S08.E08: Seana's Story

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Quote

Seana is 23 and nearly 700 pounds, living at her mom's house, depressed and anxious, her weight gain threatening to take her last breath.  Dr. Now can give her the tools she needs to live, but until she chooses life, no one can save Seana but Seana.

Such a deep, meaningful assessment from the TLC.  Will Seana do what she needs to do?  How is mom worsening the situation?  We watched what happened.  Snark away!

This is the regular episode thread.  It will open after the US East Coast showing. 

Original air date 2020.02.26

[starlightlost]

She is sooo depressed. And immature. How do you lose the papers like 5 times?

This one got me. I feel like she was abandoned but at the same time she should have been mentally able to do this herself. 

I feel like Dr Now is giving her more resources than the others since he knows she's on her own. I doubt she gets much further on her own but I hope I'm wrong.

[nytonc]

Whoa she’s a big one! I was late to Live Chat again and I’m so mad bc this looks like such a snarkable  episode.. I don’t know why Mom was worried about her fitting in the truck.  Put her in the back and throw a tarp over her. I’m only a half hour in and I’m pretty sure Seana will not qualify for weightlosssurgery. When Dr Now told her to lose 80 lbs in 2 months, she look completely flabbergasted. I can’t decide if Seana is intellectually challenged or she just doesn’t give a fuck. This wll not end well. The girl who weighs people in Dr Now’s office looks like she’s already over Seana and it’s only her second weigh in. My dog has more emotional maturity than crybaby Seana. 
 

I always get a good laugh when they run  previews for Twitney’s show. This is your life, in reverse. 

Edited February 27, 2020 by nytonc

[Ivylady]

She's another sad sack. She reminds me of Sean in all the bad ways: severely depressed, unmotivated, apathetic, and traumatized. She just wants someone to either lose the weight for her or feed her until she dies. She has zero initiative. 

[Ivylady]

Corn and potatoes and bread is on no one's diet! Come on. 

Derrickus looks so unimpressed. He has the best expressions. 

Edited February 27, 2020 by Ivylady

[88Keys]

So I just got back from a trip with my husband and forgot about 600 until 8:45, so I only saw the last 15 minutes.  I doubt I will go back and watch what I missed.  She seemed sad and unmotivated.  

[Ivylady]

Why did her mom put her out? Is she back on drugs? 

[ams1001]

5 minutes ago, Ivylady said:

Why did her mom put her out? Is she back on drugs? 

She moved to Arizona for work. (Apparently.)

[Ivylady]

2 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

She moved to Arizona for work. (Apparently.)

Thanks. All Seana does is bitch and moan. It makes me want to strangle her. 

[nytonc]

12 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

She moved to Arizona for work. (Apparently.)

She’s probably hiding out in witness protection hoping Seana won’t try to whine her way back into her life. 

[ShoePrincess]

At some point in your life, you have to become an adult and do adult things like live on your own, take responsibility for your health and well-being, etc.

Or maybe not. Seana seems to be stuck on petulant child. Yes, she had a monster for a father. But he's veen out of her life for years. Yes, she needs therapy. Lots of it. But instead of helping her, it's making things worse. At least in her mind. Her mother didn't throw her out of the house. She moved for a job. she was helping Seana financially. How long did the blob on the couch stuffing her face full of massive amounts of junk food think her mom should pay for someone to take care of her.

I had several urges to scream at the TV "Put on your big girl panties," which takes on a whole new meaning with Seana.

Any sympathy I had for her was erased by her complete refusal to do anything at all to change her miserable life.

 

Edited February 27, 2020 by ShoePrincess

[calpurnia99]

I got distracted during the second hour and now I have to rewatch it.

I CANNOT UNDERSTAND A WORD SHE SAYS! I have bad hearing so I watch everything with subtitles. But I think I must sort of half read and half listen and get the gist. Well if I didn't stare straight at the screen the entire time I didn't know what she was saying. It's like she has marbles in her mouth. The sound was bad too. 

Okay so she LOST the papers and was SCARED to call Dr. Now. That shows that she is mentally 7 years old. Not an adult. An adult would understand that those papers were the basis of the whole thing, and no one would get mad at her for asking for a replacement. She is only 22 but I think with her being isolated, she has no idea how the world works. Really she would not know that potatoes were a bad vegetable. 

Now I have to torture myself and watch this second part again. Pray for me!!

[Burning Rubber]

She is so frustrating to talk to! Dr Now is a saint. She mumbles a monosyllable in answer to every question. There is cement in her cranium, nothing penetrates.

The lip piercings do no favor to her limp, lumpy, sad carp mouth.

