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rude and disrespectful most of the show, and then has a change of heart at the end. I don't know -- I think I'll wait for the follow-up to see how this all turned out. Getting on her laptop AND phone when the therapists came in and she wouldn't even look at them?? How rude can you get? I think I would have just rolled her out into the street at that point and said "Good luck".

I just saw the Joe episode. I wonder why he talks like an old man. As for only one sibling in a divorced family being extremely overweight -- perhaps the other siblings have other addictions/struggles that don't manifest themselves in weight gain. In my family -- three of us with divorced parents. I eat too much, one sister drinks too much, and the other is a compulsive gambler. Of the three, I'm the only one whose problem is worn on the hips.

Mr. Hebranko had tons (pardon the expression) of help during the years. I think he originally came to the public's knowledge when Richard Simmons helped him lose several hundred pounds and he was in one or two of Simmons' "Sweating to the Oldies" videos. After that Michael gained back a lot of weight and went on some talk show and basically blamed Simmons for "abandoning him". He lost weight again, somehow ended up on several other t.v. shows, griping and moaning all the time. He just wasn't a very nice person IMHO unless everyone gave him the "bad edit". As for walking away from a bed-bound person -- you can't do it. It might be nice to imagine calling elder care and say "I'm out -- come take care of this person", but quite another thing to do it -- especially if you are a relative. And talk about a "bad edit" if the news media picks up the story -- who do you think comes out smelling like a rose if Penny's husband just up and left? "He promised in sickness and in health, but when Penny became too difficult to take care of because of her health issues, Edgar disregarded his vows and left alone in her in bed unable to care for herself. Stay tuned for our exclusive interview with Penny." Oops -- Cherrio, posting at the same time.

Here's what scares me about this show. We are seeing enormous people who come to Dr. Now for surgery. Several other televisions shows have shown extremely overweight people and their struggles to lose weight. For every one we see on these shows, how many are still at home, house-bound or bed-bound and being fed by "kind" family members? And, when we wonder how much the bed-bound person could do to the person taking care of them if they didn't get the food they wanted -- well, they could throw stuff at you. Even if the caretaker tries to feed them healthy food, the bed-bound person has to be bathed, diapered, etc. The caretaker could get hit, have objects thrown at them, have the overweight person deliberately pee or worse on them when being cleaned -- just all kinds of things -- and it's against the law to just walk away from a bed-bound person, so just walking out the door is oftentimes not an option because when the person is found a week later, the authorities are going to come after the last person to see them. As has been pointed out, these people, even though bed-bound or house-bound, can be extremely manipulative and abusive to those taking care of them if they don't get the food they want. It's frightening for all concerned.

He was shown carrying the purse into the store from the car, and also shown carrying a purse into Dr. Now's office. I can see where some young men like long hair, but with the headband, it looked like a feminine hair-do. When he had his hair pulled back into a pony tail, he did look more masculine.

I, too, thought there were some gender issues with Chay -- women's hairdo, carrying a purse, voice, lack of significant facial hair, etc. I got the feeling that he had a shortage of testosterone (sp?). When he talked about getting his life back together, he never mentioned anything about a romantic life, which one would think that a 23 year old man would definitely be interested in. I thought these things might be addressed at some point in the show, but they weren't. In any event, I liked Chay. Making the effort to move, finally seeing the light about his weight and what he had to do, actually going into a gym. Good for him. Really looking forward to the follow up.

I looked up lipedema on Wiki and pictures of a woman from behind and a leg that looked just like Charity's. It's like fat cells run amok like a cancer and form that type of fat.

At the end, when they showed Charity with some make-up, she actually looked pretty. I'm much older than my husband, but thankfully, I met him when he was an adult and have no visions of him as a child. Had I known him as a child, there is no way I could be married to him now. That was a very odd distribution of fat -- I'm wondering if the "wings" developed gradually as she put on weight, or if she got heavy and the fat distributed itself into that pattern. I hope she loses enough weight to be able to go back and see her family. When I see how life-limiting all of this excess weight is, it makes me sad that people are just confined to a couch/bed or to a small area of a house, and feel that spending two hours getting ready to drive to a supermarket counts as an "outing". The last two women they have featured have been much more likeable than Penny or Pauline. None of this "I know better". I guess when your whole life consists of eating, when you have to stop eating and are so large that it is difficult for you to move, you have a hard time finding something to replace the eating activity. I'll be anxious to see her follow-up.

Here's another woman who appeared to have classic signs of Cushing's. Very large face, a lot of weight in upper back, relatively slim legs, and huge, pendulous stomach. Although, I will temper that statement by saying that I think her sister was shaped pretty much the same, so it may be genetic. One thing I wonder about Dr. Now is when the 600 lb. patient comes in with 300 lb. relatives, why does he not say something to the 300 lb. relative about possible ending up at 600 lbs. if things aren't kept in check? I know he is only seeing one patient, but I don't understand why he would ignore the (hate to say it) elephant in the room and not say anything to a future potential 600 lb. patient. I think that "growth" we saw in the beginning was her "lady area" which also gets very fat when you gain weight. In some of these shows I have seen, the "lady area" is very visible when they are wearing some kind of pants due to the extra fat around it. I think the camera stopped just shy of showing us what would constitute a pornographic shot. I think she was rather unfortunate looking with her missing teeth and extremely low hairline, but after she lost some weight, at least she prided herself in getting fixed up (even though she could use a lighter hand with the make-up) and wearing nice clothes. She seems to have such a big heart and loving nature, I really hope she goes all the way with her weight loss.

