S07.E11: Jeanne's Story

[Mrs. Hanson]

14 hours ago, AVM said:

From reading the comments of fellow Pounders here who have had WLS, I know that these folks get information/counseling from a dietician/nutritionist at the beginning and aren't just given a diet and told "good luck." However, I have seen that a lot of these nutritionists aren't exactly foodies.

Yes I worked with a nutritionist and it still resonates in my head:  "Eat protein first!"  Then your vegetables, salad, then your breads, if any.  It is really not that hard to get servings of fruits and veggies in the day if you try:  a banana with breakfast, a salad with lunch, another fruit in the evening.  But these folks are on such a hamster wheel of frozen and processed (ie cheap) food they can't see anything else!

These people just don't get the work that goes into it - my brother is a personal trainer and my sister can rock a bikini at 58.  They both work HARD at staying healthy and fit and eat like friggin' birds in my opinion, lol, but hey they want to live healthy lives!!!  (I am the black sheep!) 

Back to Jeanne:  whoever said she will drop a lit cigarette was spot on.  They will all go up inflames.

[Schnickelfritz]

If anyone was curious, Jeanne's father was 61 when he died. Interestingly enough, the obituary mentions that he had four other children ( and 9 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren). The obituary also claims that Barbara was his wife. Do they still have common law marriage in Texas? Or did they marry? Don't know why I even care. I guess it's just a diversion from the (literal) sh*t show that the episode turned out to be. It's pretty sad that with other children he ended up dying alone in that h*ll hole.

https://www.grubbsloydfh.com/obituaries/Lawrence-Charles-Corrao?obId=3959291#/obituaryInfo

To anyone who didn't feel the house met the standards of true hoarding, it would be a very safe bet that the house is now much filthier (based on the levels of mess that appeared after Larry's death) and by the end of the year there will be no room for doubt. You have one occupant that can't clean properly due to health issues and one who cannot be bothered due to victimhood. I at least hope that Barbara gets some help. She looked much the worse for wear.

Edited March 16, 2019 by Schnickelfritz

[KateHearts]

8 hours ago, DC Gal in VA said:

As someone here observed, that seems to mean that since Jeanne is 39, Barbara was a teen mom when she had her.

If Barbara was 16 when she had Jeanne, that makes her 55.  If that's true, she is a very, very old looking 55. I had her pegged at close to 70.

[Elizzikra]

Quote

To anyone who didn't feel the house met the standards of true hoarding

Hoarding is a diagnosis of person, not place. The house appeared to be filthy but that seemed to be a function of the inhabitants' poor health and perhaps their poor standards for cleanliness. I don't think they are actual hoarders in terms of not being able to part with belongings or actually spending the little money the have on various items they "collect." I think they are just in such poor health that they can't do the laundry (not a ton of effort but out of reach - literally - for other obese participants we have seen on the show) or take out the trash. I don't see attachment to stuff that you see in diagnosed hoarders.

That said, they shouldn't be living there and I hope they get help to either clean the house and keep it clean or are moved to somewhere that this is not an issue. Otherwise I think that, as so many others have said already, neither of them will live long.

[Twopper]

52 minutes ago, KateHearts said:

If Barbara was 16 when she had Jeanne, that makes her 55.  If that's true, she is a very, very old looking 55. I had her pegged at close to 70. 

It was a guess on my part.

1 hour ago, Schnickelfritz said:

f anyone was curious, Jeanne's father was 61 when he died. Interestingly enough, the obituary mentions that he had four other children ( and 9 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren). The obituary also claims that Barbara was his wife. Do they still have common law marriage in Texas? Or did they marry? Don't know why I even care. I guess it's just a diversion from the (literal) sh*t show that the episode turned out to be. It's pretty sad that with other children he ended up dying alone in that h*ll hole.

So maybe she is closer to 61 than 55;  I don't think she looked older than him, but they both looked worn out.  And he looked  a lot older than 61. 

Yes, I think there still is common law marriage in  Texas, but I haven't researched it.  I think he and Barbara had been back together for about 7-8 years so maybe they did marry.   If she was the one in charge of the funeral, she would have told them what to put in the obituary.   I  tried to find the obit, but I didn't recall his first name so I didn't find it  Would you link, please.

[parrotfeathers]

6 minutes ago, Elizzikra said:

That said, they shouldn't be living there and I hope they get help to either clean the house and keep it clean or are moved to somewhere that this is not an issue.

I have lots of empathy for people who just can't figure things out.  But there is no way I could go in there and clean up that hell hole when she is sacked out eating yet another meal prepared by her ailing mother.   I was astounded that she wasn't even embarrassed to bare her butt to the TLC camera guys.

