S06.E05: Karina's Story

[auntjess]

Watched this again, and wonder if she has begun walking.

[aliya]

8 hours ago, auntjess said:

Watched this again, and wonder if she has begun walking.

I just did a quick search on "Karina My 600..." and got the TLC site with some before and after pictures of some of the obesees. OM Dear Lord. I swear that TV doesn't give the same impression as a still picture of these people. You really see just how massive 600 lbs is on a human. 

[aliya]

On 2/8/2018 at 7:54 AM, Granny58 said:

I am convinced that was a mask, to hide her hurt.  

My dad was military (1960s) so I didn't understand why they had huge medical bills, but I am sure our dental wasn't covered so hers probably wasn't either.  We had a regular dentist in town.  

Re-reading this stuff to avoid work..  I was a dependent around that time as well. No dental - tho I vaguely recall that they would pull teeth. I just looked and there seems to be a voluntary dental insurance available for active duty, Reserve, and National Guard. The premium is low for active duty, so there's no excuse for someone with kids not to have it. I don't know if this was in place when Katrina was a kid.

[dahling]

27 minutes ago, aliya said:

I just did a quick search on "Karina My 600..." and got the TLC site with some before and after pictures of some of the obesees. OM Dear Lord. I swear that TV doesn't give the same impression as a still picture of these people. You really see just how massive 600 lbs is on a human. 

From that gallery, slide 14/18. Schenee: 665 lbs to 664 lbs. I need that laughing/crying emoticon. 

[OoogleEyes]

OMG, those teef. Eating HAS to be painful with those. I swear there must be a disconnect with the pain receptors. When I over eat, my stomach *hurts*. There is no way she ate all of the pizzaextravaganza  food without (a) throwing up or (b) rolling around holding her stomach whaling "Why? Whyyyyyyyy?"

Aaaaand, she doesn't seem to have any trouble with her laigs moving that wheelchair around!

Edited June 2, 2018 by OoogleEyes

[Tabbygirl521]

(Hi, Ooogle!)

[auntjess]

From the before & after gallery, I have NO memory of Lee.

[DNR]

On 2/8/2018 at 1:18 PM, gardendiva said:

I think one of the meanest things the sister said was when she kept repeating all of her RESPONSIBILITIES including and especially KIDS...implying in a not too subtle way that a man found her desirable enough to have sex with her, which is something Karina has no chance of hoping for. I would love to see Karina prove her wrong.

This^^ i got the same vibe from that statement .  It’s understandable that family memebers can get to the end of their ropes with the 600 pounder- i get it.  But when  also fat Mom sat right in front of her with the deli sandwich...c’mon now.  I HATED the sister , yes- you’re watching your elderly parents care for an adult sibling ....it’s their choice. Yes, you watch her roll around with no responsibility and you resent it.  When Karina opened the door in that one scene and just sat alone looking outside - no life , alone ,  time passing by - it was sad to see . She has mental issues obviously( dr now has to start the therapist immediately i believe). The sister was extremely overweight as well , just more mobile . It will catch up sweetie . When she said Karina needs a job hahaha where ??? She’s 500 pounds and homebound lady !!!!! That vacant smile on Karinas face seemed like a mask , she wanted to scream out at that wicked sister i bet . To scream out PLEASE i need your emotional support to the whole family . She WAS losing weight so at least try to be positive .  I hope and pray Karina reaches goal , gets skin surgery and her sister turns into the obese daughter lol .  I liked her , i hope she gets her life back . 

[Miss Chevious]

I just finished re-watching this episode and was struck anew about how stubborn Karina was about getting out of that wheelchair.  Dr. Now had been saying for months there was no physical impairment that would hinder her from walking, he saw no reason why she shouldn’t be ambulatory. I think she liked being driven everywhere and waited on hand and foot so there was absolutely no sense of urgency on her part. It wasn’t until the very last minute of the program that she finally graduated to a walker. 

Her sister had no room to talk either. Her number of chins rivaled Karina’s. 

[WhitneyWhit]

I watched again just for that pizza eating scene, my god that was remarkable. I’m a lover of pizza but I can do two slices, tops, before I feel like a water buffalo. The two pizzas were bad enough but add in the rest of that stuff and it’s nothing short of a miracle she didn’t drop dead right there. 

[Cherrio]

On 6/2/2018 at 2:12 PM, OoogleEyes said:

OMG, those teef. Eating HAS to be painful with those

I didn't watch last night, couldn't even remember which one she was.

Now, I remember from stopping here to refresh my memory.

 I can't remember which brilliant poster it was, but I am still laughing when she labeled her teeth "chicklets"

[CoachWristletJen]

On 5/15/2018 at 10:15 AM, dahling said:

From that gallery, slide 14/18. Schenee: 665 lbs to 664 lbs. I need that laughing/crying emoticon. 

