S03.E09: Angel's Story

[KarmaG]

I've had two hip replacements in the last year and a half, and one before that 12 years ago. I kind of had to relearn to walk the right way, without leaning or limping, after the surgeries. My husband helped me by nicely (with my asking him to) point out when I was walking like I did pre surgery. I also tried to make note of it myself but since it was a 10 year old habit, it was easily forgotten and I'd fall right back into doing it. I had to work on not doing it and I mostly don't do it anymore. I am hoping Angel can relearn how to walk and that she gets more therapy. 

 

I am hoping that while we didn't see it, that she did see a nutritionalist to learn how to eat properly once she's off the soft food diet.

[ethalfrida]

for all the questionable behaviors of the actual 600 pound patient, I find this aspect to be the most frustrating.  After all, if the person crabbing at you to bring them food gets mad, it's not like they can run after you and beat you up.  You just stay strong and say NO.  So much grief could be avoided this way.  

For the most part, I certainly agree but remember Dominique (RIP)? When her daughters did that to her she raised so much verbal abuse it made me cringe and shrink! I think I would try though because clearly it is for their health. One thing, if the cheeseburgers or mac&cheese dishes were replaced with things like BAKED turkey burgers and no other foods were given then eventually they would eat it. At least to lose enough weight to get out of bed to cook for themselves, lol.

 

What do you think about this? At work, there are four elevators next to my office. Normally they are loud but when they work on them it is deafening. When someone comes into the office and asks how can I stand it I tell them I don't hear it anymore. And it's the truth, I don't. So with the obesity situation of the patients and their loved ones, do you think they do not see them anymore? It seems obivious that watching a person grow to a huge size like 300, 400 or 500 pounds that it would be noticeable but maybe it isn't.

[ethalfrida]

Here's something about the walking situation. When you lose weight by not eating a lot your body goes into starvation mode. Plus, your body will eat your muscles and when you do not have muscle strength you cannot do things like walk securely, get up from sitting without supporting yourself. She may be lacking muscles...

[Micks Picks]

Ethalfrida you got that right.  I have serious stomach and intestinal issues and lost weight by not eating because it makes me sick.  I'm like Pavlo's dog, negative reinforcement, I don't do the behavior again.  So stop eating.  But I have serious arthritis in the back, and I mean very very bad and some collapsed discs.  Painful to move, and have to be very careful.  But I'm trying to exercise to build up muscle mass, because once I had no fat the muscles wasted. So now try to do a lot of stretching but have to be careful because if it hurts it is bad for me.  

 

I hope Angel gets a smile on her face.  Her affect was so flat.  We saw the hint of a happy to be Angel in the dress shop when they put some makeup on her.  Tickled me to see it.

[CarolMK]

Wow, 2 liters of soda a day? I must have missed that. But the soda alone is about 1500 calories a day or so, and just getting rid of that would result in a 150 lb weight loss in a year ..something I learned years ago in Weight Watchers, if you eat an extra 100 calories a day, you will gain 10 pounds in a year. pretty amazing how just that one change could result in such a huge weight loss.

[Micks Picks]

I just looked at the Daily Mail on-line and they repeated her story for the British audience.  They didn't say anything new though, but I'm so pleased she is doing well.

[BitterApple]

Even though Angel certainly couldn't have cared for a baby at 14, I don't think the "give up your kid or get the hell out of my house" ultimatum was the best way to go about things either. I think if Angel had had more support and the adoption had been framed in a positive manner she wouldn't have felt so much guilt and shame over it.

[poeticlicensed]

This season seems much sadder than last season. IDK, maybe because I was so shocked at the stories last season, I had no idea it was even possible to weigh that much, plus the naked shower/bathroom scenes and the shots of actual surgery. I guess this season the shock has worn off, I hate the naked bathroom scenes, I don't need to see someone have a laproscope inserted. I guess I want this show to move forward and deal with the patients in a holistic way. I want to learn something. Isn't TLC the LEARNING channel? The stories are all sounding the same. Childhood trauma, steady weight gain, social isolation, ignorance, poverty, unsupportive family/partners, it's like a formula.

[aliya]

Childhood trauma, steady weight gain, social isolation, ignorance, poverty, unsupportive family/partners, it's like a formula.

This may be something to think about. When mental health people, or teachers or doctors run into such stories, maybe they should also consider that the person may head into obesity and address that along with the other problems. For example, a therapist may say, "I think you are depressed. Let's deal with that. Btw - tell me what you're eating, when you eat, etc."  Of course, that assumes that somewhere along the way. you went to see some kind of professional. It looks like a lot of these traumatized people never went to therapy.  