 

[nytonc]

Dr Now better have the diet and exercise tattooed on her. Plenty of room on her gut. 

[Burning Rubber]

I am presently thinking about pet rocks and how dynamic, ambitious and exciting they are compared to Seana. A lot less lumpy, too.

[7788BeaconHighway]

It's interesting, that startled stare Seana gives when she's confronted with the fact that her addiction is killing her. I've seen that look on someone I know who has been an alcoholic forever. This person gets all tangled up in head space and does not deal well with reality. I can't imagine how they would deal with life without alcohol taking up all their free time.

I think that the key to Seana is that she is an addict. Addiction is a part of her identity. She made a decision to be an addict really young. She can't imagine herself as not an addict.  That's why she keeps 'losing' the diet plan. Unless she sees the problem, there's no long-term hope.

There have been at least a couple of other poundticipants with the same issue of addict identity that they don't want to give up. I can't remember which ones though. 

 

 

[Scratches19]

This episode required subtitles to understand her mumble-slurred narration.  
 

[Sir RaiderDuck OMS]

Seana may the dumbest one yet. When Dr. Now was giving her that closing speech, she literally looked like she couldn't understand what he was saying.

[DC Gal in VA]

3 hours ago, Ivylady said:

She's another sad sack. She reminds me of Sean in all the bad ways: severely depressed, unmotivated, apathetic, and traumatized. She just wants someone to either lose the weight for her or feed her until she dies. She has zero initiative. 

And, as you remarked during the Live Chat, on the prowl for a nursing home she can move into and eat, eat, eat. As I responded, the irony is that her name is the feminine version of Sean.

Her episode definitely infuriated me but I have to admit that I was touched by the depth of her depression as in it was almost palpable oozing through my tv screen.

My two initial takeaways are:

1. While I believe someone of her size should have the opportunity to address her super morbid obesity she, in particular, should have NEVER been approved for M600PL. I'm sure most of us could tell early on in this episode that her first priority should have been to address her severe depression and anxiety issues. She was just constitutionally incapable of following the most basic of instructions from Dr. Now and was destined to fail.

2. I am very glad that her mother finally made the decision to leave her abusive crap husband, although it took him almost incinerating her daughter for her to do so. However, it always makes my blood boil when I hear someone in her situation say that they would stay in that type of relationship if the abuser only abused them but if he does it to her child/children then they're outta there. Children are always affected by domestic violence even if the abuser never lays a hand on them. They live in a toxic and painful  environment and everybody needs to get the Hell out as soon and as safely as possible.

[KateHearts]

7 hours ago, ShoePrincess said:

Her mother didn't throw her out of the house. She moved for a job. she was helping Seana financially. How long did the blob on the couch stuffing her face full of massive amounts of junk food think her mom should pay for someone to take care of her.

I think that Mom was, in a really awkward way, trying to help her by "throwing her out of the nest;" however Seana had no mental resources to figure out how to navigate life on her own. She went from mom literally feeding her ("here are your FAVORITE FOODS!" as she gives her two plates groaning with food), to providing her with money (I gathered her rent was somehow covered when she mentioned "my disability kicked in"), and paying for a daily assistant/cook to just "ok! Can't do it anymore!  You're on your own!"  When Mom took her to the airport, she stressed that Seana had to succeed in Houston and that she needed to save her own life. But Seana had nothing in her emotional toolbox to even know where to begin.  The second place she moved into was so depressing I could barely look at her sitting there in that dreary place.

I think that therapy with little guy (I forget his name) was a good start. She probably would have benefitted from 2-3 times weekly. She shut right down when starting to mention her dad; she has never dealt with his abuse and needs a lot of help to get over it. But then she was able to BLAME therapy for bringing up her feelings which- surprise- led her to want to eat all day long.  No way is she going to understand her physical limitations and how to overcome them until she starts facing her huge emotional hurdles.

Overall, this episode was just depressing. Watching her sit in Now's office, barely mumbling "yessir" and trying to come up with an answer to his questions- "I guess I didn't try hard enough? Because I lost the paper?" and her abject fear that by losing the diet instructions ( did she really lose them? was that more of a self-sabotage move?) would incur Dr. Now's wrath showed that she has a deeply ingrained fear of authority figures (dad set the tone) and has no self-worth at all.

She shouldn't have been considered for weight loss surgery at all, much less selected to be on TV to display her dysfunction.  

