Jim's Story

Jim Orisini's life took a dramatic turn thanks to two family members and a stingray. A former semi-pro football player, he said struggles with his weight began after he broke his back. He entered the hospital at 172 pounds but left at 230 pounds.

"I've been fighting with my weight for most of my adult life," he said. "I've tried every diet you can think of, the cabbage diet, the tomato soup diet, I've tried them all. For the past 30 years, I've been on a diet one way or the other."

He had some success with a variation of the Atkins Diet where he would eat strictly protein.

"I lost 60 pounds, then when off the diet and gained 80 pounds," he said. He knew the on-again, off-again diet cycle wasn't the answer. "I had to stop the yo-yo diets."

A trip to North Carolina's Outer Banks proved to be the turning point thanks to a stingray. An avid surf fisherman, Jim caught a stingray and the moment was captured in a photo. That photo caught his attention and not because of his prized catch.

"I looked ridiculous," he said.

While walking along the beach with his wife Barbara, whom he described as "a bird," Jim had an epiphany.

"I was embarrassed for her," he said. His daughter Holly knew what he needed to do. She directed him to Penn Medicine's Dr. Kristoffel Dumon, who had performed bariatric surgery on her with great results.

"She raved about him and his team being the best," he said, adding that he did his own research on Dr. Dumon because "everything on the internet is true, right?" he said laughing. "But everything I read was exactly what my daughter told me."

Like so many things, the COVID-19 pandemic complicated Jim's plans but eventually he was able to meet with Dr. Dumon and schedule his vertical gastric sleeve procedure. But there was still one more step before he decided to go through with it.

Family Support for a Big Decision

Several weeks before the scheduled surgery, he and his wife met his son and his girlfriend for dinner in Ocean City, NJ. When his wife and his son's girlfriend left to use the restroom, Jim told his son about his plans.

"I was at 320 pounds and I hadn't told him about it yet," Jim said. "I told him that if he felt I shouldn't do it, I wouldn't do it. But he literally was jumping up and down in joy."

Family support proved critical throughout the process beginning with his wife guiding him through the daily 1,000-calorie diet before the surgery. COVID restrictions where still in place when the time came for his surgery, but his family support continued.

"My son took me down for the surgery and he waited through the entire thing," Jim said, his voice wavering. "He waited all that time and then could only see me for 15 minutes. He told me how proud he was of me."

Then his wife stepped in to help him through the post-surgery process.

"She was my Florence Nightingale, a saint throughout the whole thing," he said. He followed the initial dietary restrictions and began walking every day, dropping from a 46-inch waist to a 36-inch waist. The 62-year-old gets in between 12,000 and 18,000 steps a day, but he said he still wants to do more.

He emphasized that adhering to the team's instruction is the key to success.

"I need to make sure I make time to do the exercises," he said, adding that two weeks before the surgery he was 322 pounds and now hovers between 212 pounds and 221 pounds. "I want to join the Y and swim. I lost a lot of muscle mass and swimming will be the best way to help me build muscle mass."

Jim said the regular check-ins from Dr. Dumon and his team helped him stay on track.

"Dr. Dumon is my hero," he said. "He and his team checked in on me regularly well after the surgery."

Life After Surgery

He continues to follow the guidelines from Dr. Dumon and his team - "you have to change your mindset because you have to change your lifestyle," he said - and said the most difficult change has been not dieting.

"The toughest adjustment is actually just eating because now I'm not dieting," he said. "If I do overeat, I know it because I feel like I'm going to explode. I used to get the 'big boy steak,' but now I get the 10-year-old's steak and I'm fine with that."

And his family continues to help him build his confidence. After dropping so much weight, he and his wife went shopping to get new shorts. He said he was surprised when he took a pair of 38-inch waist shorts into the dressing room and they fit. When they got home, Barbara started getting rid of his 46-inch waist shorts, much to Jim's dismay.

"I said, 'what are you doing? What if I need them again?' " he said.

"She said, 'You're not going back.' She's right. I'm not going back."