I was taking a bite of food when the film started. I immediately lost my appetite.
The story started with John Keitz, his wife Gina, and his mentally handicapped sister Jessie being kicked out of their home. Their landlord refused to renew their lease. The paramedics in that city had developed a system to get him out of the house and to the hospital using a whale harness and a specially designed ambulance.
He checked into a hospital in Ohio saying that he was finally going to lose weight. His reaction to the nurse when she brought in a salad? "I want a hamburger."
They had to use a huge sling to get an accurate weight. While they were rolling him onto the sling he had to be put on oxygen because even that much movement was too hard on him.
While working with the physical therapists, when they asked him if he was ready he said, "If you wait until I'm ready, I won't get better." At least he knew that much. He was going to have to be pushed out of his comfort zone. However shortly following that, it was reported to the head nurse that during the night he ate chips, popcorn, sun chips, and little debbie cupcakes. She had to go in and remove his stash. He tried to convince them that he knew how to manage his snacks.
Most people become obese because they don't know how to cope with difficulties.
When there's not a lot of muscle, there's not a lot of fat being burned, so it's necessary to start slowly, especially when the patient is bed-bound.
He got an infection that originated in his skin (he had a lot of skin problems due to his lack of movement, and the constant pressure on the skin), then moved to his blood stream. He died of septic shock - it killed his organs. Due to his condition, he wasn't able to fight off the infection.
He died at 39.
I think it's really sad when people are in that situation, but at the same time, I can't help but think of what precautions and steps they can take to catch things early and keep themselves from getting to that point.
A nice side story of the video talks about a guy who's in the same nursing home that John is in. Nathan is about 13 years younger than John's 39 years, and not nearly as heavy. He checked himself into the nursing home for the morbidly obese at 400-some pounds. I think it's great to show a story like that. Yes, he's morbidly obese, but he's still walking, and he knows it's a health problem. At the end of the video, he had lost 70-some pounds since checking himself in.
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1 comment:
Thanks for sharing this story. I have a personal, vested interest in this subject because many of my husband's family members are morbidly obese. They fit in the 350-550 lb. range. While it is so easy for me to say, "Why? Just do it. Just lose the weight," you are so correct that people who are overweight are often dealing with other physical or emotional issues. I love the emphasis of starting with children and young adults to try to break habits before they become perpetual lifestyle.
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