S05.E14: Steven and Justin's Story Part 2

[Thriftykins]

43 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

It seems that people who are the least equipped to provide for the care of a pet are the most prone to them.  Cat's require vet care, spaying, food, supplies, care and attention.  It's not cheap.  When you have no job and no money of your own to spare, why take on another life to care for?  A fish might have made more sense.  

Cats are pretty low maintenance though.  You can often get all that vet care up front, the cost rolled in to the adoption fees for the cat.  Or just not do it.  Vaccinations and sterilization surgery are optional.  Food is pretty cheap.  It's like 20 bucks for 2 months worth of Meow Mix.

[marz]

18 hours ago, bethster2000 said:

And I want to know what facility he was in that allowed him to have his electronics.  As I said before, I was in the psych ward last summer (no sympathy; things kind of went catastrophic with my meds and I was put where I needed to be at that time), and you pretty much had to hand over everything on your body, save for enough clothes to keep you covered (Steven: no problem, because everyone wants to gaze upon the nasty Assanti junk).  My shorts had a string in the waistband; they confiscated it.  I was issued a very scratchy jumpsuit for my intake, which took almost two days while we waited for a bed to open up (have I mentioned how fucked up mental health treatment is in this country?).  When I was admitted, I was permitted to put my own clothes on, but nothing else.  They even took my wedding ring, which just about killed me, because I hadn't been without it on my finger since my wedding day.  No cell phones.  No tablets.  No pagers (do people still use pagers)? No access on a computer whatsoever, no Internet.  We had a HUGE television set in the common room, but were only allowed to watch it for a finite amount of time at scheduled hours.

 

Maybe Steven smuggled the phone in under one of his flab folds.  No way the staff would have wanted to stick their hands in there to search him.

[SunnyBeBe]

3 minutes ago, Michael Stabosz said:

Cats are pretty low maintenance though.  You can often get all that vet care up front, the cost rolled in to the adoption fees for the cat.  Or just not do it.  Vaccinations and sterilization surgery are optional.  Food is pretty cheap.  It's like 20 bucks for 2 months worth of Meow Mix.

Maybe, but what adoption agency would approve Stephen under the circumstances?  He can't get down to change a litter box and seemed too lazy to clean up cat bowls, litter, etc.  Plus, there's kitty litter and that's not cheap either.  Not trying to rob the guy of a companion, but, imo, I would not think a pet would be well cared for by him. He could throw a tantrum and hurl an object that hits the cat.  Basically, he wasn't mentally or financially equipped to care for an animal, imo.  I hope someone who is ended up with the cat. 

[fonfereksglen]

56 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

It seems that people who are the least equipped to provide for the care of a pet are the most prone to them.  Cat's require vet care, spaying, food, supplies, care and attention.  It's not cheap.  When you have no job and no money of your own to spare, why take on another life to care for?  A fish might have made more sense.  

He would have eaten the fish - raw - for one of his videos.  And then smirked.  

[SunnyBeBe]

1 minute ago, fonfereksglen said:

He would have eaten the fish - raw - for one of his videos.  And then smirked.  

OMG.  I didn't think of that.  Well, I know that it might have been lonely in that apt without much else to do except go online, but, he just wasn't cut out to care for pets ino.  I don't see him being responsible enough to change a hamster cage.  

I know that when I saw his apt.  I thought that it would be nice to have some lamps, pictures, mementos, etc.  You can get those things very low cost at a thrift store.  Maybe, he doesn't care about things like that. 

[Thriftykins]

21 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Maybe, but what adoption agency would approve Stephen under the circumstances?  He can't get down to change a litter box and seemed too lazy to clean up cat bowls, litter, etc.  Plus, there's kitty litter and that's not cheap either.  Not trying to rob the guy of a companion, but, imo, I would not think a pet would be well cared for by him. He could throw a tantrum and hurl an object that hits the cat.  Basically, he wasn't mentally or financially equipped to care for an animal, imo.  I hope someone who is ended up with the cat. 

Well I know that pet adoption places can be notoriously picky.  I personally don't trust shelters or rescues at all and if I ever wanted a dog would most certainly buy one from a pet store.  Only reason I didn't buy my cat from one is because they never have any cats in stock.

 

But he could have done what I did and just get the animal off Craigslist.  There's lots of people trying to unload adult cats.

[Stiggs]

I used to watch Hoarders. My friends thought I was nuts because it was so gross, but I found it fascinating and continued to watch - until the episode that I can't unsee, no matter how much I try. (I am gagging now thinking about it.) I think I've reached that point with this show. Even the "worst" candidates they have had on here have had at least something redeemable about them. This guy is like a cockroach - I couldn't find one positive thing about him, and I feel like TLC just gave him ego-masturbatory material for the rest of his life. Does anyone remember the 2nd Bill and Ted movie? Where the two little creatures jumped into each other and became one? I feel like that's what happened with Steven, only it was all of the Boys from Brazil that morphed together into one giant, evil being. I feel horrible thinking that, cuz this guy is clearly mentally ill. 