1 minute ago, KateHearts said:

I think that Mom was, in a really awkward way, trying to help her by "throwing her out of the nest;" however Seana had no mental resources to figure out how to navigate life on her own. She went from mom literally feeding her ("here are your FAVORITE FOODS!" as she gives her two plates groaning with food), to providing her with money (I gathered her rent was somehow covered when she mentioned "my disability kicked in"), and paying for a daily assistant/cook to just "ok! Can't do it anymore!  You're on your own!"  When Mom took her to the airport, she stressed that Seana had to succeed in Houston and that she needed to save her own life. But Seana had nothing in her emotional toolbox to even know where to begin.  The second place she moved into was so depressing I could barely look at her sitting there in that dreary place.

I think that therapy with little guy (I forget his name) was a good start. She probably would have benefitted from 2-3 times weekly. She shut right down when starting to mention her dad; she has never dealt with his abuse and needs a lot of help to get over it. But then she was able to BLAME therapy for bringing up her feelings which- surprise- led her to want to eat all day long.  No way is she going to understand her physical limitations and how to overcome them until she starts facing her huge emotional hurdles.

Overall, this episode was just depressing. Watching her sit in Now's office, barely mumbling "yessir" and trying to come up with an answer to his questions- "I guess I didn't try hard enough? Because I lost the paper?" and her abject fear that by losing the diet instructions ( did she really lose them? was that more of a self-sabotage move?)she might incur wrath in Dr. Now  showed that she has a deeply ingrained fear of authority figures (dad set the tone) and has no self-worth at all.

She shouldn't have been considered for weight loss surgery at all, much less selected to be on TV to display her dysfunction.  

 

Edited February 27, 2020 by KateHearts
I quoted myself somehow!

[essexjan]

Of all the excuses we've heard on this show for not following the 1200 calories a day, losing the diet sheet is the equivalent of "the dog ate my homework. Four times".

This was a bit of a meh episode. Seana sounds depressed, with that monotone voice and lack of motivation in anything other than self-medication through food. Sad, but she's not prepared (or able) to be accountable for her own actions. Maybe tackling her depression first is the key to her being able to address weight loss.

It probably seemed duller to me because I was watching Ohio Jeanie's story last night on UK TLC (we are way behind on when we get to see the shows on TV here - I stream the latest ones on my laptop via one of the various upload sites). As she was One Of The Worst We've Ever Seen, it made Seana's story even more lacklustre. I like either a really great poundticipant who succeeds or - even better - a Schenee/Penny/Jeanie/Assante/James B shit show with lots of drama and at least one "Ow mah layg" per episode.

Edited February 27, 2020 by essexjan

[gardendiva]

I am still gobsmacked at the mother taking her daughter to the airport and just dropping her off there. Her mother would have to know better than anyone the limitations of her daughter. It would be like making a 10 year old move down to Houston by herself and figure out how to get around, arrange housing, etc. 
 

And she had her dog with her too! That was unbelievable. 

[Caoimhe]

Seana is just a human black hole.  She was hospitalized in the past and had therapy and counseling yet she still never became a functional human being.  I think even Sean had a bit more self awareness, and that’s saying something.  I can’t imagine any way she will ever lose weight short of a very structured inpatient regime.  What her mental capacity (leaving aside the depression and anxiety) is was never clear.  I wonder did she look at the diet and decide it was too much so she conveniently kept “losing” it as a way to convince herself she was dieting and “working hard” while not giving up her favorite foods.  Or maybe she's not that smart, who knows.  But she has a smart phone and a computer both of which would have told her EXACTLY what she was supposed to be doing so it seemed like as long as the paper wasn’t there she felt free to make it up as she went along.

[Sir RaiderDuck OMS]

2 minutes ago, gardendiva said:

I am still gobsmacked at the mother taking her daughter to the airport and just dropping her off there. Her mother would have to know better than anyone the limitations of her daughter. It would be like making a 10 year old move down to Houston by herself and figure out how to get around, arrange housing, etc. 
 

And she had her dog with her too! That was unbelievable. 

Some major stuff obviously went on behind the scenes. My guess is the mom just reached her limit with this blob of a daughter who's eaten herself to 650 lbs but won't lift a finger to improve her situation.  I almost wonder if they didn't verbally throw down over Seana "losing" the diet instructions and refusing to get a replacement. Were I in the mother's situation, that would be a breaking point for me.

The bottom line is this, IMHO: Seana is committing slow suicide with food. Nobody who wants to get better loses the diet instructions three separate times but never asks for a replacement. And even as dumb as she is (Seana could give Jim Carrey's Dumb and Dumber character a run for his money), she has to know a breakfast consisting of 4-5 burritos, followed by almost an entire Stuffed Crust Pizza Hut pizza accompanied by an entire family-size bag of frozen pizza rolls, is not normal or healthy. As Dr. Now pointed out, you have to eat 7-8,000 calories per day to maintain 650 lbs of weight.

