S07.E18: Mercedes' Story

[gonecrackers]

Just watched this yesterday & I felt so sorry for her kids. The daughter was excited to hear her mom was going to change, but it's going to be such a long, difficult process, if she ever succeeds.  It was heartbreaking watching Dr. Now be so blunt with her about dying in front of the kids at the end, but I know he had to do it. The kids hugging her at the end was also heartbreaking. 

Mercedes is obviously suffering from depression which will help keep her stuck. I really hope they address that better in hopes she can move forward.  She also needs a much better trauma therapist than Lola.

I thought it was particularly awful how the camera kept focusing on her crotch area. They were actually zooming in - down there- which was completely unnecessary & obnoxious. We get it; she didn't cover up, but after what she went through in her life she didn't need to be camera raped too.

ETA: I recall in her TH's she had some sort of shorts on. I wonder why she wouldn't have several pairs & cover up all the time.

Edited May 5, 2019 by gonecrackers

[suev33 3]

She can't get out the bay-ed....

[Twopper]

10 hours ago, calpurnia99 said:

Wasn't she already morbidly obese when her father raped her? It's always I got fat, and I ate a lot then this happened and I got even fatter. Then I got even fatter and then this happened, that made me really eat and get even fatter. Then I got raped by a relative, boy that made me eat!

Yes, I think so.  But I think she mentioned there were family issues before this.  And in the pictures she isn't the only fat child.  Her mother definitely has weight issues. 

I just watched this all the way thru last night.  She mentions a twin brother Marlon.  I think he was only mentioned   in her daily eating habit--- with Terry making enough breakfast for the entire Duggar clan, her sister bringing food in the am, and her mother and Marlon bringing her afternoon "snack."

And then there was a friend Christina at the very end who was at one of the last appointments.   I am wondering if being raped has made her so overprotective of her children that she would be unwilling to send them to live with either Christina or a relative while she was in the hospital.

I also watched Penny and Pauline again recently.  Mercedes is so far another non-success story, but I don't find her nearly as obnoxious about it as Penny and Pauline. 

What's with onions for breakfast along with pancakes and bacon?  I like onions, but I have never considered eating them with pancakes.  Yuck!

I never can quite make out the timeline on some of the Houston trips.  It looks like the trailer fire was near the  Glencoe, Ky exit which is about an hour from Cincinnati so I suppose they had to return to the uHaul place in Cincinnati to replace it instead of going on to Louisville.   I had thought they had gone further that day, but I guess not, because we saw the I-71 signage during part of the fire scene.   I have no idea why I care about this except FIREMEN. 

She wore that purple shirt and orange skirt for at least two days of travel.  She did have on a different skirt to meet Dr Now, but it looked like the same purple blouse.

Edited May 5, 2019 by Twopper

[suev33 3]

On 5/3/2019 at 9:28 AM, AVM said:

https://web.noom.com/blog/2019/02/dr-nowzaradan-1200-calorie-diet-plan-secret-600-lb-life/   

Dr. Nowzaradan 1200 Calorie Diet Plan: The Breakdown

Dr. Now’s technique for cutting down on weight is by following a strict 1,200 calorie (maximum) diet plan. Some of the more severe, morbid obese patients go as low as 1,000 calorie for their limit. Not only are patients drastically dropping in the amount of calories they consume each day, but the foods they are consuming are not a part of their current diet plan, no surprise. This strict nutrition plan is a low-fat, low-carb, high protein combination. Most of the diet regimen seems promising; consuming lots of plant based proteins, keeping up with hydration, monitoring behaviors associated with eating patterns. The down-fall is the daunting list of ‘no-go’ foods.

The list of foods that are off limits while shedding pounds consist of:

Sugar

Desserts: cakes, candies, ice cream, cookies

Sweetened fruit or frozen yogurt

Chocolate

Potatoes of any sort – mashed, french fries, chips

Crackers

Minimal breads including anything whole wheat

Nuts and nut butters

Fruit juices

Noodles and rice

White and brown rice

Soda, sports drinks, energy drinks

No peanut butter? 😯😭

[ProTourist]

On 5/2/2019 at 12:12 AM, missnoa said:

I do not understand the ones who sit there with their genitals all hanging out right where their children can see with absolutely no shame. I get that maybe there's no underwear that fits, but pull a blanket over yourself for goodness sake. Your children do not need to see that all hanging out.

