I do not understand why on the latest show they sent her home when they new and she even said her family was obese and had eating problems that would tempt her. How is that a supportive environment? I believe that was why she went away. She new she was better off going it alone. Why did they not see this and have a meeting with her family and explain how to support her?

tiffany was sent home because she had no support system there in houston and her family is about 4 hours away. she had no money for the liquid diet or the vitamins she would need after the surgery.
she went to houston without any preparation for the surgery, had never seen the doctors, no dieting or weight loss history and had no family or friends there. it was very unreasonable for her to have gone unprepared and the doctor was very kind to find her a surgeon in her home area who might be able to help.

Even through her family is obese and cooks all day which in turn makes them enablers, Tiffany is going to have to learn to stand firm and not let them sabotage her efforts. That is all part of the process of preparing for this type of life changing surgery.

Hi there! Love your handle, by the way. I understand how you feel. It is horrible knowing that Tiffany is in such desperate straits medically because of her obesity, and the doctors decided they could not help her. It's sad knowing that she will go home to a family that will not support her in better eating habits, and that, without a big change, she is going to be in even worse straits a year from now. But surgery in Houston wasn't the solution. Tiffany cannot take care of herself. She needs help even with hygiene. She can't reach her toenails to cut them. She can't reach other parts of her body either, that need tending more often than that. She has no money to buy the meds she'll need. Even if she did have the surgery, without proper education on this and preparation, she would be at high risk of stretching out her pouch and regaining the weight - and there are other nutritional concerns that have to be considered daily if she doesn't want to risk osteoporosis and other serious nutrition-deficiency-related issues later in life. She needs to understand this whole thing before she takes the plunge, and that's going to take more time than she really had, as far as staying in Houston with no money.

And Dr. Garth did say he's going to work to get her connected with a bariatric surgeon in her own area. Hopefully they can get her going with counseling, and educate her family as well on how to help and support her. She has a much better chance of success if she does this right.

I was also disappointed she had to go back home where temptation is going to be so hard to fight. It seems to me with the increase in people with morbid obesity that there would be more places like Brookhaven. Houston is so big you would just think they would have something like that and that I believe would be better for her. She could get good food, moral support from the different groups they have and there is a staff on duty 24/7 to help her. In some cases if you don't have insurance the gov't will pay for you to stay there.

My heart goes out to Tiffany. I don't understand why the doctors couldn't admit her and put her on the liquid diet. Geez, I don't think they would have gone broke doing that. Possibly in that time her insurance would come thru, if not, in the meantime they have made some progress. "First Do No Harm" that's the motto. I do believe in most cases the motto is "Show Me The Money." Even the Garth's do not do a thing without knowing they are going to get paid. Sad but true. In the meantime Tiffany may fall thru the cracks and never be treated. I pray someone will show her some kindness. Take care.

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I don't understand why the doctors couldn't admit her and put her on the liquid diet. Geez, I don't think they would have gone broke doing that.

why should the taxpayers cover a hospital bill for close to $1,000 a day plus the diet?
she hadn't made any attempt to do anything for herself prior going to houston- no diet, weight loss or exercise.
she needs to take some responsibility for herself for a change.

Weight loss is not something another person can do for you. You could put her in a hospital on shakes for a month, and she would lose weight, but sooner or later she has to go home, and the temptation would be there. You can give her weight loss surgery, but unless she's fully informed about the procedure and the changes she will need to make and unless she's fully compliant, she will eventually succumb to temptation and stretch out her new stomach pouch. She would then regain the weight and possible do herself great harm.

They were absolutely right. She needs to go home and be with her support structure - a family that loves her. She needs to connect with a local bariatric center, get counseling and nutritional instruction, probably take some courses on the surgery itself, and get prepared. She is highly motivated, but that alone won't make it work. She needs a lot more going for her if this is going to save her life.

They WERE showing her kindness by telling her that they'd help her get hooked up with a center where she lives. They are giving her the best possible chance at a good outcome - and they probably passed up some money to do that, since her procedure would've been covered by Medicaid.

Be fair to the docs.

