S05.E02: Ashley R.'s Story

[AmandaPanda]

Quote

At 670 pounds, Ashley, who lives in her parents' home with her husband, decides she must make a drastic change to save her life and her marriage.

[Armchair Critic]

Another one who was sexually abused as a child and has a husband caretaker. So far she also sounds self aware.

[Brooklynista]

Ashley looks very tall. Have we ever seen a patient this tall. Not sure why it matters but it just struck me as she walked next to her mother.

[okerry]

I wonder if this woman has acromegaly, or something similar. She is taller than the rest of the family and the bones of her face look overgrown, even in the pictures of her as a teenager. Will be interesting to find out.

[crazycatlady58]

I was wondering  how tall she was, and great job on the family  going on the diet with her. Hopefully   they keep it up after she leaves ,  not  to be mean but they could  all stand to lose some weight,  But then so can I.

[Armchair Critic]

She reminds me a little bit of Christina. Happy for her that she has a nice family.

[Armchair Critic]

They really need to do something to jazz up the monotone voiceovers with the Jack Handey (SNL) deep thoughts clichés.

[eejm]

Ashley's husband seems like a really good guy - very supportive and patient.  And Ashley seems committed both to her weight loss and to improving their relationship.  I hope things continue to get better for her and for them.

She looks awesome after her makeover!  She has absolutely gorgeous hair.  

Edited January 12, 2017 by eejm

[okerry]

Just now, eejm said:

Ashley's husband seems like a really good guy - very supportive and patient.  And Ashley seems committed both to her weight loss and to improving their relationship.  I hope things continue to get better for her and for them.

Though we've seen more than one very patient caretaker husband on this show who was seeing other women on the side. Not saying this one is doing that, or that I can even blame these men when their wives are entirely unable to meet their needs - but things are not always what they seem.

[eejm]

Just now, okerry said:

Though we've seen more than one very patient caretaker husband on this show who was seeing other women on the side. Not saying this one is doing that, or that I can even blame these men when their wives are entirely unable to meet their needs - but things are not always what they seem.

Good point, and you're right.  I hope in this case Daniel really is committed to Ashley.

[crazycatlady58]

So   we have had 2 episodes  with people  who understand  their  problems  and worked hard to  fix then. It is great  to have someone  to root for, but I cannot  help but wonder ,  when will we get the  next Penny? I do hope they  follow  up on these 3 ladies ,  they were very inspiring  .

Edited January 12, 2017 by crazycatlady58

[Armchair Critic]

46 minutes ago, eejm said:

She has absolutely gorgeous hair

and great dimples

32 minutes ago, crazycatlady58 said:

when will we get the  next Penny?

maybe the front porch bathing and the dude falling off the golf cart will give looky-loos like myself something to gawk at. ;)

[Aw my lahgs]

Looks like dr Now has been reading here - referring to the surgery as the "magic pill". Lol.

[Negritude]

1 hour ago, Armchair Critic said:

They really need to do something to jazz up the monotone voiceovers with the Jack Handey (SNL) deep thoughts clichés.

A la "Teen Mom." I guess they're too cheap to spring for a professional announcer. That or they think its endearing to have the subjects narrate their own stories. 

Reminds me of being in school and getting called on to read. Some kids could breathe a little life into the material and others well...sounded like our fearless narrators here. Not to toot my own horn, but I fell into the former group lol.

[Tinfoil Hat]

That was my reaction: Two weeks in a row, we've had people we can cheer for--where are the trainwrecks? 

I liked the part where she got out of the car and the horn didn't honk. 

[Aw my lahgs]

I enjoy people that are likeable and we can root for. But the adult defiant toddlers are a lot more fun to watch! 

[ChristmasJones]

The boring voice-overs are putting me to sleep.

This girl seems a bit more on the ball mentally than a lot of the folks here. Her family seemed supportive in healthy rather than dysfunctional ways. I liked that they all just got on board with eating healthy food with her. They made it seem like no big deal - very different than most of the families featured on this show.

I really was shocked when all four wheels were completely missing from their car. That would totally freak me out.

I wish she would have gotten a bit more length trimmed off her hair (just being nit-picky). I think bra-strap length in back, with layers that came up to her collar-bone in front would have been better - not so heavy.  No need to cut it any shorter as she has very shiny healthy hair.

