My 600# life- (Melissa)

So they had an 11 year follow-up on Melissa- who was I think the first patient followed by the show. She was 653, lost ~500 and gained back 150#. Lots of life issues (who doesn't have those...)

Is it me or did Dr. Now seems uncharacteristically nice to her. I've seen him lay into patients who aren't losing- following the program etc. He actually told her that her regain, compared to where she was and how many years out she is- was reasonable. Really???

I thought the show was odd. I totally feel for her and her struggles and the ridiculously hard head games that she is dealing with-- but I was surprised by Dr. Now.

that seems unreasonable to me as well, but I wonder if he's looking at it as a percentage-of-weight-originally-lost thing. If so, that would be like me gaining 50-60 lbs by my 11th year out. I'm NOT going to let that happen, but I suppose it's not all that uncommon. Yikes. But yes - generally speaking, 150 lbs does sound unreasonable. I'd be really upset about that if it were me.

I haven'****ched the episode (no cable, so I occasionally catch up via buying the episodes on Prime). Was she the one that worked for him a long time? That might be why.

Yes, Melissa is the one worked for him.

I found that odd also, but what struck me was where they were "now". For me the common theme was each one was still struggling and "head" issues. Not many of them had been seeing a therapist. By the time the show as ever I think most if not all of them were getting the head/emotional help they need to put the puzzle together.....

I was glad to finally see her seeing a therapist. It surprises me that the people on this show don't cling to that long term. I thought this therapist seemed like a good one. The one who baby talks who's been on a lot lately drives me nuts.

I only watched the first few seasons and, for the first ones, I was always annoyed that there was just about zero mention of mental health. :/

There IS a difference in our metabolisms a year or two post op. Our bodies try to regain.

You can change a huge percentage of this tendency with liposuction of the empty fat cells or excess skin removal surgery.

I think Dr. Now has had many years of experience with this frustrating regain and knows its not her fault. Even if its a large percentage of the pounds she lost.

I've met Melissa, IRL, a couple of times. She had the social skills of a radish. That's understandable, with what she came from - the isolation - and all. She was pretty much thrown into the limelight, with little to work with. She was "counseling" patients, with nothing but her own experiences, to go by. In a small group setting, she didn't understand the dynamics of give/take conversing

I wish her nothing but the best, and really hurt for her, in regards to her dying daddy being so far away from her. I hope she has some local friends, to help her thru this time

I finally watched it and it looked like she had app 100 lbs gain after the third baby. She was probably still breastfeeding- plus as a new, single mom - maybe he did not want to add to her stress being too hard on her initially. She knew and admired that she was eating her emotions out.

What surprised me that he did not recommend therapy until a few months out. I am not a doc, but if someone told me they are eating out of control because of stress in their life - I would suggest therapy as a way to find what they can do instead of eating their emotions. She had a few months of regain before he suggested that.