Patient Results

“At 33 years old, I was at a crossroads in my life. Continue living the way I had been, or finally make the leap and commit to changing my life and becoming healthy. I knew I was morbidly obese, it wasn’t a secret. I had always known I should lose weight, but when you are as big as I was, losing 10 pounds didn’t have the impact to matter. I had wanted to have weight loss surgery for years but always had an excuse; money, time, life… But on Sept. 7th, 2018 I visited Dr. Barnes at a weight close to 340 pounds on a 5-foot 7-inch frame.

Our first meeting was quite good. He and his wonderful team of nurses and staff were prompt, helpful and real. He asked me what my goal weight was and I told him whatever he wanted me to weigh. So my BMI number for “normal” body weight was about 25, so that was my goal. I immediately knew that I was going to do everything he said in order to qualify for the surgery and complete this goal of mine. His staff helped with all the insurance hurdles and I did my part because I knew that this was the tool that I needed to be successful.

On December 27th, 2018 I had Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy performed and through the help of the amazing nutritionist that works with Dr. Barnes and hard work, I had already lost over 40 pounds!! The surgery went well and I was home after a few days. After 6 weeks of recovery, I was totally healed and continued to lose weight at a constant rate. I stuck to the program of small meals, taking my time while eating, getting my fluids… ALL OF IT. I will never forget the day I was under 200 pounds! I was ecstatic. In September of 2019, I had lost another 25lbs and I had reached my “normal” body weight; what I remember Dr. Barnes telling me was my ideal weight for me. In January of 2020, I am still at my ideal weight but my body fat percentage continues to go down with the help of exercise and mindful eating habits.

For anyone thinking about bariatric surgery, I recommend Dr. Barnes at Barnes Bariatric!!!”

“My biggest fear at the end of 2017 was that I would one day wake up in a hospital with my wife and doctor hovering over me saying, “It’s ok Ron, you just had a heart attack, but you are in the hospital now.” That fear was especially strong when I couldn’t even complete a walk around the park with my family. My mind was willing, but my body was aching; slowly dying. I have lived over 30 years of my life always being the bigger guy, but I completely let myself go. I don’t know for sure, but I believe I weighed close to, if not over 300lbs. I remember telling my wife I have to do something drastic. I called my insurance company to find out what they would cover. They had some requirements like: High blood pressure (check), High cholesterol (check), BMI over 40 (check), and a life-threatening issue such as Sleep Apnea (check). If failing at controlling my weight was graded, I would be getting an ‘A.’

On January 5, 2018, I had my first appointment with Dr. Barnes, and his crew. What I appreciate about Dr. Barnes is that he is extremely straight forward with me. Not trying to “sell” me an idea of a better life, but talking to me, realistically, about how my life was ruining my life. On that date, I weighed 279lbs and my BMI was at 42.4. In order to be at the top of my healthy BMI, I needed to lose close to 116lbs. This was the day that I HAD to accept my responsibilities.

Dr. Barnes, Bonnie (the nutritionist), and the rest of his team are extremely supportive and available for questions and concerns. They helped me get through the highs and lows of each visit. They prepared me for what I should expect, and continue to remind me how to reset my train of thought when I was lost. The biggest lesson I learned from them is:

• Dr. Barnes, and his team, are only going to help you set up the tool to lose weight. What I do with that tool is up to me.

Gastric bypass IS NOT a miracle cure that will allow me to have anything I want, without any consequences. IT IS HARD WORK. It took me over 5 months, after my surgery, to even mentally see any changes in my body. Now, at my one year post operation appointment (4/26/18), I weigh 163.5lbs. My BMI is 24.9.

Yes, Dr. Barnes, and his team, helped me relive my life, but here is what I didn’t expect to get out of this surgery: 1) Being able to take my wife horseback riding because it was something she has always wanted to do with me, but I was too big, 2) carrying my both of my kids up/down the stairs, 3) running along the soccer field with my boy, 4) fitting into an airplane seat (theater seat, etc.) without losing circulation in my legs, 5) walking my dogs vs. my dogs walking me, and 6) looking forward to going to the doctor (any doctor) to see how my life is changing for the better. On the last one, I’m no longer diabetic, no longer have sleep apnea, my arthritis flares a whole lot less, my blood pressure medication is cut in half (hopefully, at the end of this year, I won’t need it), my cholesterol is normal, and I went from a XXL (being tight fitting) to a slim-fit medium.