[QuinnInND]

Texas does still have common law marriage. 

[bettylou]

Barbara is 63 years old.  All you have to do is look online for anyone's age, address, etc.  Nothing is private anymore unfortunately. 

[newyawk]

7 hours ago, zillabreeze said:

Somebody went to the store and filled the kitchen with soda and crap food.  At six, Jeanne wasn't stocking the pantry.

Jeanne's grandmother was watching her while Jeanne's mother was at work. The sodas were Grandma's, (which Jeanne was told not to touch and started drinking as revenge) so maybe Grandma was doing the shopping.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I am really afraid that the filth, and junk in that trailer will kill both women.      To heal you need a place that's at least clean, and where you can maintain your hygiene, and that mobile home isn't.      There is no use cleaning that mobile home.    I'm sure there hasn't been any maintenance on it, ever.   The only solution is empty out the few things that can be cleaned, (vital papers, and a few clothes), haul the trailer away, and get a furnished new one.     However, I'm sure Jeanne, and Barbara will fill it up with junk very quickly.    

I'm surprised the father had that many children, and other relatives, but Jeanne kept saying there was no one else that could do anything to help when the father died.     To me that sounds as if the rest of the family was estranged from him.    How sad.  

Yes, Texas has common law marriage, (very few state do any more, I think only four or five), but I'm not sure if the parents actually met the criteria, or if calling him husband made it easier for Barbara and Jeanne to make arrangements when he died.  

[Mothra]

On 3/14/2019 at 5:34 PM, CousinOliver said:

I’m wondering about this hygiene thing.   Why couldn’t Jeanne shower?  She’s certainly not the biggest poundticipant we’ve seen, and god and everyone knows that we’ve seen many, many of them take showers.  

It seems to me that the bedbaths have been reserved for the completely immobile.   Even when people need to be sitting on bath benches, or getting help in the shower, or even, for the love of all things good and right, getting hosed off in the back yard, the mobile folks take a damn shower.  Even when showering exhausts them for the rest of the day, taking a shower is what they choose to do with their energy.  

Jeanne was WAY too mobile to not shower.  Mobile homes usually have at least a full size tub in one of the bathrooms (newer ones often have both a large garden tub and large shower).  Why was she not bathing?  Why was she choosing not to bathe?  

I agree.  Even if Jeanne (or her mother) still couldn't reach under all the folds and so forth to give her a good scrub, just having a rinse in hot water would have been more effective in getting feces off her backside.  In fact, I'm wondering why she didn't step into the shower after every bowel movement?  Surely cleaning fecal residue out of the shower bottom would have been better than having to wipe Jeanne on the bed.  ETA:  Never mind--read upthread that she had been stuck in shower and fallen, so that's a no-go.

I was in awe of her ability to get around.  It's a shame she couldn't work with that and try to get more physical movement into her life.  I think she and her mom were/are severely depressed--and who wouldn't be?--which can make it hard to impossible to do the simplest tasks.  She was in no way ready for Dr. Now's program.  I think more than the usual psychotherapy to find out why the patient got fat was needed in Jeanne's case.

Edited March 17, 2019 by Mothra

[CatherineM]

When I had a bad wound infection, a bunch of my friends came over and sanitized the house before I came home from the hospital. My house wasn’t dirty, but they did things like scrub behind the appliances and clean the window tracks. I can’t imagine coming home with an open wound or large surgical scar to such an environment. 

[ProTourist]

You know, I find it interesting that Jeanne, her mother, and her father all have different last names. Since Barbara and Jeanne were never married, other than perhaps Jeanne common law with Larry, you would think that Jeanne would have Barbara's last name -- Fallaw. I wonder how she got the name 'Covey.' 😕

[Twopper]

9 hours ago, bettylou said:

Barbara is 63 years old.  All you have to do is look online for anyone's age, address, etc.  Nothing is private anymore unfortunately. 

Thanks for that.  I am surprised I didn't think to look for her age.  I spend a lot of time trying to track down high school classmates online for our reunions, but I am not looking for their ages as we are all older than dirt--I am just looking for addresses. 

[GuiltiestPleasures]

So, I saw a lot of the people in the live chat wondering why the mother would get skin surgery as part of repairing her mid-line incision and hernia. I had a major perforation in my intestines a couple years ago (I have a pre-existing GI condition) and needed emergency surgery in the middle of the night to repair it. It was also the first of my surgeries that had to be a full open abdominal surgery rather than laparoscopic. After surgery, the sutures on my incision actually dissolved (within 24 hours, I don't even remember it happening I was so out of it at that point), but that meant that my incision had to heal over the course of several months with something called a "wound vac".