The brother and the hobby shop...good luck. I can't see how that will end in success, but I'm rooting for Justin to succeed. He had his assy moments for sure, but compared to his brother...he's like, Ned Flanders. 

When it was obvious that Steven had a pill problem, I thought that, at his weight, he'd have to take like, buckets of pills to get high - and I was right, apparently. My god. My husband is a terminal cancer patient (By "terminal" I mean he's stage 4 and wasn't expected to live more than a year...5 years ago...) and has been prescribed the same # of Percocets every month for basically the past 5 years. (We live in Florida.) He used to get 2 refills on them, and I was always the one who picked up his medication. Then one day I showed up to get it and I thought they were going to cuff me and stuff me. My husband had literally JUST gotten out of the hospital after a brutal surgery, and I had to drag his ass to Walgreens to prove I wasn't a drug dealer. (The head pharmacist later made the tech apologize to me for dragging my sick husband out and said that I could have just brought in his driver's license instead.) But I couldn't even really be mad, because I have seen the shit that people try to pull on pharmacy staff to get pills, and I get it. It's because of pieces of shit like Steven that people with legit pain medication needs are made to feel like they are breaking the law. Grrrr. 

And I want to set up a Go Fund Me account to pay for kitten therapy for poor Cupcake...

[Granny58]

2 hours ago, SuzieQ said:

I'm in the middle of watching it now, so i haven't read any other posts yet, but the scene where Steven falls out of the golf cart just happened.  When he started screaming and crying, I wanted to punch him in the face and scream STFU you crybaby! I know, I'm going straight to hell! :(

Actually, I'm sure it was painful for him.  That amount of weight hitting the ground is going to hurt joints and bones.  Not ER level pain, and certainly not worthy of his theatrics, but I don't doubt it hurt somewhat.   

21 minutes ago, Michael Stabosz said:

I personally don't trust shelters or rescues at all 

curious...why?

[SunnyBeBe]

Shelters and rescues are regulated and inspected.  But, pet stores sell puppies from puppy farms where horrendous abuse occurs.  Dogs are bred continually within the space of a couple of feet in inhumane conditions. I beg of you to read about pet stores and puppy mills.  We must not help fund those torture chambers.  Okay.  Off my rant on puppy meals.  And I also hope that Cupcake found a good home. 

[Hockeymom]

2 hours ago, KateHearts said:

Why on earth would you think it made sense for Dad- the ultimate enabler who is practically at his wits' end to begin with- to provide ANY type of entertainment for his son, a totally non-productive, resource-sucking member of society?

Maybe because if his son was occupied he wouldn't be calling him 50 times a day?

[xwordfanatik]

I feel filthy after watching this shitshow.  Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse (James), then along comes ASSanti.

He is one nasty mofo.  Like others upthread have said, this series has taken a turn for the worse.  TLC has become a circus sideshow.

[SuzieQ]

33 minutes ago, Granny58 said:

Actually, I'm sure it was painful for him.  That amount of weight hitting the ground is going to hurt joints and bones.  Not ER level pain, and certainly not worthy of his theatrics, but I don't doubt it hurt somewhat.   

 

You're probably right, but its kind of a "boy who cried wolf" thing with him.  After 3 hours of him scheming (Part 1 and half of Part 2)I have little patience or sympathy left.  I still haven't seen much past that point so maybe something will happen that changes my mind.

[Calicocats]

2 hours ago, okerry said:

See, I'll take a different point of view and say that I don't object to TLC showing stuff like this and the James K story. That's because there ARE people who live like this and make the lives of their families a living hell.

Not to mention abusing the system until it's ready to die. People Creatures like Steven make it impossible for those with a real need for assistance and for pain meds to get any help because he's sucking it all up like a giant black hole of suck.

Many folks need to realize that this sort of evil and degradation and mental & emotional illness does exist, and that you can't change it by giving them more benefits and more love and more help. And that the system is so overloaded it's in real danger of collapse.

In writing fiction, we always say that you must "Show, Don't Tell." That is, you can't just say that someone is evil, or crazy, or an abuser. It will roll right off of the reader/viewer. But if you show the very real actions and effects of evil and crazy and abuse, that is when you get the emotional reaction you're looking for - and in these cases, the desired reaction is to Change Things so that horrors like Steven never happen again, either to himself or to his family.

