Built from the operating room outward.

A personal letter from Dr. Cherie Long, MD

I’ve cared for tens of thousands of surgical patients and previously served as Medical Director of our Perioperative Surgical Home. That gave me two views of the same problem: what happens to an individual patient, and what happens across an entire surgical system.

I knew the science was there. But inside the constraints of the medical system—rushed visits, fragmented care, and endless paperwork—delivering a real preparation plan to every patient was nearly impossible. Again and again, patients moved through protocols, received instructions, were medically cleared—and still arrived without a real plan for how to prepare themselves.

That never made sense to me. Preparing for surgery shouldn’t depend on which hospital you go to, how much time your doctor has, or whether you know what questions to ask. The science of preparation should be available to everyone.

I’ve also spent much of my life in endurance sport, including competing as a Division I swimmer. In sport, preparation is assumed. You train, fuel, recover, and build reserve for what you’re asking your body to do. But surgery was different. Patients were often told simply to show up.

Then it became personal.

My father was diagnosed with glioblastoma shortly after retiring. His surgical team was excellent—but his recovery was brutal. He was frail, weak, with little reserve for what came next. I still carry the regret that I didn’t help him prepare more.

So I stepped outside the system to build what I knew was missing.

GlowWell is the system I wish I could have handed him—and the one I want every patient to have before they walk into surgery.

You deserve more than instructions and a surgery date. You deserve a way to prepare.

— Dr. Cherie Long, MD