Why am I sharing all this? Because I think that may be approximately what happened to the Mom in this episode. When you have surgery like that, your abdominal wall is actually split, and even once it's "healed", it can still mean that the wall itself is still split underneath the scar/skin. This actually happened to me and while my wound never re-opened, I did have a hernia where my intestines were apparently *really* close to the surface of my skin. But we didn't even know about the hernia until I was in surgery (which was last fall) - I could easily have had that hernia for a couple of years without ever really knowing because there was so much else going wrong with my abdomen).

Anyway, mostly I shared this because I saw a lot of people commenting on Dr. Now giving her a "tummy tuck" and skin removal surgery, but that's not really an accurate description of what he did. When I needed surgery in the fall for an unrelated issue, I talked to my doctor about my scar and how it made life more difficult for me (in ways that don't really need to be shared with the crowd) but he actually agreed that it might be impacting my quality of life and potentially causing other issues so he brought in a plastic surgeon to perform an "abdomiplasty" to take the muscle walls and essentially knit them back together. That's when they discovered the hernia that they also had to remove. Now, instead of having a huge three-four inch wide mid-line incision scar (that wasn't even flat, it had a dip that made me call it the Grand Canyon), I have a fairly normal, long, thin incision scar which I cannot tell you how much better it looks. But it has also helped my quality of life because I could feel my abdomen and core was stronger almost as soon as I was healed up from the surgery and it continues to improve.

TL;DR: The Mom's hernia issue may not have been solely due to her hygiene issues (though it's crazy that she didn't get it checked out when it became visible externally) and the "tummy tuck" wasn't an optional cosmetic procedure or even traditional skin surgery like the ones Dr. Now usually performs on his patients - it was most likely a medically necessary surgery to fix her abdominal wall and remove the hernia. Sorry for the opus.

[KateHearts]

13 hours ago, Twopper said:

I think he and Barbara had been back together for about 7-8 years so maybe they did marry.  

I recall Jeanne narrating early on that her parents never married (when describing her childhood).  So perhaps they did much later, after they all reunited.

Edited March 17, 2019 by KateHearts

[Guest]

23 hours ago, zillabreeze said:

These people have the WHOLE WORLD at their finger tips!  The most current info and opinions out there!   If you are bedridden and immobile, how do you (even out of sheer boredom) not Google "how to lose weight"?

I think if this family was concerned that someone had run out of minutes on their phone to talk, that they might not have the most stellar internet plan that allows them to use up unlimited time searching the internet. From what I could see in that house, they had no computer so it's unlikely they had access to the internet in that house and may have solely been relying on whatever limited internet plan they had on their phones for access to the outside world. It's also conceivable that Jeanne cannot read and, if she does, wouldn't have the intelligence to understand what she was taking in. 

I'm certainly not making excuses for her not being able to "pull herself up from the bootstraps" so to speak, but I'm trying to understand her circumstances outside my own privileged situation and wouldn't think it fair to project my own ability to handle things on someone who is not as fortunate as I am.  

I don't know what can be done, if anything, for Jeanne at this point in her life because Jeanne isn't really living—she is only existing. 

ETA: 

If anyone was curious, Jeanne's father was 61 when he died. Interestingly enough, the obituary mentions that he had four other children ( and 9 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren). The obituary also claims that Barbara was his wife. Do they still have common law marriage in Texas? Or did they marry? Don't know why I even care. I guess it's just a diversion from the (literal) sh*t show that the episode turned out to be. It's pretty sad that with other children he ended up dying alone in that h*ll hole.

https://www.grubbsloydfh.com/obituaries/Lawrence-Charles-Corrao?obId=3959291#/obituaryInfo

Because this story can't get any sadder: It appears the only pic of the father they had available for his obituary was one wear he appears to not be wearing a shirt. 

[SunnyBeBe]

I haven't watched this episode yet....my mother did and was telling me some things about it. I came here and see more of what she was telling me.  I'm considering watching it online On Demand.  Sounds like it will be a tough one though.  I HATE HATE HATE to see animals abused or neglected, so this might not one that I should check out. 

Does anyone know WHEN this episode was filmed?  A year ago? Months ago?  Is there any way to tell where we are in real time with what happened? 

[ams1001]

8 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Does anyone know WHEN this episode was filmed?  A year ago? Months ago?  Is there any way to tell where we are in real time with what happened? 