She doesn't want to change her life. She SAYS she does and maybe even THINKS she does, but she really doesn't. She will continue mumbling and eating until she passes away. And except for her mother and her dog, the rest of the world won't even notice. What a waste.

[Concerned]

She didn’t have any friends, in any scene, and nobody to drive her to Houston except the hired cousin who looks like he could have his own TLC show. Her mom dumped her by moving away and then abandoning her at the airport. Seana’s only accomplishment that she took pride in was qualifying for disability at 19. She said she left school at 16 due to bullying, but can’t imagine she has the intelligence to comprehend high school level material. She’s severely depressed, low intelligence, lacking any motivation, and frustrating. I guess she could live in a group home, but it’s hard to see how she can live a life with so few mental and emotional resources.

[ams1001]

9 hours ago, nytonc said:

Dr Now better have the diet and exercise tattooed on her. Plenty of room on her gut. 

Tattoo it on her belly and then if she actually gets to a good weight it'll come off with the inevitable skin removal.

16 minutes ago, Concerned said:

She didn’t have any friends, in any scene, and nobody to drive her to Houston except the hired cousin who looks like he could have his own TLC show. 

I was a little confused on the cousin thing. In the beginning she said something along the lines of "my mom pays my friend to be my caretaker" (though physically she was relatively capable - she could walk, he didn't help her bathe, we saw her helping her mom put (terrible) food in the oven and later doing laundry after she moved to Houston - so I'm not sure why she needed a "caretaker"...maybe mom wanted him around more so she wouldn't be alone all the time?). It wasn't until he met Dr. Now (months later) that she said he was her cousin.

Edited February 27, 2020 by ams1001

[AVM]

Seana  = Dumpster Fire life , I can only imagine the food bills she ran up at the hotel ..her Mother  was paying for..

[CrazyInAlabama]

I wonder if anything that Seana said was true, she and the mother seemed to be enjoying relating the abuse by the father.  They both seemed rehearsed.    I'm wondering if we've been played again. 

 Seana 'losing' at least three copies of Dr. Now's diet was mind boggling.   I feel sorry for the dog, because Seana's entire exercise plan seemed to be walking down the hall to the vending machines, and the coin laundry right down the hall.    The entire deal with Derrikus (spelling?) was bizarre, he was her aide, but only worked sometimes, around his regular job.   Then at Dr. Now's he was her cousin.     I hope someone spills the real reason behind the mother leaving, because there must be something more.  

I bet every food delivery driver knows her by name before the first month was over in that lovely hotel.  

So Dr. Now suggested a group home?   How can anyone justify putting her in a space for someone who really needs help, and not the queen of passive-aggressive denial?     

So now that Seana has failed miserably at even trying to do the program, does that mean she'll be the next one to sign on for the lawsuit along with No-Hy-Jeanne, Angie, and the other failed people?        

Fortunately, nothing not in writing is going to admissible, since these fools signed what I'm betting is a waiver and contract the size of a small novel.   

 

Edited February 27, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[gaPeach]

Quote

we saw her helping her mom put (terrible) food in the oven

What exactly was that dish?  Was it meatloaf in a round pan?  And was she eating left over pizza from earlier or was there another pizza ordered?  And when she was eating the pizza rolls, pizza and the cinnamon bits I gained 5 pounds.  One of the drawbacks of watching this show.  

I really thought there would be a black screen at the end of the episode that she committed suicide.  She was paralyzingly depressed.  Her mom was off too.  She had that weird smile when she talked to her daughter like she was a normal 22 year old.  Her mom has to know just how depressed Seana is and cannot fend for herself.  This is partly her mom's fault for early childhood trauma and the years that followed,  And I thought she was creepy when she brought two loaded down plates of foodn that Seana should not be eating and presented to her with fanfare and her creepy smile.  Even at the airport she tells her "you got this".  What?  Her daughter doesn't get ANYTHING.  And Seana just said "yes ma'am"   

[Hana Chan]

This was a sad and confusing case because for all of Seana's complaints about her life, she displayed absolutely zero motivation in trying to change things. It was very clear to me that her mother was the real motivator for her to see Dr. Now at all and did all the heavy lifting (no pun intended) to get her there. But Seana was obviously not at all interested in doing anything to follow the plan, retreating into her safe space and using avoidance tactics to keep from actually following the program that would help her. Losing the diet plan multiple times isn't just a result of carelessness - if she doesn't have the papers in front of her, she can plead ignorance and keep up the illusion to herself that she was trying even if she gained weight.

