dr. Michelle Pearlman:
We literally start from the first thing they put in their mouth. So I want to know what sort of coffee are you drinking? What are you adding to your coffee? What snacks are you having?

Narrator:
She makes adjustments to their eating habits and develops a personalized nutrition and exercise program.

Dr. Pearlman:
Nutrition can be very simple, but there can also be a lot of nuances. The simple part about it, we would all feel so much better and be so much healthier if we limited the processed food.

Narrator:
Dennis cut out sweets and sodas and started exercising a little at a time.

Dennis Hernandez:
I started with five minutes of the Peloton. Then 10 minutes, 15 minutes, I started gradually,

Narrator:
An avid cyclist before his weight gain, Dennis worked his way to riding 60 miles a day on his bike, inspiring Dr. Pearlman to give it a try.

Dr. Pearlman:
I like to think I give people hope, my patients when it comes to their weight loss journey, but Dennis has been such an inspiration for me,

Narrator:
Now 60 pounds lighter, Dennis says Dr. Pearlman has taught him a valuable lesson about exercise and eating.

Dennis Hernandez:
One of the things I learned with Dr. Pearlman was that do not eat your burned calories. If you go out and you burn 2,000 calories, don’t go out and eat a pizza.

Narrator:
For her patients who need non-surgical intervention, UHealth now offers an endobariatric program using an intragastric balloon.

Dr. Pearlman:
The intragastric balloon, it’s a very simple procedure. You just come for an outpatient endoscopy where we give you anesthesia. I put a scope into your mouth, look at your stomach. And then I literally just inflate a balloon in your stomach about 500 cc.

Narrator:
The balloon makes the patient feel full, so they eat less.

Dr. Pearlman:
And then the balloon is removed at the end of the six month period, and then you’re in our weight management program.

Narrator:
Dennis says no matter how you choose to lose the weight, the support you get from the staff at UHealth is priceless.

Dennis Hernandez:
It’s been kind of like having a team working for you and making sure that you do the right thing.

Tags: Dr. Michelle Pearlman, endobariatric program, exercise, focusing on you, Nutrition, obese, overweight, weight loss