It’s called eating a proper diet and moving around people. Shove less down your pie-hole and move more. I guarantee you’ll lose weight. And always consult a physician during the process to ensure you’re still fueling your body properly. I don’t know much about the type of surgery performed here, so have no opinion on the case itself other than had the teen: 1)not been allowed to get morbidly obese and; 2)been put on a proper diet and moved more; this wouldn’t have happened.
AMEN lastbat! That mother should have been cited as unfit for allowing her son to get to that point. Now she is trying to profit from her own lack of parenting.
He was a football player (linebacker) and weight lifter- have you seen the stats on linebackers in HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL? A big part of why I hope my son never plays is that they are constantly being told that if they weigh under 300 lbs, they don’t stand a chance of playing in college.
The average linebacker in high school is well over 330lbs. These are teenagers being told to pack on the pounds.
Millions of teenagers that do what their coaches tell them to and don’t get into college face the prospect of having to lose well over a hundred pounds. And no idea how to do it, since they’ve spent the better part of their adolescence trying to gain weight.
If you read the stats on high school football and the emphasis on gaining weight, you might not be so quick to judge his mother.
Not saying I agree with it. Just saying that it happens.
My husband had gastric bypass surgery June of 2007. He was 420 lbs. and has lost 220 lbs. He has never been this small in all of his adult life. Just to get to the surgery you must endure months of psychological evaluations, diets monitored by dieticians, medical tests to evaluate your fitness for the surgery and group therapy.
It is not an easy decision as there are very grave risks.
I understand it is hard for many people that have never been that heavy to understand that tradition weight loss is not an option when you get that heavy. I had a very hard time understanding why my husband couldn’t just loose the weight. But eventually the weight makes you so lethargic that just eating a “sensible” meal puts on extra weight.
I understand why the mother of this 19 year old let her son have the surgery. She is not a bad mother because she cared about her son. He is also 19, so it was more his decision than hers anyway.
The fact that his doctors didn’t check for leakage is a serious problem. With in the first month after my husband’s surgery, he saw the doctor 4 times and she did a thorough evaluation every time.
Glad the doctors are being punished for their mistake. Glad the award was not large.
I have handled many a failed bariatric surgery case over the years 1980 to 1999 and this one is egregious – just based on the fact it was a 19 year old patient. The fast fat fix surgery industry generates molti scudi for hospitals and the docs who perform the re-plumbing procedures. To ‘qualify’ one must be adjudged at least 100 pounds over “normal’ weight for height and body structure. Plus they must “pass’ a psychological screening administered by, of course, the team that solicited the patient for the surgery in the first place. If, however, the claim vs: the Doc was an ‘undiscovered post-op leak” then the case resolves into a straight up post-op surgical complication matter and the jury did not, in my opinion, over-reach in the award
Ah, but traditional weight-loss is feasible for people of any weight as long as they can physically move. Lethargy is something that can be overcome by sheer will-power. We all, regardless of our weight and physical fitness, experience days when we just don’t feel as energized as we normally do. It takes willpower to push on and move. That’s not saying drive yourself to exhaustion, but move.
And really, that’s all it is – move. You don’t have to run, you don’t have to join a gym, lift weights or do anything else the television tries to sell us. You just have to move. That might mean walking to change the t.v. channel instead of using the remote. Watch television standing up. Eat standing up. Park further from the door when you go shopping. All of these will help with weight loss. And obese people should probably not try to drop over a 1,000 calories a day from their diet. It’s good enough, and healthier, to drop 500 calories a day. Most people don’t even notice the loss of 500 calories a day and they drop a pound a week. (3,500 calorie deficit over time = 1 pound of weight lost in that time span)
Part of the problem, in general, that we see in America is we expect instant results with our bodies. Dropping a pound or two a week is healthy; dropping 10 pounds a week is not. Patience and perserverence are key.
And I do blame the mother and father for this particular case because it is very doubtful the kid became morbidly obese just in his adulthood. They needed to teach him good habits while he was young so he wouldn’t get that way in the first place.
I’m with LastBat and C regarding how the mother allowed her son to reach that weight in the first place. At 443 pounds this kid was morbidly obese and probably had come contributing conditions. There’s obviously something at play here we don’t know about since the $1M settlement isn’t that high for a wrongful death suit. I still have a problem with awarding the survivors in alleged med-mal cases. People keep swearing nobody can put a price on the life of loved one but that’s exactly what they do in these suits. How does a financial windfall make them feel better about what happened? They aren’t punishing the doctors since their med-mal insurance covers the settlement. It only drives up the cost of medical services. We need a better way to address these kinds of things but I don’t see any coming in our lifetime since the lawyers aren’t likely to step back from their money trough.
Our legal system is well-rooted in “compensation” for the injured and I can deal with that. What I can’t deal with is enriching the survivors. “Gee, I watched my son gain 443 pounds and he died while trying to artificially control his weight. But…..I’m going to Disneyland”>
I think we justify paying survivors money by saying they have been injured. Though in this case any “injury” would be purely emotional in many cases. Even for those cases wherein the primary earner is killed I can’t see anything past a couple months support while people get on their feet. Sometimes life sucks and you don’t get to keep your standard of living.
I think the biggest problem is the only thing we have to throw at these cases is money. And we don’t know where to throw it to. Unfortunately I’m not smart enough to come up with a better solution; I only know there is one out there.
I think it is wonderful how people who have never been 420 + lbs know exactly what it is like and can tell thoes that have been there exactly how to loose the weight.
I congratulate everyone commenting for never being in that situation. It is horrible to watch for everyone. Yes you can move more, but what about when the weight causes you back problems, knee problems, vascualr problems, etc. And what about the multitude of doctors that descriminate against you just because you’re obese. So they won’t help you the way they will help someone that is not obese.
It is a great idea, the slow weight loss. It works very well for most. But when you are very close to having a heart attack or you could loose a leg because your veins are so tight slow weight loss is not an option.