According to the obituary posted above, her dad died on December 14, 2018. I wasn't paying attention to what month they were in (did they get through a whole year) but I guess they started filming sometime in early 2018.

[satrunrose]

On 3/16/2019 at 11:33 AM, AZChristian said:

All we hear is how "hard" it is to follow the program.

So . . . spending 10 hours a day eating, not being able to buy decent clothing, constant pain in the joints, not being able to handle personal hygiene (including toileting), having no friends, being completely isolated, having multiple infections in the skin folds, etc., etc., etc.  is easier?

To be just a little fair, following the plan in the short time, certainly, isn't going to fix those things. The best stories we've seen have had people doing those things a year after we started following them, and most not until the follow up show (so 18 months/ 2 years). When they say it's too hard, they have all the hard things that are happening because of their weight plus they don't get to eat themselves into a stupor and ignore everything else anymore. We know that it's short term pain for their only chance at a better life, but if these folks had the mental health to accept delayed gratification, I doubt they'd be in this mess in the first place.

[Trees]

On 3/14/2019 at 10:44 AM, AVM said:

What this episode exposed was mental illness and how destructive it is on the entire family,I believe Jeanne is as mentally ill as her father and her Mother is a kind trapped soul with her own problems ,in Dr Now's office after the doctor read the riot act to Jeanne her eyes went blank in very scary way...  

THIS! These people need to be committed to a psych hospital and social services help them get on to some sort of decent life. The weight is not the issue here.  It's just a symptom.

[Trees]

On 3/14/2019 at 1:21 AM, GoldaVining said:

I thought/hoped that when Jeanne asked the police to do a welfare check on her dad (RIP) that the cops might call the animal welfare people. Where I live (rural), you are only allowed 3 dogs on your property (5 acres for example). If you have 10 acres or more, you can apply for a kennel permit to have more than 3 but a maximum of 10 dogs. No doubt the bylaw is an attempt to reduce animal abuse/animal hoarding and noise complaints. If Jeanne's dogs aren't spayed or neutered, 9 is gonna turn into 30 before long. I wonder if the dogs have much quality of life and if Jeanne and her parents can afford veterinary care. That said, the dogs did appear fairly content albeit itchy. It is hard to imagine that the dad was walking 9 dogs so I bet the backyard is thick with shit and the dogs are tracking it into the house and onto the beds. It might not be only her own feces in Jeanne's open wound.

Honestly, I wish I lived nearby (I'm not even in the same country) because I would legit head on over tonight and start washing her walls and window blinds. Good grief. I can't sleep anyway and I do love a project. You don't have to wash your walls and windows very often to avoid cobwebs so thick with filth that they hang like bunting over your bed.

I felt outraged during the show that the first responders did not rescue those dogs.  They KNEW that their caretaker was dead, ok?  They KNEW that Jeanne and mom were out of town.  So they left 9 dogs outside to fend for themselves.  That's really cruel!!!

[CrazyInAlabama]

I bet that either someone from the sheriff's department, or someone else volunteered to feed the dogs until the women got back.     Also, I've live places where the city had animal control, but the rural areas didn't, so someone feeding the dogs is probably what happened.     

[ams1001]

18 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I bet that either someone from the sheriff's department, or someone else volunteered to feed the dogs until the women got back.     Also, I've live places where the city had animal control, but the rural areas didn't, so someone feeding the dogs is probably what happened.     

Me, too. While I wish they had at least made a comment or put up a note on the screen explaining that someone was in fact checking on the dogs and was in contact with them to know when they would be home, I am going to assume that it is the case and they just didn't show it. The show isn't about the pets, after all.

[bettylou]

6 hours ago, Twopper said:

Thanks for that.  I am surprised I didn't think to look for her age.  I spend a lot of time trying to track down high school classmates online for our reunions, but I am not looking for their ages as we are all older than dirt--I am just looking for addresses. 

Just Google the person's name plus the words white pages and the state they most likely live in.  You should get a couple website's you can click on for A LOT of information.  I've been able to find a lot of people that way.  Example = jane doe white pages New York 

Edited March 17, 2019 by bettylou

[Twopper]

3 hours ago, Giant Misfit said:

  20 hours ago, Schnickelfritz said:

If anyone was curious, Jeanne's father was 61 when he died. Interestingly enough, the obituary mentions that he had four other children ( and 9 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren). The obituary also claims that Barbara was his wife. Do they still have common law marriage in Texas? Or did they marry? Don't know why I even care. I guess it's just a diversion from the (literal) sh*t show that the episode turned out to be. It's pretty sad that with other children he ended up dying alone in that h*ll hole.

https://www.grubbsloydfh.com/obituaries/Lawrence-Charles-Corrao?obId=3959291#/obituaryInfo

How on earth did you figure out his name to look this up?  