 

Speaking of not getting help - I was watching one of the Supersize shows yesterday and they had a diabetic man with a gangrenous foot. The guy said he knew something was wrong, but it took him 6 weeks to get to the doctor. What?? I'm diabetic. There is no way in heck I'd wait 6 weeks if stuff started to go wrong with my feet. That's how people wind up with amputations. Jeez. Even if I didn't have insurance, they can't turn you away from the ER.

[mrsjoe]

The contrast between the first few months loosing 160 pounds, then only loosing 5 pounds after the scar tissue removal, was jarring. It looked like she was still eating the jello packs, so why wasn't she loosing the weight like she was before?

 

I've had weightloss surgery, and I think a lot of people struggle with the fact that you have to actually eat to lose weight.  Starving usually works for a bit, but eventually your body levels off and stops losing.  Also, it is super common with the surgery to lose weight and then hit an inexplicable stall.  And as others have stated, if you are not getting enough protein, your body will eat your muscle to get it and the less muscle you have, the less fat you burn. So I think her body was adjusting to the 165 lbs loss, the continued starvation and the loss of muscle to burn fat, leading to a stall in weightloss.  And then once she got the feeding tube, her calories probably shot up again.

 

I too was shocked that Dr. Now pretty much congratulated her for becoming anorexic, especially after the re-visit episode we saw earlier this season where he expressed that there is a small chance of patients becoming anorexic after the surgery.  I also hope that the visit we saw to the therapist was not the first one she had, considering this woman just radiated other issues.

[gunderda]

But he probably wasn't told that she wasn't eating at that appointment she lost 165 lbs.  I'm sure had he known he wouldn't have been that happy.  That info probably didn't come out until later after they filmed that scene. 

He told one person to lose 100 lbs before surgery and they were close and that was with a proper diet (was that episode 1 of this season?) 

When you have that much weight to lose, it comes off pretty fast even if you are doing everything properly. 

The people who barely lose 30-50 in 2-3 months just can't quit enough of their food. 

[KarmaG]

Speaking of not getting help - I was watching one of the Supersize shows yesterday and they had a diabetic man with a gangrenous foot. The guy said he knew something was wrong, but it took him 6 weeks to get to the doctor. What?? I'm diabetic. There is no way in heck I'd wait 6 weeks if stuff started to go wrong with my feet. That's how people wind up with amputations. Jeez. Even if I didn't have insurance, they can't turn you away from the ER.

 

My mom waited 2-3 weeks to get treatment for an ingrown toenail that got infected. Thanks to her inaction and diabetes she almost lost her toe and maybe even her foot. It took over 3 months but finally they found the right combo of antibiotics and her toe/foot was saved.

[Bellalisa]

It looked to me like one leg was way shorter than the other- the way she was limping was not because she was used to being heavier. There was some severe deformity there. She was completely crooked.

I've never seen Dr. Now so mad as he was about the feeding tube. He just could not believe they didn't call him! So a 400 pound person could starve to death- who knew? I would think a feeding tube would be for someone who could not take food in by mouth? The way they did a surgery to put them in? And she never mentioned Dr. Now to them? It was really bizarre for sure! Who knows what really happened?

 

I also thought about Penny and Pauline "I need to do this for my child" and then not do anything. Of course both of them are BRAGGING about being "down" to 500! boo hoo hoo. I liked the husband in this story. 

 

I think they do go to a nutritionist before they leave the hospital. They are given a diet to follow. They just don't show it on the show. Because when Penny was crying "they never told me what to eat"- they said yes we did, we sent you home with a diet to follow! There is no way they do gastric bypass on 600 pound people and don't give them nutrional consulation. its just boring and no time on the show for it.

[notyrmomma]

I've never seen Dr. Now so mad as he was about the feeding tube. He just could not believe they didn't call him! So a 400 pound person could starve to death- who knew? I would think a feeding tube would be for someone who could not take food in by mouth? The way they did a surgery to put them in? And she never mentioned Dr. Now to them? It was really bizarre for sure! Who knows what really happened?

This is another "My 600 Lb" mystery and was completely unbelievable.   Why didn't they just run the tube down her nose?  (off topic - but there's a new diet I have been hearing about in the news where people have feeding tubes run through their nose/into their stomach and just use that for nourishment for a month or so...GROSS!)  There just HAS to be something more to this.  A 400 lb woman has a LONG WAY to go before she starves to death.  I'm actually mad at TLC for not giving us the whole story, pretty much like how I am pissed that they don't show us exactly how much these people who don't lose any weight one month after surgery are actually eating.  