I don't think TLC makes these people look any worse than they actually are. I'd guess it's even worse in reality, from some of the stuff I've heard is on Steven's YouTube videos. TLC just holds up a camera and we see the results - 

 - much the same way that Dr. Now made Steven stand in front of a full-length mirror and actually look at what he had done to himself. That was some of the most fascinating, and even moving, television that I've seen. And I've seen way too much TV.

So, no, I don't think any of us should feel guilty about watching this sort of thing. I hope they do continue to include some success stories, but those are even more effective IMHO when TLC also shows us some that are not.

Agreed.  It's the other side of any addiction.  Not everyone recovers.

[lyceumhq]

I honest'y have no idea what I just watched.

I thought James was bad, having his dad remortgage his house to fund his gaining 200lb more but these two took it to a whole new level.

The entire family doesn't have a single solitary redeeming quality. The dad didn't come across as nice either, but then neither would I if I'd spent my life putting up with those two. I think we saw the real Justin towards the end screaming at his father down the phone that he had had to close the shop for a week and telling Doctor Now that he slipped up once and had some ravioli? Why are these people so delusional. Dude you live in your dads basement, your dad pays your way and paid for you to open a shop so you could sit in the shop and play with models and all whilst you're shoving enough food down your gullet to weight more than 600lb, and that's the nice brother.

Steven did not have a single nice characteristic. He was a vile manupulative, self centered, selfish, addict. Calling the police on Princess? Asking if they had internet at rehab? Repeatedly threatening his dad. Acting like his leg fell off when he fell off the cart. Funny how he was suddenly fine when he dad took the hard line with him. Sorry, trying to shove a redemtion ark in the last five minutes of the show just doesn't wash. He's a vile human who has spent his life manipulating anyone he can for everything he could and acting like a toddler when they don't all do exactly as he wants.

Actually astounded.

[TicketToHellPaid]

I just saw Gilbert amd Lupe are next week and they're having sex cuz she mentions possibly being pregnant. Can't wait.

[Thriftykins]

1 hour ago, Granny58 said:

curious...why?

Because trying to get a pet from a shelter is like trying to get a job, only worse because you're trying to do a good thing and being treated like the rescue is doing YOU a favor.  You have to fill out an application, then hope they call you back for an interview, then hope to pass the interview.  That, of course, is assuming they don't just ghost you and never say a word.  A lot of rescues are unreasonably stringent.  There are loads of horror stories out there about dealing with rescues.

 

With a pet store it's a simple cash transaction.  You walk in, say "I want that dog".  You pay money.  You walk out with a dog.  Easy.  They treat you like a customer, not some lowly supplicant.

[TicketToHellPaid]

I hope Justin's store makes a million dollars and that he marries some hot chick and loses weight and fat fuck Steven, who I despise, can suck it.

sit and play with your shit monster.

 

think I will go buy something from Justin even though I have no clue on models.

 

imagine the smell of walking into this

 

[Calicocats]

It's fairly easy to adopt an animal from the shelters in the nearest city and in the rural county pounds.  They are high-volume shelters though.  Independent rescues vary.

#FreeCupcake

On topic...I have yet to watch this shit show, but I have a long, intense workout planned for tonight, and these sort of people always motivate me to go the distance.  Thanks Pepperoni Steven ? Anyone else use this show as background to work out?  Some of them motivate me for positive reasons...and some for negative.

[TicketToHellPaid]

4 minutes ago, Michael Stabosz said:

Because trying to get a pet from a shelter is like trying to get a job, only worse because you're trying to do a good thing and being treated like the rescue is doing YOU a favor.  You have to fill out an application, then hope they call you back for an interview, then hope to pass the interview.  That, of course, is assuming they don't just ghost you and never say a word.  A lot of rescues are unreasonably stringent.  There are loads of horror stories out there about dealing with rescues.

 

With a pet store it's a simple cash transaction.  You walk in, say "I want that dog".  You pay money.  You walk out with a dog.  Easy.  They treat you like a customer, not some lowly supplicant.

Not if you go to the pound. I work there. Rescues are bored woman interviewing potential adopters and cost a ton and they inspect your house and question you.

Pound dog's are just as good and I know this because rescues get their dogs from the Pounds.

 

sadly, kittens are a dime a dozen and always needing homes.

[BlazingBloomers]

Several years ago my husband took a nasty fall and broke a couple of ribs.  They checked him out in the ER and sent him home with two days worth of pain pills telling him to see his primary care doctor as soon as possible.  We were able to get an appointment very late on the second day.

We're members of a big HMO that has it's own medical offices, hospitals and pharmacies and they are all on a linked computer network.  The primary entered a prescription for 15 days of pills into the system.  I got my husband settled in the car and then walked to the other end of the complex to the pharmacy.  When I got there they told me that they could see the prescription but they couldn't fill it because there was a second step that the doctor forgot.  When he entered the prescription in the network he was supposed to follow up with a confirmation fax by phone so it was outside the computer network.  The reasoning being that someone might hack the system and enter prescriptions for narcotics but they wouldn't also be able to use the phone system to fax the confirmation.