[mmecorday]

I missed the first few minutes of this train wreck when it first aired and I'm catching up now. Jeanne's mom used a stainless steel bowl for Jeanne's bath water. Why am I thinking that they also use that same bowl for food preparation? These have got to be the least hygienic people in the history of the series. Cobwebs hanging as thick as Spanish moss on the walls. Stacks of dust-covered clutter everywhere. The family gathering around a big portable potty for meals. Just nastiness all around.

I'm sorry, but I laughed when Jeanne opened the car door to get in, and it sounded like the car groaned, "Oh no!" And how did she not start a grease fire on her head with all that smoking?

Edited March 17, 2019 by mmecorday

[ams1001]

5 minutes ago, mmecorday said:

Jeanne's mom used a stainless steel bowl for Jeanne's bath water. Why am I thinking that they also use that same bowl for food preparation?

🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢

[Elizzikra]

3 hours ago, ams1001 said:

According to the obituary posted above, her dad died on December 14, 2018. I wasn't paying attention to what month they were in (did they get through a whole year) but I guess they started filming sometime in early 2018.

They stopped in month 6.

[Tipsymcstagger]

I haven’t posted on this board for a long time but this episode was just grim. TLC has reached a new low. This was straight up misery porn. Just grotesque. Awful on every level. 

[PradaKitty]

In the narration Jeanne explained that she could no longer fit in the shower so her mother needed to bathe her in bed. 

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Pounders,

We know there is interest in these persons beyond the show.  Let's make sure we stay on the right side of the No Stalking rule.  

[frieswiththat]

Be careful what you wish for (meaning me) I said I was bored and look at this episode. I still can't believe how this family lived. You all have covered everything I was thinking and feeling. Man oh man: God save the queen, I mean dogs. Good grief!

[TVWatcher12]

On 3/15/2019 at 5:41 PM, fonfereksglen said:

Not every period of anxiety, stress, mild sadness or trauma requires major pharma intervention.  Nor random therapy to qualify for major pharma.  What a strange world we have become.

Yes! I agree! I have been an extremely neurotic person since childhood. I obsess over my loved ones constantly and am wracked with fear for them. I have numerous irrational fears and phobias. As far back as I can recall I have been this way. I live with the feeling of a knot in my stomach 24/7. I am also a driven perfectionist with high standards for myself and I like to think this has served me well in my professional life. I figure it’s just how I am made. I refuse to go on mild-altering drugs just to make me into something “normal. 

[aliya]

22 hours ago, KateHearts said:

If Barbara was 16 when she had Jeanne, that makes her 55.  If that's true, she is a very, very old looking 55. I had her pegged at close to 70.

Whoa - no kidding. I wondered how old she was and expected her to be younger than her appearance, but jeez. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I think they're having the Supersized Jeanne episode Thursday night, and I'm not even going to watch it.  

Edited March 17, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[ProTourist]

Quote

  On 3/16/2019 at 6:42 PM, KateHearts said:

If Barbara was 16 when she had Jeanne, that makes her 55.  If that's true, she is a very, very old looking 55. I had her pegged at close to 70.

2 hours ago, aliya said:

Whoa - no kidding. I wondered how old she was and expected her to be younger than her appearance, but jeez. 

Someone posted farther up thread that Barbara is currently 63, which means she would have been about 24 when she had Jeanne. Larry was a couple of years younger than her. I think Barbara looks her age, maybe a few years older.

[bettylou]

5 hours ago, PradaKitty said:

In the narration Jeanne explained that she could no longer fit in the shower so her mother needed to bathe her in bed. 

She should do what that other Poundcipiant (cant remember her name) did and shower outside with the garden hose. 

[bettylou]

7 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I bet that either someone from the sheriff's department, or someone else volunteered to feed the dogs until the women got back.     Also, I've live places where the city had animal control, but the rural areas didn't, so someone feeding the dogs is probably what happened.     

It would have been nice if animal control was called and had  all 9 dogs removed from that environment. 

The people on this show and Hoarders always have pets.  I feel so sorry for those poor animals to have to live in such bad environments. 