[Guest dutronc]

I wonder if TLC even knew about it. The way it was filmed was rather abrupt--here is Angel with a feeding tube. Her whole episode was sort of like that, though. Angel had a fairly typical story but then she couldn't get surgery right away, she had to get an feeding tube, and then her secret trauma was a pretty big deal (and probably masking other things). I wonder if she was really difficult to work with, either not forthcoming or otherwise reluctant, and TLC just did the best with what they had, and after the third or fourth surprise in the narrative, scrapped putting production details in the black screen.

[DangerousMinds]

Obese people can still suffer from severe malnutrition, if they starve themselves or eat only junk all the time. And carbs and sugar are essentially the same thing. Our bodies convert the carbs we eat to sugar.

[Spooneroonie]

I wonder if TLC even knew about it. The way it was filmed was rather abrupt--here is Angel with a feeding tube.

I'm betting they did know, but possibly didn't have permission to film any of it. If they didn't, the needed the BSOJ to explain it all.

[Foghorn Leghorn]

I wonder if TLC even knew about it. The way it was filmed was rather abrupt--here is Angel with a feeding tube. Her whole episode was sort of like that, though. Angel had a fairly typical story but then she couldn't get surgery right away, she had to get an feeding tube, and then her secret trauma was a pretty big deal (and probably masking other things). I wonder if she was really difficult to work with, either not forthcoming or otherwise reluctant, and TLC just did the best with what they had, and after the third or fourth surprise in the narrative, scrapped putting production details in the black screen.

 

The way I saw it was Angel went to Dr Now for a consult, he said lose weight on your own and I will do it.  She loses weight so he goes in but suspects scar tissue from a previous stomach surgery he did not do.  He couldn't do the bypass safely so he removed as much scar tissue as possible.  She healed up and a couple of weeks later he did the bypass.  It was during the aftermath of recovery she at some point went to another hospital who put in the feeding tubes.  

 

She did not get a feeding tube because she couldn't have bypass.  

[Guest dutronc]

The way I saw it was Angel went to Dr Now for a consult, he said lose weight on your own and I will do it.  She loses weight so he goes in but suspects scar tissue from a previous stomach surgery he did not do.  He couldn't do the bypass safely so he removed as much scar tissue as possible.  She healed up and a couple of weeks later he did the bypass.  It was during the aftermath of recovery she at some point went to another hospital who put in the feeding tubes.  

 

She did not get a feeding tube because she couldn't have bypass.  

 

Right, I saw the same sequence of events--I didn't say she got the feeding tube because Dr Now wouldn't do the bypass. I was questioning how cooperative or open she was with the producers and film crew overall because her story had a lot of sharp deviations from the usual episode structure, Penny and Pauline aside. Taking an even longer view, we saw Donald's process of diagnosis with Guillain Barre, and Melissa's miscarriage. A feeding tube with a stoma is a big deal, and if it was medically indicated, then there was almost definitely a long process involved that either Angel did not disclose to TLC/Dr Now, or that TLC chose to represent as "Angel got a feeding tube--let's watch Dr Now be surprised." Even when Pauline stopped going to physical therapy, we (and Dr Now) knew about it, so I kind of think Angel withheld information. 

Edited March 7, 2015 by dutronc

[Foghorn Leghorn]

Oh I get you!  Thx.  And I think Angel is either being portrayed as not being too smart or she just isn't.  I don't mean to sound harsh but she strikes me that way, too accepting and I suspect she was taken advantage of when she was younger resulting in her pregnancy but hope I am wrong.  I would hate to think that happened to her.  

[Micks Picks]

I don't think TLC dare show any of the feeding tube story.  I think lawsuits for malpractice could be in order, and reprimands for the doctor and hospital who did such a procedure.  Less than stellar is the best you can say about the process that went on and investigation that was done to result in a feeding tube for her.

[silverspoons]

Doesn't Dr. Now's son  Jon do the filming of the patients? I could have sworn I have read this before. I realize that when filming a "reality" show the producer is not suppose to intervene and change the "storyline" but if the son saw her going to the ER and get a feeding tube , should he have not called his dad? I also assume since multiple people are being filmed that the film crew is not there 24/7. They schedule to film days of dr. visits, therapy or family reunions to film. I just can't believe the production crew did not film or contact Angel in a whole month and find out what was going on in her life.