I don't think this is possible in Mercedes' case nor for most severely obese people. Due to the girth of the thighs and the large belly hanging over the whole area, it's unlikely the genital areas would be visible at all unless the person were to lie back and hold the belly off to one side, such as during bed baths. So why blur the area on the video when Mercedes is just sitting there upright? Probably no real need to, but maybe the producers want to 'imply' that there is exposure when there really is none.

[ProTourist]

On 5/2/2019 at 12:26 AM, Honey said:

[1] So...Lemme get this straight...When she has her period, she is too large to use tampons or pads, so she just bleeds all over the place?  Isn't that speshul.

[2] There's always someone who will drive these people to Houston....and they always seem to have a van.  Wouldn't it be cheaper and more comfortable to rent a motor home for the drive?  Rather than pay for all those nights in a hotel. 

1) I would guess that Mercedes has those large pads placed under her during her period, like she uses overnight when she cannot get up to use the bathroom.

2) Most of the time there is someone who can drive them, but some of them do fly, some use medical transport, and at least one poundticipant (this season's Angela G.) couldn't find anyone in her family to drive her to Houston, and ended up calling upon an old boyfriend she hadn't seen in several years. 😒

[ams1001]

56 minutes ago, suev33 3 said:

No peanut butter? 😯😭

That's the one thing on the list I wouldn't have a problem with... well, that and sports/energy drinks. The one energy drink I ever tasted was disgusting, and the only time I ever drink a sports drink is if I've been really sick (and I get the grape Gatorade G2 which at least has less sugar and reminds me of grape Kool Aid that I drank as a kid, and the nostalgia helps me feel better 🙂 ...I got a bottle a couple months ago after spending a Saturday throwing up, but I drank it out of a wine glass 'cuz I'm a grownup 😛 ).

[ProTourist]

On 5/2/2019 at 10:59 AM, Jeeves said:

I visited her FB page this morning. It was still viewable. Not sure if that's still true a few hours later. She had posted a link to the GoFundMe campaign, and the comments section is a down and dirty war of words between supporters and detractors. Someone with Mercedes' last name is really bringing the nasty talk in defense of Mercedes.

I didn't read everything - just too much there and too little time - but some commenters called Mercedes out for not following Dr. Now's directions to check herself into the hospital in Houston. The comments in defense of her said, but who would look after her kids? The replies to that were, well, who's going to take care of her kids after she dies?

Also there was criticism about the GoFundMe she started. The start date was listed as March 2019 (can't remember the exact date), which means she was already in Houston when she started it. She claimed she'd started it before she went to Houston but the date speaks for itself. 

I didn't read carefully enough to figure out if she went back home or is still in Houston. But apparently she didn't go into the hospital, and given Dr. Now's level of concern about her heart, that's bad. Really bad. 

Dis not a good sitchation at all.

By the time I found Mercedes' FB page Thursday evening, recent posts were no longer visible, and her GoFundMe page it was already closed -- so I didn't get to see any of this first-hand, but do trust the reports.

I had been wondering if Mercedes checked herself into the hospital for those few months of controlled diet and medical monitoring that Dr. Now had ordered at the end of the episode; was trying to find this out online; and am sad to know that she did not go in. I could understand it if no one in her family would be willing to look after her children for that amount of time -- if that were the true reason why -- but not if it had meant that the children would just have needed to return to Ohio to be cared for by her mother or siblings, and Mercedes didn't want to be separated from them for that long.

I mean, you'd think Mercedes would want to go into the hospital because weight loss is so much quicker and easier there, and she would come out at least a couple of hundred pounds lighter, in better health with better mobility, and better able to care for herself and her children. And then she could finally get her weight-loss surgery. She must have realized and understood all of this. So on the chance that child care was not really a show-stopper, then Mercedes must have had an unspoken death wish, and so would opt to continue to eat as she prefers rather than go into the controlled environment that would save her.

But, I know that child care is often a big issue for the single-parent poundticipants. I recall Cynthia's follow-up from last season, where after she experienced how long and difficult the recovery was from her first skin surgery on her arms, she decided to stop losing weight, because she would not be able to afford the even longer recovery time for the abdominal skin surgery that would have been coming up next (the skin was already loosening) -- she would have had no one to care for her children for all those weeks. So Cynthia stopped at around 350 pounds.