Edited March 18, 2019 by bettylou

[auntjess]

On 3/16/2019 at 6:12 PM, Schnickelfritz said:

If anyone was curious, Jeanne's father was 61 when he died. Interestingly enough, the obituary mentions that he had four other children ( and 9 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren). The obituary also claims that Barbara was his wife. Do they still have common law marriage in Texas? Or did they marry? Don't know why I even care. I guess it's just a diversion from the (literal) sh*t show that the episode turned out to be. It's pretty sad that with other children he ended up dying alone in that h*ll hole.

If they were asked, they obvious chose not to have anything to do with the show, but I wonder if off-camera, they ever visit.
And as messy and cobwebby the house is, I was just watch an old Hoarding: BuriedAlive (the twin sisters), and the floor collapsed from rat urine, and it really is much, much worse than this was.
You can be a hoarder and not meet hoarding show standards, just as you can be fat, but nowhere near the 600 lb.

Both shows have standards to uphold, after all.

[raiderred1]

I live about 60 miles from this house of horrors and I can tell you that Upshur county has diddly for animal control as my county and surrounding counties are HAVENS for puppy mills and animal neglect. When Dallas news shows an SPCA raid I always hold my breathe that it's not my county. I would be very surprised if Big Sandy, which is unincorporated, has any animal laws but the very basic and even then, animal control is so in over their heads. We have rescured 4 dogs that have been dropped at our ranch and many more we will get spayed/nuetered and all shots and heartworm meds started and they go to a wondeeful santcuary. It's a horrible mess out here in east Texas. I called animal control just last week because I happened down a road where 5 dogs were in outside runs with no cover from 40 mile an hour winds with the windchill in the 20's! 

Ok, on to Queen Jeanne. I, too, just worried about the dogs. I noticed one of the black ones had balls and I believe a severely hurt or broken foot. I was pissed when I saw that! If those lunatics want to live in filth, whatever, but do not make those dogs suffer there. All the scratching made me pissed. How about what a real champ Jeanne was for walking her fatass to dump cheapass food in plastic containers that weren't even dog bowl? You're a real caretaker there, jeanne! A real saint Francis of Asisi.

I think everything that jeanne does is in the interest of JEANNE. Dad dies and she couldn't stand up to console her mom. Mom makes it through a horrible surgery and jeanne just wants her well so she can be wated on.

When they showed mom in bed at home there were no sheets on her bed and it looked like big blood stains! Vomit!

What happened to them attending church or having church members check on them? Dollars to doughnuts Jeanne became unwelcome with that shitty attitude and maybe shitty ass. Even the devout can only take so much.

BTW, I thought I was watching, "Hoarders" meets "My 600lb Life",

[Jeeves]

6 hours ago, raiderred1 said:

I live about 60 miles from this house of horrors and I can tell you that Upshur county has diddly for animal control . . .  I would be very surprised if Big Sandy, which is unincorporated, has any animal laws but the very basic and even then, animal control is so in over their heads.. . .

Ok, on to Queen Jeanne. I, too, just worried about the dogs. I noticed one of the black ones had balls and I believe a severely hurt or broken foot. I was pissed when I saw that! If those lunatics want to live in filth, whatever, but do not make those dogs suffer there. All the scratching made me pissed. How about what a real champ Jeanne was for walking her fatass to dump cheapass food in plastic containers that weren't even dog bowl? You're a real caretaker there, jeanne! A real saint Francis of Assisi.

I think everything that Jeanne does is in the interest of JEANNE.. . .

BTW, I thought I was watching, "Hoarders" meets "My 600lb Life",

I share your anger about the condition of those dogs and contempt for Jeanne as to her neglect of them. 

Also, thanks for the info on the [lack of] animal control services and enforcement in that area. I grew up in Oklahoma and Texas. Rural Texas is generally not strong on providing social services including animal control and welfare, but I'm not familiar with that specific area. So I sort of quietly sighed at all the comments here that animal control needs to step in to protect those dogs, surprise that when Jeanne's dad died and the dogs were left in the house, they weren't taken away by animal control, etc.

I think the likeliest thing to have happened, was mentioned somewhere upthread: one of the sheriff deputies or EMTs who responded to the scene put out fresh water and food for the dogs, and the situation was left as it was because Jeanne and her mother were heading home from Houston right away. 

This isn't the place to get deeply into this, but a just quick word about the culture of rural Texas. There are nuances of course from place to place: Texas is literally a huge area. The three to four hour drive from Big Sandy to Houston isn't considered a big deal by most many Texans.  (Maybe "most" Texans - but I'll tone it down here because of course I don't know for sure, lol.)

So it was really sad to see that Jeanne was in such bad shape that the quick trip to Houston was such an ordeal. I don't doubt she was in pain, and far outside her general emotional comfort zone too. 

