Kenneth Reynolds weighed 780 lbs., and his body was shutting down. Vanderbilt Weight Loss Center gave him back his life.

Kenneth Reynolds believed the ceiling of a patient room in the cardiac unit of a West Tennessee hospital would be the last thing he saw before he died.

The hospital bed had recorded his weight at 780 pounds, and he was hospitalized due to acute decompensated heart failure. His heart was no longer adequately circulating his blood, he struggled to take each breath, and fluid had built up inside his body.

“I was there for weeks, and I still remember every ceiling tile, the little sensors in the ceiling and the shape of the light fixtures,” said the 53-year-old resident of Huntington, Tennessee. “I couldn’t do anything, and my brain was so foggy. My organs were working so hard, but they were shutting down on me.”

Reynolds made it out of that room, and today he weighs 402 pounds, a remarkable 378 pounds lighter than his highest weight. More importantly, he can walk now with a walker and is planning fishing and camping adventures with his three grandchildren.

And he credits a team at the Vanderbilt Weight Loss Center for giving him back his life.

His lifelong love of Southern cooking didn’t help matters, he admits. He struggled with poorly controlled Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and increasing heart issues. After trying too many diets to name, Reynolds sought medical help to reduce his body mass.

After a serious leg injury more than a decade ago limited his activity, Reynolds steadily gained weight. His lifelong love of Southern cooking didn’t help matters, he admits. He struggled with poorly controlled Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and increasing heart issues. After trying too many diets to name, Reynolds sought medical help to reduce his body mass.

He was repeatedly turned away by doctors who were unwilling to risk weight loss or bariatric surgery. Some even said the procedure was impossible. After a second hospitalization, when fluid built up in his body again, Reynolds’ cardiac physician told him he was close to death.

“My heart doctor looked at me and said, ‘You have to get to Vanderbilt,” Reynolds said.

“We can do this”

Though he lived two hours away and was unable to drive, Reynolds steeled himself for one last try. He met with Sahar Takkouche, MD, assistant professor of Medicine and a physician at the Vanderbilt Weight Loss Center, and heard the words, “We can do this.”

“When she said that, it was like a giant weight came off my chest,” Reynolds said. “I knew right then things were about to get different.”

Takkouche, who is fellowship trained in obesity medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said cases like Reynolds’ energize her. Before coming to VUMC, she completed an internal medicine residency at the Mt. Sinai Brooklyn Hospital Center during the height of the pandemic. She realized the majority of the critically ill patients she treated in the intensive care unit were struggling with metabolic disease, meaning their normal mechanism to control energy expenditure was disrupted.

“I made it my life’s mission to serve these folks, so they never have to get to the ICU,” she said. “My job is to provide my patient with a personalized treatment plan that aids them in prolonging their health and wellness. Our program uses a multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of obesity and metabolic disease, including novel anti-obesity medication, guided lifestyle intervention, dietetics and emotional support.”

Takkouche has teamed up with her colleagues Barbara Gisella Carranza-Leon, MD and Robb Flynn, PhD, to teach a course on obesity at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, allowing medical students to have educational clinical rotations at the Vanderbilt Weight Loss Center.

“My primary goal was to improve Mr. Reynolds’ underlying metabolic dysfunction by adding medications which treated multiple comorbidities while avoiding negative side effects. It was a very, very delicate balancing act.”

Takkouche, who has now worked with Reynolds for more than two years, took a thorough medical history during his initial visit, ordered a genetic panel to screen for any inherited factors related to the disease of obesity that could be a factor in his metabolic dysfunction, and immediately prescribed two medications to assist in his weight loss.

“These medications serve a role in the treatment of diabetes and promote weight loss while protecting the heart,” Takkouche said. “My primary goal was to improve Mr. Reynolds’ underlying metabolic dysfunction by adding medications which treated multiple comorbidities while avoiding negative side effects. It was a very, very delicate balancing act.”

Reynolds also met with a Behavioral Health specialist to talk through important factors in weight loss such as goal setting, problem solving and social support. A Vanderbilt Weight Loss Center dietitian helped him plan a high protein, low carbohydrate diet. Reynolds also met with Wayne English, MD, associate professor of Surgery and director of Clinical Research for the Vanderbilt Center for Surgical Weight Loss, so he understood the milestones he had to meet before surgery, including losing a minimum of 100 pounds.

Down 120 pounds, ready for surgery

Telehealth check-ins between in-person appointments kept Reynolds connected with the team. With the medications and diet modification, he was able to lose 120 pounds in the first year and was approved for the surgery.

Reynolds said family and friends continually encouraged him, but the journey wasn’t always easy. Knowing he wanted to watch his grandchildren grow up motivated him, and occasionally he would allow himself a day to enjoy a piece of pizza or another treat in moderation. When he got the word that he was approved for surgery, he was more than ready.

In July 2022, English successfully performed a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass for Reynolds. This procedure creates an egg-sized pouch at the top of the stomach which is attached to a surgically created Y-shaped section of the small intestine. Food then bypasses the lower stomach and part of the small intestine. This reduces the calories the body can absorb and reduces hunger by impacting the gut hormones.

Reynolds continues to lose weight and he’s traded his 10X clothing for size 6X. He’s also marking the restoration of his health in other significant ways.

“The surgery for Mr. Reynolds was life-altering and vital in preserving his future health,” said English. “Metabolic and bariatric surgery alters fat storage metabolism, decreases insulin resistance, lowers blood sugar, and improves the body’s overall cardiometabolic function. This happens because the regulation of those critical metabolic functions occurs through a system of hormones, most of which are produced in the stomach and intestine. By surgically altering these tissues, these regulatory hormones are reset.”

“I get to live my life again”

Metabolic and bariatric surgery has been shown to consistently resolve obesity-related conditions, especially those associated with metabolic syndrome, a condition in which patients have high blood pressure (hypertension), high blood sugar (diabetes), high cholesterol and excess body fat around the waist, English added.

There is about a 50% reduction in the risk of developing a heart attack or stroke after metabolic and bariatric surgery due to the overall improvement in cardiometabolic health. As a result, life expectancy is increased by an average of seven years. Other benefits include improvement in migraine headaches, polycystic ovarian syndrome, depression, asthma, pulmonary function, gastroesophageal reflux disease, gout and degenerative joint disease.

Reynolds continues to lose weight and he’s traded his 10X clothing for size 6X. He’s also marking the restoration of his health in other significant ways.

When a physical therapist checks his blood pressure during home visits, its “always perfect,” he hasn’t experienced heart arrhythmia since his surgery, he no longer suffers with heartburn and his cardiac function, mobility, mental health and ability to focus are all greatly improved.

“I get to live my life again,” Reynolds said. “I get to enjoy being me again. And I’m ready to go fishing.”

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