While my sympathy for what was clearly a painful childhood is very limited, I'm not blind to the fact that this is an extremely damaged young woman. But it's also clear that she uses her history of abuse as an excuse to avoid doing anything she didn't want to. And because her mother felt guilty about placing Seana in that position, she let her get away with it for a very long time. And I think that Seana likes guilt-tripping her mother (who is an abuse victim herself) to get her way. There was no realistic chance of Seana being successful with Dr. Now because she didn't want to be successful.

Dr. Now has one of the finest tuned bullshit detectors I've ever seen. He saw right through Seana's excuses, but this isn't someone that you can talk rationally with. Seana will always find an "excuse" to explain why she can't follow the program

Her mother finally biting the bullet and cutting Seana off financially would, for most people, being real motivation to getting their life in order. I also think that it's some self-preservation on her mom's part because I cannot imagine just how much money she's spent supporting her adult daughter and I don't really blame her. For Seana, it was just another justification for her to fail. This girl has absolutely no ability to stand on her own two feet.

Regardless of whether I think she's just using her damage to avoid taking ownership of her life, this is someone who needs to be in serious psychiatric care in order for her to become self-reliant (mentally, if not financially) and take ownership of her life. Going to Dr. Now first when she was clearly unwilling to do any of the work was a waste of everyone's time and resources. I don't hold out any hope for this one because she seems awfully comfortable with letting everyone else do the work for her. 

[Pondlass1]

I felt sad for the wee dog.  

[Stiggs]

On one hand, there's a lot to snark about with Seana. On the other hand, great googly moogly was that depressing. 

Her dad wanted to murder her? And then got partial custody? And the mom thought all would be fine? I mean WHAT? Seana and her mom had the combined emotional intelligence of toenail clippings. 

Being 22 and having literally not a friend in the world has to be terrifying. Her fear of "getting yelled at" was insane. And her losing the papers so many times was just a joke. And not being able to find the emails. And thinking a heaping pile of potatoes and corn is eating less. 

I feel like there should be a whole other show for people like Seana who CLEARLY had 0 guidance in her life. She was both spoiled and neglected. My 12 year old godson is better at life decisions. Seana was so stunted. Her fears of fast food places being too far apart on their drive, and how only food can take her mind off of things - she needed rehab, man. Seana needed in-patient care and people to help her learn how to be a human in the world. 

I can't feel anything but disgust for the mother. Your husband tries to literally murder your kid and you're like, oh, but now that he only sees her on the weekends he'll appreciate her? WHAT?

[calpurnia99]

When Dr. Now asked her where Derikus was, she said "he abandoned me". DIdnt he leave because the mom stopped paying him? She wants the pity party.

She used the word "scared" more than any of them, and that's saying a lot. I mean what is going to happen that scares her? It's ridiculous to hear.

She said the mom was a tour bus driver. Maybe she moved to Arizona to take people to the Grand Canyon. This job is hard and doesn't pay great. 

Anyway she is so sad, really not even snark worthy now I see. I think maybe Dr. Now is thinking of Sean too and he really wants to help her. When she was in the hotel, she never mentioned going to a grocery store. I don't think she knows how to cook. She really needed the nutritionist and cooking healthy classes.

[AZChristian]

We travel quite a bit.  If we're cruising, I spend the first hour on-board putting things away in our cabin.  We start a stack for those constant "jewelry sale" papers they leave for us every day (recyle!!!), and things that are trash go right into a trash can.

In other words, if you're going to be somewhere for more than a couple of  nights, NOTHING that matters to you should get lost.  Especially four times.

Also . . . most hotels with a snack bar have healthy options.  She could have picked up a plastic cup full of celery and carrot sticks. 

This young woman appears to be mentally challenged and unable or unwilling to make healthy decisions on her own.  I - sadly - don't see a good outcome for her.

[Minivanessa]

I agree that Seana should never have been accepted for this show. She's just too low-functioning an individual for this kind of exposure on TV. I'm not sure of her innate intelligence level, because she is so profoundly depressed. Does she really lack so many basic life skills, or just can't summon the energy to use them? Is she really that dim, or just so emotionally blocked and exhausted that she just doesn't think? I really don't know.

I've gone through bouts of depression in my life, and let me tell ya, when you're in that place, energy to do ANYTHING is in short supply, decisions are flawed, and patience can be a rare commodity. You are vulnerable to anything that is immediately comforting, not so much for pleasure (which is blunted in depression) but for relief from discomfort.

And, I'm really sorry for that adorable little dog.