About animals. In rural Texas, animals are primarily considered to be property. Many people grow up on farms where dogs and cats may be owned and fed but not allowed in the house. I'd like to think that most people are good-hearted and don't want animals to suffer, but I believe there are plenty who are indifferent or oblivious to animal welfare. Like puppy mill owners (don't get me started). And historically, county or town governments weren't devoting scarce resources to the welfare of pet cats and dogs. Maybe that's changing, but IMO probably very slowly. (Big cities are a different matter, but we're talking Big Sandy here.)

Edited March 18, 2019 by Jeeves

[libgirl2]

17 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I think they're having the Supersized Jeanne episode Thursday night, and I'm not even going to watch it.  

I think we  have all seen enough. 

[calpurnia99]

10 hours ago, raiderred1 said:

I live about 60 miles from this house of horrors and I can tell you that Upshur county has diddly for animal control as my county and surrounding counties are HAVENS for puppy mills and animal neglect. When Dallas news shows an SPCA raid I always hold my breathe that it's not my county. I would be very surprised if Big Sandy, which is unincorporated, has any animal laws but the very basic and even then, animal control is so in over their heads. We have rescured 4 dogs that have been dropped at our ranch and many more we will get spayed/nuetered and all shots and heartworm meds started and they go to a wondeeful santcuary. It's a horrible mess out here in east Texas. I called animal control just last week because I happened down a road where 5 dogs were in outside runs with no cover from 40 mile an hour winds with the windchill in the 20's! 

Ok, on to Queen Jeanne. I, too, just worried about the dogs. I noticed one of the black ones had balls and I believe a severely hurt or broken foot. I was pissed when I saw that! If those lunatics want to live in filth, whatever, but do not make those dogs suffer there. All the scratching made me pissed. How about what a real champ Jeanne was for walking her fatass to dump cheapass food in plastic containers that weren't even dog bowl? You're a real caretaker there, jeanne! A real saint Francis of Asisi.

I think everything that jeanne does is in the interest of JEANNE. Dad dies and she couldn't stand up to console her mom. Mom makes it through a horrible surgery and jeanne just wants her well so she can be wated on.

When they showed mom in bed at home there were no sheets on her bed and it looked like big blood stains! Vomit!

What happened to them attending church or having church members check on them? Dollars to doughnuts Jeanne became unwelcome with that shitty attitude and maybe shitty ass. Even the devout can only take so much.

BTW, I thought I was watching, "Hoarders" meets "My 600lb Life",

I used to watch a show called Animal Control: Houston and they would go into the outlying areas of Houston and a lot of the conditions for animals were horrific. On that show it was mostly horses in horrible shape. But yeah thanks for letting us know about the lack of anything in Big Sandy. 

[Natalie68]

On 3/16/2019 at 7:18 AM, DC Gal in VA said:

Isn't it scary how old and worn out she looked Twopper at an estimated age of only 55 years old!? When I first saw her I thought that she was in her late sixties at least but probably in her seventies. Not a vibrant, healthy, socially active and engaged person in their sixties or seventies of whom I know many, but a worn down by her daughter's selfishness and guilt trips person of those ages. Again, how sad is that!?

Wait what??!!!!  The mother was born in 1962 or 63 (depending on when it was filmed)??  I am stunned she is only 5 years older than I am.  I thought FOR SURE she was late 60's/early 70's.  Holy shit.

ETA:  Just read back through that she was 63.  Still a very HARD 63.  It is true that how one lives shows up on the face.  It is really sad she has/had to live such a hard life.

Edited March 18, 2019 by Natalie68

[Natalie68]

On 3/16/2019 at 8:11 PM, Mothra said:

I agree.  Even if Jeanne (or her mother) still couldn't reach under all the folds and so forth to give her a good scrub, just having a rinse in hot water would have been more effective in getting feces off her backside.  In fact, I'm wondering why she didn't step into the shower after every bowel movement?  Surely cleaning fecal residue out of the shower bottom would have been better than having to wipe Jeanne on the bed.  ETA:  Never mind--read upthread that she had been stuck in shower and fallen, so that's a no-go.

I was in awe of her ability to get around.  It's a shame she couldn't work with that and try to get more physical movement into her life.  I think she and her mom were/are severely depressed--and who wouldn't be?--which can make it hard to impossible to do the simplest tasks.  She was in no way ready for Dr. Now's program.  I think more than the usual psychotherapy to find out why the patient got fat was needed in Jeanne's case.

