627 pound woman has gastric bypass surgery

Hey everybody! I just wanted to tell yall about a show I watched last night on Discovery Health channel, it was called "The 627pound Woman", and it was about a woman that lived in North Carolina, that weighed 627 pounds and she was home bound and had been for a year, and she was about to go through WLS in Richmond,VA. I felt so sorry for her, because she had no life at all, she was barely able to get out of bed, and she had to use a wheelchair and a walker to get around. On the day she was to travel to the hospital in Richmond to do her surgery, she got really upset when she saw what she was going to ride in, it was a Toyota van. It was an ordeal to get her in there, and she kept saying she wouldn't fit in there, but with the help of her friends they got her in there, and when they arrived at the hospital, the doctors were just going over the risks involved and they really didn't know how she would react to the surgery because she did weigh so much. (her BMI was 103) She really wanted the surgery, so they showed everything including them sticking a needle in her neck (yuck! I know that had to hurt!), and them doing the actual bypass. She made it through the surgery and all the leak tests, but on the day she went home, she got extremely ill, and an ambulance had to come and get her, the doctors said that she had a urinary tract infection and her incision in her abdomen was extremely infected. You could tell she was really suffering, she had a huge hole in her stomach were they changed packing everyday to help it heal. I don't mean to write a novel, its just I was so interested in her story, I guess to sum it up, she had to be put on a feeding tube because she had complications, she couldn't keep her food down and she was severly malnourished. She lost 300 pounds in 9 months, and she is doing well now, and off the feeding tube, but she has a lot of excess skin to be removed. If you get a chance to watch it, its a very interesting story, especially if you are about to go through the surgery. I'm sure it will be playing again on Discovery Health. Tootles Crystal

Isnt it wonderful that there is now the technology available to help a person like this woman? I had to have the needle port in my neck after my veins all collapsed and I was put in intensive care after having my lower stomach nicked by a misfired staple. It doesnt hurt as much as the hand, but it is a direct path to the heart if you get into serious trouble. I had the breathing tubes in the throat and was on a ventilator, due to low oxygen and shallow breathing too. But without these things, anyone could die. Now this woman will have a new life, and for the first time be able to do normal things, like walk into a store and buy something off of a rack! When we were home in MS this summer, we went to eat out several times, my husband ate mostly, I had my three shrimp! LOL!!!!, but I could not get over all the people who were morbidly obese, I am talking about folks 300 plus pounds, and these places were all you could eat buffets. I just could not believe one man who ate 7 plates of food plus a mixing bowl of ice cream for dessert!!!!!!!!!!! We are killing ourselves in the South, just eating ourselves to death. Someone should sue the restaurants who started this gluttony trend.....Not doctors who tell patients that they are obese!!!!!!! I will be watching for this Discovery program, we usually get them about 3 months after they are shown in the US.... Cheryl

Hey Cheryl, I know its amazing the transformation that she went through. At the beginning of the show all you could see was suffering and pain on her face, but by the end she was all smiles. I guess I would be too if I lost 300 pounds! It makes you wonder how she came to weigh 627 pounds.... when she weighed that much, there was not much at all she could do... I know it had to be a miserable exsitence for her. I know at weighing 300 pounds I am so miserable... I can only imagine the life she had weighing over double than that. I know those all you can eat buffets are good for nobody. That's just encouraging people to overeat. 7 plates? My gosh! When I go to Ryan's I can only eat 2 plates a salad and a hot plate after that I'm too stuffed to eat anything else... That guy must have a big stomach! Crystal

I really did watch that man, he was sitting at a table across from us and I just decided to count what he ate! It was incredible and then he and his wife just waddled out of the restaurant!

Why are the restaurants to blame? They did not make me eat all that food. I was and am responsible for what I eat. If I gain weight its nobodys fault but my own. Nobody should sue someone else because they are fat. Thats a problem within. I am responsible for me and what goes in my mouth. Cheryl, sounds like you are doing really good after what you went thru. Keep it up cause I bet you feel great!

Actually you are probably too young to remember what a normal size hamburger looked like, it was in the 1950's and a coke was 6 ounces, with no corn syrup additives. Then it seems that bigger became better and thus portions became larger along with lots of people! But that was sooo long ago that most people don't remember what it was like! Thanks, for the good words, I am getting stronger every day and have gotten 30 pounds off so far!

I understand what you mean but it really isnt their fault. Yes, they make the food and make it bigger but we dont have to eat it. We choose to eat those hamburgers big or small - we pay for their product -its not like that is what we have to eat or have nothing. We could simply not go to McDonalds or Wendys. Nobody forced us to eat the whole whopper because that was the portion. As adults it is our responsibility to to teach our children and ourselves. We are the only ones responsible for us. I never once blamed my weight on others. I chose the big one with fries instead of the salad. It wasnt forced upon me so I dont understand why people sue McDonalds, Burger King, etc for them gaining weight. I think this country has gotten sue happy and money makes the world go round. If we didnt buy the bigger hamburgers we wouldnt get fat - they make em - we eat em...Its their choice to make them, our choice to eat them. Ronald McDonald never held a gun to my head and forced me to eat a Big Mac. Its like I tell my daughter when she gets in trouble and says "Well, Dakota got me in trouble today"...No way, baby..only Emily can get herself in trouble. We all have choices - its up to US to make the right ones.

Hiya Crystal!!! I went to my guide on DirecTV trying to find when that show was coming on again. I didn't see it on anymore this week that I saw unless I didn't scroll far enough, but I did see a show scheduled to come on Saturday at 3pm Central time called "After Obesity: The Final Cut". The guide says, "a man preparing to attend his high school reunion undergoes gastric bypass surgery, which then leads to a procedure to remove skin." I checked it so I won't forget to watch it. I love watchign anything that deals with WLS. Thank you for your post and I will continue to keep a look out for that other show. I have a few more days til surgery, I am estatic!!! Talk to you soon! Amanda

just a word of warning the show the final cut can make you mad easy I dont believe the gentleman that is in it had the right mind fraim going into surgery to begin with and even after he is all skinny he says it isnt enough so just be warned that was how I fealt about it. Barry

Hi Crystal; I wanted to see that show. I saw some of the previews. I have seen many showes on Discovery Health about WLS. That is where I got the idea for checking into the surgery. I saw how so many peoples lives were changed for the good. Not everyone survives but at least they tryed to make a change in there lives. Hope to watch the show again. Stephanie