Yes, Mercedes' GoFundMe does sound like it was a bit shady, especially since she was asking for money to get to Houston after she had already been there and failed the program.

I suppose Mercedes won't be on this earth much longer, probably for lack of child care during her necessary hospitalization. If no one in the family could take them in for a few months, goodness know where the little ones will end up once Mercedes passes. 😧

[ProTourist]

On 5/2/2019 at 11:53 AM, sempervivum said:

I was diagnosed 2 years ago with Type 1 diabetes, and I was given several hours of instruction, in the hospital as well as in an out-patient setting, by 2 nutritionists who made sure I understood portion size, the difference between protein, fat, carbs, etc., as well as websites and magazines to look up general info and recipe ideas. I'm sure Mercedes got this kind of help, too (I suspect the show doesn't let us see this stuff because it's pretty boring). Also, she had a smart phone, it would have taken her 15 seconds to find out if those enormous pancakes were 'protein' (as she said) and how many calories were in them. Ditto with that oh-so-healthy turkey bacon.

The simple fact is despite her looming, now inevitable, fate, she wants to eat more than she wants to live. I hope her mother is ready to raise those 2 kids.

When I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in the mid-1990s I received no education at all. My internist just told me to avoid concentrated sugar! I sought out on my own a diabetes educator and two nutritionists (the first one wasn't good), plus purchased and read books. [This was just before the internet got going, and I was not yet online.]

But I must admit that learning what to do and what not to do was different from making it happen. It was a huge lifestyle change, in terms of both food and physical activity, and I resented the loss of control. I reached a point where I didn't want to eat harmful things but did not want to give up self-determination, so I just fasted. I fasted for several days, just drinking water, until I finally became hypoglycemic and then I started following the diet.

Anyway, I can imagine some of the poundticipants might be in a similar situation. They may not actually receive the detailed training, as I did not until I sought it out (or if they do, then they may not really understand it due to lack of education) and they may resent the loss of self-determination. Plus there are the serious psychological issues that many of them have, where they don't know how to manage without using food to self-soothe. In Mercedes' case, I can understand how she could feel she could not follow the diet during the long road strips between Ohio and Houston: She suffered so much physically in the back of that van, and eating was the only way she had to cope with the pain.

In my opinion, what she really needed was the controlled environment of a few months in hospital, combined with regular sessions in her room with a psychiatrist. I think that would have given her the best chance of survival.

[ProTourist]

On 5/2/2019 at 12:40 PM, CatherineM said:

Lisa’s daughter stood up to her. After they talked to Dr. Now on skype, she said the diet started right then and wouldn’t give her back her coke. Lisa gave her a look that could have killed an elephant. I wonder what she would have done if the cameras hadn’t been there. 

This is true, but the other people in the household did not stand up to Lisa, giving her the demanded big bowl of Froot Loops, etc. And once they got to Houston, that same daughter continued to refuse Lisa the bad foods, both in the hospital and at home. It was when the daughter went back home to start a new job and Lisa's boyfriend took her place, that all was lost. He would not stand up to Lisa.

[ProTourist]

On 5/2/2019 at 3:12 PM, Twopper said:

Meanwhile people like James K are still alive, and Pauline is still alive in her 50's. I can see why the people in this season thought there was no real rush to lose weight on their own. Also in some of the older shows like Ashley and Melissa, Dr Now did the surgery without requiring them to lose a lot of weight first.  He has changed some of his requirements over the years based on his experience with how patients typically behave when asked to lose.

Actually, Pauline Potter is doing pretty well -- I wouldn't put her in the same sentence with James King. She has lost a few hundred pounds. Here is a recent photo, from her FB page:

But I agree with the rest of what you said -- the requirements before surgery were a lot lighter during the first few seasons. I remember in the third season, Amber had been given a weight-loss goal of 25 pounds. She lost only 17, but was still approved for surgery.

