S09.E11: Shannon's Journey

[CrazyInAlabama]

If anyone missed part of this, and wants to watch again, they'll rerun the original Wednesday from 5-7 Central, and the Supersized 7-9 Central Thursday the 11th.   

I can't imagine what tidbits they'll put on the screen about Shannon, and Simon, or what a bonus scene could be in the Supersized edition.     Hopefully, not an extended scene of Shannon screaming abuse at Simon, and her father, an entire hour into their first trip to Houston.    How the father could resist dumping her at a rest stop along I-10 is beyond my understanding.  

 When she rode her motorized chair to the gym and back, why didn't Simon at least walk with her?   

I'm watching the last few minutes of this show, and when Shannon can't fit in the giant scale with handrails, that's still amazing.   She not only couldn't fit, and turn straight with the butt wings, but she had to struggle to get her feet close enough to have both on the platform without a lot of huffing and puffing.   698 lbs.   

At the end scene with the grilling kebabs, that grill was ice cold.   There is no way she was grilling anything.  

Edited March 12, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[Twopper]

On 3/6/2021 at 10:57 AM, CrazyInAlabama said:

Shannon is growing beyond the size where Dr. Now can help her.  If she keeps losing, and gaining, her butt wings will just get wider, and she won't even fit in the back of a van, or through any doorways, so she should decide if she's going to follow Dr. Now's program, or just quit and stay in Tucson.   

I just finally watched the parts I missed while typing during the chat.   I keep thinking I will erase it,but I want Mr Twopper to see the person someone referred to as the inspiration for the Michelin man.  I am also recording the bonus version tonight at 8 so I can watch it later just for the bonus sections.

this person is one of the most delusional and  stupid patients ever.   Maybe not so stupid as she has someone willing to wait on her hand and foot.  Her dad talks to her and about her like she is a child.   As childish as she is, he probably isn't helping.   He and Simon need to go to the OA support group for family members,  not to mention Dad could use OA himself.

So she arrives in Houston and weighs 740, and she loses 70 pounds in hospital leaving her at 670.   She returns and at her final weigh-in is 698 and she thinks she is losing weight???   well, maybe since Dr Now and I both thought she had gone back up to at least 740 at the second visit.   But wait!!!! she is leaning on the scale so she weighs more than 698 and is probably closer to 715 or more making her about 35 pounds less than her initial bed weigh-in at the beginning.  I lost track of the months, but i think she went over a year.   A net loss of 35 pounds is slightly less than 3 pounds a month.   Pretty pathetic, even by this season's standards.

My favorite part of the show was Dr Now telling her she had run out of places to store the fat.  So far, she hasn't found out she can store it on her forehead like Tammy Slaton.   Or if she has, it wasn't nearly as noticeable. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

The bariatric scales with the handrails built in to the weighing platform, so leaning on them doesn't make you weigh less.    (I had to look it up, I wondered if they were cheating too).   

I've wondered how many were grabbing the chair rail by the usual scale too.  

I'm wondering if Shannon's another feeder star on the internet?   Nobody said that yet, but the way they live seems way above what one person being a paid caregiver (didn't Simon tell Dr. Now he was her paid caregiver?), and whatever other income they have amounts to.   

Edited March 12, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[tvfanatic13]

I didn’t know that fat could form like it has on Shannon. It is absolutely horrifying. 

[Teri313]

2 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

The bariatric scales with the handrails built in to the weighing platform, so leaning on them doesn't make you weigh less.    (I had to look it up, I wondered if they were cheating too).   

I've wondered how many were grabbing the chair rail by the usual scale too.  

I called her out for this a few posts back, so thanks for the info. I take it back.

[swankie]

On 3/4/2021 at 2:47 PM, Mothra said:

I find Simon suspect in all kinds of ways, and if Shannon never loses weight, I'll hold him responsible because he has utter and complete control over what she can eat.   Of course, she is responsible for what she actually consumes, but clearly she can't control herself.  As care-giver, he has the job of *caring* for her, and that includes--right now, consists of--getting her weight down before she dies.

Sometimes I wonder if these care-giver spouses/enablers have some ginormous life insurance policy on their wards.  Is it really love if you keep indulging them with the very thing that's killing them?  Maybe I just don't know enough about these fat fetishers to know how they think.  Maybe they are as addicted to the fat bodies as their SOs are addicted to food.  For the life of me I can't wrap my mind around someone wanting a life of washing their rotund bodies and cleaning them after they go to the bathroom.  The only conclusion I can come up with is that they become nose-blind to it all.  

[Mothra]

6 hours ago, swankie said:

Sometimes I wonder if these care-giver spouses/enablers have some ginormous life insurance policy on their wards. 

I bet you could get away with it, too.  You could feed them, at their request (demand), until they died, which morally would be murder or at least manslaughter since you know it's going to kill them, especially if you've been to Dr. Now.  How could an insurance company not pay off?  We're dealing with competent adults who were, theoretically, perfectly capable of refusing to eat the food you gave them, so it's not your fault.