If you want to take charge of your life, accepting that you need to control your relationship with food is step 1. Step 2 is contacting the Barnes Bariatric team."

“When my wife and I realized we needed help, it was a very difficult decision to take that initial step. We were so overweight that we were unhappy. We couldn’t walk far, we were always tired, we couldn’t do activities everyone else was doing, we couldn’t even fit in some chairs. We had a problem and we needed help. We tried to exercise, but we were too far gone. Fast food restaurants and eating out felt addicting. Snacks were always in reach and why not, we were already so big it didn’t matter anymore. We thought.

We heard about gastric bypass and gastric sleeve so we looked it up online. Here is where it got VERY hard.

After doing our research we found out that we would be unable to eat as much. Immediately, we both gasped! Our FOOD!! The thought of not being able to eat as much sounded so extreme. We could not imagine what it would be like.

We thought, “What if we are still hungry? What if we don’t get satisfied?” We closed our browser and decided to order a pizza. Oh with wings too. 

My wife had problems every single morning, stressed out about her clothes. “What am I suppose to wear?!! This is to tight! These pants don’t fit right! This shirt is too snug! I HATE CLOTHES!!

I had my own issues, my feet would KILL me Every Single Day. I also began to lose feeling below my knees when I would lie down at night. It was bad.

After about a week we started discussing the topic again. We thought, Maybe… it would be good for us. We DO want to live a long life. And…how awesome would it be to shop at regular stores again! Plus sizes are NOT the same. HECK!… We could even go to an amusement park!

We both had the hardest time making that initial step. So many negative thoughts about it. But… We decided our lives with each other was more important than food, and if we did it together we could get through it as a team.

*** WHOA ****

Okay, so my wife is 9 months out, she had gastric bypass. I am 4 months out and I had gastric sleeve.

Dr. Barnes gave us a second chance in life and we are the most appreciative people on the planet! What a HUGE LIFE CHANGING EVENT! We have not felt as good nor looked as good since high school. It is nothing like what we had feared. We are so healthy now! It’s INCREDIBLE!!!! Not only is our weight Completely under control, but inside our bodies are So healthy as well. It is TRULY the BEST thing that has EVER Happened!! The doubts you are having, PLEASE consider this Wonderful New Lifestyle. YOU deserve being healthy and living life to its fullest!”

I began my journey toward a healthy life on September 14, 2010 when I made my first visit to Dr. Barnes. At the time I had reached my point of surrender with my constant weight problem that I had experienced for 56 years. In the last 5 of those years my weight had ballooned to 469 pounds. I was miserable. I had diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea and chronic knee problems.

On that day of my first visit with Dr. Barnes he gave me hope like I had never had before. He gave me some instructions on what I needed to do to prepare for the Roux-N-Y Gastric Bypass and I began following his instructions. My biggest fear with the surgery was that after the surgery, I would constantly be hungry but have a physical limitation with eating to satisfaction. Even with this fear, I was desperate for a change in my life and on that day the change began.

Dr. Barnes wanted me to lose 30 pounds before my surgery and I was successful at losing 60. I had my surgery on February 7, 2011 and experienced no problems whatsoever. My greatest fear did not become realized—quite the opposite. I began to get full after just a few small bites of food.

My message to the morbidly obese is simply this: Face your fears, vocalize them to someone, walk through those fears and find your own point of surrender. You can find that a surrender can actually lead to a victory.

After the surgery:

My diabetes went away. My high blood pressure went away. My high cholesterol went away. My sleep apnea went away. My knee problems went away. My attitude and zest for live improved dramatically.

My surrender became a victory. God Bless Dr. Barnes and his staff—they gave me back my life.

Jim M.