Scratches19

Dawayne. (Da-weigh-in?) Jennifer + Dawayne = weight gain Jennifer - Dawayne + Therapy = weight loss Jennifer + Dawayne - Therapy = weight gain Jennifer + Dawayne + Excuses = Do the math hon. Do the math.

I have added hotel carpets to the original post. Thanks! I've stayed in a few places where I was afraid to walk on the carpet. One was so bad I came up with my own solution. Imagine if you will, every hotel towel, hand towel, and wash cloth arranged on the carpeted floor like a archipelago of islands that I walked across.

Trampoline Park. Yeah. Add that to other places that are probably never cleaned adequately. Gym Lockers Chuckie Cheese Pit Full Of Balls MacDonalds Play Place Gas Station Bathroom Toddler Car Seats Bus Seats Motel Carpets (Thanks Carboncat) Trampoline Parks

Glad to hear it is a snooze fest since I've got things to get done here tonight. I'll still turn it on to listen while I'm working.

Exactly! My jaw just kept dropping with each new revelation. The perfect storm, or the perfect opportunity for a predator like B. Nice family but with secrets. Dad was probably a closeted homosexual. That fits the church and social pressures of the times. Mom is in a shell of a marriage with a closeted gay man. She is certainly vulnerable to any flattering attention. B knows he can use their shame to dull and slow their responses and, when that breaks down, to blackmail them into silence. I speculate it was more than a “one time” hand job between the two men. But maybe Dad was truly that repressed. Where ware the local police? What were these juries smoking? What was the church doing and has it owned up to its role in enabling further abuse? I have never seen anything so shocking. One shock after another.

I have to wonder what kind of toll this roller coaster ride takes on the caregivers who try so hard. Dr Now, Dr Paradise, the dietician, visiting health assistants, physical therapists. What a ride. Ultimately the one person who could save Sean wasn’t able to. That was Sean himself.

Oh lord. The sausage and two liter cherry coke. Harbingers of doom. Woah. 277 lbs gained. 489-756. How is that even possible? (I guess in the end it wasn’t) The final hospital consultation is just painful to watch. He just has given up. He can not overcome the food addiction.

“In the life you want, you’re gonna have to wear clothes.” - Dr. Paradise. ”So this isn’t really the life you want.” ”Hell no.” - Sean ”So what’s the life you want?” ”Right at the moment I’m honestly not sure. Some days I have hope, some days it’s hard to see it.” - Sean ”So do you want to live?” ”I do”. “How would we know that?” ”By me losing weight” ”How else would we know?” ”By me getting active?” ”Yep. And you want to know the secret? You don’t have to wait to want to live to do that. You can act like you want to live right now, and the do you know what happens?” ”It kind of builds?” ”Yeah, you kind of end up wanting to live. So I need you to act like you wanna live and the feeling catches up with that behavior.”

Truly a depressing thing to watch.

I’m always torn between feeling compassion regarding whatever demons or dynamics rendered some of these folks into dependent infantile states and disgust for their lack of adult responsibility. Sean is another one That washcloth in the kitchen sink. Shuddering with gross-out vibes here. It’s Houston. It’s humid. I bet that was a mildew fest. He LOOKED bigger after a few months home. Calves swollen and red. Depressing. My weight gain estimate was 135. (Plus another 75 lbs of excuses.) The actual was 188 lbs gained. He is toast. He said he couldn’t afford healthy food and Dad was “ordering groceries” but not enough *** “So you ate $9,000?” *** Dr. Now!!!!

Men like that can smell low self esteem like it was a plate of cheese fries and bacon crumbles. This show (and other reality tv) has opened my eyes to how damaging that can be. Often it's women, although sometimes men. Is this our culture/society at play here?

I too was concerned about Sarah's subdued, melancholy nature which she carried after her miscarriage. She made such strides in becoming more independent and in her weight loss. I really feel for her and hope she can get through the depression. Her comments acknowledged the dichotomy of both the sense of accomplishment and the sense that she was having difficulty moving forward with her life, but was wanting that to happen. Hang in there Sarah. Wishing her good things to come in her life.

I wonder. If Re-Nayyy was booted for dumping Lee the Abuser, could this explain the irrational Avanti dynamic of Dad trying to force the brothers together?

This poor dog.

Lee's friends, Zach and Dacquiri. Snort!! Who names their kid Dacquiri? Was his sister Margarita? Mai Tai?

Watched it ALL in one sitting last night. I liked quite a lot. Strangeness in these things keeps it interesting. Plenty of that. I didn’t buy the ending. And it was badly telegraphed (which made it inevitable, but not good plotting). But it sets up the next season I suppose. Despite that, I did enjoy the series and many of the characters.

The wig salon scene. Am I the only one who thought of Roger the alien from American Dad as she tried on the various wigs and it transformed her identity?

“Yes, her "boyfriend" wasn't homely, but her bank account will be emptied, or he'll be collecting her disability checks while her body rots. ” (I need to figure out how to quote posts properly) I get the sense Janine had money. Maybe? Nicer clothes, nicer glasses, fewer (no?) nasty tattoos, nicer home. Maybe she’s got a small pension with disability feature or an inheritance. I didn’t watch the prior episode for her detailed back story.

