Tonight on TLC their fan-favorite series My 600-lb Life airs with an all-new Wednesday, December 30, 2020, Season 9 Episode 1 and we have your My 600-lb Life recap below. On tonight’s My 600-lb Life season, 9 episodes 1 called “Samantha’s Story,” as per the TLC synopsis, “At nearly 1,000 pounds, Samantha is dangerously close to dying. To make matters worse, she’s paid to eat by making videos online. If Samantha doesn’t overcome her toxic relationship with food, she worries that she will leave her daughter motherless..”
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Samantha is in bed, she is crying. Her life is so miserable because she let her weight get out of control and it is getting harder and harder, every single day. She knows she is close to becoming bed ridden. She wishes her life was a nightmare that she could wake up from. It is getting harder to get out of bed. She lives by herself, in a one bedroom apartment. She is barely able to make it to the bathroom, she has a problem fitting through the door because of her stomach, it hangs really low. She is also having a hard time keeping clean, it is so hard that now she washed only every dour days.
It so hard and she hates that she let herself get to this point. If she falls in the bathroom, she is just going to stay there for God knows how long without a phone to call for help. She is constantly miserable. All she wants to do is think of ways to forget about her life, and that is when she eats. She has her food delivered and walking across the apartment to get it, is such a struggle. More than anything else, it is the feeling of being full that she loves. Food is so good to her, it fills her up and makes her feel the most comfort that she has ever felt. Then she is safe, no matter how much she eats, it is never enough.
Food has been the source of comfort in her life and she can’t remember ever being not overweight. Her parents got divorced, her dad was a violent drunk. He was wonderful sober, but when he was drunk, he was horrific. At seven, she already weight one hundred and fifty pounds. Her mother had no choice but to let her live with her father, her mother couldn’t take care of it. She was hungry all the time, they wouldn’t let her eat the way she wanted to. Every other weekend, when she went to her mother’s house, she ate what she wanted to. At ten years old, she weighed two hundred pounds.
Her weight gain continued, at twelve it started to bother her. She was miserable going to school, she didn’t have any real friends. Her only happiness was food. She got bigger and bigger, at high school, seventeen years old she was four hundred pounds. When her daughter was born, she was five hundred pounds. Two weeks later, she broke up with the father, it was a toxic relationship. When she was twenty she suffered a huge blow, her father was killed in a motorcycle accent. In his final years, they grew closer, he apologized to her for his addiction. She abused food to cope, when she was twenty three she was over six hundred pounds.
She never stopped eating and eventually she lost her job because of her size, and nobody would hire her. She was so depressed she couldn’t take it. She was going to kill herself, over medicate. Her daughter found her. She started a website for people who like to watch other people eating. She does it and it pays. She ate a whole carrot cake on camera. She knows the job is not healthy, she found the perfect community to feed her habit.
Samantha’s mother is frustrated, she knows she can’t help her daughter if she doesn’t want to help herself first. Samantha doesn’t want to die, she knows she needs help, but where to start. She knows if she doesn’t change she is going to die, so she has to figure something out before it is too late.
A few days after Samantha reached out to Dr. Nowzaradan, she started to have stomach pain that became severe. She called the doctor about the pain, and he advised her to seek immediate medical attention. At the hospital, they diagnosed Samantha with kidney stones. Since she was too big to safely operate on, they gave her some medication and sent her home. Arriving back at home, she has to walk up the stairs to get to her apartment and it takes five men to get her there. Her daughter it there, waiting for her. That was a scary few days for her, she thought her body was breaking down.
Her daughter Bella is staying for a few days, just to make sure she is ok. She knows she is running out of town, and needs to get to Houston to see Dr. Nowzaradan. She is miserable with how she is now, it is a miserable life and she doesn’t want to be a burden to her mother. She is constantly failing her, and she wants to change that. Two days later, she thinks she hit rock bottom. The last couple of weeks were hard, she doesn’t know she is going to get to Houston and Dr. Nowzaradan doesn’t want her to go there without some kind of medical transport.
There are not any services like that in Denver and she is really discouraged. Her mom and sister are coming over, to cheer her up. Being alone is just not helping. Her mom, Andrea and her sister, Tracy arrive. She tells them that she has gained 250 pounds since she saw them last, this is the biggest that she has ever been. Andrea tells her that she is sad for her. Tracy just wants her to get help, have a normal life and be happy. Samantha just wants to work around animals, she loves them. They visit for a bit, then hug and leave.