I do NOT say this to be mean at all.  My mind went to just get the hose and step outside and rinse off.  Her life literally depends on it.  After the mom was out of the hospital Jeanne seemed able to walk across the home to her mom's room.  Perhaps she can do more for herself when push comes to shove.  

[Mothra]

2 hours ago, Natalie68 said:

I do NOT say this to be mean at all.  My mind went to just get the hose and step outside and rinse off.  Her life literally depends on it.  After the mom was out of the hospital Jeanne seemed able to walk across the home to her mom's room.  Perhaps she can do more for herself when push comes to shove.  

I don't think that's mean.  It looks like their house is fairly isolated; maybe she could put up clotheslines with sheets over them for privacy.  And you're right--another fecal infection could be fatal, especially if she has dropped out of Dr. Now's program, because she was obviously not getting good medical care before she went to Texas.

[Snarkastikate]

On 3/16/2019 at 7:49 PM, parrotfeathers said:

I have lots of empathy for people who just can't figure things out.  But there is no way I could go in there and clean up that hell hole when she is sacked out eating yet another meal prepared by her ailing mother.   I was astounded that she wasn't even embarrassed to bare her butt to the TLC camera guys.

You said it!  That place needed WAY more than a cleaning, everything in it was foul, filthy and infected.  It needed to be gutted and fumigated, and everything replaced and then constant maintenance.  Yeah, Social Services ain't doing that.  And then there's the dogs, weren't there like 9?   Likeliest sad story is that one of the ladies probably becomes seriously ill or passes away, and then the other is removed and sent to a facility, the animals are taken to the shelter and the house condemned.  The house and their lives are the stuff of nightmares to most of us, but this is how they just live.  I don't think necessarily it's a question of poverty, because I can't imagine how much all that food costs, but there's just no awareness of basic housekeeping and cleanliness here.  It's like they were just hopelessly existing day by day. Saddest episode ever. 

[Elizzikra]

52 minutes ago, Snarkastikate said:

You said it!  That place needed WAY more than a cleaning, everything in it was foul, filthy and infected.  It needed to be gutted and fumigated, and everything replaced and then constant maintenance.  Yeah, Social Services ain't doing that.  And then there's the dogs, weren't there like 9?   Likeliest sad story is that one of the ladies probably becomes seriously ill or passes away, and then the other is removed and sent to a facility, the animals are taken to the shelter and the house condemned.  The house and their lives are the stuff of nightmares to most of us, but this is how they just live.  I don't think necessarily it's a question of poverty, because I can't imagine how much all that food costs, but there's just no awareness of basic housekeeping and cleanliness here.  It's like they were just hopelessly existing day by day. Saddest episode ever. 

Jeanne said they had nine dogs. That house was a disaster and I agree that, at a minimum, everything in the house needed to be removed; the house cleaned from top to bottom, visited by a top quality exterminator (the flea infestation alone would have been rampant) and pretty much everything replaced. That's assuming the structure was still sound and that there's no water damage or mold.

I'm not sure how much of it was poverty, how much was a lack of awareness or concern about cleanliness and how much of it was physical ability - but I'd say it was a combination of those three things in equal measure. In terms of poverty, I don't think they had much money coming and and what income there was clearly was going primarily toward food. That doesn't leave much for cleaning supplies and certainly not enough to pay someone to clean. If they don't have a washer/dryer on the property, they have to haul stuff to a laundromat and pay to wash clothes and linens. Physically, I don't think that either of them had the strength or the stamina to do much cleaning. Looking at that wound on Jeanne's mother's stomach - I can't imagine how she could even move around without horrendous pain. So I can't see her lifting loads of laundry, pushing a vacuum cleaner, bending to wipe tables and counters... I think that it just about wore her out to get Jeanne well, if not clean then at least slightly less dirty. I think for them, learning to ignore the mess, then eventually treat it as "normal" was their coping strategy to survive in such a mess. I kept wondering whether they were still attached to their church. That seems like it could have been a good source of support in the beginning - to keep it from getting so bad and maybe helping to clean it regularly so that it would be a safe environment. But the way it is now, there is now way those two women can get that home into safe, liveable conditions without a significant intervention of Hoarders proportions. Honestly, they both need to be in an assisted living facility even though they couldn't take their dogs. 

[Colleenna]

19 hours ago, calpurnia99 said:

I used to watch a show called Animal Control: Houston and they would go into the outlying areas of Houston and a lot of the conditions for animals were horrific. On that show it was mostly horses in horrible shape. But yeah thanks for letting us know about the lack of anything in Big Sandy. 

Animal Cops: Houston was my favorite. Charles Jantzen was a great cruelty investigator.