 

You would be shocked at how many people do not question doctors. I went to see about a device to be implanted in my heart that was in an FDA trial. A nurse gave a presentation and out of 10 people 8 signed up on the spot to get the tests and have the device put in. It was just myself and a retired cop that even asked any questions. It was not a life or death condition and it was heart surgery and a device that would be in your body that had little to no long term testing. I went and had some of the testing done and asked the people who had the surgery why the jumped so fast. The answers were the doctor is such a great guy, he wrote so many papers , and even he is a great man of faith. I've been married to a doctor and the daughter of a doctor and , doctors are not God, hopefully they are well educated people that really want to help people but in emergencies even with the best doctor you have to speak up, most of the time the doctor will not know you well enough.

Edited March 8, 2015 by silverspoons

[Guest dutronc]

Doesn't Dr. Now's son  Jon do the filming of the patients? I could have sworn I have read this before. I realize that when filming a "reality" show the producer is not suppose to intervene and change the "storyline" but if the son saw her going to the ER and get a feeding tube , should he have not called his dad? I also assume since multiple people are being filmed that the film crew is not there 24/7. They schedule to film days of dr. visits, therapy or family reunions to film. I just can't believe the production crew did not film or contact Angel in a whole month and find out what was going on in her life.

 

According to IMDB, Jonathan Nowzaradan only produced the first series, and the 2014 and 2015 series have different producers, and this might have contributed to Dr Now not knowing (if he in fact did not know--grrr, reality tv!)

 

Angel's life didn't seem to have much of anything besides sitting around and maybe going to doctor's visits, so maybe the filming schedule was something like the beginning of one month and the end of another, so effectively six to eight weeks could have passed. 

[IvySpice]

The film crews clearly don't live with the subjects for a year. They plan a few days of filming every month. If a crisis (like the ER trip and feeding tube) happens when the crew isn't there, it isn't filmed. I agree about the malpractice. Angel is not a bright woman, but some incompetent or craven small-town hospital saw an opportunity to bill Medicare for an expensive procedure on a disabled woman.

 

"I suspect she was taken advantage of when she was younger resulting in her pregnancy"

 

I'd say this is true by definition if she gave birth at 14. Every 13-year-old or just-turned-14-year-old who gets pregnant got there via an unhealthy situation. Either there's a problem in the family that's prompting the girl to go out and seek comfort from a young man, or else she's raped (statutorily and perhaps forcefully). 

[goodbyeglittergirl]

I hope this woman gets both the mental therapy and physical therapy that she so badly needs. It pained me to see her walking so poorly, even after that giant weight loss.

 

Shame on Dr. Now for not digging deeper when she lost ~150 pounds in 2 months. Yes, larger people will lose weight more quickly, but that's insane and honestly set her up (IMO) for the nutrition problems that eventually caused problems and landed her with a stomach tube. 

 

I hope she goes on to live a happy and healthy life - she seemed to be so sad, all of the time. I hope for her sake, and the sake of her son, that she can pull out of that and enjoy living. 

[Guest dutronc]

The film crews clearly don't live with the subjects for a year. They plan a few days of filming every month. If a crisis (like the ER trip and feeding tube) happens when the crew isn't there, it isn't filmed. I agree about the malpractice. Angel is not a bright woman, but some incompetent or craven small-town hospital saw an opportunity to bill Medicare for an expensive procedure on a disabled woman.

 

This theory is really sad and disturbing. The malpractice angle is horrifying, too, and goes beyond being overly trusting of doctors. I didn't catch where Angel lived--I wonder if a malpractice case would make the news.

[CarolMK]

I read about Angel on another site..maybe TV by the Numbers, in regards to this show and it gave more information. She had another child at age 20, no mention of all what happened to that child but at her current age, maybe the child is already grown and moved out of the house. It also stated that her beloved father died when she was 25 years old and contributed greatly to her depression.

[notyrmomma]

So this is kind of terrible, but my husband and I were laughing today.  He hurt his neck in an accident a while back and had a doctor's visit today.  He was telling me they want to do this procedure that deadens the nerves in his neck, which neither of us have ever heard of.  He said that "we need to google this procedure first, because next thing you know, they will be trying to put in a feeding tube in me."   Apparently  "Putting in a feeding tube" is now synonymous with "useless and dangerous medical procedure" in my house. lol  

[cheatincheetos]

What was up with all that scar tissue?  She obviously had surgery before  - does anyone know what that was for?  Did she have a prior gastric bypass?  Maybe hernia operations?

Didn't he have that issue operating on Tara as well?