[ProTourist]

On 5/3/2019 at 5:36 PM, Mothra said:

Mercedes is caught in a real bind.  I think she understands that if she gives up on the Dr. Now program, she is going to die soon, and I think she wants desperately to be able to go into the hospital as he recommends.  But who will take care of her children?  If this were an easy problem (let them stay with her mother), I think that would have been solved, but apparently the obvious options are not really options.  Maybe Mercedes is using poor judgment (maybe she doesn't trust her mother with her kids, for some reason we're not privy to), but I think she is truly torn.  I think her weigh-in failures were truly due to ignorance, not to lack of trying, and the fact that she would be willing to go into the hospital for this treatment says that she is not trying to deny that she has a problem controlling her intake.  I really think she is desperate for help.  Angelic Brandon asked how long Mercedes would be in the hospital--I'm sure he was about to offer to mind her kids, but the time required was just too much.  I hope hope hope that in some future followup episode we'll find that her sister or someone else stepped up and took care of the kids so Mercedes could go into the hospital.

Yes, I agree with most of this, especially with the line I bolded above. I'd like a follow-up episode too, but Mercedes may have already given up after her year one failure.

[ProTourist]

On 5/3/2019 at 8:51 PM, parrotfeathers said:

Maybe deep down she blames her mom for not protecting her from Dad and is afraid for her kids.

Yes, I think this is very possible. And perhaps there are some other known or suspected abusers in the family these days. Mercedes may not trust her mother to care for her children and keep them safe for the few months she would have needed in the hospital.

[ProTourist]

On 5/3/2019 at 10:40 PM, zillabreeze said:

I really feel for these folks.  It's a horrible life that I can't fathom.  They live in squalor.  No one in their circle knows how to do anything different.

When I visited NYC last year, I got it.  I thought I would grab breakfast at the bodega.  Holy shit!  6 eggs cost the same as 2 dozen eggs at my white bread suburban Costco life.  A little bottle of orange juice, $7 bucks!  Vegs? Only a handful of sad lettuce for $5.

The food desert is a real thing.  Not saying that our 600# folks would do anything different.  I'm just wondering if they might do something different with some education and choices.

Yes, I agree with most of this. Although certainly several of them live in nice, clean homes, not in squalor. For example, Amber Rashdi, Nikki Webster, Justin McSwain, Paula Jones, etc.

Sorry for the posting tear tonight folks; I let it build up for a few days. I will stop now. Cheers. 😊

[auntjess]

On 5/3/2019 at 9:28 AM, AVM said:

Dr. Nowzaradan 1200 Calorie Diet Plan: The Breakdown

 Dr. Now’s technique for cutting down on weight is by following a strict 1,200 calorie (maximum) diet plan. Some of the more severe, morbid obese patients go as low as 1,000 calorie for their limit. Not only are patients drastically dropping in the amount of calories they consume each day, but the foods they are consuming are not a part of their current diet plan, no surprise. This strict nutrition plan is a low-fat, low-carb, high protein combination. Most of the diet regimen seems promising; consuming lots of plant based proteins, keeping up with hydration, monitoring behaviors associated with eating patterns. The down-fall is the daunting list of ‘no-go’ foods.

What always surprises me, is that you see many of them eating corn, on or off the cob, and I always thought corn was high in carbohydrates.

[ProTourist]

6 minutes ago, auntjess said:

What always surprises me, is that you see many of them eating corn, on or off the cob, and I always thought corn was high in carbohydrates.

Yes, you are correct. Corn, peas, and beans are starchy vegetables which are generally excluded from low-carb diets. Although some will say that beans are okay because they are metabolized more slowly (have a low glycemic index value).

[Twopper]

1 hour ago, ProTourist said:

Actually, Pauline Potter is doing pretty well -- I wouldn't put her in the same sentence with James King. She has lost a few hundred pounds. Here is a recent photo, from her FB page:

Well, I am glad to see this.  I don't follow these people on social media so what I know of them is what I see on the show or read in the forum.    I want all of them to lose weight and do better, but it isn't realistic to expect them all to reach their target weight.   Pauline didn't bother me nearly as much as Penny, but I really disliked them both in their episodes.

5 hours ago, suev33 3 said:

No peanut butter? 😯😭

I am very allergic to peanut butter, so I would have no problem with that.   I would definitely have trouble keeping to 1200 calories a day.   I think part of the problem for many of them is that they read or hear diet advice given to people who are fairly close to their target weight.   Someone who is just trying to lose about 25 pounds can cut their calorie intake by 500 calories a day and lose about a pound per week.   If someone 600+ pounds does that, it only means they will gain weight at a slightly slower rate because they are still over-eating.

I think it was either Penny or Pauline that had a stomach the size of a watermelon; Dr Now said she would never feel full with a stomach that size. 

[aliya]

On 5/2/2019 at 5:35 PM, Lemons said:

No, you don't understand.  She puts puppy pads under her ass so her caretaker can throw them away when she comes in the next morning.  So gross.  She doesn't own a pair of underwear so nowhere for a pad to go and she can't find or reach her vagina so no tampons.  

Jeez - just another one of those things that I didn't need to know in life.

I went back and read more posts and wanted to comment about seeing all the food laid out, etc. They do this on 'Secret Eaters' where the people have no idea why they've put on weight 'cause of course they eat healthy, but then they see the liquor, the snacks, the dinners before dinner, the pub food after the gym, etc. When you aren't tracking it, it can be hard to see what you are really eating.

I noticed that when obesees actually track their foods/calories, they do so much better. It's hard to fool yourself when you're writing it all down - and when you start to go off track, you can catch it quicker. 

Edited May 6, 2019 by aliya
added stuff

[LuvMyShows]

17 hours ago, ProTourist said:

I mean, you'd think Mercedes would want to go into the hospital because weight loss is so much quicker and easier there, and she would come out at least a couple of hundred pounds lighter, in better health with better mobility, and better able to care for herself and her children. And then she could finally get her weight-loss surgery. She must have realized and understood all of this.

For someone like her, who had failed multiple times when she tried on her own, I would think Dr. Now would not do the surgery immediately after the hospitalization/weight loss, and instead would require time at home with continued weight loss, to help see if it would be one of those wasted surgeries because the person hasn't changed their 'eating habit'. 

[Twopper]

28 minutes ago, LuvMyShows said:

For someone like her, who had failed multiple times when she tried on her own, I would think Dr. Now would not do the surgery immediately after the hospitalization/weight loss, and instead would require time at home with continued weight loss, to help see if it would be one of those wasted surgeries because the person hasn't changed their 'eating habit'. 

I think for someone younger and/or in better general health he would, but I think her health was continuing to deteriorate during the time he saw her.  I thought she was one of the ones that he should have sent to a rehab center sooner.  With Cillas he had him in the hospital first then in rehab, and Cillas was doing fine the last we saw of him.   I would have thought Mercedes needed similar treatment.   Or maybe he tried, but she refused for some reason; we did get the idea that she wasn't going to hospital at the end due to child care problems.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I think child care was one reason Mercedes refused the hospital, but the hospital would also feed her a restricted diet, unless she had people haul food in to her.    Mercedes is never giving up her food, no matter how bad her health gets.    

[Mothra]

On 5/4/2019 at 7:31 PM, kicotan said:

I woke up from surgery in the recovery room to the sound of my voice screaming, gasping for breath, tears already running down my cheeks...

The first thing I remember hearing was the staff discussing my Demerol shots...they just kept pushing them into my IV until I shut up.

My torso felt like it was on FIRE, like it had exploded, burning pain to the point I couldn’t speak.

After enough Demerol shots, I shut up, because although I still felt the same excruciating pain, I no longer cared.  I was at a mental point where, yeah, it hurt like nothing I’d ever felt before, but, so what.  No more screaming.

I can’t imagine that a trip to my local fast food joint could satiate extreme physical pain the same way as an opioid, but maybe it is the equivalent for mental pain?

I feel your pain.  I went to the ER with, as it turned out, an abcessed and perforated intestine and pain like I've never felt.  They gave me Demerol until I stopped complaining.  I could still feel the pain, but somehow it didn't matter.

I, too, wonder if eating fast food--since it's never a permanent solution for these guys--operates in the same way.  They all eat massive amounts; maybe it takes the equivalent of multiple doses of Demerol to make them stop eating yet still feel the need to eat?  Maybe whatever the feeling is that drives them to eat eighteen times what a non-addicted person would eat becomes numbed after they've had so much food.

[KateHearts]

On 5/4/2019 at 7:28 PM, LuvMyShows said:

She easily has room for two cots for the kids, fold up and away during the day, nearby at night.  No feces/menstrual fluid/urine.  It's about what's good for them, versus what's good for her.   

Absolutely... but I am trying to put myself in her (not-normal-thinking) mind and figure how she must justify this.

Yes, you are right- the kids could sleep on cots. But it's like people who say, "Why do they have to get fast food on the road? There are options like a rotisserie chicken." Of course, and that's what a reasonable-thinking person would do. These people are not reasonable. They want any justification they can find for their abnormal, dysfunctional behaviors.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I made a horrible mistake watching the Supersized edition tonight.    The Bonus Scene was Brandon driving her in her wheel chair to the far end of the parking lot, and putting a bunch of pee pads on the ground.      Some things you can't forget.   

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I made a horrible mistake watching the Supersized edition tonight.    The Bonus Scene was Brandon driving her in her wheel chair to the far end of the parking lot, and putting a bunch of pee pads on the ground.   

Had this been included in the episode description on my guide, I may have watched. 

Off to write a letter to the Pope to nominate Brandon for pre-posthumous sainthood.

[Hannah94]

6 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I made a horrible mistake watching the Supersized edition tonight.    The Bonus Scene was Brandon driving her in her wheel chair to the far end of the parking lot, and putting a bunch of pee pads on the ground.      Some things you can't forget.   

Where can I find the Supersized editions everyone talks about on here? I have Comcast and I watch the show On Demand but I cannot find any SS ones.

[CrazyInAlabama]

6 minutes ago, Hannah94 said:

Where can I find the Supersized editions everyone talks about on here? I have Comcast and I watch the show On Demand but I cannot find any SS ones.

They show the Supersized on TLC the week after the original airs, on Thursday.  I'm not sure they have the Supersized in the On Demand.   I couldn't find the bonus scenes on the TLC website either.   Honestly, I would skip watching that particular bonus scene.  

Personally, I've noticed the added scenes, and how people are filmed, on this show seems to show how much the film crew either sympathizes with them, or can't stand them.  

Edited May 10, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[Elizzikra]

Quote

I made a horrible mistake watching the Supersized edition tonight.    The Bonus Scene was Brandon driving her in her wheel chair to the far end of the parking lot, and putting a bunch of pee pads on the ground.   

I know that I'm going to regret asking this and I apologize to everyone in advance for the question but... was he putting the pee pads on the ground so she could pee on them? Because - how was that going to work? Was she going to pee standing up and who was going to support her standing while she did so? Was she going to sit on them on the ground and pee - because I don't see any way of getting her back up again. 

Or is it something even more horrible that I haven't yet imagined?

[CrazyInAlabama]

Apparently she was going to barely squat, and pee, because squatting down wouldn't work for her.      I can't believe this is even something any of us have to think about.    The 'let it go' when she has to go in the van outside the motel was bad enough, but the Bonus Scene just about did me in.    Fortunately, I don't eat while I watch this show, or I would probably have choked.  

[slasherboy]

18 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I made a horrible mistake watching the Supersized edition tonight.    The Bonus Scene was Brandon driving her in her wheel chair to the far end of the parking lot, and putting a bunch of pee pads on the ground.      Some things you can't forget.   

I didn't see the original, but watched the Supersized episode (kind of like McDonald's supersizes?).  I caught the bonus scene of which you speak and had to wonder, why did Brandon put the pee pads on the ground?  It was just a crummy parking lot, and at the far end no less.  I would have just let loose on the ground.  But that's me.....

Her explanation of menstrual blood flowing freely was just all kinds of gross.  Yes, it happens, but still, try to have some control woman.  Stuff some pee pads between your legs.  They're wide open anyway.

And does she not wear underwear?  I noticed they blurred her crotch a lot, which left me to believe she was nakey down there.

I'll bet she smells, no offense, and I'll bet her house smells.

Bravo to Brandon!  I'll second the nomination for sainthood.  Saint Brandon, saint of free flowing menstrual blood and fried food.

Do we know if Mercedes is dead yet?

Oh yeah, when the therapist said to write the letter to her father then rip it up and put it in the bowl, she meant the toilet bowl, not a salad bowl ding-a-ling.  Yet there she sat at the table, stirring the pieces of paper with a spoon.

Love, love, love me some Dr. Now.  Nobody gets the last word with him, and he's soooo cool with these lieing liars who lie.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Mercedes seems to still be existing, and I can't call it living.   She did manage to raise almost $200 the last time I looked, on one of those begging for money sites.     She did manage to rally enough to get another stud on her lip. 

[Twopper]

Was the parking lot scene on the trip to Houston?

[B in Lee]

On 5/3/2019 at 9:21 PM, Elizzikra said:

I thought mom was still in Cleveland and Mercedes wanted them in Houston with her, so the only choice for childcare if she was hospitalized was Brandon. 

 She used the kids as an excuse. If they had to go to Gramma's in Cleveland, so be it - Mercedes needed to be hospitalized. I think her REAL fear was of losing control over her food choices/portion sizes. It's just really easy to play the Mommy Card.

[zillabreeze]

On 5/9/2019 at 10:15 PM, Elizzikra said:

Or is it something even more horrible that I haven't yet imagined?

I can't even look at Tupperware anymore....

[nytonc]

I missed Mercedes’ show when it first aired and I’m sorry I watched it today. What makes me crazy about ppl like Mercedes is how they hate (rightly so) what was done to them by a parent but offer their own children just as fucked-up a life. I hope her father is roasting on a rotisserie spit in hell but Mercedes’ children will probably feel the same about her when they look back on their miserable childhood. She sits in her bed while the kids and everyone else wait on her. The lack of insight is just mind-boggling!!!

She looked like she was high through most of the episode. The whining and crying and expecting her children to comfort and cheer her on made me want to vomit. The poor kid can barely push her and her wheelchair! Her mother (or sister?) was sooooo worried about her eating herself to death but kept right on trucking in the food. 

I’m only about a half hour into the show and I already know Mercedes is the wallowing in self-pity type who won’t comply with Dr Now’s diet. She’ll be forced to eat fast food every few miles on the trip to Houston because her knees, back, ass or whatever hurts and the only thing that helps is food. Dr Now will send her to see Lola and her wig. She’ll have Mercedes write the obligatory letter to her father. Nothing will change. Lola is a shit therapist.

I feel so unbelievably sorry for her children. I truly hope they’re able to escape the cycle of abuse they’re forced to endure. 

[auntjess]

I'd forgotten her story, and had it recorded to watch again, but her failure and quitting (?) was shown on the beginning of the one I was watching first.
I deleted hers, but was there ever a follow-up on her?
The shows even show up on OWN now too.  

[Ralphster]

On 5/2/2019 at 12:17 AM, Barbara Please said:

Sorry, Lola is a shitty therapist, and I’m at a point where I’m enraged that she is still being used on the show. 

I think we could be friends. 🙂 I feel exactly the same way. Lola's "therapy" is a joke that harms more than it helps (if it can even be said to help). Dr. Now is living in la-la land if he thinks Lola is helping any of his patients.

Mercedes is not particularly intelligent and she lost any sympathy from me for her terrible childhood with the way she is abusing her own children. She has become an abuser herself. Who knows, maybe her own father was abused as a child but who cares when he commits the acts he committed?

I firmly believe childcare was merely an excuse for not checking into the hospital. Mercedes is crippled emotionally and is deeply dependent on food for solace. She needs serious psychological help, far more than can be gleaned from Lola's pathetic bromides. She cannot fathom an existence without the only comfort she has ever known, food. She seriously cannot. Mercedes is a tangled mess that would take years to unravel, provided she cared enough to try. And as many posters have mentioned, she lacks the desire to try. She will die within the next few years from her food addiction. And as usual, Dr. Now harangues her about weight loss as though it is the cause of her problems (and to be fair, it is the cause of her heart failure) when really, it's a symptom of profound psychological problems. He might as well harangue a crack addict to stop smoking crack; I really don't get why he continues this approach when it doesn't work. It makes him a ton of money, though, so maybe that's why. I wish he would try keto with his patients; they need fat, and it might be the only thing that works for them - fat is delicious and it is highly satiating.

Mercedes is a nasty, nasty person. She came across as manipulative, callous, and utterly self-centered based on what the show presented. Certainly she's nasty hygienically. Vagina-hugged ice cream was beyond revolting; why the fuck would she consider that appropriate to do or to eat??!! It's almost like she's committing incest in some indefinable way, feeding her children food that was literally clenched against her naked groin, flashing her children constantly, insisting they all share a bed when another sleeping situation could be easily arranged. She's making those children sleep in her personal toilet, and I got the feeling that she likes it. I think she derives enjoyment from invading her children's boundaries, something which is not uncommon among adult victims of sexual abuse who have children of their own. She is one I particularly loathe - Jesus, those noises she made whenever she had to exert herself! It was like listening to a warthog give birth, or a severely constipated hippopotamus! I wanted to smack her to make her stop it, honestly. It was histrionic and unnecessary.

On a separate (but related) note, I wonder when speshul spellynges of children's names will come to a merciful end. All such spellynges do is make the child seem like someone who is a pill to deal with. I always think that a parent who spells a name in such a stupid way is narcissistic and probably will raise another narcissist. So far I've not met anyone who disproved this pet theory of mine.

Am I the only one who thinks the relative who drove the moving van was hopped up on something? Mercedes did mention her taking some pain meds; perhaps he partook?

Edited August 21, 2020 by Ralphster

[Ralphster]

On 5/3/2019 at 4:06 PM, KateHearts said:

I am noticing (perhaps late in the game) that these scripts-including Dr. Now's- are all written by the same person.  One thing that I find really annoying is their use of the phrase "I need," or "you need" used  inappropriately.

I noticed this, too! I commented about it on another thread maybe a week ago or so. It's aggravating in its unabashed ignorance. Whoever is writing the scriptie-loos is pathetic.

[barshi50]

Bumping this up for reference since she was on a WATN last night.

[readheaded]

4 hours ago, barshi50 said:

Bumping this up for reference since she was on a WATN last night.

Thanks for bumping this up. I saw some of the WATN last night and didn't remember seeing Mercedes' original episode. I felt bad for her and her kids. She was clearly struggling in a way that many of the poundicipants don't seem to. I sensed a deep depression and hopelessness in her that created an inertia on top of the weight. 

I get that Dr. Now has to be tough, but in a case like Mercedes' where she doesn't know how she's going to meet her kids' and her own basic needs, I think Maslow's hierarchy of needs applies. 

[Elizzikra]

5 hours ago, readheaded said:

Thanks for bumping this up. I saw some of the WATN last night and didn't remember seeing Mercedes' original episode. I felt bad for her and her kids. She was clearly struggling in a way that many of the poundicipants don't seem to. I sensed a deep depression and hopelessness in her that created an inertia on top of the weight. 

I get that Dr. Now has to be tough, but in a case like Mercedes' where she doesn't know how she's going to meet her kids' and her own basic needs, I think Maslow's hierarchy of needs applies. 

They did say that he helped her find temporary housing and he did suggest she meet with a social worker when she was being evicted. She refused, concerned that she would lose custody of her kids. I'm not sure what else he really could do; he only has the resources that a medical doctor in a private practice has. And fundamentally he is right about one thing - if his patients don't lose weight they will die. I think he hammers home so hard on the need to lose weight because all of his patients have spent years and years and years in denial and prioritizing everything else over losing weight.

I'm honestly surprised that more of Dr. Now's patients don't end up homeless. Many seem to have very precarious finances and I honestly don't know how some of them manage to stay housed at all for any length of time, even with multiple people in one tiny apartment.

I felt badly for her and especially for her children. I can't imagine how it is to not even know if your mother is alive or where she is and who she is with. It must be awful.

[LEILANI2]

I watched the WATN last night and now finishing up her original episode.

I found her facebook, that ending has everyone thinking she died and there's obits by bots already on Google saying she died in 2021.

Her Facebook has an updated post on JUNE 23,2022 with plenty of likes from family and friends so she is indeed alive at least as of 6/2022.

I feel so sorry for her kids but after doing the search for her online and watching her original I think she's a scammer and her kids saying they hadn't heard from her in two years was just covering for her because she was hiding from some shady stuff.

There's been a name change to LEVETTE from Cephas too.

https://www.facebook.com/mercedes.cephas/photos

Edited January 27, 2023 by LEILANI2