Request an appointment   903-593-0230

Blogs

At nearly 400 pounds and a 48-inch waist, Shaun Rivers was ashamed to be seen in public and didn’t want to leave his house. All he wanted was to improve his health and knew it was time for a change. Today, he is down to 201 pounds and a 34-inch waist.

Rivers’ journey to better health started eight years ago when he found out he had stage 4 Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disease that attacks the thyroid. To treat it, he took a medication that stopped his metabolism. At the time, he was about 240 pounds. Within 10 months, he weighed 393 pounds.

“I lived with it,” Rivers said... Read More »

When Nancy Henderson developed sleep apnea and became borderline diabetic, her primary care doctor told her she was eligible for bariatric surgery and asked if she was interested.

Nancy started researching her options and decided to reach out to the UT Health Tyler Bariatric Center. She went into her first appointment with Dr. Hugh Babineau wanting to have the sleeve gastrectomy. However, due to her other medical conditions, Dr. Babineau said she needed to have the gastric bypass procedure instead, which was not something she previously considered.

“He was very adamant that... Read More »

Heart Disease and Bariatric Surgery

Did you know that being overweight can significantly increase your risk of heart... Read More »

At 74 years old, Dixie McInnis didn’t think she would be dancing the night away, but since having bariatric surgery in October 2017, she has been moving better than ever. She’s living her life without her health holding her back.

Deciding to get weight loss surgery is a big choice, but McInnis’ health kept declining. Her family physician recommend bariatric surgery and said it could help her get off all of her medications.

“I had been diagnosed the year before with type 2 diabetes,” McInnis said. “I had high blood pressure. I was taking about a half dozen medications every... Read More »

When most people think about bariatric surgery, weight loss is what comes to mind. However, the benefits of bariatric surgery extend much further than seeing lower numbers on the scale. Over the course of several future blog posts, we will discuss other reasons to have bariatric surgery.

Bariatric Surgery for Type 2 Diabetes

Main points:

  • Bariatric surgery improves diabetes better than medicines alone
    • Use less or no more insulin!
  • Bariatric surgery decreases risk of... Read More »

Considering weight loss surgery but don’t know where to start? Ian from the UT Health Tyler Bariatric Center gives an overview of the preparation process.

Bariatric surgery can help you regain your freedom and live a longer, healthier life. These procedures also can improve and in some cases resolve health issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, joint pain and more.

Ian Graeter, LVN, is a nurse at the UT Health Tyler Bariatric Center. He helps patients with scheduling appointments, when they arrive for their appointments and... Read More »

BMI is a term that gets used quite a bit in discussions about weight, obesity and bariatric surgery. The term has been the source of a lot of confusion.

BMI is short for “Body Mass Index.” It is simply a number calculated from a person’s height and weight. The more a person weighs in relation to their height, the higher their BMl. The formula used to calculate BMI is weight divided by height squared, and it is usually calculated in kg/meter2. Most times the units are not listed but assumed. For example... Read More »

Our goal is to help individuals achieve better health through surgical management of obesity. We specialize in Gastric Bypass Surgery and Sleeve Gastrectomy. We are located in Tyler and treat patients from Longview, Athens, Jacksonville, Palestine, Kilgore, Marshall, Gilmer and many other locations in East Texas.

 

©2024 UT Health Tyler Bariatric Center. All Rights Reserved.

UT Health Tyler Bariatric Center

1100 E. Lake St., Suite 150 Tyler, TX 75701 903-593-0230

Use of Cookies