[poeticlicensed]

13 minutes ago, Stiggs said:

And her losing the papers so many times was just a joke. And not being able to find the emails.

I call BS. Seana has a huge phone, which means she has access to the Internet, I recognize that she is limited intellectually, but I find it hard to believe that she has never googled anything and uses the phone strictly for making calls. She obviously looks up phone numbers and menus of fast food places, even if she lost the papers and didn't know enough to google Dr. Now diet (like I did right after she said oops I lost the paper), she could have just googled diet to lose weight and would have found something that said no corn and potatoes. She also managed to figure out how to use a washer and dryer, how to fly on a plane, so I don't think she's incompetent, I think the "lost the papers" was an excuse not to do the diet. For goodness sake, she managed to qualify for SSDI and that is a confusing paperwork nightmare. Honestly I don't think she cared about losing weight, I think mom was the motivator and when mom threw up her hands, so did Seana. I think she uses the "I don't understand, I forgot, I lost the papers" as a  mechanism to get her out of situations she doesn't want to be in. 

 

[Hana Chan]

29 minutes ago, calpurnia99 said:

When she was in the hotel, she never mentioned going to a grocery store. I don't think she knows how to cook. She really needed the nutritionist and cooking healthy classes.

It is very obvious that this young woman doesn't have the first clue about adulting. She's trapped in a prolonged adolescence where mom took care of everything for her. Mom made sure that she had food in her fridge, money in her pocket, a roof over her head and an "assistant" to do things that Seana was more than capable of doing on her own. Seana has zero in the way of life skills. 

As cruel as it might seem, her mom probably did the right thing by putting a hard limit on the money train. Especially since she's not exactly working a job that brings in the big bucks. Seana needs to grow up, take responsibility for her own life, get a job and deal with her own shit. This is someone who really needs some basic life skills training.

[Tabbygirl521]

I can’t applaud the mom for finally pulling a tough-love move on Seana. In fact, I want to throttle her. The notion that she ever allowed Seana’s sperm donor within a mile of her makes me crazy. And then she, along with loving cousin Derrickus, stuff her non-stop like a fois gras goose. Seana was mobile. Mom should have hired a qualified aide to teach Seana (and maybe herself) to prepare nutritious meals. I realize it probably would have gone in one ear and out the other, but it would have been a more logical attempt to help  

Then mom professes shock when she sees Seana’s weight at the first doctor visit. “Unbelievable,” she says in a tone of disgust. Take a bow, mom, you helped make it happen.

I’d also like to know if Derrickus stayed in touch at all when he wasn’t being paid.

Part of me wants to completely shake off this episode and move on. Another part is all WHAT THE HELL? over the revelation that “I met a guy online and told him he could move in with me. And he got me addicted to meth and then he stole my vehicle and everything.” I would like to hear more about that and exactly what she did in the aftermath.

Seana was infuriating most of the time but it’s hard not to be appalled at all those who helped damage her, then toss her aside. 

17 minutes ago, poeticlicensed said:

I call BS. Seana has a huge phone, which means she has access to the Internet, I recognize that she is limited intellectually, but I find it hard to believe that she has never googled anything and uses the phone strictly for making calls. She obviously looks up phone numbers and menus of fast food places, even if she lost the papers and didn't know enough to google Dr. Now diet (like I did right after she said oops I lost the paper), she could have just googled diet to lose weight and would have found something that said no corn and potatoes. She also managed to figure out how to use a washer and dryer, how to fly on a plane, so I don't think she's incompetent, I think the "lost the papers" was an excuse not to do the diet. For goodness sake, she managed to qualify for SSDI and that is a confusing paperwork nightmare. Honestly I don't think she cared about losing weight, I think mom was the motivator and when mom threw up her hands, so did Seana. I think she uses the "I don't understand, I forgot, I lost the papers" as a  mechanism to get her out of situations she doesn't want to be in. 

 

She searched out a meth-addict loser roommate. 

[Guest]

41 minutes ago, calpurnia99 said:

She said the mom was a tour bus driver. Maybe she moved to Arizona to take people to the Grand Canyon. This job is hard and doesn't pay great. 

Seana said her mother was a tour bus driver for a band. Whether she did that year-round is up for debate I guess as is most of the "information" provided on this show because we never really know WTF is going on if it doesn't fit into the boilerplate scripting.

[nytonc]

I can only imagine the fortune her mother has spent to keep Seana in pizza, junk food and caretakers.  That money would have been better spent getting her a psychiatrist and a life coach. Clearly Seana has never had to make a decision in her life other than what to gorge on. A 3 year old would have taken better care of the paperwork she claimed to lose over and over again and would have come up with a far less lame excuse. She acted as though telling Dr. Now she lost it was a perfectly legitimate excuse. He deserves a Nobel Prize for being so patient with her. 