The only stumbling block I can see to your plot is if you've visited Dr. Now and been warned, and I think even that probably wouldn't make a difference unless you tied the poundicipant down and force-fed her.

Let's talk.  😈☠️

[Teri313]

18 minutes ago, Mothra said:

I bet you could get away with it, too.  You could feed them, at their request (demand), until they died, which morally would be murder or at least manslaughter since you know it's going to kill them, especially if you've been to Dr. Now.  How could an insurance company not pay off?  We're dealing with competent adults who were, theoretically, perfectly capable of refusing to eat the food you gave them, so it's not your fault.

The only stumbling block I can see to your plot is if you've visited Dr. Now and been warned, and I think even that probably wouldn't make a difference unless you tied the poundicipant down and force-fed her.

Let's talk.  😈☠️

There are so many aspects to this.

Is it a fetish?

Is he afraid of her wrath? We saw her go off on him in the car when he wasn't fluffing her pillow LIKE HE HAD IT BEFORE, and he got very flustered and upset.

Is he worried that he will lose his paycheck? Dr. Now talked about that.

Is he afraid that she will find her independence and leave him?

Is he afraid of having a real relationship/sex, and this is a way of having marriage at arm's length?

I think Dr. Now needs to start offering therapy to the enablers as well.

[Twopper]

16 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

The bariatric scales with the handrails built in to the weighing platform, so leaning on them doesn't make you weigh less.    (I had to look it up, I wondered if they were cheating too).   

I've wondered how many were grabbing the chair rail by the usual scale too.  

I'm wondering if Shannon's another feeder star on the internet? 

Maybe she is.   I wouldn't be surprised.  

My bad about the scale.  So the handrails are actually another part of the scale that measures weight.  Makes sense.

I saw the end of Brittani today.   She had her issues, too, but I prefer a story like hers to this one.

I saw the bonus parts of Shannon a few minutes ago.  Her first bonus section is about the longest I have ever seen.  She claims to be adapting.  Simon appears to have just made up her bed or changed the bed.  He brings the white table to her and she backs up onto the bed to sit down. This is MUNT 2.   He brings her breakfast of eggs.  She says she doesn't like eggs, and Simon agrees.  So I guess he isn't fond of eggs , either.  They eat on real plates with real forks.  She really rambles a bit about feeling full but not full to the point of being sick .  Odd statement from someone who has eaten her way  up to 740.  Maybe she does the binge eat/purge thing.  For exercise Simon has her lift a ball several times until she announces she wants to "go potty."  At this point I should have hit the ff button, but, alas, I did not.   She talks about moving the potty chair closer to the kitchen so she can walk farther.  Simon bring said potty chair from the kitchen area and puts it near the bed.  there is a potty scene where he pulls off her pants.  She climbs back into bed with only her shirt on and Simon puts a sheet over her. 

the second bonus scene is mercifully shorter.   Simon brings her dinner  or lunch which included a large piece of chicken.  She eats some of it, and Simon brings the scale to weigh what is left and he takes it away.   I don't know if this was prompted by the crew or now.  I would have weighed the chicken first and then cut it down to the correct portion.  This just seemed backward to me.   She mentions she has located a therapist in Tuscon.  We never see the therapist.  She spends a few seconds doing stretch exercise bands with Simon.

Does no one own a needle and thread???  I am sick of seeing the hole in her leggings which would take less than 5 minutes to sew.  

[CrazyInAlabama]

Yes, I saw the first bonus scene, and it was icky.      The microwaved, giant bowl of eggs looked awful, like plastic.   I wish I had turned it off before the potty chair scene too. 

[auntjess]

23 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

The bariatric scales with the handrails built in to the weighing platform, so leaning on them doesn't make you weigh less.    (I had to look it up, I wondered if they were cheating too).   

Are bariatric scale ads following you around now?  I had plus-sized beauty chairs and other strange things follow me.  I try to remember to use DuckDuckGo to search these things with.

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

1 hour ago, auntjess said:

Are bariatric scale ads following you around now?  I had plus-sized beauty chairs and other strange things follow me.  I try to remember to use DuckDuckGo to search these things with.

 

No, not getting bariatric stuff, but I'm getting Discovery+, and earring ads.    

I don't feel sorry for Shannon, but I feel a little sorry for Simon, and her father, who probably thought she would act nicer on camera.   

[Scarlett45]

On 3/7/2021 at 11:08 AM, Bugfrey Von said:

I teared up when her dad talked about her mother leaving her in the hospital. It boggles my mind that there are people so awful in this world. I miss my 2 year old all day and wept when they took him away at the hospital for his first little bath. I’m a Pisces, so ymmv. 🤪

It's obvious Shannon had a lifetime of neglect (emotional), she never seemed to have a primary caregiver consistently, when children obviously need that. Her Dad did care for her, but from what they both said he was likely on the road providing, and left her with whomever was "available" to care for her, but she wasn't really wanted or emotionally cared for. My heart breaks for the little girl that she was. (although that doesnt excuse the choices she is making as an adult)

As far as Shannon's Mom, it seems as if she had various health problems throughout her life (mental and physical I think Shannon mentioned), not every person (man or woman) with a working reproductive system is equipped to parent. Leaving her at the hospital at least meant she was somewhere safe until the father could take custody (which he did do)- that may have been the best option the woman had 40+ years ago. If she didnt have any more children (Shannon didnt mention any when she made contact with her Mom as a teen), then I think she may have done the best she could.