So again I say, it is wonderful for thoes that have never been there to know exactly what it is like and know exactly how to fix it.
When the primary earner is the victim, I do believe the victim’s family should be entitled to what he would have earned over the course of a natural career in their profession.
An engineer making $250,000 a year married to a stay at home mother with three kids- she should lose her home or end up in a 1bdrm apt becuase of someone else’s mistake? I think not. And the victim’s life insurance doesn’t come into play when his death is someone else’s fault, IMHO. Not when determining who is responsible and who should have to step in and take care of the victim’s family.
1) Bad parenting. These parents should be taken to task for not watching our for the best health interests of their children.
2) Slightly bad science. While weight is one factor in determining obesity, body composition needs to be taken into account. I didn’t see mention of body composition numbers in any of the articles (though I may have missed it). I’m not saying it’s good for a 16- or 17-year old kid to be 260lbs; but I am saying it’s healthier to be 260lbs at 12% body fat than 260lbs at 30% body fat.
3) Societal issues. This could be a rant in itself, but the lure is the millions of dollars made in the entertainment industry. That drives people to do all sorts of bad things to themselves. We as a society place abnormally large value on those that provide the least to the real productivity of our nation. It’s hard not to do whatever it takes to get a piece of that.
Dawn I have whats called a TV. NFL linebackers usually weigh about 240. Look it up honey, you are making a fool of yourself arguing over stuff that any idiot knows.
260 for a pro linebacker is HUGE.
The Buffalo Bills had 2 last year that weighed 220.
I would do anything I could to avoid surgery, especially if I was 19. I would even staple Dawn inside my stomach if thats what it took. While there she could regale me with sizes and statistics about 300 pound high school linebackers, if there are any. Talk about ‘supersize it’.
(I really should have brought a book for lunch today)
We are showing compassion. Nobody has called overweight people names; nobody has said that losing any amount of weight is easy (it’s simple, but not easy); nobody has said there aren’t barriers. What people have said it that it takes a lot of willpower and effort. There are barriers to the obese and the discrimination is all legal. That part sucks. But the solution is as simple as calories in must be less than calories out. How to do that is the hard part.
Most of us grew up being told to clean our plates, that starving children in China would love our largesse, that eating more was what we needed to do. We also grew up with a food industry that has become very adept at making foods that should be healthy very calorie dense and unhealthy. It takes knowledge and vigilence to stay on top of your health these days. Especially for men since we, as a culture, think that a 16oz steak (a full pound of meat!) is a single serving and should be consumed with all the trimmings; eating anything less makes you less of a man. That’s a little over-the-top, but not by much. Anybody who recognizes they were on an unhealthy track and fixes it deserves some kudos.
I’m not much of a women’s libber, but every topic that is commented on seems to change from the main issue to woman bashing. I noticed this yesterday a lot on the NH employees who were fired.
I sure I hope I don’t work with you guys as I see bias is alive and well in the insurance community.
Compassion- nice word, but you won’t find much on this board.
I cited statistics and I was insulted. Their minds are made up and we are just wasting our breath.
They (especially Gil, lastbat, and John) amuse themselves by pointing fingers at others who are less fortunate.
I didn’t know you were less fortunate. Really, how WOULD I know? I just thought the idea of you stapled in my stomach was not only novel but cavalier. But if I had known you were less fortunate I still would have thought that, but I wouldnt have shared. Again, my bad.
I thought this was going to be an interesting debate. Not an insult hurling tirade of macho men trying to sound intelligent.
I cited stats. I gave links to articles to support my statements. Guess when you have no defense, you take a blind offense. You can point fingers and thump your chest at me all you want. The facts are still there. Guess you were a wrestler when I was on the debate team?
I still believe that being a football player and weight lifter had a lot to do with that kid’s size.
Sure – the doctors were not at all at fault in this – (hope the sarcasm comes across in writing) “…He played football for St. Joseph’s High School in Montvale and was a state weight-lifting champion…Three days after his discharge, however, he was back in the hospital with severe stomach pain. He returned several times for treatment, she said. At one point, doctors found more than a gallon of fluid in his stomach. Lesnevich argues that this was caused by a leak from a defective surgery, a leak that went undetected because doctors failed to give Leonard LaBeur a CAT scan”
I just realized I typed linebacker in my original comment instead of linemen. You think I would have said the average running back weighed 250.
Forgive me, or brilliant makers of no mistakes, for typing too fast while I’m trying to get 20 things done at once.
Thank you Dawn! It is about time woman out there say someting about “people” with nothing better to do than insult us with their lame comments. I scan these comments occasionally but rarly do now days because of “people” who through in their two cents , which is worth nothing to the insurance community.
Did I type ‘staple Dawn in my stomach?’
I meant ‘mechanically fasten Dawn in my stomach, maybe with threaded fasteners’.
Geez, I can’t believe you people are so sensitive.
D, in the name of all thats holy, activate spellcheck.
Dawn, I never insulted you and I took the time to read the articles you cited – hence my comment on those articles.
I stated in my first comment that I don’t know enough about this particular procedure to comment on the case. And I still don’t. What I do know is that being that big is not healthy in the main. I also assume that since he went in to have his stomach altered to lose weight that he was not all ripped lean muscle and bone – that he was obese and over-fat.
It would be a rare case indeed if he gained all the weight while an adult. So I’m assuming his parents were not watching out for him during his teenage years and allowed him to get big without intervening effectively. The sports he played in may, and probably did, have an effect on his decisions, but his parents also failed to guide him appropriately and effectively. I don’t place the entire blame on them because the zeitgeist of America does place a lot of value on athletes and puts out some very disturbing thoughts of what athletes should look like. And then there’s the responsibility that should be assigned to the kid because nobody held him down and force-fed him.
People who become morbidly obese and wish to become healthy do need compassion. They also need to be held accountable for their own actions. Just because this is a sensitive subject does not mean we shouldn’t be frank about the issue. We should be frank because of how sensitive the subject is. *****-footing around helps nobody.