 

<Apparently  "Putting in a feeding tube" is now synonymous with "useless and dangerous medical procedure" in my house. lol>

 

I hope Penny didn't watch the episode and get an idea that she needs a feeding tube to go with her unnecessary oxygen tube.

Edited March 12, 2015 by cheatincheetos

[swankie]

Angel needs a physical therapist STAT to relearn how to walk at her lower weight.

 

 

Angel's legs were severely bowed and it looked as though she might suffer from arthritis.  I have arthritis in both my knees which make walking very painful at times and I'm not obese.  I can only imagine the damage done to the knee joints carrying around all that weight.

 

And I also think that a lot more went on in Angel's life than giving up a child for adoption.

 

 

I also wondered if maybe her pregnancy was the result of being raped or molested, maybe even by a family member.  Who would put that kind of decision on a 14 year old?  She was still a child.  And if she kept the baby, both of them would be thrown into the streets?  Doesn't sound like her parents were very loving and understanding.  In fact, sounds like they were complete assholes.

 

It looked to me like one leg was way shorter than the other- the way she was limping was not because she was used to being heavier. There was some severe deformity there. She was completely crooked.

 

 

I wonder if Angel could suffer from Blount's disease.  It usually affects toddlers, but can also affect adolescents.  If she contracted this when she was younger on top of all of the weight it could explain the sad condition of her legs.  http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/figures/A00230F01.jpg

Edited March 12, 2015 by swankie

[mittsigirl]

Ah, feeding tubes. I was paralyzed with a rare illness,had to be in I.C.U, put on ventilator and feeding tube directly inserted in my stomach. No nose tube,was too sick. As I got better, DH came for visit,sat on said feeding tube, sent me back to surgery to get it back in. No feelings, don't even know you have it.

[cheatincheetos]

I am not personally calling these people freaks, but this is what TLC is doing. They are producing nothing more than a freak show.  Penny and Pauline are the new villains on tv.   Exploiting the super morbidly obese and uneducated is the new soap opera.

Completely agree with you but had to smile at the mental picture of a villainous mastermind Peggy.

 

"You've come too late, Mr. Bond. I've been expecting you," Yellowbrickfinger cackled as she stroked her Persian cat absently. "Soon, soon the whole world will know who it is who controls the food...all the food!"

[mjt626]

I watched the extended episode last night, with the commentary at the bottom of the screen. Angel's knees are bad and she's going to have to see a doctor for them. They also showed unaired footage of her and the boyfriend going to work out. She did upper exercises, because of her knees.

Also, in the unaired footage was family time during a holiday. There were two young women there, perhaps one of them was the daughter she had at 20. They didn't say.

I think one of the main reasons that Angel doesn't smile, is because of her teeth.

[Micks Picks]

There's something about her.  The episode was on last night as a rerun and I did not watch but I really had to search my memory bank to remember something about who she was.  She was almost totally forgetable for me.  Re: her previous pregnancies, if you can't take care of them by yourself you shouldn't have them.  Period.

 

I also wonder if the molestation excuse is one thrown around for everything.  I've known some women who claim molestation but when they say what happened, it sounds rather innocent enough.  I'm being perfectly serious about this.  Sometimes people later put great meaning upon things that may not have been as they recall.  They feel what didn't really happen.  Molestation does happen, and in those cases I'd like for the perps to be jailed for life

Edited March 17, 2015 by Micks Picks

[notyrmomma]

So I watched Angel's Super Sized episode last night that I DVR'ed  - and I was really surprised on how much back story we got on her boyfriend.  He was a professional basketball player in Europe and I think they said he also coaches now and definitely knew his way around the workout equipment.  I'm still surprised that he didn't have a lick of nutritional knowledge now, even to know the basics that orange juice is full of sugar (they cut this comment out on the Super Size version).  His heart is good though, I believe he really loves Angel and wants to do whatever he can for her.   

 

Something else funny I saw in this episode was when Andrew was going skating with his dad, Angel says to him, "Don't come home with no broken bones"....ah the power of the double negative! LOL

[non sequitur]

So I watched Angel's Super Sized episode last night that I DVR'ed  - and I was really surprised on how much back story we got on her boyfriend.  He was a professional basketball player in Europe and I think they said he also coaches now and definitely knew his way around the workout equipment.  I'm still surprised that he didn't have a lick of nutritional knowledge now, even to know the basics that orange juice is full of sugar (they cut this comment out on the Super Size version).  His heart is good though, I believe he really loves Angel and wants to do whatever he can for her.   