[Twopper]

I was so excited earlier in the week that due to Ash Wednesday, I would be home in time for the live chat, but life intervened in the form of a relative that I haven't seen in several years being in town for the day at a conference.   I met her for about an hour during a break, and I then ran into an old friend who treated me to dinner so by the time I got home the show was about 90 minutes in.  Seane was still flailing at that point so I just flipped over to the dvr to watch from the beginning.

Boy, that was depressing.  I am not sure I can go back and read the live chat because there didn't seem like there were a lot of snarkable moments after realizing how much of a sad sack this person is.

She was probably a bad choice for the show in the first place, but I am sure after the recent deaths of patients, he is even more focused on saving even the hardest to reach patients.  I could feel her depression thru the tv.  And her depression is so deep, I have no idea if there is any intelligence at all.  She seems stuck emotionally at about kindergarten level.   This is a person who needed intensive therapy at the start of her 'journey."  Probably with a psychiatrist who could give also give meds to help with the depression.  She probably could have benefited early on in a group home for the obese where there was a full time nutritionist helping with meal selection and preparation.  And possibly group therapy.  I was curious about the swimming.  I know there was a pool at the hotel they stopped in on the first trip to Houston.  I am not sure of the name of the hotel she lived in, but it looked familiar, and I think that brand usually has a small indoor pool. 

Note to mom--if your child is going to live in a motel for an extended time, pick an extended stay type place with a full kitchen.  Of course, I am not sure Seane would have done much better.  We stayed in a Residence Inn for about a month (it had a discounted rate because I was an outpatient at a nationally known hospital).  I liked it because it had a full kitchen including dishwasher, and you could leave your grocery list and they would do your grocery shopping. 

I guess I will go look at the live chat for a bit after all.  Sorry about the sentence fragments, but I am too wiped out to edit the post.

[SunnyBeBe]

5 hours ago, KateHearts said:

I think that Mom was, in a really awkward way, trying to help her by "throwing her out of the nest;" however Seana had no mental resources to figure out how to navigate life on her own. She went from mom literally feeding her ("here are your FAVORITE FOODS!" as she gives her two plates groaning with food), to providing her with money (I gathered her rent was somehow covered when she mentioned "my disability kicked in"), and paying for a daily assistant/cook to just "ok! Can't do it anymore!  You're on your own!"  When Mom took her to the airport, she stressed that Seana had to succeed in Houston and that she needed to save her own life. But Seana had nothing in her emotional toolbox to even know where to begin.  The second place she moved into was so depressing I could barely look at her sitting there in that dreary place.

I think that therapy with little guy (I forget his name) was a good start. She probably would have benefitted from 2-3 times weekly. She shut right down when starting to mention her dad; she has never dealt with his abuse and needs a lot of help to get over it. But then she was able to BLAME therapy for bringing up her feelings which- surprise- led her to want to eat all day long.  No way is she going to understand her physical limitations and how to overcome them until she starts facing her huge emotional hurdles.

Overall, this episode was just depressing. Watching her sit in Now's office, barely mumbling "yessir" and trying to come up with an answer to his questions- "I guess I didn't try hard enough? Because I lost the paper?" and her abject fear that by losing the diet instructions ( did she really lose them? was that more of a self-sabotage move?) would incur Dr. Now's wrath showed that she has a deeply ingrained fear of authority figures (dad set the tone) and has no self-worth at all.

She shouldn't have been considered for weight loss surgery at all, much less selected to be on TV to display her dysfunction.  

 

So true.  I really wonder what type of developmental challenges this girl had.  She likely needed some kind of city/county program services where they teach ill equipped young people how to manage daily living, like managing a bank account, making a budget, applying for a job, getting a driver license, meal planning, cooking, grooming, etc.  This could have been done in a group home, then, eventually graduating to a more independent setting. She just didn't seem ready to take care of herself or to make decisions for herself.  

[sempervivum]

Pounder fashion notes:

• That first tank top Seana was wearing looked like it had paint spatters all over it, but surely, she never in her life had enough initiative to paint anything.
• And people, really- those bead piercing things under the lips always, always make you look like you're drooling.
• So at mid-show, she somehow acquired a drugstore perm kit and did that awful thing to her hair-but she can't manage to keep track of a piece of paper?

Caretaker Derrikus didn't do anything but put the frozen burritos and hash browns in the micromave, right? He sure as hell wasn't doing any cleaning in that pigsty. 

