Is Tommy Johnson Approved for Weight-Loss Surgery? See Him Today!

When we first meet Tommy Johnson on My 600-lb Life, the 38-year-old weighs well over 600 pounds. "Every day of my life is a hard reminder of how bad I've let myself and my body get," he says upon introduction, "because my weight has reached the point where I struggle to do every single thing I need."

Tommy has been living with his fiancée Amanda, "the one who takes care of everything around the house including me," who also has a history with morbid obesity as she lost her previous boyfriend to the disease.

While Tommy admits he's addicted to food, saying he "would eat every minute of the day if I could," he and Amanda realize the peril his health is in and seek out Dr. Now's support to try and change his life around.

Keep reading to learn about Tommy's progress on My 600-lb Life, including how much weight he lost and what he looks like today.

Tommy explains upon introduction that he's been struggling with his weight for as long as he can remember. Food is the thing he's always turned to for comfort, and the coping mechanism that would always help his fears go away. 

At 8, his weight struggles came to a head when his father passed away suddenly of a heart attack. His father had been struggling with alcoholism and "was supposed to come eat lunch with me" on the day that he passed, as Tommy recalls. 

To cope with the grief of losing his father at such an early age, Tommy turned to food once again. By the time he was 10 years old, he weighed over 200 pounds. And in the following years, his weight only increased when the man who his mother had asked to be his caretaker began abusing him sexually. By the time he was graduating high school at 18, he weighed 500 pounds.

The Louisiana native arrives at Dr. Now's office at 641 with his fiancée and her mother in town. Amanda is losing patience with his health condition and doesn't want to lose another partner to obesity, which makes her a great motivator when he is tasked with following Dr. Now's low-calorie diet plan.

He ultimately loses 70 pounds by his second check-in with the celebrity surgeon and is approved for surgery, which has been far from the norm this season on the show. "I know I have a long way to go but I feel really good I made it to this point," he says following the surgery.

But Tommy is struggling to lose the 20-pounds-a-week that Dr. Now requires of his post-op patients. "I just have the cravings again and I'm trying to ignore them but I guess it's not enough," he tells the doctor, who then suggests he begins seeing Lola Clay for therapy.

Lola urges Tommy to take some of the burden off his shoulders (literally) by talking to his mother and fiancée about the abuse he suffered as a child. When he finally does, he realizes that Amanda is extremely understanding and that helps motivate him to continue his path to health.

By his final weigh-in, he loses a total of 218 pounds from the weight he first arrived in, in the span of a year. Dr. Now is extremely proud of him, as is Amanda, and it's a heartwarming goodbye from Houston as Tommy is able to take Amanda out on their very first date outside of the house. 

Plus, after six or seven years of being unable to fit in his own car, Tommy is able to fit into the driver's seat and is eager to start driving himself around by the end of the episode. We're so happy about the strides he was able to make and hope he continues down the path to health!

New episodes of My 600-lb Life air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on TLC.