600-lb. Woman Closer to Getting Help

[Louisiana1976]

Winston-Salem, NC -- A 600-pound woman is fighting for her life from a hospital bed and desperately needs help raising money to get the help she needs.

We first told you about 47-year-old Sharon Purcell on Wednesday. She's been turned down by hundreds of rehabilitation centers because she's too large, but WFMY News 2's Ashley Smith sat down with Sharon again today. Purcell's family found a clinic in Illinois that will help, but that move requires a special ambulance that costs 6500 dollars. If they can't come up with 3250 dollars by Monday, Purcell will lose her spot.

"It's weird that 100 pounds goes to 2, 2 goes to 3, 4. I always wear a loose fitting shirt or something anyway, so the pounds didn't seem to amount up to me," said Sharon Purcell when she explains her weight gain. She said she didn't realize until she got to the hospital her body had grown to 623 pounds, "It was shattering. You know, you see people on tv and you think, 'God, how'd they get that way?' and then all of a sudden, you realize you are one of those people."

Purcell compares her relationship with food to that of an alcoholic or a smoker. And food left her body at such a size, her legs couldn't hold her up. When she stopped walking three years ago, it was her family that facilitated her addiction. "We wanted to make her happy, but now we want her to live. We see what we did was wrong," said Elizabeth McLaurin, her daughter.

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Here's more: http://www.digtriad.com/news/most_popular/article.aspx?storyid=130540&provider=top

[notesdev]

1. Let's see their finances

If the entire family has already liquidated every possible source of funds to help her, then it is appropriate to ask for outside help. But they'd better come out and prove it. If they caused the problem, and are asking total strangers to pay to solve the problem, while sitting on assets that could pay for the treatment, that's not cool.

And sadly, it is necessary these days to be cynical enough to assume that her family is hoarding assets to themselves and expecting someone else to pay for the problem they created.

[Mind_your_head]

2. That's harsh, Dave. eom

[notesdev]

4. You got to be, unfortunately

so much scamming going on, you can't trust anybody.

[Mind_your_head]

7. The BIGGEST SCAMMERS go unpunished....unrecognized as scammers!

for example: AIG

THAT's where we need to focus our disdain!!! Their THEFT is HUGE!!!! and unconscionable!

[notesdev]

9. I'm all over that

I've put out many a rant on AIG, Goldman, etc.

That disease has gone all the way through our society, though, from top to bottom. Can't trust anybody.

[Mind_your_head]

13. The 'lesson' is that you can't trust our SUPPOSEDLY TRUSTWORTHY

institutions.....banks, congress, et, al.

Our *trustworthy institutions* have REPEATEDLY lied and betrayed us taxpaying CITIZENS.

Mind_your_Head
(you & I are NOT consumers, even though we 'consume'.....we are CITIZENS....ENTITLED TO RIGHTS AND PRIVELEDGES.....ENTITLED TO RIGHTS AND PRIVLEDGES!)

We don't get any 'privledges' these days, we're only told to PAY...PAY....and then PAY SOMEMORE for NOTHING. I'm Mad as Hell!!! You should be too! :mad:

[Meldread]

5. I'm curious...

...would you say the same thing in the following situations.

1. They have a smoker who needs some type of medical care that will cost a large amount. The family had occasionally gone out to buy the smoker cigarettes. The family and the smoker claim they can't pay for the operation.

2. An alcoholic needs a liver transplant she can't pay for, and her family occasionally had gone out to buy her booze. They claim they can't pay for her operation.

I'm curious if you'd demand that they liquidate all their assets before asking for help.

If the answer is yes, what makes your position any different from the generic Republican position when it comes to such things? (As in, people should be forced right to the edge of bankruptcy before getting aid.) If the answer is no, then what makes this situation any different in your mind?

[notesdev]

6. Here's the difference

"occasionally"

In this case, it wasn't an occasion, it was a prerequisite for the problem being as bad as it is.

Now, if in your first case the person had become so disabled by emphysema that the only way she could get more cigs was for the family to buy them, and they did so for years, and then she got further smoking-related illnesses, yes, I'd take the same position.

Likewise, in the second case, if the person was dependent on others to feed the alcohol addiction, and they did, they need to take responsibility for their own actions.

There has got to be a point where people are held responsible for their own actions.

[Meldread]

12. I agree strongly with personal responsibility.

However, I really think that in this case there is a lack of knowledge. Most people don't understand that food can be addictive, and to get to 600lbs this woman obviously had to have some type of serious addiction.

Most people don't see it that way, just as most people don't know what is healthy for them to eat and what is slowly killing them. I'd be willing to wager that the bulk of the family "helping" her are also overweight themselves.

I really don't think this woman needs to go to a special hospital. I think her and her family need to be educated. Those types of hospitals often are ridiculous anyway and don't work. They generally operate off calorie restriction, and have a high failure rate.

Give her lean meats (fish, chicken, turkey, etc.), complex carbs in the way of fruit and veg, and teach her family how to prepare healthy meals. Then shun processed food and junk food, and she'll eventually begin to shed the pounds without having to resort to starvation. The only thing she'd need a doctor for outside of that is to monitor her for depression and other such problems. Especially in the beginning, she will be moody as hell and crave stuff like mad. It's just like a drug or alcoholism.

Once she can walk again, she'll likely also need physical therapy. She's going to have a long road to recovery, as it took years to put on 600lbs and it is going to take years to shed it off.

[roguevalley]

16. she also had to have serious family help. She couldn't walk at even

a lesser weight for a long time. I am always blown away at how a family will feed someone like this.

[peteykgirl]

19. fat gene

my best friend weighs 350lbs. she was almost 500lbs 2yrs ago. she's only 4'10",too. she has never eaten alot-no kidding. her mom was 5'tall and 5' wide, too. her daughter is just the same. her dad was 6'3" and SKINNY. her siblings are some fat and some normal. way years back she was a heavy drug user- never weighed less than 250lbs. but, she's never minded being 'fluffy'. she went to a dr. when she got diabetes and was 500lbs. to get the lap band surgeory. she needed help. the asshole told her to loose 50lbs. and not to come back til she did. PROVE to him she was serious about losing weight. isn't that what its for- to help people lose that are severly obese and can't do it by dieting? she's losing by using the Byetta shot for diabetes. i callled him a f$%&$ing jerk that day- he was speechless.

[liberalmuse]

15. Huh?

Why would that matter? If you don't want to give, don't give. However, some people enjoy being kind and compassionate and don't have to have someone's life history to give the homeless person a dollar or a family in need a couple hundred. The world would be a much better place if people were more compassionate and less bitter and paranoid.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Food can be an addiction

especially certain foods--sugar is one HUGE culprit. Some folks, once they start eating sugar, cannot make themselves stop. I know because I'm one of these people. I hate liquor and don't drink it--but I found out my body was taking the sugar and carbs I ate and turning it into alcohol inside my body! My doctor told me that some people with this problem have even been pulled over and taken in for DUI when all they had done was eaten a dozen pies or three pounds of fudge.

The lady needs to go cold turkey. That's what I did. There are things you can to to curb the effects of withdrawal--chromium being a biggie, as it regulates insulin levels. Vanadyl sulfate can also curb cravings. This person, if she's like me, should restrict sweeteners to stevia and xylitol--don't even use Splenda, because in me, at least, it has the same effect sugar has (once I start eating it, I can't stop).

Since she's immobile, it shouldn't be hard for her family to feed her only what she needs to stay alive. And surely there are MDs nearer to her who could help her with this. It can be done. No, I was never 600 pounds, but I was well over 200 and growing larger until I took matters in hand and consulted my doctor. Now I'm on an eating plan I can stick to the rest of my life, and my BMI (body mass index) is in NORMAL range!

[Meldread]

10. A lot of people don't understand how food addiction works.

While I've never heard of your specific condition, I'd say most people who are overweight suffer from a type of food addiction. Basically, when your body takes in fats and sugars (and carbs are reduced down to sugar in the body) the human brain produces chemicals known as dopamine and endorphins. These are hormones that can stimulate senses of happiness, calmness (when you are stressed), and leaving you feeling good overall. They also give a temporary surge of energy as the sugar hits the bloodstream, which unfortunately doesn't last long.

Most of our food is processed and various types of sugar and fats added. You'll find it in almost everything - read labels.

Like a drug high, eventually you need more and more to obtain the same level of feeling that you felt the first time. This is why people who call themselves "emotional eaters" go for stuff like junk food and stuff that's bad for them. Ice cream, fudge, cakes, cookies, all of those things are insanely high in sugar and fat.

A -good- diet is one balanced with lean protein (fish, chicken, turkey, etc), along side vegetables and fruit that act as complex carbohydrates. Complex carbs release slowly into the bloodstream avoiding the ups and downs typically experienced with simple carbs.

That's all this woman has to do. It's hard for some people, though, because it ***IS*** an addiction. She'll experience mood swings and cravings. She will also likely experience depressing, and most American's food pallid is not well adjusted to things like vegetables which takes some time.

However, she doesn't have to starve herself or count calories or anything like that.

People really don't understand that it's the food that we eat that's killing us, and the worst types of food (processed and junk food) is really the only type of food poor and lower middle class people can steadily afford.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

17. That's why I teach how to do moderate gardening

A window box or its equivalent is all it takes. And sprouting takes even less room. Either way, you get very fresh food, and once you've tasted that, you realize the junk food you've been eating is a drug.

[mopinko]

8. the trouble with this is, she still has to eat. you can stop drinking, you can

stop taking drugs, but you can't stop eating. my weight is normal, but i have been taking a medication that is making me crave sweets. ice cream especially for some reason. i put on 5 lb before i figured out what i was doing. it was really an eye opener for me to go through this. the specificity of it just pointed out to me just how complex the whole thing is.
hope this lady gets the help she needs.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

11. she can go on a diet gently

[auntAgonist]

22. I would think that at 600lbs she has tried EVERY diet

known.

diet gently? what's that?

I hope she gets the help she so desperately needs to stay alive and enjoy her life.

aA
kesha

[appamado amata padam]

14. My Dad

was "one of those people" who got up to 600-something lbs. It's impossible to describe how many different ways it messed him and the rest of the family up. I wish that we, as a society, could put the emphasis on how to treat people (of all different medical problems) first, and how to pay for it second. It seems like "we" somehow have been able to embark on a lot of other large endeavors, of much more debatable benefit, without much concern for where the money is going to come from.

[SweetDreams]

18. Sad and Glad

Sad story, hopefully she'll get some help.

[supernova]

20. I am glad she will be getting help now

Poor woman.

I wonder if they tried Brookhaven? (The place with the show on TLC) They seem to take a lot of cases that no one else wants to manage.

[Name removed]

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