Weight is a sensitive issue with me, to be honest. I’ve always battled with it. (years of steroid asthma meds loooooooong before they realized how bad they are for you probably had a lot to do with it)
So I have done the research on it, more to find ways to fight the ‘fight’ myself more then anything else. The people on this board would point at my best friend and laugh or make horrid remarks because she is on steroids almost every day of her life due to Lupus and her weight shows the results. Gil would have a field day with her. But hey, she’s alive, which is more then the doctors thought she would be this far down the road, so the h* l l with them.
I apologize I took any of your comments out of context.
Every once in a while the vicious attacks on this board really hit a sore spot and I tend to go ‘ballistic’.
lastbat, you really shouldn’t comment on subjects where you have no knowledge, like this surgery. I fought weight my entire life. When I was 49 my doctor told me that I have the surgery or be dead in a few years. Big choice. I actually have heard uninformed and unsympathetic people say stupid stuff like the surgery is “cheating” and you should only do it the “right” way. You and people who think they are entitled to comment on the “right” way of losing weight are idiots and need to shut their traps. I lost 170 pounds and weigh less now than I did my senior year in high school. My health is great and my life has significantly improved due to this surgery. Are there risks? There are risks getting in the shower in the morning. Life is a risk. Take a look at diet statistics sometime. Almost nobody who diets to lose obese amounts of weight actually keeps it off. The surgery works, it helps people live longer and more satisfying lives. Uninformed and pompus morons such as you make me ill. Maybe I can sue you for emotional injuries.
Nobody, there is no need to resort to insults. I stated I can’t comment on the surgery because I don’t know enough about it. I don’t know the risks, the procedure, how often the patient should be checked out, how long such checkups should take, how many there should be, what they entail, what goes into recommending the procedure or anything else regarding the procedure. So I didn’t. I have no idea if the jury got this one right or not. I have no idea if the doctors did their job. So I didn’t comment on it.
What I did comment on is how this could have been prevented from the get-go in the majority of cases. I used generalizations because they are generally true. There will always be exceptions to every rule but we can’t necessarily address every exception. There are people taking certain medications that make it near-impossible to maintain the body composition they desire; people with thyroid issues; people with metabolism issues; people with physical ailments that prevent movement; people with digestive tract issues; the list goes on. But in main, generally speaking, the comments I made were spot on and accurate.
To call me uninformed is a huge leap on your part as you know nothing about my life regarding this issue. I’ll cop to pompous because that’s an opinion of my tone. I make no assumptions about the lives of others posting and ask they make no assumptions about mine. Address your comments to the substance of my comments or I ask you to not address me at all.
Your earlier comments to me sounded and were insulting to me and any others who struggle with weight. I have heard and felt every insult possible from people who assume that overweight people are simply weak willed. You don’t know what it’s like and should not comment on things you don’t understand. I have been looked on as less than human in my life because of my weight problems. Who cares why there is a weight problem? If this helps, regardless of the opinion of others, it should be done if that’s what will help. Your comments indicate you have no clue as to the world of the obese person and should not feel as though you can tell us what to do and why. Sorry you find this personally insulting. You just simply stuck your opinion in where is isn’t welcome. That’s my opinion.
I commend anyone that has battled with obesity and won!!! Great job. My husband battled with it from grade school and just delt with it because he was treated so rudely by so many doctors. He & I researched gastric bypass surgery for years and we were never quite sure it was right. But then we had a son and a great reason for my husband to live for as long as he could. We, wrongly, believed that our son would be able to deal with daddy’s weight. And he didn’t seem to care until a friend at daycare made fun of him because dad is fat. My 4 year old was so devistated that he made me promis that daddy would not pick him up from school again.
That was the last straw. After pushing his doctor, my husband was finally recommended for the surgery. He has lost 220 lbs since June 2007. He has never been this healthy and his confidence has increased 10 fold.
I am sure I over reacted a bit with some previous comments, but I have heard so many, from so many people, that he should have done it “the right way”. This was the right way for him and the BEST thing that he has ever done for us. We are so very proud of him.
It really irks me when people assume what others have gone through. For some reason there are a couple people who assume that those of us who champion proper diet and movement as the best way to lose weight have no idea what it’s like to be overweight, have no idea what the morbidly obese go through. I find it insulting.
Since others have revealed some of their stories – and in a, probably futile, attempt to get people to stop focusing on what they think they know about me in their comments – here is some of my story:
I recently lost 45lbs and 8% body fat going from obese to average, and am still working on it. I did it all through diet and exercise.
My favorite uncle has dropped over 100lbs and is still overweight (mid-200’s) from diet and increased movement. He has experienced discrimination from his doctor and in housing because of his weight, but he soldiers on. His movements are limited due to the effects of a lifetime of morbid obesity, but he realized he couldn’t keep eating a #10 can of chili every day and stay alive. He decided to eat better and move as much as he can. Martha Stewart is now a staple of his t.v. diet to learn how to live a better life.
My brother-in-law had stomach surgery to correct massive ulcers. He lost over 60lbs but has gained much of it back due to improper diet control and lack of movement. He recognizes this and is currently changing his diet and movement habits so he can be healthier for the son that recently came into his life.
My sister had stomach surgery to correct an acid reflux problem and dropped over 50lbs. She is currently losing weight through diet and movement to get back down to a healthy body composition. Even after the stomach surgery she was still obese, and recognized it. Pregnancy didn’t help with weight loss either (mild joke there).
My other sister has started eating better and purchased an elliptical machine to assist in moving more because she realized that with over 100 extra pounds she can’t keep up with her 9-year old daughter. She wants to stop having people look at her like she’s disgusting and she’s tired of feeling fat.
My brother lost about 60-80lbs (he never told me the final number) preparing to go into the army, and kept it off after coming back home by bicycling into work with a 30-mile round trip every day. He’s gained back 40lbs since he took a job that keeps him sitting down most of the day. He and his wife are both overweight and face discrimination from co-workers and others every day.