[knuckles491]

I still don't understand how leaning on the handrails isn't cheating.  If you lean on the rails, and press down hard, you are reducing the amount of body weight that's being recorded.  It seems like plain science.  I don't get it.

[CrazyInAlabama]

The rails are attached to the platform, not the bottom of the scale, so you get weighed no matter how much you lean.     

I thought the same thing you did, but had to do some research, (I'm a retired reference librarian, I research everything).     I've suspected that some that stand on the regular one are probably pushing up on the wall, to lower that scale's reading. 

[swankie]

On 3/12/2021 at 12:36 PM, Twopper said:

Simon bring said potty chair from the kitchen area and puts it near the bed.  there is a potty scene where he pulls off her pants.  She climbs back into bed with only her shirt on and Simon puts a sheet over her. 

I pray that they just chose not to show him wiping her after she pottied and she didn't just sit naked assed on the bed without wiping the way it looked.  The whole time I'm cringing at the thought of her sitting on that bed naked, with a shitty ass!  Ewww!  I just threw up in my mouth. 🤮

[Scratches19]

“Oh my God! She looks like a giant roasting chicken”

My completely involuntary comment when she was being placed back into the bed during the introductory bathing/ husband care sequence. Good lord. 

[Bugfrey Von]

On 3/16/2021 at 11:20 AM, Scarlett45 said:

It's obvious Shannon had a lifetime of neglect (emotional), she never seemed to have a primary caregiver consistently, when children obviously need that. Her Dad did care for her, but from what they both said he was likely on the road providing, and left her with whomever was "available" to care for her, but she wasn't really wanted or emotionally cared for. My heart breaks for the little girl that she was. (although that doesnt excuse the choices she is making as an adult)

As far as Shannon's Mom, it seems as if she had various health problems throughout her life (mental and physical I think Shannon mentioned), not every person (man or woman) with a working reproductive system is equipped to parent. Leaving her at the hospital at least meant she was somewhere safe until the father could take custody (which he did do)- that may have been the best option the woman had 40+ years ago. If she didnt have any more children (Shannon didnt mention any when she made contact with her Mom as a teen), then I think she may have done the best she could.

You make an excellent point that didn’t even occur to me. She DID leave her in a safe place. Maybe that was the best she could manage. What great insight on your part, and it really shines a light on her mom’s mental status. She loved her enough to have her and leave her safely. So sad. 

[Scarlett45]

1 hour ago, Bugfrey Von said:

You make an excellent point that didn’t even occur to me. She DID leave her in a safe place. Maybe that was the best she could manage. What great insight on your part, and it really shines a light on her mom’s mental status. She loved her enough to have her and leave her safely. So sad. 

Yes it is sad. If you have a child and learn that you are not physically, mentally, financially etc capable of caring for them, and you manage to get them somewhere safe to be (and you don’t keep having MORE children to abandon) then you did the morally right thing.
 

I honestly don’t know what contraceptive  or abortion options were available to Shannon’s mother 40yrs + ago- she may have actually wanted to have & parent Shannon and her mental/physical health deteriorated during the pregnancy and she realized that she couldn’t do it. So she told the father where she gave birth and left her in the hospital. 
 

With a lot of these participants I think they would’ve always been the heavier people in society if they had access to the calories, but you add in childhood neglect/abuse, poor mental health, addiction issues etc, a society with cheap access to calories and sedentary lifestyles and you get people who can qualify for this show. 
 

Shannon was clearly “not right” as well as just being kind of an asshole, her Dad did care about her but was so sick of her behavior. 

[El maestro]

On 3/4/2021 at 10:22 AM, sempervivum said:

So, Simon: can't drive, covered in tats, dressed like a teenaged soccer fan, and (apparently) hasn't had sex in 10 years. I was actually wondering if they were really married; Simon was definitely not wearing a ring.

I've seen a few of those scooter drivers who insist on using roadway, but I admit I've never seen one out AT NIGHT. I thought the whole 'go to the gym' thing was ridiculous, but I guess if you're Shannon, you can't just call up an Uber.

Her extreme lack of mobility makes her extremely likely not to survive for long, especially since she's also not likely to lose any weight on her own. I wonder if Simon will start looking around for another super-obese woman to latch onto once his current meal ticket expires.

That bears repeating!🙂

They have to be married, I doubt she has hired him to take care of her, he needs a visa, and I don’t think they give visas just for care takers.