Gastric Bypass Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Bariatric Surgery in San Antonio Success Story Herman “Buddy” Ligon*

Since Buddy has seen much success already with his bariatric surgery in San Antonio, he has this bit of advice for others considering it, “Pay extreme attention to the rules and regulations and appointments with TBS!””

Highest Weight: 285
Goal Weight: 174
Current Weight: 174
Procedure: RNY February 5, 2014

Buddy started experiencing health problems due to his weight when he was in his 40s, but that was after he had already spent most of his life overweight. He began dieting when he was in his teens and tried so many different diets and programs over the years in order to lose weight but was never successful long term.  His go to diet choice was Nutri System, he tried it countless times and he said “it worked until I would stop the program and then I would gain it back quickly.” He pointed out that, for him, trying to keep up with the fad diets like this one is not long standing because he can’t eat that food forever and it did nothing to help control his cholesterol.

In January 2014, Buddy realized that dieting alone was not going to help him reach his weight goal and give back his health, so he decided to look into bariatric surgery.  He looked online and found Dr. Patel, after doing some research and learning that Dr. Patel had performed over 2000 weight loss surgeries he decided to call and make an appointment.  “I know that nothing is as successful as experience,” Buddy explained as the reason he chose Texas Bariatric Specialists over any other group in the area.

On February 5, 2014 Buddy changed his life forever and got the Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass, a bariatric surgery in San Antonio. He felt that with all he had tried and with his health concerns this was not only the best option, but for him, it was the only option.  “I did not want to take a chance with the other options and have it not work” Buddy stated.  He was doing this to make it work and not fail, this was to be his last step in his weight loss journey and in his research, he found too many instances where people failed with the other options, he was not going to be one of them.

Now almost three years later, Buddy has lost 111lbs and that puts him at his goal weight of 174lbs. Buddy has reached his goal and couldn’t be happier! He now has more energy, less aches, and even his blood tests all came back with excellent results. When asked about what keeps him motivated to continuing eating right and working on himself he exclaimed, “The way I feel and look!” Other things that help keep him motivated are his job because it requires him to be agile and fit and his new love of dressing nice, “clothes are a big thing now, I like dressing nice.”

With all the progress he has made, Buddy has also encountered some struggles. At one point he tired of drinking protein shakes all the time and decided to stop using them, unfortunately this lead to not only difficulty getting the weight off, but he began to regain the weight he had been able to lose. He started to have trouble with a lack of energy which led to a lack of motivation to get moving so he got back on the shakes and figured out different ways to change them up each time in order to not burn out again. He has also struggled with learning how to not eat too much or too fast, for him this has been the hardest part of the whole process. He has had many instances where he would eat too much or too fast and then end up with a painful knot in his stomach that can only be relieved by forcing himself to throw up. He still struggles from time to time with this, he said “I just try the best I can, but I guess after a lifetime of eating one way, it is difficult to change the habit.”

Buddy has definitely had his ups and downs, but even with his continued struggles, Buddy says that he would “ABSOLUTELY with no hesitation” do it all again. He would not change a thing and would not do anything but the bypass again. He would recommend to anyone thinking about getting weight loss surgery that they get the bypass as well and his advice to all patients is to “pay extreme attention to the rules and regulations and appointments with TBS!”