Oh my goodness, Schenee could loose that from belching, couldn't she?

[CrazyInAlabama]

I grew up military, and I know that the only dental care for family members was when you were in a very isolated location.     Otherwise, it's all on the family to finance dental care on their own dime.    Now there are family active duty, and retiree plans, but they didn't have that when I was a kid.   Apparently he joined the military after the two children amassed large legal bills, and after he joined they had medical care (probably free in military hospitals at that time).    However, that left the previous bills to pay, and the wife did that by working two jobs.   Then Karina started eating everything is sight to get the attention back.    

I know the sister wasn't very nice to Karina, but she's had an entire life of Karina doing anything to get attention on her, and away from the other siblings.     As Karina told the therapist, she had her mother's total attention as a little kid, and then when her health improved, the mother had to work two jobs to pay the bills.   And I bet the family stayed put, and the father was assigned other places so the family would have support from the other relatives, and the wife could have a stable job.     Karina painted the father's absences as him leaving the family, and the mother abandoning her, so she started eating to get attention again.   

I can't imagine what it was like for the sister, and the other sibling to have Karina living in the parents living room for years, and her big triumph was moving to a bedroom, still in the parents house.       The father may think that she'll lose weight, get a job, and move out someday, but my guess is she'll always live there, and my guess is she'll put every pound back on and be back in the living room shortly.   The father is fooling himself if he thinks he'll ever get out of supporting Karina, and get her out of his house.     

 

And I have to thank Karina, I haven't touched a bite of pizza since her 11,000+ calories pizza, wings, and brownie dinner.  Actually, I may never touch pizza again without seeing her chowing down on it.     I wonder if she even tipped the pizza delivery guy?     

Edited August 21, 2018 by CrazyInAlabama

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Pounders, What do we do? We avoid discussing how money is being snatched from the public's wallet for the participants unless it’s specifically revealed on the show. Anything else is pure speculation not to mention also a slippery slope toward talking politics. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

Karina's episode is rerunning tonight on TLC 7-9 Central.  

I still marvel at the 11,000 calorie+ pizza meal.     

And when Dr. Now told her there was nothing wrong with her leg, and to get out of the wheelchair, I wanted to help her walk with a swift boot in the fanny.    Everything she has done her entire life is to get attention.   I think if she stops getting attention for her weight loss, then she'll immediately start gaining, so everything revolves around her again.      That little smirk whenever anyone paid attention to Karina told me everything I needed to know about her.   When she told the therapist about eating to get attention after her mother 'abandoned' her to work, that explained her real reason for everything she does.     

She lives to be the center of attention, and I know the sister, and the other sibling have figured that out long ago.   You can't tell me that the first Dr. Now appointment didn't have alternative times when it was scheduled, so I think she deliberately scheduled it to conflict with the soccer games.     The way she refused to get out of the wheel chair was horrible, and just another ploy for attention and sympathy.     

I resented her saying the parents were at fault, and were her enablers.   They showed her going to the grocery store and pointing out everything she wanted, and it was all her choice on what she wanted them to get, and she ordered that pizza feast all by herself, so it wasn't the parents, it was Karina.   

 Karina better hope her parents don't ever decide to relocate the way many retirees do.       I bet they won't be hauling her along, and her sister certainly isn't letting her live in her living room.     I noticed that at first when Karina was the center of attention with Dr. Now, and her parents she absolutely glowed.   Then when she didn't immediately get the weight loss surgery, she lost weight much slower, until that brought her more attention, and then she made a tremendous effort, leading to more attention.   

The look on her face, and her parents' faces when Dr. Now said that there was nothing wrong with her leg was classic.     The parents realized she was shamming, and Karina realized Dr. Now knew exactly what she was up to.    I was irritated that Dr. Now, and the therapist both said her family wasn't supportive, because they had her living there for years, dragged her through the grocery store, and to doctor's appointments, and did a lot more than other people would have done.       I think in her case, even if she loses every ounce I think she will still be as unlikable as she was in this episode.      

(My previous post should have said the father joined the military  to give his family a better life, not legal).   

Edited November 16, 2018 by CrazyInAlabama

[MutualCore]

I wonder how long before the sister will be in need of Dr. Now's services. 😈

Also Karina is now dating Gilbert(Lupe's Story):

Edited February 17, 2019 by MutualCore

[CrazyInAlabama]

Is that really Lupe's Gilbert?   I hope you're kidding.   

If I have the right facebook for her, she started a job last month.   Good for her.  

Edited February 18, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[dreadfulLeigh]

3 hours ago, MutualCore said:

I wonder how long before the sister will be in need of Dr. Now's services. 😈

Also Karina is now dating Gilbert(Lupe's Story):

What the what?!?! 😧

[CrazyInAlabama]

On her FB page, Karina now has a job.   Good for her!     Unless Karina actually said boyfriend, then it could just be they know each other, and have a picture at the same time.    