Is this enough personal information to allow me in the club to comment on the issue of weight? Or do I have to talk about the rest of my morbidly obese family. I can name maybe 10 people in my entire family line who aren’t morbidly obese, many of them 400lbs or heavier (I’m not exagerating). Are you happy now?
Yes, this is sarcastic. Hopefully at least one person who assumed about others’ lives prior to this post will think twice before assuming in the future.
Fine, you are entitled to comment on it. But I still think your earlier stated opinions are wrong. I don’t advocate surgery where the individual hasn’t committed to change their life along with surgery. I know a few who haven’t. I simply don’t understand your thought processes on “doing it the right way” with your family background. I sounds too much like those people I heard saying that it’s cheating somehow. However, I will grant you my personal permission to discuss the issue.
Nobody, I hope I’m right in interpreting the last line as sarcasm, because if it is it’s fantastic.
I have the views I have because of my family history. My family has a genetic tendancy toward obesity and those of us that have staved off or conquered it have done so through hard work. I have several family members that say they are the way they are not because of the obscene amounts of food they eat and lack of movement, but because their genes dictate it. These are people who polish off a #10 can of chili in a sitting and drink whole cases of soda in a day. It’s made me rather jaded in some respects; but I do recognize that other methods of weight management have come about for a reason.
Back to this specific case. The patient presented at the ER and the on call surgeon requested that the hospital radiology dept do a CAT scan. They refused because the table weight limit at Englewood is 275lbs and the pt was too fat to squeeze into the tube. Doing so could cause $100,000. plus damage to the machine. Covering surgeon then attempted to locate an alternate large CAT scan machine to forward pt but was unable to.
Bariatric surgery is dangerous and a last resort. Malpractice rates here in NJ are even higher than vascular. One last thing. The accepted standard of care for weight loss surgery requires a pre-surgical psychological evaluation which screens potential pts to insure they have first attempted all the standard weight loss efforts.
This is a sensitive issue for me. I was picked on as a child mercilessly for my weight. Even as a young boy I had a huge belly. I participated in all sorts of athletics to lose the weight.
But still my huge belly hung so low that it covered my private parts. This in conjunction with large man breats caused the boys in the lockeroom to question my gender.
I tried to pretend that it didnt bother me but it was tough. I was at a highschool football game, and my pants were hard to sinch up tight becasue of the excess weight, and a young boy pulled down my pants in front of all the cheerleaders and proclaimed I had no penis.
Because of my weight I struggled to bend over to pull up my pants at all and when I bent over there was a large groan from the whole crowd.
Throughout it all I percervered, but it wasnt easy getting over this behaviour.
I starved myself to lose weight, but it was always gained back.
I was never able to have intercourse with a women, until I brokedown and paid an extra $300 premium over the regular charge to a low class prostitute.
So you can only imagine how much I wanted to lose this weight. I tried everything and I WORKED HARD. So when the opportunity came along to have this surgery I jumped at it.
Now my life has turned around. At my last high school reunion no one recognized me, and I was even able to have sexual intercourse for the first time without paying for it. It was with one of the cheerleaders who used to laugh at me. I didnt even tell her who I was until it was over. It was one of the most satisfying moments of my life. Now I like to be on top.
So as you can imagine, I am in favor of this surgery no matter what the risks may be.
Uh…wow.
Congrats on finding your wiener and bagging the cheerleader. :gives two thumbs up:
Now, I’m not fat, so I’ve known exactly where my wiener has been for years; and I don’t mind sayin’, there’s been more than a few cheerleaders in that equation lemme tell you.
One interesting observation though; everybody I personally know that is fat eats WAY more than I do and is not near as active.
That being said; gastric bypass does nothing more than MANDATE that you can’t eat a lot of food. So when someone says that it is not the “right” way of losing weight or suggests that there are better and healthier alternatives, they are more than likely just trying to say that it is not doing anything that a properly motivated individual couldn’t do on their own while avoiding all the risks associated with the surgury.
Reason, in the main you are correct, but there are those who, for whatever reason, cannot control intake. It might be a metabolism or absorption issue, it might be a thyroid issue, it might be conditioning (they never learned what “full” feels like, so overeat because they no longer have the biological imperitive to stop eating), or a psychological reason.
I believe the majority of overweight people can take care of their weight with proper eating and movement. There are those that need the assistance.
If anyone ever does discover the elusive 300 lb high school linebacker, anywhere on the planet, I want to be the first to know. I don’t know about anyone else, but I thought Dawns innocent mistake about 300 lb linebackers was kind of funny and cute. I had no idea anyone would take themselves so seriously, after they make a mistake, that they would feel the need to explain themselves, and everything about themselves, in order to achieve just what exactly? This started as a story about a 400 lb kid who had gastric bypass and died from complications. Then somebody, for some reason, tried to blame it on high school football and the new phenomenon of 300 lb linebackers. Most guys know there are no 300 lb high school linebackers, and for that matter only a few high school players nationwide at any position who exceed 300 lbs. THEREIN IS THE HUMOR!
Again, lighten up. The lady doth protest too much.
It’s called eating a proper diet and moving around people. Shove less down your pie-hole and move more. I guarantee you’ll lose weight. And always consult a physician during the process to ensure you’re still fueling your body properly. I don’t know much about the type of surgery performed here, so have no opinion on the case itself other than had the teen: 1)not been allowed to get morbidly obese and; 2)been put on a proper diet and moved more; this wouldn’t have happened.
AMEN lastbat! That mother should have been cited as unfit for allowing her son to get to that point. Now she is trying to profit from her own lack of parenting.
He was a football player (linebacker) and weight lifter- have you seen the stats on linebackers in HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL? A big part of why I hope my son never plays is that they are constantly being told that if they weigh under 300 lbs, they don’t stand a chance of playing in college.
The average linebacker in high school is well over 330lbs. These are teenagers being told to pack on the pounds.