[Noirprncess]

I'm glad she made progress.  Just a few questions though - did her husband work?. It also seemed like she drove everywhere, so what did he do?

[Aw my lahgs]

42 minutes ago, ChristmasJones said:

I really was shocked when all four wheels were completely missing from their car. That would totally freak me out.

This is actually extremely common in Houston, especially with muscle cars and pick up trucks. Even more so if you have nicer rims.

I'm surprised no one warned them to install wheel locks.

Edited January 12, 2017 by Nutella

[Muffyn]

1 hour ago, Noirprncess said:

I'm glad she made progress.  Just a few questions though - did her husband work?. It also seemed like she drove everywhere, so what did he do?

They said he worked which is why he didn't accompany her on her first trip to see Dr. Now.  They didn't say what he did for a living.  He doesn't drive. 

The episode was to long for me.  I turned it off a little over half way through. 

[notyrmomma]

3 hours ago, Muffyn said:

They said he worked which is why he didn't accompany her on her first trip to see Dr. Now.  They didn't say what he did for a living.  He doesn't drive. 

The episode was to long for me.  I turned it off a little over half way through. 

I think he may have quit his job when they moved to Houston, but overall, the whole family were workers - very much unlike everything we've seen with these families thus far.  I agree she had a great family - heck, I wanted to move in with them myself, and maybe her attachment to them is part of her culture, but I think the best thing that could happen to her is to move out and just be with her husband for a while.  They seemed really in love - much unlike Lupe and her husband.

7 hours ago, Nutella said:

Looks like dr Now has been reading here - referring to the surgery as the "magic pill". Lol.

Yes, but Dr. Now is pissing me off this season.  He's saying things that people want to hear and giving credence to popular myths.  First of all, she will never be able to stretch her stomach back to its original size.  Over time, it will stretch a little no matter what, but it will always be very small.  The chances of her getting back to 700 pounds is very small and would take incredible determination to eat junk food every hour on the hour, and I don't think she will do that....but I agree, if she isn't careful, she could park at the better, but still unhealthy, weight of 300 pounds or so, but never back to 700.  

I also audibly made a "tsk" when he called her nausea psychosomatic.  Asshole.  I was very nauseous for months after my surgery (mine was 2 1/2 years ago) and could barely eat anything and my sister, who had her surgery in September, is in the thick of it now (I get all these text from here almost every day where she is pretty much crying that she can't eat anything).  The only difference is that our surgeon told us this would be normal, so we didn't complain about it to him. 

Also, during my early follow-ups with my surgeon, he was happy with any weight loss.  Granted, I was only 304 pounds on the date of my surgery (ha! only), but when I thought that I would get "yelled at" for only losing 10 pounds in a month, my surgeon was very happy.  The way I understand it is that the body is in shock the first few months.  Not only is the body trying to heal from the surgery, but you've cut your calorie intake from say, 10,000 calories a day, to like 300.  The body is like...what the actual fuck and does everything it can to hold on to whatever fat it can for the first few months, then the surgery really does act like a "magic pill" for a year or so, as the weight just falls off.  Plus, you are exhausted all the time for the first few months.  I remember just the act of folding laundry would wipe me out and I had to sit to take a shower because I couldn't stand for more than a few minutes.  However, once I started feeling better (maybe about after three months) and was able to go for walks, the "magic pill" effect kicked in.

[jacksgirl]

Kudos to Ashley, she had a job! Definitely one of the most mobile and motivated patients. Need a follow up on Ashley, Brandi and Kandi.

[Guest]

7 hours ago, ChristmasJones said:

I wish she would have gotten a bit more length trimmed off her hair (just being nit-picky).

Me, too! Her hair was way too long for her face. 

5 hours ago, Muffyn said:

The episode was to long for me.  I turned it off a little over half way through. 

Glad it wasn't me. While Ashley was great the story could have been condensed into an hour. I was wondering when something "big" was going to happen that warranted the two-hour time slot so I FF'd through a lot of the show looking for it. If I were watching it live, I would probably have turned it off, too.

[Mrs. P.]

I was wondering about the dark patches of skin on Ashley's body.  We saw her mother scrubbing her back with an abrasive.  Does anyone know what causes those discolorations?  Have we seen that before on any other patient?

[Azubah]

Quote

Though we've seen more than one very patient caretaker husband on this show who was seeing other women on the side. Not saying this one is doing that, or that I can even blame these men when their wives are entirely unable to meet their needs - but things are not always what they seem.