Unfortunately by the time I got to the pharmacy and found this out the doctor had already left for the day.  The pharmacist said there was nothing they could do.  I asked what I was supposed to do with my husband, who had a difficult enough time breathing due to some medical conditions now complicated by broken ribs.  Their only solution for me was to take him back to the ER where I would have been charged another $250 copay.

At this point I'm angry and walk back to the ER since that was the only place I could be sure of even finding a doctor at that time of day.  I went to the check in area and started to tell the lady at the desk what was going on.  I'm almost in tears and had the original pill bottle they had given us two days earlier in my hand.  Before I could even get the words pharmacy and refill out of my mouth she was shaking her head and reaching for the bottle.  She said, "Honey, I know exactly what happened.  You have a seat there and I'll be right back".  She was back in less than five minutes and told me the head pharmacist was going to have the prescription ready for me by the time I walked back to the pharmacy and that if they gave me any more trouble to come back and she would have a doctor go with me. 

Regarding Steven and how he could get away with doctor shopping for a month I can totally believe it.  Whatever database Texas has it has to be monitored by some department of the government.  The bureaucracy/red-tape has to be incredible.  Even if the database is updated real-time I doubt it is fully automated.  I would bet that cases are reviewed by someone before they actually pull the plug on somebody receiving services.  

Steven also seems to use his middle name a lot.  If he checks himself into the ER under his middle name and says "Oh, I'm in too much pain.  I didn't think to grab my wallet with my ID" what are they going to do to him?

[TicketToHellPaid]

I was thinking, you know what's funny. The big fat monster didn't know that the last drugs Dr Now gave him are barely better than Advil. He gave him an IV push of Torodal.  No where near a narcotic but fat ass didn't know that and immediately stops crying.  

And wtf with the hair pulling? He is so manipulative, I would hate to have to take care of him.

His name is Steven John Jr, in real life he uses John. Scary I know this.

[mamadrama]

10 hours ago, Nancypants said:

I'm pretty sure Whitney also has this particular strain of Manipulation MASTERED.

You mean her "Don't-make-me-feel-bad-about-my-weight-but-I-can-shame-or-ridicule-anyone-I-want" campaign? Yep. 

[xwordfanatik]

1 hour ago, Calicocats said:

It's fairly easy to adopt an animal from the shelters in the nearest city and in the rural county pounds.  They are high-volume shelters though.  Independent rescues vary.

#FreeCupcake

On topic...I have yet to watch this shit show, but I have a long, intense workout planned for tonight, and these sort of people always motivate me to go the distance.  Thanks Pepperoni Steven ? Anyone else use this show as background to work out?  Some of them motivate me for positive reasons...and some for negative.

Yes.  I didn't work out to it, but I watched right before my weight loss group meetings.  It's definitely a motivator to stay on program.

[mamadrama]

4 hours ago, jenifaohjenny said:

I just had a sinus infection and it was a HUGE struggle to get an antibiotic because they kept saying they were "over-prescribed".  After 13 days of being miserable, phone calls, visits, they finally gave me something!  So I was just in shock that he was so easily getting these prescriptions over and over again. 

There were many times during the episode where he looked like he was dying, white faced, flushed, scary. I am shocked he is still around.  There were also many times during the episode that I said - "Just let him DIE already...he is a horrible human being!"

Something I learned from my ENT doctor...Sinus infections aren't considered bacterial until you've had them for at least 7 days. Anything before that is considered viral and can't, and shouldn't, be treated with an antibiotic. Antibiotics really ARE over-prescribed and we're all in danger of having them cease working for us because the bugs are getting immune to them. I am not encouraging you lie, mind you, but the next time you go to the doctor and they ask you how long you've had the sinus infection, keep that 7-day nugget in mind. If you answer with anything less, you're at risk for being denied antibiotic treatment. Of course, I realize that you said you had it for 13 days. That's way unnecessary. I bet you were miserable!

 

I also found myself finding myself feeling minimal sympathy at the idea of Steven John just kicking the bucket. I didn't mind Justin. In Justin I saw someone with a mental illness and perhaps even developmental delays. (In many ways Justin seemed like he was still a child.) In Steven John, however, I saw someone with a personality disorder that bordered on psychopath. 

[amacmom]

Just speculating on a correlation to a real-life relationship of mine...

My relative's son is Justin 10 years ago. Obese (not super morbidly ... yet), on the autism spectrum along with ADHD and behavioral issues, and very socially awkward. This family has a "Steven" (different issues but also all-consuming) and tons of disfunction that comes along with raising two challenging children (now teens) when the family base is not that strong to begin with.

