Robotic Revision Weight-Loss Surgery Helps Woman Reclaim Her Health

By Carla Palmer

After undergoing gastric sleeve surgery four years ago, Tametria Brown was committed to maintaining a healthier lifestyle. But by the end of 2025, something wasn’t right.

“I started having complications,” Brown said. “The acid reflux was really bad, I was constipated, and my abdominal pain was just through the roof.”

The pain became so severe that she found herself searching for answers.

A Jackson Health System employee, Brown was working as a patient advocate when Werner Andrade Ortiz, MD, a general surgeon specializing in weight-loss surgery with Jackson Medical Group, stopped by her department to introduce himself and hand out business cards.

“I was already thinking about having a revision,” Brown said. “I just happened to call him. I had a visit with him about two weeks later, and it’s history since then.”

During her consultation, Dr. Andrade discovered the issue was more complex than Brown had expected.

“When she came to my office, she told me she hadn’t lost as much weight as she anticipated. After performing an endoscopy, I saw that the stomach remained quite large, which allowed her to regain weight.” Dr. Andrade said.

Initially, Brown assumed she would only need a revision of her gastric sleeve.

Instead, Dr. Andrade recommended a robotic gastric bypass. Unlike a gastric sleeve, which reduces the size of the stomach, a gastric bypass creates a smaller stomach pouch and reroutes part of the small intestine, helping patients lose weight while also reducing complications such as severe acid reflux

“When he walked me through my options, I felt comfortable moving forward with the gastric bypass,” Brown said. “He took the time to explain every procedure and every recommendation.”

On March 26, 2026, she underwent robotic revision bariatric surgery at Jackson North Medical Center.

“When it’s a revision bariatric surgery, it’s more difficult because there’s a lot of scar tissue,” Dr. Andrade explained. “Using robotic surgery and the latest technology, I carefully reconstructed the stomach into the shape it should have been and successfully completed the gastric bypass.”

The results have been life-changing.

Just months after surgery, Brown has lost more than 36 pounds, her abdominal pain has disappeared, and she has returned to doing things she once thought were out of reach.

“I feel much healthier now,” she said. “No more pain. It’s just been heaven-sent.”

The transformation has gone far beyond the number on the scale.

“I see myself doing things with my grandchildren that I wouldn’t have done before,” Brown said. “I’m more energetic now. I had gotten into a depression, but now I feel alive.”

She’s walking a mile at a time, preparing to participate in a 5K, and embracing a healthier lifestyle with renewed confidence.

“This is a whole new life for me,” Brown said. “Age doesn’t matter. I’m 52 years old, and I finally feel like I have my life back.”

For Dr. Andrade, those changes are exactly what success looks like.

“She’s lost a lot of weight and looks splendid,” he said. “But I always tell her, we didn’t do this because of how good she looks. We did it for her health, and that’s the most important thing.”

After surgery, patients follow a carefully structured six-week nutrition plan. Physical activity is also reintroduced in stages, beginning with walking and light cardio before advancing to more strenuous exercise over the following months.

“The surgery is the easy part,” Dr. Andrade said. “The most difficult part is changing your habits. That’s why we see our patients so frequently after surgery—to help them build healthy habits that will last a lifetime.”

Looking back, Brown thinks one chance encounter changed everything.

“Had it not been that day that he walked into my office, I don’t know what I would have done,” she said through tears. “I was really in pain. He saved me, in a sense, and I’m forever grateful.”

Today, she encourages others who may be facing a similar decision not to let fear stand in the way.

“It’s okay to have second thoughts, but listen to your body and trust your doctors,” Brown said. “I promise you, if you get the procedure you need, it could be the best thing that ever happened to you.”