That's harder to do when you don't drive. I assume he lost his license somewhere along the way. I hope he gets it back eventually. It's a pain when only one partner can drive.

I wondered if the skin discoloration was acanthosis nigricans. If you look up images of the condition, it seems likely. In its worst stages, it looks like that terrible "pebbled" skin that we've been treated to in all the season previews. It seems to be related to insulin resistance.

[dahling]

I assumed last week's episode with the twins was 2 hours because it was the season premiere, there were 2 stories, a medical emergency, etc.  There was no reason for this episode to be 2 hours. I FF'd half of it.  Ashley and her husband and family were likeable, but unfortunately that just made for a zzZZzzz of an episode.  Good for her, I hope she succeeds, and I hope her husband really is the anti-Gilbert that he appears to be. But I'm ready for something more entertaining. 

[Scorpiosunshine]

I'm agreeing with most of what has already  been said about Ashley and her family re: their likeability, their positive, supportive dynamic. I got a good feeling from her husband, and I bet if he was anything other than good to Ashley, her family would  not have stood for it. They seemed to love and embrace him, so I'll take him at face value. Besides, I didn't get that gross, sleazy feeling from him like from some of the other husbands. 

Add me to those calling out Dr. Now for dismissing  her nausea as psychosomatic. Just because she didn't have a leaky seam --or other issue seen via endoscopy-- doesn't mean there isn't another cause! That happens so often with patients , especially women--if the doctor doesn't see the cause right away then it must be "mental". I guess we really haven't come past all that. 

I don't mind the long episodes.

I'm looking forward to an update on Ashley. 

Edited January 12, 2017 by Scorpiosunshine

[Hero]

I can't help to compare Dr. Now with the doctor from the British show, Fat Doctor. The doc on Fat Doctor has amazing beside manners. He is sweet, yet firm with his patients. He listens to their complaints and tries to remedy the problem. The episodes are on YouTube.

Dr. Now seems very abrasive and he doesn't listen when his patients complain about pain or discomfort. 

[Ocean Chick]

I really like Ashley and her family.  Good people, even if they ate junky food.  And they all seemed to work - even Ashley!  Mom and one of the other sisters were overweight, but the other 2 sisters weren't at all.  Interesting.  I was gawking at the dark patches on Ashley's cheeks.  At first I thought maybe it was shadows cast by the camera lights, but the "shadows" didn't move at all when Ashley or the camera moved.  Then I thought that maybe she was using something black as blush in order to make her face seem slimmer.  After she'd lost some weight, the blackness seemed to disappear.  Weird.

I'm soooooooooo over the voice-overs and repeat the same information over and over again.  "I'm scared to do ______, but I have to do it in order to lose the weight.  But it scares me.  But I have to lose the weight.  If I don't do ________, I won't lose the weight.  But I'm scared.  But I have to do this."  Makes me want to slap someone silly.  Ugh.

I actually enjoy the longer episodes, as we get to see some of the things we've been missing - therapists and nationalists and physical therapy. 

I hope Ashley's husband is there for her when she's thinner, just as he was when she was bigger.  I hope he's not just a chubby chaswer.  I hope he's found a job in Houston.  I hope he gets his driver's license.  I hope.... [/Red]

[leighroda]

2 hours ago, Mrs. P. said:

I was wondering about the dark patches of skin on Ashley's body.  We saw her mother scrubbing her back with an abrasive.  Does anyone know what causes those discolorations?  Have we seen that before on any other patient?

Dark spots on the back of the neck can be indicative of diabetes, but I'm not sure on the back. Discoloration could be the beginning of a bed sore, but the last thing you should do in that case is scrub it. My guess is the mom considered them "dirty" but they are a normal change in skin (maybe not normal per se, but I mean not related to hygiene)

[CarolMK]

I haven't seen this yet because again, it was a 2 hour episode. I am looking forward to it, but wondering why TLC has expanded this season to 2 hours for each patient vs. the 1 hour in previous seasons. Is there some more information the show is revealing compared to the past seasons?