I think that a lot of people think that orange juice is really healthy due to heavy advertising from the orange juice industry -- "A day without orange juice is a day without sunshine". Broccoli has about the same nutrients as o.j. without all the sugar. Dr. Now was right -- your body doesn't know the difference between o.j. and soda when it comes to the amount of sugar you are drinking. Plus, fruit juice goes down so easily. Angel didn't look very prosperous -- her teeth had been neglected, etc. She probably came from a background where paying to have enough food was what was important -- paying attention to nutritional value came second to filling your stomach. I cheered for Angel when her spouse (?) asked her if she needed help up off the couch, and she said "No, I'll do it". And she did!! What a difference from whining, crying Penny and Pauline. I, too, think her knees and hips were damaged by years of carrying that much weight. Perhaps some physical and movement therapy will help her learn to walk more upright. But, hey, at least she's out there walking! Angel to me was someone I wanted to hug instead of slap.

Well, she doesn't "need" to get on the scale. She "knows" what she is doing is right, and she "feels" better. After all, no one "knows" her own body like she does, and she doesn't "need" anyone telling her what to do. As Dr. Phil would say "How's that working out for ya"?

If you don't get all of the skin folds dry after bathing, the moisture gets trapped, comes up to body temperature, and bad things happen to the skin. That's probably why the husband was tucking fabric into her skin folds, and then powdering them. I feel sorry for very heavy people with "folds" in a hot, humid climate. And, even people who are not too overweight who lose weight might end up with an "apron" of fat which can become problematic if not removed. I have an extremely overweight friend who thought that insulin, etc., would take care of her high blood sugar and she could eat what she wanted, and she is paying a very high price now. She reached the point of no return, and now I fear it's just a matter of time until she has a major organ failure. For some of these older (and I mean 40 plus) women who keep eating massive amounts of carbs, I just don't know how they could not have diabetes. I know that everyone processes food differently, but as you pack on the pounds, and pack in the carbs, systems break down, and your pancreas just can't keep up with the amount of insulin needed to process all of the sugars caused by the carbs. I know it would be horrifying, but if TLC showed a person actually dying by inches due to the effects of not getting Type II diabetes under control, I think that a lot of food manufacturers (yes -- WHY do we need food "manufacturers") would go out of business because carb sales would fall off tremendously. On the other hand, even after being shown horrifying pictures of lungs after years of smoking, people with tracheotomy (sp?) tubes, leathery skin, etc., people still smoke. I think a camera following my friend for the last ten years might save a few people from reaching for the bread basket or bag of chips. As for Bettie Jo not losing weight for two months after surgery -- without moving around much, she didn't need very many calories. I was glad to notice after her final visit to Dr. Now, she was able to get up off the chair by herself using only leg power because there weren't any arms on the chair for her to push off of. Her husband was very encouraged that she could get out more and they could do more "couple" things together. Maybe he will see that being a partner is way preferable to being a caretaker.

I liked Bettie Jo and hope that she reaches her goals. At least she is somewhat mobile and not laying in the bed asking Josh for pee pads. Josh at first seemed a little beat-down, but as the show progressed, he seemed to be getting a little more hopeful, too, that he and Bettie Jo would have a more normal life. I also noticed that her family back in Missouri had a huge fattening meal prepared when she was there. I will really be looking forward to seeing her follow-up. And, I don't think she should wear flip-flops. They are not stable shoes, and I think they would contribute to tripping on someone her size. Maybe some other kind of a sandal would offer a little more stability. But, while they are the store looking for shoes, perhaps they could wander over to the tooth products aisle and get some brushes and whitener.

I would imagine that those long flat roads are perfect for marathon training. Or bicycling. I used to live in a "there's nothing to do here" town of 250. The internet, Kindle, and satellite t.v. make just about any place livable. The only difference is how far you have to go to get a pizza or a burger.

My thought was that Pauline couldn't be bothered to write her own script, so she just borrowed Penny's narrative. "I know what's best for my body". "I need to go at my own pace. That's the only way to be successful". "I am getting better. Dr. Now doesn't know me like I do". I think the store with the tamales was in Sacramento. But heavens. Only fast food in Houston? My grandson was cooking egg whites and vegetables when he was 15. I should send him to Pauline for a while to show them "This is what no-carb cooking looks like". When Pauline was in Sacramento, she said that her niece came over twice a week to wash her hair and give her a bed bath. I shudder to think that her son had to give her bed baths while they were in Houston. And, she did have on the same clothes in just about every doctor visit. Kudos to her for at least trying water aerobics and recognizing the value of water walking. (I have had some knee problems in the past and did water walking three times a week. It was great and didn't hurt my knee at all. But, I also moved my arms while doing the water walking which greatly increases the aerobic value). I hope she sees the light, and that someone gets that young man away from that situation. I was also sad that she was so concerned about her own surgery while letting her son do without the reconstructive surgery he needed on his upper lip. What a sad, sad family.