Derek Tiller spent most of his life classified as overweight. And, for much of his life – even as an elite athlete – he’d been fine with that.

Until he wasn’t. But, by then, he felt like there was nothing he could do about it – until he met Longstreet Clinic Center for Weight Management surgeon Dr. Robert Richard, MD, FACS.

It was then that Derek began a journey that led the former collegiate football standout and state champion wrestler to a life that, just months prior, felt almost impossible.

“How I feel now is more of a relief than anything. It’s also extremely rewarding,” said Derek, 39, a teacher and coach at Cherokee Bluff High School in Flowery Branch who underwent bariatric surgery with Dr. Richard – surgery that helped him drop from almost 340 pounds to less than 225 pounds in just under a year. “This is the longest I’ve ever maintained a healthy weight, ever. I’m finally in total control of my health. And I give Dr. Richard and the staff at Longstreet Clinic all the praise for that. I’m eternally grateful.”

Benefits of weight loss surgery

• Normalized Blood Pressure
• Normalized Blood Cholesterol
• Type II Diabetes Disappears
• Asthma Relief
• Lowered Risk of Heart Disease
• And More.

To learn more about the benefits of weight loss surgery, click here or call 770-691-6962.

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Derek’s size helped him earn a scholarship to Wofford College, where he was a standout offensive lineman for the Terriers. And after his final collegiate season in 2007, Derek, who played at about 285 pounds, immediately began losing weight. In fact, by the time he got married in April ’08, Derek weighed just 225.

“I thought it would be easy to stay there – but it was anything but,” Derek said.

And so began an exhausting cycle of weight gain and weight loss. In his late 20s and through his 30s, Derek yo-yoed between weight gain and then a determined fight to lose it. But with each gain, Derek felt control of his own health slipping from his grasp.

“I would gain weight and then lose 50-70 pounds,” Derek said. “I must have done that eight to ten times. But every time I did it, it got harder, and I would gain a bit more back when I did gain weight.”

“After meeting with him and learning more, I was an instant believer,” Derek said. “He is an incredible physician, and he has an impressive track record. You can also tell he cares, and that he’s going to be there for you, for life.”

Derek was on the fast track, opting for a Gastric Bypass procedure in March of 2022. In a Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass, a golf ball-sized part of the patient’s stomach is surgically divided from the rest of the stomach. The golf ball-sized pouched is the only part of the stomach that receives food (the larger lower portion of the stomach never holds food again but does help with digestion). This new structure severely restricts the amount of food a patient can ingest, making them feel full much sooner than with their previous, regular-sized stomach. The procedure also changes the patient’s gut hormones, helping them to you feel full longer.

After gastric bypass surgery, the patient’s body also changes how it digests carbohydrates. Called “dumping syndrome,” consuming carbohydrates can cause nausea, cramping, and diarrhea for about 20 to 30 minutes.

This aggressive outcome was exactly why Derek chose the Gastric Bypass.

No surgery is without risks. To learn of all the potential risks with weight loss surgery, click here.