I wasn't expecting James, but I couldn't turn away from his story.
But first... Spoilers!! It's extremely difficult for me to avoid spoilers, so be mindful of that fact before you read the rest of this blog post!
Now with that out of the way...
First off... When did "My 600-lb Life" become a two-hour program?
Second.... James struggled to lose weight -- any weight -- throughout that entire two-hour program. He's in his mid-40s and has gradually put on the weight over the years. When he was 42, he hurt his ankle and became bed-ridden. He hasn't been out of bed since then. His legs are covered by cellulite, which is weeping, raw, and painful. He survives through the efforts of his girlfriend and daughter.
Unfortunately, James has horrible eating habits, especially for somebody who doesn't move. And if his girlfriend doesn't cater to his food desires, he yells and screams at her. So nothing changes and he continues to consume more calories than most active people.
He eventually connects remotely with Dr. Younan Nowzaradan from Houston, TX, and is prescribed a 1200 calorie diet. The plan is for him to begin losing enough weight to travel more safely from Kentucky to Texas. Unfortunately, he doesn't lose any weight during the first four months of his diet. But he is able to eventually travel to Houston with some financial assistance from his family. Once he arrives in Texas, he discovers that he weighs 735 pounds.
Dr. Nowzaradan orders the family to a renewed diet after chewing out James and his girlfriend and after a short hospitalization. Unfortunately, James ends up putting on a huge amount of weight once he discharges back to his family's care. That part of the show made me physically sick.
James was hospitalized one more time, where he was able to lose more weight. He then went back home again and stalled with his weight loss -- though not as bad as the first time. By this point, Dr. Now gave up on his and discharged James from care.
This was probably the most depressing episode of "My 600-lb Life" that I've ever seen. Not every person featured on this program loses huge amounts of food, but I've never seen an episode where somebody ends up breaking even.
The program ended with one minor accomplishment: He's able to sit upright for the first time in years with help from two physical therapists and his girl friend. But he says that this is the motivation that he needs to restart his goal of getting his weight back down to 600 pounds.
Lastly, Husband Mark and I were talking about James' story tonight. We got to wondering about his severe celulitis and wondered if his cellulitis was preventing his weight loss later on. Like maybe he was absorbing fluid in his legs. Maybe.
Anyway, I hope that James is doing well. And I hope that he's finally begun losing weight so that he can finally get the surgical procedure needed to continue his weight loss journey and save what's left of his life.