I'm not sure if I've seen this answered yet, but how long does the surgery continue to work? Do most patients continue losing beyond the first 2 years after surgery and then level off/plateau or do some continue losing? I have a friend who had the gastric sleeve done about 18 months ago, and she went from approximately 267 down to 195. She admitted she was at a plateau for awhile over the summer but recently starting adding Vitamin D to her diet and feels it's been helping her lose weight again. She also likes wine and snacking though. I'm really rooting for my friend but not sure if she's really going to change her habits long term- she admitted snacking was what got her to the higher weight in the first place. 

[gonecrackers]

I haven't seen this one yet but I also get a bit annoyed when Dr. Now dismisses their post surgery discomforts. A friend of mine had the surgery & felt very sick for months! I felt so bad for her. I've also seen him dismiss physical pain. I can get not wanting them to make excuses but I'm sure a lot of it is probably real too & their bodies have been through, & are going through, a lot.

Can we find the British 'fat doctor' show somewhere online? I'm curious about his manner with his patients now.

[Motor City]

“I'm soooooooooo over the voice-overs and repeat the same information over and over again.  "I'm scared to do ______, but I have to do it in order to lose the weight.  But it scares me.  But I have to lose the weight.  If I don't do ________, I won't lose the weight.  But I'm scared.  But I have to do this."  Makes me want to slap someone silly.  Ugh.” ~ I agree 100%!

[M.F. Luder]

22 minutes ago, gonecrackers said:

Can we find the British 'fat doctor' show somewhere online? I'm curious about his manner with his patients now.

There's a lot of episodes uploaded to Youtube. Just search "Fat Doctor".

[notyrmomma]

36 minutes ago, CarolMK said:

I'm not sure if I've seen this answered yet, but how long does the surgery continue to work? Do most patients continue losing beyond the first 2 years after surgery and then level off/plateau or do some continue losing? I have a friend who had the gastric sleeve done about 18 months ago, and she went from approximately 267 down to 195. She admitted she was at a plateau for awhile over the summer but recently starting adding Vitamin D to her diet and feels it's been helping her lose weight again. She also likes wine and snacking though. I'm really rooting for my friend but not sure if she's really going to change her habits long term- she admitted snacking was what got her to the higher weight in the first place. 

Technically, it lasts forever. After the sleeve procedure, the stomach does stretch somewhat, but can never return to its original shape (or so my surgeon told me).  Problem is people figure out how to eat around the sleeve, like eating many small meals.

[Hero]

43 minutes ago, gonecrackers said:

I haven't seen this one yet but I also get a bit annoyed when Dr. Now dismisses their post surgery discomforts. A friend of mine had the surgery & felt very sick for months! I felt so bad for her. I've also seen him dismiss physical pain. I can get not wanting them to make excuses but I'm sure a lot of it is probably real too & their bodies have been through, & are going through, a lot.

Can we find the British 'fat doctor' show somewhere online? I'm curious about his manner with his patients now.

It's on Youtube and Hulu. The doctor is really easy on the eyes, too! Lol! But, he is incredibly patient and very understanding, yet firm. 

[mmecorday]

I think Ashley was so successful in her weight loss because she was able to acknowledge that food was her crutch and she was relying on it too much. None of that, "I should be able to eat all I want! Why is the world against meeeeeee?" attitude that we often see from people on this show. It helps too that she was surrounded by such a loving family.

Slightly off topic, but in the newsroom the other day, we heard over the police scanner that central dispatch was being alerted to the fact that someone had fallen at her residence and couldn't get up. The EMTS were warned that the person weighed 627 pounds. 

[ClareWalks]

She looked GORGEOUS after that makeover. Wow. 

[poeticlicensed]

I was left wondering if Ashley Stayed in Houston or went back to CA. I figured a year out from surgery, there wasn't a reason for her to stay, unless Dr. Now said she had to. Couldn't he refer her to a doctor in her area?

I was a bit worried about how emotionally dependent she was on her husband. We have seen way too many stories where the spouse leaves after the weight loss starts and the patient starts getting control and self esteem. 

2 episodes, 2 victims of sexual abuse. I realize that no one gets to 600 lbs without some kind of trauma, but geez, can't they find one patient who wasn't molested as a child?

[AZChristian]

1 hour ago, poeticlicensed said:

2 episodes, 2 victims of sexual abuse. I realize that no one gets to 600 lbs without some kind of trauma, but geez, can't they find one patient who wasn't molested as a child?

Statistics indicate that somewhere between 17% and 25% of children are victims of sexual abuse.  It's a significant number of emotionally damaged people, and a type of abuse that can easily be manifested by people making themselves undesirable (morbidly obese).