All these tales of "scooter rage" remind me of a recent trip to Walmart. (Yes, Walmart. I had to get my Atkins bars and shakes.) Anyway, there was this elderly dude on a scooter who was honking the little horn, running over people's ankles and side sweeping their carts while growling "move aside, coming through". For a second I thought it was another sequel filming for Jackass. He nearly maimed a woman in the pharmacy section. I spotted him later and risked a candid photo. Now where is that photo.

Comments as watched: I joined tonight's episode already in progress. We see an infected cavity between stomach folds. Dr. Now recoils when it is exposed. We see Janine swallow a balloon. Will people be trying this at home? We see Janine eat a salad. Not a serving of salad, but an entire serving bowl of salad. Predictably, the next weigh in goes poorly. As a TLC bonus, we get another look at the previously infected area. It resembles a very large taint. If you don't know what that is, Google it. Janine goes to therapy. Or, therapy goes to her. Because even a scooter isn't enough convenience. I'm glad she went. In watching many episodes, the psychological / outlook aspect seems so crucial to success. We see a flashback to, what is a first for me, a scooter drive thru visit to buy twenty piece nugget purchase. McDonald's should use this footage for a touching commercial about their power of their nuggets. "Even homebound morbidly obese people come for them." But then a happy turning point, 478, and 82 lbs lost. The taint removal surgery is approved. Dr. Now delivers this wisdom: "The scooters are addicting. And sometimes taking the scooter away, is harder than taking the carbs again." Anyone remember the space cruise ship from WALL-E? "It's all because you're working hard now, so keep it up." I love Dr. Now. Random thought on the possible want ad: Used scooter for sale. Only taken to the drive thru on Sundays. Surgery day. The lymphodema must go! (And so must that scooter). The visuals are juicy. A literal tub of lard and skin is hauled away. A thought flashes about possible donations for Kardashian butt and lip implants. Weeks later, Janine just isn't ready to walk yet. Too much pain. "It's challenging" she says in her perky voice. And it is. She feels the pain and crumbles. "Oh my leg. Oh my leg." Thought flashes in my mind. Maybe wheel her down to the chemo/radiation ward for some perspective on what pain is and how people can do with it. Then the screaming. She's reverting. The balloon comes out. One MONTH in bed at home. The legs don't work. Or is it Janine. Time will tell. But she still lost weight. 347. Surgery day again. We find a hiatal hernia as a bonus repair. Not a fun thing to have. The stomach comes out and looks pretty small. I guess reduced food intake DOES shrink it. Will she finally walk? During the next 12 minutes of show (plus 18 minutes of ads) we may find out. Come on Janine. Dig deep. Dump that Lark once and for ALL!

I only know of the Assanti saga from occasional snippets and comparisons to other horrible ones. Tonight is part 4. Now I see. Holy sh&t. Holy sh!t. Observations made so far in order of the show: Steven seemed high when Dad visited. I'm suspicious of him getting meds on the sly. So is Dr. Now. Justin's Dad drove 30 hours and 1800 miles to find out he gained 4 lbs. Steven is yet another guest at the "red brick exterior, white empty fireplace" apartments. They must have a corporate rate for M600LbL. Steven gives off a scary, unstable, vibe. Justin's hotel stay. He was there for a full month? That's not cheap. Steven's visit to Dr Paradise... He keeps talking about pain and pain medication. Like he misses it. Like it's his precious. He denies the seriousness of his horrible treatment of his brother. In fact he seems to enjoy reliving how easy it was to make his brother miserable, and even blaming him a little.. "He's a delicate flower." Dr P points this out. Steven really doesn't own it. He wants to make peace, but only if it means his brother takes the blame for being weak. Justin makes the weight for surgery approval. There's some strength and determination there. Justin locks himself in his room. When his friend Toni arrives, Dad tries to use her as a pawn to get into Justin's room, and realizes he's not going in with Toni, she casually says to Dad "He doesn't like you." Great moment. Steven steels the pills. Wow. Yep. Or was it Dad. The sanest thing said, by Justin. "I don't talk to Junkies". That entire sequence where he's calling out Dad for enabling Junkie Jr. Steven is clear headed in knowing he needs to stay the eff away from toxic brother. Dad keeps trying to force them together. The other bully = maybe the original bully = is Steven Sr. Forced dual appointments? Yelling yelling yelling. Making fists? No wonder these kids are a mess. Jesus the number of commercials. The next time I see a Nissan Kicks, I'm going have to resist the temptation to kick it, hard. Dr. Now telling Steven Sr. "No no no". I feel like Dad really orchestrated this train wreck. Oh the pathology. Steven gains 34 lbs. I'm thinking 25 of it was oxycodone. That poor dog. That poor dog. Another pawn for Dad to play. Except it's not chess. It's not even checkers. Oh and classic Dad briefly considers picking up poop, but then "no one saw it". Yeah. He's the tree of this family's dysfunctional life. Way to go pops. Final thought. Dad saying, emphatically, that he has NO IDEA what happened between his two sons. I got chills. That sounded like major denial. Maybe he knows a lot more. What did happen? Justin is the Rosetta stone here if he can ever get clear of this shit show. We might find out. To be continued.

I saw an episode from Season 3 the other day and I realized how much Dr Now has aged in that time. I hope he can continue for a few more years.

"Well hopefully the apartment just wows us." -Amanda

Translation: "I create all this drama around me so I can blame others for my behavior and eat with impunity".

578 lbs of Pride. Her next tattoo?