[Hellga]

16 hours ago, MutualCore said:

Also Karina is now dating Gilbert(Lupe's Story):

That's a kind of recycling I don't approve! 

Also, I worry that could derail her progress.

[aliya]

So someone uploaded a bunch of these to YT and I'm listening at work. Dr. Now says, "How about your enabling parents?"  Snarky with a smile.

[Twopper]

So I caught part of this yesterday.  She was supposed to lose x amount of weight (I think 40 pound in a munt,  but I am not sure) so before she gets on the scale she kicks off her black walking shoes which probably weigh a pound each.  So she loses 42 pounds and is over the moon because she lost more than Dr. Now's goal.   Had she had on the shoes she would have just lost 40.    It is possible that in her earlier weigh-in she had also kicked off the same shoes.  I wouldn't have thought too much about this, but I have a tendency to snicker when they kick off a pair of flip flops.   Full disclosure: I try to wear light weight clothes and shoes to the doctor's office. 

The other day I was going up a fairly long flight of stairs and got stuck behind a gaggle of high school seniors.  One was extremely obese, and the fat on her legs covered her ankles;  I have seen this on almost all his patients, but this was my first glimpse of the disappearing feet in real life. 

[OoogleEyes]

I'm just watching this re-run now. I wish Dr. Now would have yanked out that snaggle tooth while she was under anesthesia 

[CrazyInAlabama]

That tooth is hideous.    I'm guessing the rest of her teeth are equally jacked up, and she needs to see one of the cosmetic dentistry places right away.    

Karina's family had to know, at least after the episode aired, that she was lying about her leg issues.   She's lucky the parents didn't tell her to hit the road after the faking came out.  

Karina's father and mother are so nice.  I wouldn't have let her live in my living room for years, she's lucky her parents did.      I don't blame the sister for loathing Karina, she could have made an appointment for a time that won't conflict with the grandkids soccer games, but I'm sure she did it deliberately.     She made herself into an Ommpa Loompa to get attention back that she missed.   When the worst trauma you had was your mother had to work (probably while the Dad was taking unaccompanied assignments so the family didn't have to move around), then you are a selfish jerk.     

The father joined the military partly to get health insurance.   Back then the government health plans, civilian, and military were some of the few plans that didn't exclude pre-existing conditions.      My bet is that once the family moved to a good location, that the father took unaccompanied (family doesn't transfer), or just came home on vacation time, so the wife and daughters wouldn't have to move.       

Edited July 9, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[Ralphster]

@CrazyInAlabama I really like and agree with your take on Karina. She's got the most conniving face I have ever seen. Her thoughts are broadcast on her face, and they center around manipulating everyone. Absolutely nothing about this bitch was honest. She is not one who is going to change for her own sake. Everything she does will be calculated to milk sympathy, attention, and, more importantly, money - in the form of housing, food, what have you - from people in her life. Because playing the victim is more satisfying for her than personal agency. She is sick and very, very twisted. She's also comic relief because she's yet another fuckstick who thinks she's a lot smarter than she is.

And she is, or at least was for a while, with Gilbert. A narcissistic alcoholic. Which means that Karina is narcissistic in her own right, because narcissists almost always end up in relationships with others of their ilk. I bet she felt so superior to Lupe. Like, dude... you wound up with Gilbert. The two of you are screaming codependencies tilting at windmills. Have fun with that.

[CrazyInAlabama]

The Karina rerun is on again, on Discovery Life channel.   I love the highlights, where Karina orders over 12,000 calories of 2 sausage and pepperoni pizzas, wings (chipotle to be exact), bread sticks, and a giant order of brownies, and eats it all by herself.      Then, where Karina schedules her appointment with Dr. Now so her parents can't go to the sister's kids soccer game.   

It really frosts my cookies that Dr. Now and the therapist believe Karina's story line that her parents aren't supportive.   Her father went in the military to get a better life for his family, to get medical coverage, the mother worked two jobs to pay the bills, while the father probably took unaccompanied tours so the family wouldn't have to move.    She sat there mooching off of the parents for years, living in the front room.    Then, when Dr. Now does the x-ray of her 'broken' ankle, and finds there's nothing wrong with it, then I wanted to kick her butt all around Dr. Now's parking lot.   I bet the parents paid every penny for her gastric balloon procedure, and supported her financially all along. 

I bet when Karina went to Mexico for her gastric balloon procedure, and claims she's immobile from her broken leg that never healed (yes, it healed fine, and I wonder if it was anything that limited her mobility), then I'm done with her.   I always hope people on this show will do well, but not Karina.