Has it been said that Justin has Asperger Syndrome? All the signs are there. (Particularly in the first episode when he turned his back to Dr. Now and watched the meeting on his phone.)

I'm not making any excuses, but this dynamic hit close to home. Maybe Papa Steven is doing the best he can with his limited ability. Amacdad and I are both at a loss as to how we can help to unravel the very tangled knot of disfunction in this family.

@Stiggs what episode put you put you over the edge on Hoarders?

Edited April 8, 2017 by amacmom
Inquiring miss want to know...

[Toaster Strudel]

6 minutes ago, amacmom said:

 

@Stiggs what episode put you put you over the edge on Hoarders?

I'm going to guess it was

Spoiler

Shitty Shana

[Cherrio]

2 hours ago, TicketToHellPaid said:

I just saw Gilbert amd Lupe are next week and they're having sex cuz she mentions possibly being pregnant. Can't wait.

She is the one who hid a taco in her purse and has no forehead.

[chopperchopperbell]

On 4/6/2017 at 4:37 PM, Granny58 said:

This.  What the hell would anybody expect at 600 pounds!  Of course you're in pain!  Ugh. 

I'm probably dead wrong, but I had much more sympathy for Steven than James.  To me, Steven just seems so thoroughly broken...for a long time.  Not that his demeanor is acceptable.  I just hope he DID have some sort of understanding at the end.  I think some of the moments WERE genuine.  When Dr. Now told him no more pills and he said he felt uncomfortable and was going to leave...he really did look overwhelmed.  Yeah, I'm probably a sap...but I hope there's improvement.  

 

See I felt sorry for Steven, too.  He may have been an incredible "insert expletive" but he was hurting.  When he called his Dad screaming from rehab about how depressed he was, I'd believe it.  The drugs, the food, they are all his attempts to deal with his mental illness.

Dr. Now was wrong when he said that Steven's biggest problem was his pill addiction.  His biggest problem is his untreated mental illness.  Happy people don't drug themselves into suicide.  I have no doubt Steven has a personality disorder, but you can tell by his utter lack of self-care that he's severely depressed.  His apartment was disgusting, he never bathed or washed his hair, he didn't even bother to get dressed.  He's given up.  When he had to take a look at himself in the mirror, that is when I truly saw a glimpse of the real Steven hiding under all that anger.

I don't think Steven will ever get well if his mental illness goes untreated.  The pills are his attempt to self-medicate. So is the food.

I also wondered what exactly they expected Steven to do at home all day with no friends and no TV (the fit he pitched about losing the TV was sad.  Couldn't Dad skip a few pizzas and buy him a TV instead?)  He must have been lonely and extremely bored.  A lot of these phone calls to EMS and hospital rides were probably rooted in boredom, as well as pill seeking.  Anyone left alone at home with no support system and little mobility isn't going to do well.

Steven needs a long term care facility.  Somewhere where he can be medicated, have his diet controlled, and keep him off meds.  It would probably be cheaper to the tax payers vs. paying for daily ambulance rides and trips to the ER.

As far as Justin, he acts like a little kid.  His Dad also coddles him.  I mentioned in the other thread, I wondered if he has Aspergers.  Most parents encourage their children with Aspergers to be independent, but you end up with a Dad like Mr. Assanti who gives in to his children's every whim, and I can see how someone who has Aspergers might never grow up.

18 minutes ago, amacmom said:

Just speculating on a correlation to a real-life relationship of mine...

My relative's son is Justin 10 years ago. Obese (not super morbidly ... yet), on the autism spectrum along with ADHD and behavioral issues, and very socially awkward. This family has a "Steven" (different issues but also all-consuming) and tons of disfunction that comes along with raising two challenging children (now teens) when the family base is not that strong to begin with.

Has it been said that Justin has Asperger Syndrome? All the signs are there. (Particularly in the first episode when he turned his back to Dr. Now and watched the meeting on his phone.)

I'm not making any excuses, but this dynamic hit close to home. Maybe Papa Steven is doing the best he can with his limited ability. Amacdad and I are both at a loss as to how we can help the unravel the very tangled knot of disfunction in this family.

@Stiggs what episode put you put you over the edge on Hoarders?

I have a kid with Aspergers and I totally thought the same about Justin.

[StitchPunk]

Everyone keeps saying people should just leave him to die or something, but doesn't that sound needlessly cruel and kinda evil? He does treat everyone terribly, but where do you draw the line? Also laws prevent that from happening due to that being just immoral and wrong. I know people are probably just being hyperbolic, but at a point it gets hard to tell.