 

Yes Donnie was great.  He is very supportive and he clearly loves Angel and their son.  It's so good that their son is involved in sports.  

 

I hope Angel can have her knees fixed.

[Mom2twoNonna2-3]

I also wonder if the molestation excuse is one thrown around for everything.  I've known some women who claim molestation but when they say what happened, it sounds rather innocent enough.  I'm being perfectly serious about this.  Sometimes people later put great meaning upon things that may not have been as they recall.  They feel what didn't really happen.  Molestation does happen, and in those cases I'd like for the perps to be jailed for life

 

I'm not going to discount it too much. I was molested as a child. I had to see this person frequently throughout my life and couldn't imagine telling as a child and having them put in jail. Once I was an adult and certain other family members came of age, I was able to confide in them. When another family member told that it happened to them by same person, no one believed them and they suffered incredibly mentally so really in my head as a kid, what was the point. But, I spent my adult life questioning and protecting my kids. I gained a lot of weight to make myself undesireable to the person. I had lost weight in late teens and they made another attempt and I shut that right down. And yet again, gained weight. To this day, if I see them, the inevitably comment on my weight. It has taken me a long time to realize what I was doing and refuse to be the victim anymore.I don't allow it to rule my conscious life, though. I now understand what I was doing and it's helping me to say "screw them I need to be thinner for my health and to look good for my husband." 

 

Back to Angel, she seemed to do much better and she was able to move through the trauma of her early teens and learn to forgive. I can't wait to see her follow up. 

 

Too many of these participants never learned to accept to that they didn't have to be lifelong victims. Let the perpetrator of the abuse feel the guilt, not you. If they don't feel guilty, not your problem. Perhaps some earlier therapy could have helped tremendously. Her mother should have had her in some form of therapy early on after the teen pregnancy. But, mothers like that don't think about their child's mental well being only how it will make them look in society to have a grandchild born to a teen. I'm betting she was sent "to stay with relatives" while pregnant, too. The pregnancy at 20 could have been a replacement child. My mother had a baby at 16, had to give her up at birth unwillingly. As soon as she turned 18 and could do as she pleased, she was on a mission to have another baby and within 2 1/2 months was pregnant and was able to keep my brother. She never expressed regret over having my brother so young and loved him until he passed away. We knew he was her favorite.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Mom2twoNonna2one

[Guest dutronc]

Angel was definitely in a no-win situation with the first baby--no way could she have supported herself, and the other two choices had essentially the same outcome. According to her story, there was no parental support, either. Any expression of grief might have been met with punishment for shaming the family by getting pregnant (which, as others pointed out, might not have been under 100% consenting circumstances, either).

 

I am pretty sure that for however many false accusations of molestation, there are hundreds more that go unreported. I also think that misremembering is probably part of the act, because many molesters badger their victims into letting down their defenses. "This is what friends/family do to show love, but don't tell," etc.

[cheatincheetos]

Wow, 2 liters of soda a day? I must have missed that. But the soda alone is about 1500 calories a day or so, and just getting rid of that would result in a 150 lb weight loss in a year ..something I learned years ago in Weight Watchers, if you eat an extra 100 calories a day, you will gain 10 pounds in a year. pretty amazing how just that one change could result in such a huge weight loss.

I thought she said two bottles. Assuming that's the 2L size that goes for a dollar something, that's 4 liters a day. Glug glug glug.

[Micks Picks]

I was someplace one day and had a few minutes to kill so went into the nearby 99cent or dollar store and people were lined up at the checkout with multiple carts of the large sodas.  No kidding.  And they were paying with EBT cards or whatever you call it.  And the people were heavy.  No lie, not one shopping cart, but several.  They must have wiped out all the stock in one day.  I love to observe what's going on around me sometimes.  Simply stunning human beings, we are.

Edited March 21, 2015 by Micks Picks

[BostonBlonde]

Finally a husband/boyfriend that I don't want to punch in the face!  And he cooked too!!

 

I was so sad for Angel nearly the entire episode.  I wish they would have shown her going to therapy sooner.  She needed that so bad. 

 

I was shocked... SHOCKED that she lost 165 pounds before surgery.  You could tell she lost a good amount because she was back to walking more easily than before the first time she went in there.  But yes, she starved herself. Hopefully after the surgery and all those kinks she finally found a good balance...  all we ever saw her eating was jello. 

 

Yes yes yes! I loved when he encouraged her walking towards the gazebo & changed the way he said something to make it more positive. He had what I like to call "a warm & fuzzy soul" about him.