[dahling]

3 hours ago, CarolMK said:

I'm not sure if I've seen this answered yet, but how long does the surgery continue to work? Do most patients continue losing beyond the first 2 years after surgery and then level off/plateau or do some continue losing? I have a friend who had the gastric sleeve done about 18 months ago, and she went from approximately 267 down to 195. She admitted she was at a plateau for awhile over the summer but recently starting adding Vitamin D to her diet and feels it's been helping her lose weight again. She also likes wine and snacking though. I'm really rooting for my friend but not sure if she's really going to change her habits long term- she admitted snacking was what got her to the higher weight in the first place. 

I'm no expert, but I could have sworn in one of the 600-lb Life episodes, Dr. Now told someone that the effects of the surgery would be totally gone in 5 years.

[ClareWalks]

1 hour ago, poeticlicensed said:

2 episodes, 2 victims of sexual abuse. I realize that no one gets to 600 lbs without some kind of trauma, but geez, can't they find one patient who wasn't molested as a child?

The season is young yet. Previous seasons had other reasons, like the death of a child. I would guess, without any evidence either way so who knows, that sexual abuse is probably a top-3 reason that people develop compulsive eating disorders.

[Texasmom1970]

14 hours ago, Nutella said:

This is actually extremely common in Houston, especially with muscle cars and pick up trucks. Even more so if you have nicer rims.

I'm surprised no one warned them to install wheel locks.

It is true and sad. When my husband and I were first married, eons ago.  We lived in an apartment complex in Houston. Came out to go to work my car was on concrete blocks and the tires were gone. And they were cheap tires!

[spacefly]

5 hours ago, leighroda said:

I was wondering about the dark patches of skin on Ashley's body.  We saw her mother scrubbing her back with an abrasive.  Does anyone know what causes those discolorations?  Have we seen that before on any other patient?

From Diabetes.org website:

(wish I had known about this earlier as I had this years before my diabetes diagnosis)

Diabetic Dermopathy

Diabetes can cause changes in the small blood vessels. These changes can cause skin problems called diabetic dermopathy.

Dermopathy often looks like light brown, scaly patches. These patches may be oval or circular. Some people mistake them for age spots. This disorder most often occurs on the front of both legs. But the legs may not be affected to the same degree. The patches do not hurt, open up, or itch.

Dermopathy is harmless and doesn't need to be treated. 

Edited January 12, 2017 by spacefly
Fix quotes

[mamadrama]

On 1/12/2017 at 8:38 AM, Scorpiosunshine said:

 

Add me to those calling out Dr. Now for dismissing  her nausea as psychosomatic. Just because she didn't have a leaky seam --or other issue seen via endoscopy-- doesn't mean there isn't another cause! That happens so often with patients , especially women--if the doctor doesn't see the cause right away then it must be "mental". I guess we really haven't come past all that. 

 

My mom had the surgery 9 years ago. Unfortunately, she gained all of her weight back. However, even 9 years later she STILL has nausea. In addition to using the scope to look at her stomach and stuff, he should have looked at her gallbladder. It is a proven fact that many patients with the surgery end up having gallbladder issues-to the point where some surgeons even recommend (controversially so) removing the gallbladder at the same time. My mom had hers removed 3 months after her gastric bypass and it definitely helped the nausea and vomiting, although she still has it from time to time. 

On 1/12/2017 at 11:46 AM, notyrmomma said:

Technically, it lasts forever. After the sleeve procedure, the stomach does stretch somewhat, but can never return to its original shape (or so my surgeon told me).  Problem is people figure out how to eat around the sleeve, like eating many small meals.

It actually depends on the person. It definitely can stretch back out to its original size. For the first 3 years post op, my mother was only able to eat several small meals a day. Now she eats big meals, the same way she did before the surgery. In fact, she had to have some intestinal surgery last year and there was a complication. The surgeon had to talk to me in the middle of the operation and he and I got into an argument. Because her stomach was so large, he refused to believe she'd actually had gastric bypass. She lost 400 pounds and then gained it all back. 

[Aw my lahgs]

On 1/12/2017 at 9:08 AM, Suzy123 said:

 

Dr. Now seems very abrasive and he doesn't listen when his patients complain about pain or discomfort. 

Dr Now is in his mid 70s and has been working on innovating weight loss surgery since the eighties.  He cares about his patients but is very straightforward and doesn't come from the school of making people feel good.

On 1/12/2017 at 5:28 AM, notyrmomma said:

I think he may have quit his job when they moved to Houston, but overall, the whole family were workers - very much unlike everything we've seen with these families thus far.  I agree she had a great family - heck, I wanted to move in with them myself, and maybe her attachment to them is part of her culture, but I think the best thing that could happen to her is to move out and just be with her husband for a while.  They seemed really in love - much unlike Lupe and her husband.

Yes, but Dr. Now is pissing me off this season.  He's saying things that people want to hear and giving credence to popular myths.  First of all, she will never be able to stretch her stomach back to its original size.  Over time, it will stretch a little no matter what, but it will always be very small.  The chances of her getting back to 700 pounds is very small and would take incredible determination to eat junk food every hour on the hour, and I don't think she will do that....but I agree, if she isn't careful, she could park at the better, but still unhealthy, weight of 300 pounds or so, but never back to 700.  

I also audibly made a "tsk" when he called her nausea psychosomatic.  Asshole.  I was very nauseous for months after my surgery (mine was 2 1/2 years ago) and could barely eat anything and my sister, who had her surgery in September, is in the thick of it now (I get all these text from here almost every day where she is pretty much crying that she can't eat anything).  The only difference is that our surgeon told us this would be normal, so we didn't complain about it to him. 

Also, during my early follow-ups with my surgeon, he was happy with any weight loss.  Granted, I was only 304 pounds on the date of my surgery (ha! only), but when I thought that I would get "yelled at" for only losing 10 pounds in a month, my surgeon was very happy.  The way I understand it is that the body is in shock the first few months.  Not only is the body trying to heal from the surgery, but you've cut your calorie intake from say, 10,000 calories a day, to like 300.  The body is like...what the actual fuck and does everything it can to hold on to whatever fat it can for the first few months, then the surgery really does act like a "magic pill" for a year or so, as the weight just falls off.  Plus, you are exhausted all the time for the first few months.  I remember just the act of folding laundry would wipe me out and I had to sit to take a shower because I couldn't stand for more than a few minutes.  However, once I started feeling better (maybe about after three months) and was able to go for walks, the "magic pill" effect kicked in.

Actually several years ago I seriously considered getting sleeve surgery. The doctor himself warned me if I didn't stick to the long term maintenance plan and slipped back into old habits my sleeve would stretch back to its old size.

Edited January 13, 2017 by Nutella

[Dianaofthehunt]

Ashley has normal looking legs and feet, and wears a bra! That sets her apart from most of the patients on this show.

[Aw my lahgs]

1 hour ago, Dianaofthehunt said:

Ashley has normal looking legs and feet, and wears a bra! That sets her apart from most of the patients on this show.

She also held down a job. We don't see that often. Quite refreshing!

[swankie]

On Wednesday, January 11, 2017 at 11:53 PM, Tinfoil Hat said:

That was my reaction: Two weeks in a row, we've had people we can cheer for--where are the trainwrecks?

I didn't think Ashley was a trainwreck per se, but she was such a whiner.  I started a drinking game all by myself for every time she said the word "stress".  I got pretty drunk.  Lol!  And the crying got on my nerves.  I feel a lot of sympathy for these people, but they have to realize that they did it to themselves.  I know their family enables them, but nobody is putting a gun to their head to make them eat.  Hell, if I saw 200 on my scale, I would make a beeline to the nearest gym and look into some sort of diet.  I can't see anyone letting themselves get to 600 plus pounds and then act surprised when they get on the scale.  I mean, when your stomach practically drags the ground, you have to know you're out of control already.  I liked the twins better than Ashley.  They hardly whined at all and they had it pretty bad growing up also.  The molestation is pretty sad though.  It's horrible that they had to endure that as children.  I hope the perpetrators were punished for ruining these poor girls' lives and I mean this for all of them.

[jacksgirl]

Fell asleep halfway way through, so finished last night. Agree that Dr. Now poo-pooing her discomfort was not good. Since she had a job, was mobile and so dedicated to the whole process,  I'd hope he would listen to her more than someone like Penny. Agree that a lot of these people need tough love,  but she didn't.  Wonder if he has so many people cry wolf over minor complaints that he didn't hear Ashley.