I don't get people saying the brother is some "weirdo loser" either with the only reasoning being that he likes models and remote control cars. Tons of adults like them. What hobbies are people allowed to have then? Are things like knitting and sewing really much better? He didn't seem like a great person either, but I hope his store works out. Those hobbies are a lot more common than people realize. It probably doesn't come up much because people make so many assumptions. And he seems so broken down by his brother and probably how much attention he doesn't get. You can't just get up and go from that. Therapy would probably help them a lot. But with the stigma a lot of people won't even try it.

I can see why the father doesn't just abandon his sons. It seems like there's probably a lot more than is being said. And not everyone thinks that once your child is an adult you just throw them away and hope they don t die. In a lot of places people live at home until they get married and its to be expected. To be fair their kids probably go to college/get a job/at least help around the house, but still.

I'm not a "SJW" or whatever bizarre insult people like to constantly throw around. I just think people get riled up about things without considering implications or that this was only 4 hours out of over a year. And there were probably a number of unaddressed mental issues. Mental health is often completely ignored and misunderstood. 

The therapist seemed very nice. He was cool. I hope Cupcake is okay too. I used to volunteer at a cat shelter and some horrible things happen to animals sometimes. There's a reason they look into people before letting them adopt. A lot of people do some horrific things to animals and they don't want to risk it. They're living creatures, not objects to just be bought by anyone. Maybe I'm just too sympathetic to those obviously suffering. 

[Honey]

1 hour ago, TicketToHellPaid said:

I was thinking, you know what's funny. The big fat monster didn't know that the last drugs Dr Now gave him are barely better than Advil. He gave him an IV push of Torodal.  No where near a narcotic but fat ass didn't know that and immediately stops crying.  

And wtf with the hair pulling? He is so manipulative, I would hate to have to take care of him.

His name is Steven John Jr, in real life he uses John. Scary I know this.

That's what I said upthread.  All Jabba knew was that something went into his vein, so he felt better.

[Calicocats]

Once he tipped the urinal, it was a wrap for any compassion I had for him.  

Dr. Now, in the first episode, arranged for a psychiatrist but Steven refused to see this person.  What can you do?  

WHT IS EPISODE TWO NOT ON ITUNES YET?  I'm calling the cops!  I'm going to the ER!  I'm calling my dad!

[CatherineM]

My Dad was from Brooklyn and my Mom from a small town in Oklahoma, so I grew up with lots of accent issues. It's amazing I speak English at all actually. I'm pretty sure Sr. said someone was busting his cubicles, not pubickles. Cute for balls. 

[Moloch Must Die]

A neighbor of mine is addicted to pain killers for some unseen mystery injury from years ago. Her dr gives her just one week's worth of pills at a time, which she supplements with ambulance trips to the ER for an injection of dilaudid (in the butt-tocks... please don't ask how I know this.) The ER staff are onto her and I can tell they hate dealing with her.

After trying to help her get her life together, I realized that she's addicted to being a victim. She doesn't want to get better; she just wants attention. Best thing I did for myself was to cut her out of my life 100%.  (She also seems to have a personality disorder that keeps her from functioning like a regular person, and she hasn't held a job for most of her adult life.) She's crafted an identity of "brave survivor" (which nobody really falls for) and honestly, if she weren't so clueless about her computer, she'd try to be an online star like Steven does.

If Steven lost weight, he'd have to face the real world and might have to admit that his real disability is his mental illness rather than some outside factor such as "food is delicious" or "drugs are fun." I imagine that, for a sociopath who thinks he's superior to everyone else, it'd be almost impossible to admit that he's not right in the head.

[Thriftykins]

19 minutes ago, Moloch Must Die said:

A neighbor of mine is addicted to pain killers for some unseen mystery injury from years ago. Her dr gives her just one week's worth of pills at a time, which she supplements with ambulance trips to the ER for an injection of dilaudid (in the butt-tocks)

How do you know this?

[Moloch Must Die]

50 minutes ago, StitchPunk said:

I can see why the father doesn't just abandon his sons. It seems like there's probably a lot more than is being said. And not everyone thinks that once your child is an adult you just throw them away and hope they don t die. 

The thing is-- to me, at least-- nobody can care about your life more than you do yourself. Nobody-- not Steven Sr., not Dr Now, not Princess, not the state of Rhode Island-- can fix you if you aren't willing to change. Princess cared that Steven had clean clothes to wear, more than Steven himself did, or else he would have walked to the laundry room to wash his clothes.

Where I live, there are people sleeping on the street, mentally ill people wearing urine-soaked clothes, homeless people with missing limbs rolling themselves around in non-motorized wheelchairs... many are addicts of some sort, many got there from making bad choices... but none of them are any less deserving of an apartment and a personal therapist and an iPad and pizza feasts and a maid than Steven is. If Steven's dad said, "I've done everything I can, but nothing has changed. I seem to be doing more harm than good. I'm not going to throw any more money at the problem; Steven is on his own," then maybe Steven would end up on the street. He would sink or swim. But he's a crafty fucker and "always gets what he wants," so maybe he would manage to get his needs met. I'm all for cutting him loose.