Seana clearly values herself as much as her parents do=not at all. I predict she eats herself to death, but will she make it to 1000 lbs. or age 30 first?

 

[WonTon]

Oh my laws, you guys, this one?!?!

1. I know a lot of the subjects on this show have been wastes of time, but this one is special. Absolutely no motivation, caring or emotion that I could see.

2. Why did she need a caregiver if she could bathe herself and walk around? I feel like A LOT was left out of this episode.

3. I genuinely feel like she is either still on some kind of drug or is mentally disabled. All the slurring and blank stares. Always losing the diet?!?! What? There is Google! In this day and age there is no excuse for not knowing what kinds of foods are good/bad and how many calories something has.

4. Cute dog!

5. And what's up with so many of these subjects not wearing shoes? I mean they don't have to be Manolo Blahniks but some kind of footwear is better than padding around like Fred Flintstone!

6. You guys are always funny on the live chats, but I seriously feel like you outdid yourselves last night. Some of the comments had me roaring!

7. Well, off to microwave pizza rolls while I wait for pizza delivery! Hahaha!

[FormeryHeavyJ]

Someone in the live chat last night posted how Dr. Now should have given her the diet chiseled on stone tablets like Moses.  Or in this case, Mel Brooks.  

Edited February 27, 2020 by FormeryHeavyJ
Forgot to type in Mel Brooks

[FormeryHeavyJ]

30 minutes ago, sempervivum said:

Pounder fashion notes:

• That first tank top Seana was wearing looked like it had paint spatters all over it, but surely, she never in her life had enough initiative to paint anything.
• And people, really- those bead piercing things under the lips always, always make you look like you're drooling.
• So at mid-show, she somehow acquired a drugstore perm kit and did that awful thing to her hair-but she can't manage to keep track of a piece of paper?

Caretaker Derrikus didn't do anything but put the frozen burritos and hash browns in the micromave, right? He sure as hell wasn't doing any cleaning in that pigsty. 

Seana clearly values herself as much as her parents do=not at all. I predict she eats herself to death, but will she make it to 1000 lbs. or age 30 first?

 

 

[cpcathy]

You know when I talk to the TV screen and call the poundicipant "Honey" it's a trainwreck show.

She lost the diet five times? If you lose instructions to something five times, it's likely you don't want to do the thing the instructions are for!

 

[dahling]

They must really be scraping the bottom of the barrel with participants this season, if they were left to cobble together 2 hours of "show" from the non-event of Seana. I fear for the rest of the season. 

There's so much more going on here than  we were shown. I very much suspect relapsed drug use was behind Seana's mom kicking her to the curb so abruptly.  She's one spring short of a cuckoo clock for putting her clearly depressed and developmentally delayed daughter on a plane to Houston with no place to live, not a soul in the world to support her, and no plan. "You got this!"  WTF, mom. She doesn't got anything. 

Dr. Now continues his path to sainthood.  "I see you are alone, so move to Houston so we can help you."  How many other losers decided to move to Houston before being accepted into the program, and were read the riot act?  He's extremely insightful and is able to tailor his treatment to the person instead of one size fits all.  I love that he offered to help find her a place to live, and I wish she would have taken him up on the group home offer, just to help her meet some other people. Living alone in Houston is not what she needs.

Loved Dr. Now's disdain at Derrickus's ridiculous preening over how he was in charge of Seana's diet, cooking, and housecleaning. 

Mumble, mumble, mumble. My husband's cousin has a lower lip stud and it creates a weird lisp from an otherwise intelligent sounding young woman. Turns out that 2 lower lip studs make a lisp twice as bad (go figure). 

[Pondlass1]

Episode ended with her taking exercise in a pool and signing up for a group home residence (I think?) so maybe there’s a small hope although she will never take responsibility for herself. She’s stuck at 12.

I don’t know about dying at 30, though. Many of the bed ridden morbidly obese from earlier seasons are still bedridden, still eating junk and still alive. It’s a very slow suicide.

 

 

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

Some relatives can be paid, depending on the state, to be a caretaker part time.    Some families make up for lost wages that the person who is a caretaker would make, because they're taking care of someone in the family.       I recall Seana said her mother paid the caretaker/cousin.   I think he was more a baby sitter, and companion, than a care taker.      For the move to Houston, the mother was supposed to pay him, so I suggest that the mother was paying for him all along. 

 Or we've been played again, and Derrikus was only on the show, and not taking care of anyone.    

The apartment at the end wasn't a group or care taking situation, it was income based.    She was lucky to get into that, because around here income-based housing has a really long list.     I don't think a group home would allow dogs either.  

Edited February 29, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama