S12.E03 Delana's Journey

[CrazyInAlabama]

 

New, 3/20/2024, from Titan TV's listing: "A woman is forced to confront her growing weight issue after a routine trip to the grocery store ends up in an EMT emergency, leaving her no choice but to work on her weight and maybe make up with her estranged daughter."

Thursday the 21st, 7 to 9 p.m. Central time is the Supersized of this episode.  

 

Edited March 20 by CrazyInAlabama

[swankie]

I watched with interest after she fell and the fire department had to be called to get her up.  After gaining weight on her first visit to see Dr. Now I almost lost interest thinking it was going to be another failure.   But after she actually managed to lose 73 lbs and made the move to Texas I decided to see it through.  Happily she got weightloss surgery and was finally able to walk without a walker.  I hope they do a follow-up to see if she sticks with it.

[SDVegas]

She went from a lying liar who lies to a success.

Inexplicably. 

Color me surprised. 

[Mollywolly555]

I did notice that she said. "Thank you " to the EMTs and car repair/rental guys, and Dr. Now, etc.

So many of them sit there like dolts, fuming, and self absorbed,  when anyone helps them,  like when Dr. Now leaves the room after having given them their instructions.  

I was pleasantly surprised and liked her,  even after the lying liar and her husband swore on their Dannon cups that they were not even eating 1200 calories. 

Delana's claim of " doing nothing' ALL DAY! Was shocking to me.  Sad. Waste of a life.   But I realized her phone was ever present,  so online games? Social media? Still sad and a waste of a life.  

She's lucky to be married to a nice guy.... who works! Glad they're out and about and happy in Texas. 

[Chatty Cake]

I was expecting this one to end like so many do, with nothing happening. The family dynamic was a bit confusing. She was a victim of her ex taking her son but she didn’t do much better with her daughter. Yet her brother came through to drive their moving truck to Texas. 
I was surprised she made it to actual surgery and changed her ways. 

[libgirl2]

I wish her all the best. It was great to see her and her husband at that art installation, I wish I could have seen it. 

[Jeeves]

2 hours ago, Mollywolly555 said:

I did notice that she said. "Thank you " to the EMTs and car repair/rental guys, and Dr. Now, etc.

So many of them sit there like dolts, fuming, and self absorbed,  when anyone helps them,  like when Dr. Now leaves the room after having given them their instructions.  

I was pleasantly surprised and liked her,  even after the lying liar and her husband swore on their Dannon cups that they were not even eating 1200 calories. 

Delana's claim of " doing nothing' ALL DAY! Was shocking to me.  Sad. Waste of a life.   But I realized her phone was ever present,  so online games? Social media? Still sad and a waste of a life.  

She's lucky to be married to a nice guy.... who works! Glad they're out and about and happy in Texas. 

Thanks for this. Especially the bolded parts. That helps me understand my mixed reaction to Delana as I watched her episode. We were hearing what I think of as the usual "addiction talking" from her - the crazy sh*t about how she was just eating salads and yogurt and chicken. Which ordinarily cues me to start seriously snarking - and of course I didn't believe her (nor did Dr. Now). But yeah, I just couldn't write her off somehow. As you've pointed out, she didn't seem as sunk into herself as many of the others featured in the series. She showed a level of civility and courtesy. 

I'm glad she turned it around sometime during the few months before her surgery. I hope her life continues to improve. But I think she needs some therapy, and I hope she gets it.

Edited March 21 by Jeeves

[ams1001]

33 minutes ago, Jeeves said:

But yeah, I just couldn't write her off somehow. As you've pointed out, she didn't seem as sunk into herself as many of the others featured in the series. She showed a level of civility and courtesy. 

(Expanding on one of my comments from the chat...)

I can't hate her. She's been through a lot of crap - unstable childhood, at least two abusive partners (though she didn't say in what way they were abusive) and divorces, lost one baby to stillbirth, another to her ex (I don't think she said if she actually got to see him or have a relationship with him; did the ex take him away completely or did he just get primary custody?...and given whatever happened with her daughter later, maybe there were legitimate reasons for him getting custody), strained relationship with her daughter (which I don't think we got enough details about to comment on but her own history surely didn't help). Her daughter doesn't seem to have written her off completely so maybe there's hope for a better relationship in the future. Hopefully she's getting some therapy.

But now she has a husband who seems like a nice guy, who works an actual job (they even commented on his being able to transfer his job to Houston; someone in the chat said his shirt looked like Amazon so maybe a delivery driver or warehouse worker; either one would probably be easy enough to get a transfer, especially to a big city). He had his moments but was overall supportive, they were laughing and joking with each other at home (and it didn't feel like they were 'acting'; they seemed to enjoy each other's company). And despite her apparent lack of trying for most of the episode, she had a relatively good attitude (even when she wasn't following the diet, I felt less like she was making excuses than that she didn't fully understand it, which is still on her for not doing the work to understand but didn't make me as annoyed as some others who clearly just didn't want to *cough William cough*). She seems like a pleasant enough person to be around, at least, not flat and empty, or angry and blaming everyone around her for her situation or acting like they owe her their help, and polite and thankful to the people helping her.

She wasn't significantly smaller but she was moving so much better by the end; I have hope for her.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I anyone wants to see it, the Supersize edition of this episode is on tonight, 7 to 9 p.m. Central.   It should have Bonus Scenes.    

I was surprised she turned it around, and embraced the process to change her life so dramatically.    Going from virtually immobile to walking without a walker or cane was so touching.    I'm hoping she keeps on her 'journey' and improves her life.    I loved seeing James and Delana play pool, and go to the art installation at the end.   

I was so touched at the kindness of the fire fighters after she fell, and the mechanic shop giving them the rental van.  

I'm wondering if the tooth situation was  chewing tobacco related?   The daughter had similar teeth, and had a tin of chew in her back pocket.   

Also, when Sharon, the so-called mother, dropped by talking about how she couldn't drive to Houston, was she still sick with Covid?  At first I thought she had after effects, but after seeing the Supersized edition, and hearing what Sharon said again, I think she still had it, and was around two people who didn't need to be exposed to it.  

Edited March 24 by CrazyInAlabama

[cynicat]

4 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I was so touched at the kindness of the fire fighters after she fell, and the mechanic shop giving them the rental van.  

Agree.  However I couldn't stop wondering what on earth was wrong with their own van that it hadn't been repaired in 1 month.  Or was it 2 months.  Regardless, that's crazy.

[BAForever]

I had a love-hate relationship with Delana. Her childhood was tragic and losing a child to a still-birth would devastate many. But she was sort of pathetic in any coping skills, certainly not a resilient adult. And good for her adult daughter staying away from her and recognizing her own eating disorder. Love her from a safe distance girlie. 

All being said, I hope she continues to lose weight. She's not a bad person, but has had very bad luck in life. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

18 minutes ago, cynicat said:

Agree.  However I couldn't stop wondering what on earth was wrong with their own van that it hadn't been repaired in 1 month.  Or was it 2 months.  Regardless, that's crazy.

I think it was over 3 months.  If it was a sensor, sometimes they are in short supply.     I'm wondering if the van needed a new engine or something too.    

[CarolMK]

I watched the episode tonight, and I also found her FB page dedicated to this episode. She’s lost a total of 250 lbs as of November 2023 and looks really great. I wasn’t sure she would do well at first, her background story was so sad . Happy endings are nice .

[ams1001]

12 hours ago, CarolMK said:

I watched the episode tonight, and I also found her FB page dedicated to this episode. She’s lost a total of 250 lbs as of November 2023 and looks really great. I wasn’t sure she would do well at first, her background story was so sad . Happy endings are nice .

Just looked it up. She does look so much better (and happier). She even wears jeans in some of the pictures in her little slide show video.

Another post says: "I am still a work in progress, I'm not where I want to be, but I’m not where I use to be either!" A good mindset to have. (Sadly, that comes after having felt the need to remind people reading that she is, in fact, a real person.)

[libgirl2]

12 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

Just looked it up. She does look so much better (and happier). She even wears jeans in some of the pictures in her little slide show video.

Another post says: "I am still a work in progress, I'm not where I want to be, but I’m not where I use to be either!" A good mindset to have. (Sadly, that comes after having felt the need to remind people reading that she is, in fact, a real person.)

She does look really good. And it is always a good sign when someone is wearing jeans instead of stretchy pants. 

If she reads here, we wish her the best. 

[mmecorday]

So let me get this straight. Delana was raised primarily by her first cousin because her birth mother couldn't take care of her. Then she was kidnapped by her birth mother and lived on the lam for a while before she was returned to her first cousin. The birth mother was the one who was supposed to make the drive to Houston, but she couldn't because of the effects of long COVID. Then Delana calls her brother, who lives in North Carolina, to see if he can help her move. Brother shows up with Delana's daughter, granddaughter, niece and the woman who adopted her. Are her adoptive mother and her first cousin one in the same? 

[CrazyInAlabama]

1 minute ago, mmecorday said:

So let me get this straight. Delana was raised primarily by her first cousin because her birth mother couldn't take care of her. Then she was kidnapped by her birth mother and lived on the lam for a while before she was returned to her first cousin. The birth mother was the one who was supposed to make the drive to Houston, but she couldn't because of the effects of long COVID. Then Delana calls her brother, who lives in North Carolina, to see if he can help her move. Brother shows up with Delana's daughter, granddaughter, niece and the woman who adopted her. Are her adoptive mother and her first cousin one in the same? 

Yes, Delana's adoptive mother was the bio mother's first cousin.  She also raised Delana's daughter almost all of the time, until at 12 daughter moved in with Delana's brother, and stayed. 

[essexjan]

Delana has certainly been through a lot in her life, but there was also a lot of backstory that we didn't get, e.g. why does her daughter live with her brother, and why hasn't she spoken to the daughter for six months?

The grocery story trip wasn't a routine visit to the store. Delana said she'd not been out of the house for a year, so I think the scene (along with the obligatory shower scene and the upwards shot of the Poundticipant to make them look even bigger) was set up by production, and it went wrong almost immediately.

Likewise, the van they were 'given' was, I am 100% certain, paid for by production. The guy from the garage told Delana it wouldn't cost her a dime, he didn't say it was free. Production knew that Delana had to get to Houston to see Dr Now, or there would be no TV show, so that's why I think they paid for it.

I was astonished that she managed to lose enough weight to qualify for surgery, and I wish her well. But, OMG, the start of this show was hard to watch.

• the mattresses with no sheets;
• the little dog sniffing the mattress as soon as her butt moved off it;
• the skid marks on the office chair and her pants;
• the size of the breakfast (which had magically transformed into a cup of yoghurt by the time she got to Houston);
• what the hell was underneath that bed when they unpacked it from the U-Haul?

I was all set for her to fail, particularly after the first weight gain. But good for her, and her husband. If he does work for amazon, he'll be doing a busy, hard job, so kudos to him. Their new place in Houston looked much nicer than the Tennessee trailer.

I also think this was a first for My 600-lb life where the Poundticipant actually does The Simpsons "I wash myself with a rag on a stick" thing . Plenty of them use long-handled brushes or sponges, but this was an actual rag on a stick.

[Meowwww]

Dr Now “OK delete that frickin’ app”. 🤣

[Morgalisa]

I couldn't figure her family out.  There was the cousin who raised her, there was bio mom, and then there was the grandma who adopted her. I'm  confused.

[CrazyInAlabama]

The cousin who adopted her is the woman who was at the trailer with the daughter and her baby.    The bio mother was the one in the cheap wig and scarecrow hat saying because of Covid, she couldn't drive the minivan to Houston.   Uncle Danny is Delana's brother, who raised the daughter from age 12, when daughter moved away from her mother, Delana.   

I think the grandmother had custody of Delana when the bio mother, Sharon (maybe Sharon?) kidnapped and kept Delana for a year, before dropping her back off with the grandmother.  Cousin then took back guardianship of Delana, and Delana's mother wasn't around until Delana was about 18.   Delana called the cousin Mom, and I think the daughter considers her the real grandmother, not the bio grandmother. 

I watched the regular episode, and Supersized edition, and that's the only way I could figure out who was who.   I hope I got all of that right.   It was very confusing, and with the amount of information in the original episode, it was even more complicated hearing it for the first time.   

Edited March 26 by CrazyInAlabama

[Mahamid Frauded Me]

On 3/23/2024 at 3:40 PM, essexjan said:

 

• the mattresses with no sheets;
• the little dog sniffing the mattress as soon as her butt moved off it;
• the skid marks on the office chair and her pants;
• the size of the breakfast (which had magically transformed into a cup of yoghurt by the time she got to Houston);
• what the hell was underneath that bed when they unpacked it from the U-Haul?

 

I just don't understand the no sheets on the bed, on both. I understand she can't stand long enough to do it, but her husband could. 

The scene with the skid marks on the cushion of the chair was gross, so I really started the episode thinking she was going to be awful, but she seemed like a nice person and very thankful to those who assisted her. Her back story was heartbreaking and glad to see she is doing better