[Moloch Must Die]

9 minutes ago, Michael Stabosz said:

How do you know this?

I told you not to ask! ; The brain bleach didn't work and I can still recall the sight... Thank goodness she didn't have a Steven-size/shape/color/level of cleanliness butt. Yeah, I was an enabler once and went with her to the ER... never again.

[Barb23]

6 hours ago, KateHearts said:

I was really curious about what he was doing when he kept saying, "come with me!" after reading him the riot act about his 14 million pills.  I wondered if he had the cops waiting in another room to arrest him for fraudulent means of obtaining controlled substances.

I think Steven thought the same thing.  He looked very apprehensive.

4 hours ago, Hockeymom said:

Maybe because if his son was occupied he wouldn't be calling him 50 times a day?

Good point. It's been suggested that all the weight loss people should get a hobby or find something to do in place of eating.  I agree, but then thinking it over I don't see Steven having much patience to do anything including a jigsaw puzzle or putting together a model like Justin.  At least for Justin the model making transports himself to another world & hopefully he can forget the torture from his brother for a few hours.  

1 hour ago, Cherrio said:

She is the one who hid a taco in her purse and has no forehead.

Don't forget, Lupe also broke the toilet seat in Dr Now's office & the firemen had to be called to lift her off the toilet.  Dr Now has to be on a first name basis with the Houston fire department or at least his name is familiar with them, i.e. "I'm a patient of Dr Now's, please help lift me up."

 

Someone mentioned all the pill bottles laying around.  I wish they would have explained what meds he is legally on.  I'm sure he's on blood thinners if he has clots in both legs.  The same for BP medicine.  His heart needs all the help it can get.  Except he probably doesn't take any meds consistently besides the pain med. 

[TicketToHellPaid]

1 hour ago, Honey said:

That's what I said upthread.  All Jabba knew was that something went into his vein, so he felt better.

Oh sorry, I must've missed it. He pisses me off so much I can't think straight.

[BlazingBloomers]

When Princess said that she was taking the TV and then went to bring in his laundry I really didn't expect him to pick up the phone and call (fake call?) the police.  I thought he was reaching for something to throw.

I figured she would walk back in and the TV would be in pieces on the floor with Steven smirking and saying, "Go ahead and take it.  It doesn't work anyway".

On top of that he could then complain about the crappy TV they loaned him...

[bethster2000]

2 hours ago, amacmom said:

Has it been said that Justin has Asperger Syndrome? All the signs are there. (Particularly in the first episode when he turned his back to Dr. Now and watched the meeting on his phone.)

Classic symptoms.  My thoughts exactly.  He wasn't doing it to be rude to Dr. Now.  He just had to view the situation in a different way so he could handle it.

ETA: I am so worried about Cupcake.  My two felons, who are already spoiled rotten anyway, can't figure out why Stupid Mommy keeps giving them extra cuddles and special treats.

Edited April 8, 2017 by bethster2000

[bethster2000]

1 hour ago, Calicocats said:

Once he tipped the urinal, it was a wrap for any compassion I had for him.  

 

"Pick it up when I want you to, or you'll clean my piss up off the floor."  Of all of the things that Steven did, this one infuriates me the most.  I would have had his fat ass down on the floor and scrubbing.  Fucking waste of space.

[Complexity]

9 hours ago, TicketToHellPaid said:

why was this aired? It has nothing to do with weight loss, nothing.

TLC has become the modern day freak show. In the past, people with differences made a living as a carnival feature (e.g., bearded lady). That is no longer socially acceptable; however, people remain fascinated by these people. TLC has found a way to capitalize on this with their shows. So it's not at all surprising they would have Steven on their show. He's a double feature of being extremely obese and having obvious mental illness. It's like watching a car wreck. No matter how disgusted and repulsed we may be at the sight, we are still somehow compelled to look.

[Complexity]

9 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

So, it would tremendously help him, if he father would stop his financial support.  He is KILLING him by supporting him and allowing him to kill himself with food and drugs.   

I sometimes wonder if that's the unspoken intention.

[TicketToHellPaid]

I wonder why Dr Now has changed his game in some ways. He used to hospitalize people more the first two months and he also would remove lymphodemas that were extremely in the way.  

Looking at Steven's legs is beyond hard but I recall him cutting Christina's off first and a few other people's.

 

Maybe he thought black and green mold covered pepperoni would come gushing out.

[Aw my lahgs]

5 hours ago, BlazingBloomers said:

Several years ago my husband took a nasty fall and broke a couple of ribs.  They checked him out in the ER and sent him home with two days worth of pain pills telling him to see his primary care doctor as soon as possible.  We were able to get an appointment very late on the second day.