 

Not to be too down on the doctor because he truly does provide hope to the hopeless. I just wish we were seeing more of the services his clinic provides and the support services his patients are receiving.

 

I'm sure we are only seeing part of the whole deal. I remember seeing classes & if you look in the group there were people from prior & future episodes. 

 

So this is kind of terrible, but my husband and I were laughing today.  He hurt his neck in an accident a while back and had a doctor's visit today.  He was telling me they want to do this procedure that deadens the nerves in his neck, which neither of us have ever heard of.  He said that "we need to google this procedure first, because next thing you know, they will be trying to put in a feeding tube in me."   Apparently  "Putting in a feeding tube" is now synonymous with "useless and dangerous medical procedure" in my house. lol  

 

You are my type of humor peeps. We would be BFFs. 

[turbogirlnyc]

This is another "My 600 Lb" mystery and was completely unbelievable. Why didn't they just run the tube down her nose? (off topic - but there's a new diet I have been hearing about in the news where people have feeding tubes run through their nose/into their stomach and just use that for nourishment for a month or so...GROSS!) There just HAS to be something more to this. A 400 lb woman has a LONG WAY to go before she starves to death. I'm actually mad at TLC for not giving us the whole story, pretty much like how I am pissed that they don't show us exactly how much these people who don't lose any weight one month after surgery are actually eating.

I agree that those feeding tubes were shady as heck. The positioning of the tubes and number of tubes was bizarre. Why not give her vital nutrients through an IV and tell her to drink Ensure? I almost called producer manipulation on that one because, seriously? How can medical professionals be that sloppy?

I am an emotional eater who has been on both ends of the spectrum. I havent topped 170 (I'm 5'6") since the age of 16, but if I'm not 110-115, I feel 600+ pounds and hate to be in public at all. I'm very messed up mentally.

I was a fat kid and the scars from that haven't faded. I'm 33 now. Kids can be cruel. My extremely judgemental and perfectionist mother didn't help matters.

I can't describe food addiction but unless you've dealt with it, don't judge. Even when I'm 110 pounds I feel fat.

And I understand imagining life without an ED. I do it a lot because I've missed out on so many opportunities because my size 4 pants were a bit snug. I just wonder where I'd be or how successful I could've been if I'd never developed this disease.

Anyway... Had to get that off my chest.

Edited April 9, 2015 by turbogirlnyc

[alegtostandon]

Saw this episode for the first time the other night. I felt very sad throughout the whole episode.

Wow! She lost an enormous amount of weight in a very short period of time before the surgery. Dr. Now said that was common with someone so heavy, but we are usually seeing someone struggling to lose 50 lbs. As someone posted, all we saw her eating were those pre packaged Jello' s.

I was in a car accident several years ago and developed a disease in my nerves from all of the surgeries. I lost a lot of weight in a very short period of time, I was down 80 lbs. I am on quite a bit of heavy medications and have no appetite. I will sometimes go a day or two without eating. A couple of years ago, I started putting weight on. I've never weighed more than 130, went up to 160. I could not lose any of that weight regardless of what diet I tried. My doctor told me my body has gone into starvation mode & is storing the fat. I started eating several small, healthy meals a day &started losing weight.

I would imagine Angel was very malnourished due to only eating Jello and when the ER doc heard how much weight she lost in such a short period of time, jumped to the feeding tube. Even if she did not offer the fact that she had weight loss surgery, you would think they would have noticed by the fresh incisions & would have seen it if they did any MRI's or xrays. I cannot believe they did this without any research.

I guess Angel not having any real choice over her baby when she was 14 is what causes her guilt, but giving the baby up was the best choice. No way could she raise & support a child at 14. I gave a baby up for adoption at the age 19. Even then, I knew it was the best choice for myself and the baby. She has recently found me &we have developed a wonderful friendship. She holds no resentment or anger, she had a great childhood & has wonderful parents.

I think the reason Angel did not smile is because of her dental issues. Again, due to all of the surgeries and strong medications, I developed dental problems. I hated smiling. Once my doctor approved me getting the dental work done, I ran to the dentist. It's very expensive, but well worth the money & pain. I hope Angel is able to get hers taken care of. I think she would feel a lot better about herself, plus as she ages, it's going to look worse.

[Christina]

I suffer from gastrointestinal disorders which show on lab work. I believe that ER doc saw her lab work, noted it showed she was malnourished, and called the on-call GI doc who decided she needed an immediate feeding tube. There is no way they didn't know she had the surgery, and she was probably still starving herself. I also don't see her or her husband being firm with that GI doc calling Dr. Now before agreeing to the surgery. A doctor said she needed it and so she had it.