Millions of teenagers that do what their coaches tell them to and don’t get into college face the prospect of having to lose well over a hundred pounds. And no idea how to do it, since they’ve spent the better part of their adolescence trying to gain weight.
If you read the stats on high school football and the emphasis on gaining weight, you might not be so quick to judge his mother.
Not saying I agree with it. Just saying that it happens.
Not knowing all the details, but have to questions why three doctors would recommend surgery for a 19 yr old boy.
I imagine this was an elective surgery. Why not try a diet first?
I could see a malpractice suit just for recommending the surgery, let alone the outcome.
Sorry Dawn, but the average highschool linebacker weighs around 200 lb’s.
The average NFL defensive lineman might weigh close to 330 lbs.
My husband had gastric bypass surgery June of 2007. He was 420 lbs. and has lost 220 lbs. He has never been this small in all of his adult life. Just to get to the surgery you must endure months of psychological evaluations, diets monitored by dieticians, medical tests to evaluate your fitness for the surgery and group therapy.
It is not an easy decision as there are very grave risks.
I understand it is hard for many people that have never been that heavy to understand that tradition weight loss is not an option when you get that heavy. I had a very hard time understanding why my husband couldn’t just loose the weight. But eventually the weight makes you so lethargic that just eating a “sensible” meal puts on extra weight.
I understand why the mother of this 19 year old let her son have the surgery. She is not a bad mother because she cared about her son. He is also 19, so it was more his decision than hers anyway.
The fact that his doctors didn’t check for leakage is a serious problem. With in the first month after my husband’s surgery, he saw the doctor 4 times and she did a thorough evaluation every time.
Glad the doctors are being punished for their mistake. Glad the award was not large.
I ate so much I busted the staples and gained the weight back.
I have handled many a failed bariatric surgery case over the years 1980 to 1999 and this one is egregious – just based on the fact it was a 19 year old patient. The fast fat fix surgery industry generates molti scudi for hospitals and the docs who perform the re-plumbing procedures. To ‘qualify’ one must be adjudged at least 100 pounds over “normal’ weight for height and body structure. Plus they must “pass’ a psychological screening administered by, of course, the team that solicited the patient for the surgery in the first place. If, however, the claim vs: the Doc was an ‘undiscovered post-op leak” then the case resolves into a straight up post-op surgical complication matter and the jury did not, in my opinion, over-reach in the award
I’d like to see that research…linebackers do not weigh more than 275 lbs, let alone 330.
Ah, but traditional weight-loss is feasible for people of any weight as long as they can physically move. Lethargy is something that can be overcome by sheer will-power. We all, regardless of our weight and physical fitness, experience days when we just don’t feel as energized as we normally do. It takes willpower to push on and move. That’s not saying drive yourself to exhaustion, but move.
And really, that’s all it is – move. You don’t have to run, you don’t have to join a gym, lift weights or do anything else the television tries to sell us. You just have to move. That might mean walking to change the t.v. channel instead of using the remote. Watch television standing up. Eat standing up. Park further from the door when you go shopping. All of these will help with weight loss. And obese people should probably not try to drop over a 1,000 calories a day from their diet. It’s good enough, and healthier, to drop 500 calories a day. Most people don’t even notice the loss of 500 calories a day and they drop a pound a week. (3,500 calorie deficit over time = 1 pound of weight lost in that time span)
Part of the problem, in general, that we see in America is we expect instant results with our bodies. Dropping a pound or two a week is healthy; dropping 10 pounds a week is not. Patience and perserverence are key.
And I do blame the mother and father for this particular case because it is very doubtful the kid became morbidly obese just in his adulthood. They needed to teach him good habits while he was young so he wouldn’t get that way in the first place.
I’m with LastBat and C regarding how the mother allowed her son to reach that weight in the first place. At 443 pounds this kid was morbidly obese and probably had come contributing conditions. There’s obviously something at play here we don’t know about since the $1M settlement isn’t that high for a wrongful death suit. I still have a problem with awarding the survivors in alleged med-mal cases. People keep swearing nobody can put a price on the life of loved one but that’s exactly what they do in these suits. How does a financial windfall make them feel better about what happened? They aren’t punishing the doctors since their med-mal insurance covers the settlement. It only drives up the cost of medical services. We need a better way to address these kinds of things but I don’t see any coming in our lifetime since the lawyers aren’t likely to step back from their money trough.
Our legal system is well-rooted in “compensation” for the injured and I can deal with that. What I can’t deal with is enriching the survivors. “Gee, I watched my son gain 443 pounds and he died while trying to artificially control his weight. But…..I’m going to Disneyland”>
lastbat thinks hes fricken Jack Lelane. Or Jared or something. You should cool it last bat.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article.aspx?articleID=070923_2_B1_World84006
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070301142614AAqcG1N
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/16772755/
I think we justify paying survivors money by saying they have been injured. Though in this case any “injury” would be purely emotional in many cases. Even for those cases wherein the primary earner is killed I can’t see anything past a couple months support while people get on their feet. Sometimes life sucks and you don’t get to keep your standard of living.
I think the biggest problem is the only thing we have to throw at these cases is money. And we don’t know where to throw it to. Unfortunately I’m not smart enough to come up with a better solution; I only know there is one out there.
I think it is wonderful how people who have never been 420 + lbs know exactly what it is like and can tell thoes that have been there exactly how to loose the weight.
I congratulate everyone commenting for never being in that situation. It is horrible to watch for everyone. Yes you can move more, but what about when the weight causes you back problems, knee problems, vascualr problems, etc. And what about the multitude of doctors that descriminate against you just because you’re obese. So they won’t help you the way they will help someone that is not obese.
It is a great idea, the slow weight loss. It works very well for most. But when you are very close to having a heart attack or you could loose a leg because your veins are so tight slow weight loss is not an option.
So again I say, it is wonderful for thoes that have never been there to know exactly what it is like and know exactly how to fix it.
When the primary earner is the victim, I do believe the victim’s family should be entitled to what he would have earned over the course of a natural career in their profession.
An engineer making $250,000 a year married to a stay at home mother with three kids- she should lose her home or end up in a 1bdrm apt becuase of someone else’s mistake? I think not. And the victim’s life insurance doesn’t come into play when his death is someone else’s fault, IMHO. Not when determining who is responsible and who should have to step in and take care of the victim’s family.
See the links below- in my previous post.
But I’ve seen it on the news, CNN, MSNBC, and other health channels. The average weight for the high school linebacker is rising at an alarming rate.
Wow, women really dont know football at all.
So we have a couple things going on here:
1) Bad parenting. These parents should be taken to task for not watching our for the best health interests of their children.
2) Slightly bad science. While weight is one factor in determining obesity, body composition needs to be taken into account. I didn’t see mention of body composition numbers in any of the articles (though I may have missed it). I’m not saying it’s good for a 16- or 17-year old kid to be 260lbs; but I am saying it’s healthier to be 260lbs at 12% body fat than 260lbs at 30% body fat.
3) Societal issues. This could be a rant in itself, but the lure is the millions of dollars made in the entertainment industry. That drives people to do all sorts of bad things to themselves. We as a society place abnormally large value on those that provide the least to the real productivity of our nation. It’s hard not to do whatever it takes to get a piece of that.
Dawn I have whats called a TV. NFL linebackers usually weigh about 240. Look it up honey, you are making a fool of yourself arguing over stuff that any idiot knows.
260 for a pro linebacker is HUGE.
The Buffalo Bills had 2 last year that weighed 220.
You make vast assumptions about the lives of those posting, SP.
How can you tell from the bits and bytes transmitted that other people haven’t been throught the same thing? You can’t.
I would do anything I could to avoid surgery, especially if I was 19. I would even staple Dawn inside my stomach if thats what it took. While there she could regale me with sizes and statistics about 300 pound high school linebackers, if there are any. Talk about ‘supersize it’.
You’re right. I can’t tell who has gone through weight loss issues. I can tell who appreas to think they know everything there is to weight loss.
Compassion when talking about a VERY sensitive subjust would be nice.
(I really should have brought a book for lunch today)
We are showing compassion. Nobody has called overweight people names; nobody has said that losing any amount of weight is easy (it’s simple, but not easy); nobody has said there aren’t barriers. What people have said it that it takes a lot of willpower and effort. There are barriers to the obese and the discrimination is all legal. That part sucks. But the solution is as simple as calories in must be less than calories out. How to do that is the hard part.
Most of us grew up being told to clean our plates, that starving children in China would love our largesse, that eating more was what we needed to do. We also grew up with a food industry that has become very adept at making foods that should be healthy very calorie dense and unhealthy. It takes knowledge and vigilence to stay on top of your health these days. Especially for men since we, as a culture, think that a 16oz steak (a full pound of meat!) is a single serving and should be consumed with all the trimmings; eating anything less makes you less of a man. That’s a little over-the-top, but not by much. Anybody who recognizes they were on an unhealthy track and fixes it deserves some kudos.
I’m not much of a women’s libber, but every topic that is commented on seems to change from the main issue to woman bashing. I noticed this yesterday a lot on the NH employees who were fired.
I sure I hope I don’t work with you guys as I see bias is alive and well in the insurance community.
Compassion- nice word, but you won’t find much on this board.
I cited statistics and I was insulted. Their minds are made up and we are just wasting our breath.
They (especially Gil, lastbat, and John) amuse themselves by pointing fingers at others who are less fortunate.
I didn’t know you were less fortunate. Really, how WOULD I know? I just thought the idea of you stapled in my stomach was not only novel but cavalier. But if I had known you were less fortunate I still would have thought that, but I wouldnt have shared. Again, my bad.
Gee, a funny. *rme*
I thought this was going to be an interesting debate. Not an insult hurling tirade of macho men trying to sound intelligent.
I cited stats. I gave links to articles to support my statements. Guess when you have no defense, you take a blind offense. You can point fingers and thump your chest at me all you want. The facts are still there. Guess you were a wrestler when I was on the debate team?
I still believe that being a football player and weight lifter had a lot to do with that kid’s size.
Dawn, you’re not alone on this one.
Sure – the doctors were not at all at fault in this – (hope the sarcasm comes across in writing) “…He played football for St. Joseph’s High School in Montvale and was a state weight-lifting champion…Three days after his discharge, however, he was back in the hospital with severe stomach pain. He returned several times for treatment, she said. At one point, doctors found more than a gallon of fluid in his stomach. Lesnevich argues that this was caused by a leak from a defective surgery, a leak that went undetected because doctors failed to give Leonard LaBeur a CAT scan”
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1992294/posts
I just realized I typed linebacker in my original comment instead of linemen. You think I would have said the average running back weighed 250.
Forgive me, or brilliant makers of no mistakes, for typing too fast while I’m trying to get 20 things done at once.
Thank you Dawn! It is about time woman out there say someting about “people” with nothing better to do than insult us with their lame comments. I scan these comments occasionally but rarly do now days because of “people” who through in their two cents , which is worth nothing to the insurance community.
Did I type ‘staple Dawn in my stomach?’
I meant ‘mechanically fasten Dawn in my stomach, maybe with threaded fasteners’.
Geez, I can’t believe you people are so sensitive.
D, in the name of all thats holy, activate spellcheck.
Dawn, I never insulted you and I took the time to read the articles you cited – hence my comment on those articles.
I stated in my first comment that I don’t know enough about this particular procedure to comment on the case. And I still don’t. What I do know is that being that big is not healthy in the main. I also assume that since he went in to have his stomach altered to lose weight that he was not all ripped lean muscle and bone – that he was obese and over-fat.
It would be a rare case indeed if he gained all the weight while an adult. So I’m assuming his parents were not watching out for him during his teenage years and allowed him to get big without intervening effectively. The sports he played in may, and probably did, have an effect on his decisions, but his parents also failed to guide him appropriately and effectively. I don’t place the entire blame on them because the zeitgeist of America does place a lot of value on athletes and puts out some very disturbing thoughts of what athletes should look like. And then there’s the responsibility that should be assigned to the kid because nobody held him down and force-fed him.
People who become morbidly obese and wish to become healthy do need compassion. They also need to be held accountable for their own actions. Just because this is a sensitive subject does not mean we shouldn’t be frank about the issue. We should be frank because of how sensitive the subject is. *****-footing around helps nobody.
Weight is a sensitive issue with me, to be honest. I’ve always battled with it. (years of steroid asthma meds loooooooong before they realized how bad they are for you probably had a lot to do with it)
So I have done the research on it, more to find ways to fight the ‘fight’ myself more then anything else. The people on this board would point at my best friend and laugh or make horrid remarks because she is on steroids almost every day of her life due to Lupus and her weight shows the results. Gil would have a field day with her. But hey, she’s alive, which is more then the doctors thought she would be this far down the road, so the h* l l with them.
I apologize I took any of your comments out of context.
Every once in a while the vicious attacks on this board really hit a sore spot and I tend to go ‘ballistic’.
I have a lot of respect for waht you have gone through Dawn, you seem like a really cool person. Sorry.
lastbat, you really shouldn’t comment on subjects where you have no knowledge, like this surgery. I fought weight my entire life. When I was 49 my doctor told me that I have the surgery or be dead in a few years. Big choice. I actually have heard uninformed and unsympathetic people say stupid stuff like the surgery is “cheating” and you should only do it the “right” way. You and people who think they are entitled to comment on the “right” way of losing weight are idiots and need to shut their traps. I lost 170 pounds and weigh less now than I did my senior year in high school. My health is great and my life has significantly improved due to this surgery. Are there risks? There are risks getting in the shower in the morning. Life is a risk. Take a look at diet statistics sometime. Almost nobody who diets to lose obese amounts of weight actually keeps it off. The surgery works, it helps people live longer and more satisfying lives. Uninformed and pompus morons such as you make me ill. Maybe I can sue you for emotional injuries.
Nobody, there is no need to resort to insults. I stated I can’t comment on the surgery because I don’t know enough about it. I don’t know the risks, the procedure, how often the patient should be checked out, how long such checkups should take, how many there should be, what they entail, what goes into recommending the procedure or anything else regarding the procedure. So I didn’t. I have no idea if the jury got this one right or not. I have no idea if the doctors did their job. So I didn’t comment on it.
What I did comment on is how this could have been prevented from the get-go in the majority of cases. I used generalizations because they are generally true. There will always be exceptions to every rule but we can’t necessarily address every exception. There are people taking certain medications that make it near-impossible to maintain the body composition they desire; people with thyroid issues; people with metabolism issues; people with physical ailments that prevent movement; people with digestive tract issues; the list goes on. But in main, generally speaking, the comments I made were spot on and accurate.
To call me uninformed is a huge leap on your part as you know nothing about my life regarding this issue. I’ll cop to pompous because that’s an opinion of my tone. I make no assumptions about the lives of others posting and ask they make no assumptions about mine. Address your comments to the substance of my comments or I ask you to not address me at all.
Your earlier comments to me sounded and were insulting to me and any others who struggle with weight. I have heard and felt every insult possible from people who assume that overweight people are simply weak willed. You don’t know what it’s like and should not comment on things you don’t understand. I have been looked on as less than human in my life because of my weight problems. Who cares why there is a weight problem? If this helps, regardless of the opinion of others, it should be done if that’s what will help. Your comments indicate you have no clue as to the world of the obese person and should not feel as though you can tell us what to do and why. Sorry you find this personally insulting. You just simply stuck your opinion in where is isn’t welcome. That’s my opinion.
I commend anyone that has battled with obesity and won!!! Great job. My husband battled with it from grade school and just delt with it because he was treated so rudely by so many doctors. He & I researched gastric bypass surgery for years and we were never quite sure it was right. But then we had a son and a great reason for my husband to live for as long as he could. We, wrongly, believed that our son would be able to deal with daddy’s weight. And he didn’t seem to care until a friend at daycare made fun of him because dad is fat. My 4 year old was so devistated that he made me promis that daddy would not pick him up from school again.
That was the last straw. After pushing his doctor, my husband was finally recommended for the surgery. He has lost 220 lbs since June 2007. He has never been this healthy and his confidence has increased 10 fold.
I am sure I over reacted a bit with some previous comments, but I have heard so many, from so many people, that he should have done it “the right way”. This was the right way for him and the BEST thing that he has ever done for us. We are so very proud of him.
It really irks me when people assume what others have gone through. For some reason there are a couple people who assume that those of us who champion proper diet and movement as the best way to lose weight have no idea what it’s like to be overweight, have no idea what the morbidly obese go through. I find it insulting.
Since others have revealed some of their stories – and in a, probably futile, attempt to get people to stop focusing on what they think they know about me in their comments – here is some of my story:
I recently lost 45lbs and 8% body fat going from obese to average, and am still working on it. I did it all through diet and exercise.
My favorite uncle has dropped over 100lbs and is still overweight (mid-200’s) from diet and increased movement. He has experienced discrimination from his doctor and in housing because of his weight, but he soldiers on. His movements are limited due to the effects of a lifetime of morbid obesity, but he realized he couldn’t keep eating a #10 can of chili every day and stay alive. He decided to eat better and move as much as he can. Martha Stewart is now a staple of his t.v. diet to learn how to live a better life.
My brother-in-law had stomach surgery to correct massive ulcers. He lost over 60lbs but has gained much of it back due to improper diet control and lack of movement. He recognizes this and is currently changing his diet and movement habits so he can be healthier for the son that recently came into his life.
My sister had stomach surgery to correct an acid reflux problem and dropped over 50lbs. She is currently losing weight through diet and movement to get back down to a healthy body composition. Even after the stomach surgery she was still obese, and recognized it. Pregnancy didn’t help with weight loss either (mild joke there).
My other sister has started eating better and purchased an elliptical machine to assist in moving more because she realized that with over 100 extra pounds she can’t keep up with her 9-year old daughter. She wants to stop having people look at her like she’s disgusting and she’s tired of feeling fat.
My brother lost about 60-80lbs (he never told me the final number) preparing to go into the army, and kept it off after coming back home by bicycling into work with a 30-mile round trip every day. He’s gained back 40lbs since he took a job that keeps him sitting down most of the day. He and his wife are both overweight and face discrimination from co-workers and others every day.
Is this enough personal information to allow me in the club to comment on the issue of weight? Or do I have to talk about the rest of my morbidly obese family. I can name maybe 10 people in my entire family line who aren’t morbidly obese, many of them 400lbs or heavier (I’m not exagerating). Are you happy now?
Yes, this is sarcastic. Hopefully at least one person who assumed about others’ lives prior to this post will think twice before assuming in the future.
Fine, you are entitled to comment on it. But I still think your earlier stated opinions are wrong. I don’t advocate surgery where the individual hasn’t committed to change their life along with surgery. I know a few who haven’t. I simply don’t understand your thought processes on “doing it the right way” with your family background. I sounds too much like those people I heard saying that it’s cheating somehow. However, I will grant you my personal permission to discuss the issue.
Amen lastbat. Haven’t read all the comments but I’m sure there’s one about a “thyroid” condition or some b.s. like that. Also agree with C.
Nobody, I hope I’m right in interpreting the last line as sarcasm, because if it is it’s fantastic.
I have the views I have because of my family history. My family has a genetic tendancy toward obesity and those of us that have staved off or conquered it have done so through hard work. I have several family members that say they are the way they are not because of the obscene amounts of food they eat and lack of movement, but because their genes dictate it. These are people who polish off a #10 can of chili in a sitting and drink whole cases of soda in a day. It’s made me rather jaded in some respects; but I do recognize that other methods of weight management have come about for a reason.
Back to this specific case. The patient presented at the ER and the on call surgeon requested that the hospital radiology dept do a CAT scan. They refused because the table weight limit at Englewood is 275lbs and the pt was too fat to squeeze into the tube. Doing so could cause $100,000. plus damage to the machine. Covering surgeon then attempted to locate an alternate large CAT scan machine to forward pt but was unable to.
Bariatric surgery is dangerous and a last resort. Malpractice rates here in NJ are even higher than vascular. One last thing. The accepted standard of care for weight loss surgery requires a pre-surgical psychological evaluation which screens potential pts to insure they have first attempted all the standard weight loss efforts.
This is a sensitive issue for me. I was picked on as a child mercilessly for my weight. Even as a young boy I had a huge belly. I participated in all sorts of athletics to lose the weight.
But still my huge belly hung so low that it covered my private parts. This in conjunction with large man breats caused the boys in the lockeroom to question my gender.
I tried to pretend that it didnt bother me but it was tough. I was at a highschool football game, and my pants were hard to sinch up tight becasue of the excess weight, and a young boy pulled down my pants in front of all the cheerleaders and proclaimed I had no penis.
Because of my weight I struggled to bend over to pull up my pants at all and when I bent over there was a large groan from the whole crowd.
Throughout it all I percervered, but it wasnt easy getting over this behaviour.
I starved myself to lose weight, but it was always gained back.
I was never able to have intercourse with a women, until I brokedown and paid an extra $300 premium over the regular charge to a low class prostitute.
So you can only imagine how much I wanted to lose this weight. I tried everything and I WORKED HARD. So when the opportunity came along to have this surgery I jumped at it.
Now my life has turned around. At my last high school reunion no one recognized me, and I was even able to have sexual intercourse for the first time without paying for it. It was with one of the cheerleaders who used to laugh at me. I didnt even tell her who I was until it was over. It was one of the most satisfying moments of my life. Now I like to be on top.
So as you can imagine, I am in favor of this surgery no matter what the risks may be.
Uh…wow.
Congrats on finding your wiener and bagging the cheerleader. :gives two thumbs up:
Now, I’m not fat, so I’ve known exactly where my wiener has been for years; and I don’t mind sayin’, there’s been more than a few cheerleaders in that equation lemme tell you.
One interesting observation though; everybody I personally know that is fat eats WAY more than I do and is not near as active.
That being said; gastric bypass does nothing more than MANDATE that you can’t eat a lot of food. So when someone says that it is not the “right” way of losing weight or suggests that there are better and healthier alternatives, they are more than likely just trying to say that it is not doing anything that a properly motivated individual couldn’t do on their own while avoiding all the risks associated with the surgury.
Reason, in the main you are correct, but there are those who, for whatever reason, cannot control intake. It might be a metabolism or absorption issue, it might be a thyroid issue, it might be conditioning (they never learned what “full” feels like, so overeat because they no longer have the biological imperitive to stop eating), or a psychological reason.
I believe the majority of overweight people can take care of their weight with proper eating and movement. There are those that need the assistance.
If anyone ever does discover the elusive 300 lb high school linebacker, anywhere on the planet, I want to be the first to know. I don’t know about anyone else, but I thought Dawns innocent mistake about 300 lb linebackers was kind of funny and cute. I had no idea anyone would take themselves so seriously, after they make a mistake, that they would feel the need to explain themselves, and everything about themselves, in order to achieve just what exactly? This started as a story about a 400 lb kid who had gastric bypass and died from complications. Then somebody, for some reason, tried to blame it on high school football and the new phenomenon of 300 lb linebackers. Most guys know there are no 300 lb high school linebackers, and for that matter only a few high school players nationwide at any position who exceed 300 lbs. THEREIN IS THE HUMOR!
Again, lighten up. The lady doth protest too much.