We're members of a big HMO that has it's own medical offices, hospitals and pharmacies and they are all on a linked computer network.  The primary entered a prescription for 15 days of pills into the system.  I got my husband settled in the car and then walked to the other end of the complex to the pharmacy.  When I got there they told me that they could see the prescription but they couldn't fill it because there was a second step that the doctor forgot.  When he entered the prescription in the network he was supposed to follow up with a confirmation fax by phone so it was outside the computer network.  The reasoning being that someone might hack the system and enter prescriptions for narcotics but they wouldn't also be able to use the phone system to fax the confirmation.

Unfortunately by the time I got to the pharmacy and found this out the doctor had already left for the day.  The pharmacist said there was nothing they could do.  I asked what I was supposed to do with my husband, who had a difficult enough time breathing due to some medical conditions now complicated by broken ribs.  Their only solution for me was to take him back to the ER where I would have been charged another $250 copay.

At this point I'm angry and walk back to the ER since that was the only place I could be sure of even finding a doctor at that time of day.  I went to the check in area and started to tell the lady at the desk what was going on.  I'm almost in tears and had the original pill bottle they had given us two days earlier in my hand.  Before I could even get the words pharmacy and refill out of my mouth she was shaking her head and reaching for the bottle.  She said, "Honey, I know exactly what happened.  You have a seat there and I'll be right back".  She was back in less than five minutes and told me the head pharmacist was going to have the prescription ready for me by the time I walked back to the pharmacy and that if they gave me any more trouble to come back and she would have a doctor go with me. 

Regarding Steven and how he could get away with doctor shopping for a month I can totally believe it.  Whatever database Texas has it has to be monitored by some department of the government.  The bureaucracy/red-tape has to be incredible.  Even if the database is updated real-time I doubt it is fully automated.  I would bet that cases are reviewed by someone before they actually pull the plug on somebody receiving services.  

Steven also seems to use his middle name a lot.  If he checks himself into the ER under his middle name and says "Oh, I'm in too much pain.  I didn't think to grab my wallet with my ID" what are they going to do to him?

The thing with Houston is, it has the giant medical center (iirc the largest in the country), which has a bazillion hospitals, plus dozens of hospitals outside of the medical center. I doubt there's much communication between all the different ERs. This would allow the pile of lard to hop from ER to ER, smiling through his "level 9" pain, receiving the drugs he wants.

Even if he can't scam hospitals anymore, he can always buy pills on the street.

[Aw my lahgs]

13 minutes ago, TicketToHellPaid said:

I wonder why Dr Now has changed his game in some ways. He used to hospitalize people more the first two months and he also would remove lymphodemas that were extremely in the way.  

Looking at Steven's legs is beyond hard but I recall him cutting Christina's off first and a few other people's.

 

Maybe he thought black and green mold covered pepperoni would come gushing out.

I would think Dr Now knows Steven isn't all that serious, hasn't followed the program nor is committed to losing weight (plus all his mental issues) etc. Therefore, he isn't offering to improve his quality of life by getting rid of the moldy lumps. 

Edited April 8, 2017 by Aw my lahgs

[Granny58]

1 hour ago, bethster2000 said:

I am so worried about Cupcake.  

I checked out John Assanti on FB and the cat is shown and looks well.  So worry no more!

55 minutes ago, Complexity said:

people with differences

that's nice phrasing. 

[princelina]

2 hours ago, BlazingBloomers said:

When Princess said that she was taking the TV and then went to bring in his laundry I really didn't expect him to pick up the phone and call (fake call?) the police.  I thought he was reaching for something to throw.

I figured she would walk back in and the TV would be in pieces on the floor with Steven smirking and saying, "Go ahead and take it.  It doesn't work anyway".

On top of that he could then complain about the crappy TV they loaned him...

I think it was a fake call.  Princess was supposed to cower in fear and give him his way, like Dad does.  When she called her own backup and called his bluff, he caved and "cancelled it".  

1 hour ago, bethster2000 said:

"Pick it up when I want you to, or you'll clean my piss up off the floor."  Of all of the things that Steven did, this one infuriates me the most.  I would have had his fat ass down on the floor and scrubbing.  Fucking waste of space.

Agreed.  I can't believe he had all those piss bottles in his living room either.  If you're able to walk - go to the bathroom!

[BabyRocker]

11 hours ago, Cherrio said:

I don't understand why someone would qualify for any kind of assistance for eating too much?

For the very same reason they qualify for smoking too much, drinking too much, or using drugs.  They get hurt somehow and become incapable of working.  The government doesn't care if the disability is self inflicted.

[Catfin]

I couldn't make myself watch either full episode.  Did they say what happened to Mom of these two?