As for Tiffany, she was compliant with the shakes. She was doing all the things she was told to do. At 500 lbs, you cannot exercise - not a lot, anyway. She needs a break too. She can't know what nobody's ever told her. But as motivated as she is, I'm guessing that with more time, she'll be a great candidate for WLS.

You're right tinlady97, I understand your point. However, I see so many people milking the system. Tiffany really hasn't made an effort to lose weight, but I believe she is at the point where she is ready to try. Don't know if you watch the people at Brookhaven, they have some people there who order take out and have gained and not lost, yet "the system" still pays for it. Medicare or whatever insurance they have. Don't they check these places? I can't believe they can be in these weight loss clinics for years and still have their insurance paying for it. Those are the ones that make me angry. I'm on Social Security and $100 a month is taken out for Medicare. I realize, it is there if I need it, but it only pays 20%, I have a supplement insurance that pays the rest and I have to pay a premium on that. So I am paying part of their bill and it's paying for those fools that stuff their faces and get paid to do it! There is something wrong with "the system." Take care.

Tiffany is probably on state aid. Her aid is for Louisianna and not Texas. Her aid would not have covered the hospital stay (which is probably why her family got her the apartment instead). I agree that she should have come to Texas more prepared. I also agree with Garth when he says "they listen when I call." I don't believe that Tiffany will slip through the cracks. We don't know who was watching the show or what kind of gifts she's been given since leaving the show. She may have already had surgery by now. Until they update her, we may never know.

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Originally posted by tootbuc:
You're right tinlady97, I understand your point. However, I see so many people milking the system. Tiffany really hasn't made an effort to lose weight, but I believe she is at the point where she is ready to try. Don't know if you watch the people at Brookhaven, they have some people there who order take out and have gained and not lost, yet "the system" still pays for it. Medicare or whatever insurance they have. Don't they check these places? I can't believe they can be in these weight loss clinics for years and still have their insurance paying for it. Those are the ones that make me angry. I'm on Social Security and $100 a month is taken out for Medicare. I realize, it is there if I need it, but it only pays 20%, I have a supplement insurance that pays the rest and I have to pay a premium on that. So I am paying part of their bill and it's paying for those fools that stuff their faces and get paid to do it! There is something wrong with "the system." Take care.

I watch the Brookhaven show, and I agree with you. It is irritating to watch these ppl sit back and order fast food and never work out, when all of the equipment is there for them, while my tax dollars pay for it. It's ridiculous. There was a show once that I watched where a woman had the WLS when she very obviously had no desire to eat right or work out. I really couldn't believe she was allowed to have the surgery under those conditions. And whats worse is our tax dollars probably paid for that as well!

As far as Tiffany goes. The last show I seen with her was when she was leaving to go to Tx. I never did know how it turned out with her! Thanx for the updates!

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while my tax dollars pay for it.

memdowling,
the people at brookhaven haven't worked in years so they don't contribute to the tax base at all.
i think they stay there because it doesn't cost them anything and they can hide from the real world. it's great they have money for take out food so they can get bigger and bigger while taxpayers foot the bill.

i think that place should be shut down and they can fend for themselves like the rest of us do everyday. they don't receive medical care so why are they there? they complain about the food and the staff and not many of them exercise so i don't see the point in giving them a place to hide. that administrator is making money and letting them
order take out food.

it's time for the taxpayers to stop supporting people who don't want to help themselves.

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Originally posted by frank921:

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while my tax dollars pay for it.

memdowling,
the people at brookhaven haven't worked in years so they don't contribute to the tax base at all.
i think they stay there because it doesn't cost them anything and they can hide from the real world. it's great they have money for take out food so they can get bigger and bigger while taxpayers foot the bill.

i think that place should be shut down and they can fend for themselves like the rest of us do everyday. they don't receive medical care so why are they there? they complain about the food and the staff and not many of them exercise so i don't see the point in giving them a place to hide. that administrator is making money and letting them
order take out food.

it's time for the taxpayers to stop supporting people who don't want to help themselves.

I completely agree, although I don't think the facility should be shut down completely. It seems to be helping some people greatly, but for those who just lie in bed eating takeout should be discharged and sent home. If they don't want to work, they don't deserve the help.