S01.E01: Obesity Med

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Quote

Follow the epic journey of two morbidly obese people seeking weight loss surgery. Single father James has life-threatening sleep apnea due to his enormous size. Amy fears she could soon become so heavy that leaving her home would be physically impossible.

 

Original air date 2021.01.27

[Not Buyin It]

10 hours ago, PrincessPurrsALot said:

 

Original air date 2021.01.27

Is this perhaps the "obesity medicine" doctor Whitney Thor was referring to?

[Scarlett45]

I am so happy for James! He did so well and I know his success will be a good example for his children. 
 

I am concerned for Amy- yes COVID delayed her surgery (which was no one’s fault), but if she was following the meal plan she would continue to drop serious pounds. For the record I’m not insinuating surgery is the only way- but the concern is that if she isn’t committed to the meal plan she will back slide sooner rather than later. And she has HUNDREDS of pounds to lose. I would love to see where she is in a year or two.  

[sempervivum]

Another super obese woman employed in a doctor's office- what's up with that? How can she even get close enough to a work space to see her computer or reach the keyboard?

How could doctors who specialize in obesity not have appropriate length instruments to operate on Amy? Although I don't think she'll be successful; she didn't seem very motivated and gave off a depressed vibe. She was also in terrible condition, panting like a steam engine just from walking a few yards. Her daughter is doomed- those fat cells are already blown up beyond normal size, and they'll be very, very difficult to shrink.

[Scarlett45]

On 1/29/2021 at 10:21 AM, sempervivum said:

How could doctors who specialize in obesity not have appropriate length instruments to operate on Amy?

Because the instruments are only designed within certain ranges- Amy’s abdomen exceeded the range.
 

Do you know Dr Now from My600lbs Life? He made the majority of his wealth patenting instruments and other equipment to operate on the super morbidly obese. Previously if you were over 450lbs they would not operate on you because they just didn’t have beds big enough, instruments long enough etc. The patients over 450lbs often had to use medical equipment at the ZOO designed for very large animals.

Amy was almost 700lbs (correct?) and her weight was distributed as such that her abdominal fat was SO THICK even the instruments designed for super morbidly obese people werent adequate. 

On 1/29/2021 at 10:21 AM, sempervivum said:

Her daughter is doomed- those fat cells are already blown up beyond normal size, and they'll be very, very difficult to shrink.

Once your fat cells fill to x size they multiply. Once a fat cell has multiplied, even if you lose weight it just shrinks- it never disappears. I think this may be why people who were heavy children struggle so much with weight management as adults. And even if they do keep the weight off it’s much harder than someone who’s always been within a normal weight range. 

[AZChristian]

After seeing how successful Dave was, I got to thinking.  Couldn't the doctors show identity-protected before-and-after pictures of folks like him to new patients coming in?  They could also show before-and-after pictures of folks like Amy.

And what the doctors could say to the new patients is:  "Each of these pictures was taken approximately one year apart.  One of them followed our program exactly, got the surgery, and has now lost more than half of his starting weight in 15 months.  The other did not make it through the pre-op weight loss, did not get the surgery, and is now the way she appears in the 'after' photo.  So, as you can see, the outcome is up to you."

[Quof]

Dammit, what is with the lack of professional boundaries?   Doctors don't hug their patients.  Sometimes a patient may go in for a hug, but the doctor certainly doesn't initiate "give me a hug".  And the doctor who operated on his own mother?  That's contrary to the code of conduct of every governing body for physicians.  

[cynicat]

8 hours ago, Quof said:

Doctors don't hug their patients. 

Some doctors do hug, especially when you've gone through something prolonged.  They're human.

[Quof]

And their governing bodies warn them not to.  It's a professional boundary that shall not be crossed by the physician.  Source of my knowledge?  I used to take away physicians' licences for professional misconduct.  

[CrazyInAlabama]

How can Amy doom her own daughter to the same obesity, and other health issues that she has?      The daughter is massively obese, and is still a young kid.    And why is a little kid in the examination room while she's being examined at the doctor's office?     How can Amy say she wants to be healthy for her daughter, when she's stuffing her daughter full of food, and her daughter is huge?    The daughter is barely able to walk.    

I bet they'll never be able to do surgery on Amy.   The way she carries her weight in her abdomen, and the fact that she really doesn't care about losing long term, means that her abdomen will never be small enough to used even Dr. Now's supersized bariatric instruments. 

I had to laugh when James and the doctor had gone to school together, and played football.  Then when James picked the doctor up, and bear hugged him right off the ground was bizarre.    Then the doctor saying James had readjusted his entire spine, that was funny too.   I'm hoping James will look at his children's diet and health too, before they follow his path.  

James losing so much weight was heart warming.    However, using a blender to make barbecued chicken into mush for his liquid diet is disgusting.  

Edited March 7, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama