Half-ton man loses 573 pounds in a year

[question everything]

Sunday, June 26, 2005

Half-ton man loses 573 pounds in a year

After undergoing gastric-bypass surgery, Nebraska's Patrick Deuel dreams of becoming a motivational speaker.

By SHARON COHEN
The Associated Press

VALENTINE, NEB. – He still is a mound of a man, but his blue eyes widen with delight as he presses his chest with his fingertips, smiles mischievously and makes the grand announcement: He can FEEL his ribs.

To Patrick Deuel, this small moment is huge.

One year ago, Deuel weighed 1,072 pounds. He was so enormous that his bedroom wall had to be cut out to extract him from his home. Then, he was rushed to a South Dakota hospital in an ambulance with extra-wide doors that had to be dispatched from Denver.

Deuel hadn't left his bedroom in seven months. He'd barely been outside in seven years. He couldn't sit up. He couldn't roll over by himself. He had heart trouble and diabetes.

Now 12 months after being hospitalized for gastric-bypass surgery, Deuel is less than half the man he used to be and that, his doctor says, is amazing progress.

More..
http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/06/26/sections/news/focus_health/article_574913.php

[Horse with no Name]

1. Kudos for him

I'm glad he is doing well.

[SmokingJacket]

2. I always wonder in these cases...

who is bringing the guy so much food. He clearly wasn't doing his own shopping.

[Kolesar]

3. There is an angle I never thought of

DU = enlightenment

[Horse with no Name]

5. You would be so surprised

I had a home health patient once. She was a brittle diabetic.
She was a former school adminstrator and sharp as a tack.
I did all of her diabetic teaching.
However, every time I went to her house (she lived alone) I would find cases of cokes and stacks of Little Debbie Peanut Butter bars.
Her trash can by her chair would be full of empty wrappers and her blood sugar would be 500+ (normal range for her was 90-100).
I would ask her why she was eating those...she said she didn't. That they were for "company",lol.
People will get their fixes...whether it is Snickers, Ding Dongs, etc.
They will either pull a pity act or leave the house and get it themselves.
:shrug:

[question everything]

8. Another form of addiction

remember that horrid ad of a woman smoking through a hole in her throat?

[jrthin]

6. This thought

never occurred to me, but damm, you make a good point.

[patricia92243]

7. Took the words out of my mouth! "What happened to his enabler?"

was my first thought.

I have seen other situations similar to this, and if one dug into it very deep you'd find their mother, sister, etc had died.

Pitiful what people do to other people.

[alphafemale]

18. ...a year or two back a woman had "grown into" her couch

There was talk of prosecuting the guy who had not called for help for her.

Turns out there's a type of fetish/control issue where people feed others to the point of immobility.

[FuzzyDicePHL]

10. Inevitable follow-up question

is what the heck kinda bathroom arrangements had to be made for him -- if he couldn't roll himself over then it seems unlikely that he could get to a toilet, use one without breaking it, or even wipe his own butt...

This story reminds me of a funny standup bit I saw once. Can't remember who the comic was, but he talked about the first time the guy must've realised he couldn't leave the house he'd have had to "call out fat" from work.

[Horse with no Name]

13. Not so funny--but incredibly sad-story

This man that weighed almost 800 pounds was admitted to our hospital.
Obviously he wouldn't fit on a stretcher, but the ambulance had to put the man on a tarp. This tarp was drug in by about 20 firemen.
DME (Durable medical equipment) companies also make a line of products they call "Big Boy".
Specialized beds on shock blocks, reinforced bedside commodes (basically it sits a little higher and is reinforced.)
Most people this size however, are dependent upon bedpans and urinals and cannot get up out of bed.
Most of them suffer serious skin breakdown because they cannot wipe themselves and the fecal material left on the skin breaks it down if it isn't cleansed.
It is incredibly sad.

[MindPilot]

4. how can anyone possibly eat that much?!

There was once a segment of IIRC the Donahue show where they had an extraordinarily large person on. They laid out on a long table all the food that person would eat in a day. A dozen eggs, couple pounds of bacon, a box of donuts, and on and on. I literally get nauseated even thinking about eating that much (I'm beginning to churn right now). And who can afford that kind of grocery bill?

[Horse with no Name]

9. You will find most in this situation are on Food Stamps.

However, you have to address the fact that most of these people eat compulsively as a disease rather than just because they are hungry.
Food has come to symbolize something meaningful in their life and they grasp on to it.

[question everything]

11. It is a combination of eating and lack of activity

The common wisdom is that a person needs, say 1,500 calories just for maintenance. Bullshit! If I eat more than 1200 a day I gain weight and I do move around

Thus, if you just lie in bed or barely move you probably need only 500 calories for maintenance. But, then, again, all that mass needs some sustaining.

And, I, too, got nauseated reading your deception..

[Horse with no Name]

14. Over eating like this is a disease

It isn't something as simple as watching your calories.
These people need some mental health treatment as well as a way to lose weight.
This is so much more than someone just hitting the ho-ho's because they are bored.

[ThomWV]

12. And This Has What To Do With Democracy?

I'm missing the linkage that makes his story somehow important to anyone.

[ScreamingMeemie]

15. This is General Discussion. Here in General Discussion, the pros

and cons of bariatric procedures have been battled before. A search of the term will bring up many a flamewar over it. I hope that answers your question. It may not be important to you, but it could be to someone else. Plus, we now live in an America where much is made of obesity. Health care costs etc....which are part of Democracy and politics. :hi:

[patricia92243]

16. Thank you, MrsGrumpy.

[question everything]

17. If you are going to be the monitor of this board

at least have a star by your name

You don't have to, but may give you some credibility