 

It's been a while since I watched it, but remember not liking the way Dr. Now spoke to her about it. Throughout his treatment with her, he should have known that she wouldn't have stood up to the other doctor. If her condition was bad enough to go to the local ER, she obviously would have done whatever they told her needed done. I've been at the ER sick enough that if they told me I needed brain surgery and I would have a peacock feather sticking out of my head for the rest of my life, I would have asked where to sign on the paper. Dr. Now blamed her and told her she set herself back, blah blah blah. Unfair and inappropriate, in my opinion.

[leighroda]

I just got caught up on this thread and while I don't know why angel wound up with a feeding tube, but someone above asked why they did a peg (directly to the stomach) vs a nasogastric tube and my best guess would be for whatever reason the dr thought this was a more long term solution, generally speaking if someone is going to need long term nutrition they have a peg, because the basic gastric tube would need to frequently be changed.

I am not sure why a dr saw it medically necessary for her to have a feeding tube, but on her part I wonder if she saw it as an alternative to eating since she had become anorexic to some degree. As far as penny getting a tube I don't think that would ever happen because she clearly loves eating too much.

[algebra]

I just got caught up on this thread and while I don't know why angel wound up with a feeding tube, but someone above asked why they did a peg (directly to the stomach) vs a nasogastric tube and my best guess would be for whatever reason the dr thought this was a more long term solution, generally speaking if someone is going to need long term nutrition they have a peg, because the basic gastric tube would need to frequently be changed.

I am not sure why a dr saw it medically necessary for her to have a feeding tube, but on her part I wonder if she saw it as an alternative to eating since she had become anorexic to some degree. As far as penny getting a tube I don't think that would ever happen because she clearly loves eating too much.

[algebra]

There was no excuse whatsoever for the feeding tube. Whoever took her to the hospital should have said she was under a doctor's care. They should have called him. Dr Now was quite justified in being angry about it. if the doctor who did the feeding tube thought Dr Now was not managing her treatment properly he should have discussed it with him. I worked in a small community hospital and it was not unusual for people already under the care of a specialist 50 miles away to show up in our ED. As soon as we knew who the specialist was we were on the phone, and as soon as the patient stabilized he or she was usually transferred. My daughter lives 60 miles from her oncologist and when she starts running a fever or anything, she calls the oncologist who tells her if she should go to the local hospital, the clinic in town, or if she needs to make the 60 mile trip into the city. Same goes if you are under the care of an obstetrician, cardiologist, anybody like that.

I wonder if Dr Now called that other doctor and chewed him a new one.

[Minivanessa]

I didn't change the channel after Brandon's episode last night, and rather enjoyed the recap episode for last season's Family By the Ton. Then because I was doing things in the kitchen and didn't bother to find the remote, I found myself sort-of watching this episode. Well, part of it. I flipped it off before the end because it was bedtime, and because this poor woman was just so terribly depressed I found it hard to watch. Or snark.  This morning I found the PTV discussion of an update episode about Angel and Charity that aired in late 2016 when Angel was down to 230 pounds.

I also found this article from last year with a photo of Angel looking like she's well below 230, and wearing nicer clothes: https://starcasm.net/my-600-lb-life-angel-parrish-update/. And an article from last month which reposted a different 2018 photo of Angel looking pretty good as well: https://www.monstersandcritics.com/smallscreen/my-600-lb-life-update-where-is-angel-parrish-now/

Since we saw her take the starvation approach to weight loss in this episode, I hope that Angel's following a healthier approach to nutrition to maintain her weight these days. 

In the update discussion we mentioned that she probably doesn't smile because she has bad teeth. I hope she's been able to get some dental treatment since those 2018 photos were taken.

Here's the 2018 photo reposted in the second article I linked above - it's a full length photo and you can see she's wearing sandals. I'd like to think those shoes have been modified to compensate for her unequal-length legs, but I kind of doubt they are. Sigh.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I'm so happy for her!     I love it when they embrace the program, and change their life and health so much. 

[newyawk]

Trying to watch this one now, but her sad sack woe is me-ism is so annoying I can't stand her voice. You lost all that weight without surgery and not immediately getting the surgery is going to make you overlook that and say all hope is lost? Cripes. She just doesn't come across as someone who is particularly intelligent, which I suppose is why she apparently didn't argue about the feeding tube or tell these ER docs that she was stupidly starving herself. I can't finish this. She is just too annoying. 

Edited September 8, 2023 by newyawk