Samantha is happy that her family came to support her, but it doesn’t change things, she is running out of time. Month 2: Samantha is still in Colorado, she continues to have stomach pain and now chest pains as well. She is losing control of her bladder and knows that that can’t be good either. Bella is there with her again. Samantha is worried that she is having congestive heart failure, she is going to call an ambulance. She calls 911, she says she is retaining water, her chest hurts, her shoulders. If she stands up she can barely breathe, but it is usually not that bad.
Bella finds it scary to watch her mother spiral, she is going down really fast, she is trying to keep positive but her mother just thinks she is going to die and expects the worse.
The ambulance arrives, Samantha is worried, she is swelling up everywhere and the pain is intense. Her foot is so swollen, it is bleeding now. The ambulance attendants get her up and out of the apartment, the stairs are another thing. Samantha cries and screams down every stair, they keep telling her they got her and try to encourage her. She is down the stairs, and on the stretcher. It was excruciating, she is glad she is going to the hospital, she has never been in this much pain and she is worried that her body is giving up on her. She wants to make it and be there for Bella.
The next day, the past twenty four hours have been miserable; the hospital is just taking tests. So far, they haven’t figured anything out. She is really scared about what is wrong and what is going to happen to her. She keeps wetting the bed and it is so embarrassing. They get her bed dry, now she hopes her heart and lungs are ok. She is so worried that she won’t be able to go see Dr. Nowzaradan. She picks up the phone, and orders food in her room. She still desperately needs weight loss surgery, she desperately needs to change. Dr. Nowzaradan is her only hope.
Samantha has been in the hospital for six weeks now. Her body is not breaking down but she still has so many health issues related to her weight, so they don’t feel safe letting her go home. Dr. Nowzaradan wants her on a controlled diet in the hospital, but they don’t offer that service there. He has been checking on her, and she has a video call with him. Her nurse comes in and takes her weight, 940 pounds. It is time for her call with Dr. Nowzaradan to update him. She tells him that she is so full of fluid, she can still stand and walk, but uses a walker. She tells him her weight, she put on another 150 pounds, a very dangerous point. He asks her how she is gaining weight in the hospital. She says she brings in food.
She promises him that when she goes home she will eat no baked goods. She says she can’t die, her daughter needs her. He tells her that he emailed a diet plan, but that hasn’t worked. She says they put her on a 2100 calorie diet a day. He tells her that she is eating between 10 and 12 thousand calories a day. He tells her that it is impressive that she can still get up being almost one thousand pounds. She says she knows, he says that even though she knows, she keeps eating and gaining weight. He tells her that she cannot travel to see him without medical care. He tells her that he has a plan for her to follow. She has do everything she can to change her eating habits and to lose weight.
He will send her a diet, 1200 calories a day. If she follows it, she can lose 250 pounds over two months. If she gets bed ridden, the problem because worse. She is nervous and scared. He tells her to try and take the first steps, she has to lose at least 350 pounds to be able to tolerate the trip. If she doesn’t lose weight, he can’t help her. She says it is going to be in a lot of pain, food is her entire life and she doesn’t know who she is without it. She apologizes to him, he tells her not to. Her life is more important than food, and if she doesn’t make the changes, the food is going to kill her. He tells her to also get up every day and walk. He wants her in good health to travel to see him. The end the call. The doctor is worried, Samantha has gained so much weight while they are trying to get transport for her. Being a thousand pounds is as far as she can push her body.
Samantha has been working hard to make some progress. Right now they are working on mobility, PT helps her, and she does a little bit more every time. The first few days she was discouraged, but she knows she is building her stamina. The food thing is hard, she lost only ten pounds over the past few weeks. Giving up food is a big step, she is still happy that she is going in the right direction. If continues to do well, she will be able to go home soon. She is giving it her all, she knows she has another 240 pounds to lose. She is so motivated, she knows it is now or never.
Month 4: Samantha is discharged and going home, she has lost 40 pounds. She is nervous because she is not going to have all that help that she did in the hospital. She is walking further now, she has made progress. She is upstairs and happy. It wasn’t as hard this time to get her home. Bella’s boyfriend Ivan is also there to help her, he and Bella are staying for a while to make sure she is ok. The moment she gets in, she orders food. She orders chicken strips, ribs, burgers, fries, strawberry lemonade and molten lava chocolate cake. Then she asks Bella and Ivan if they want anything.
Samantha has been somewhat following the diet, then other times she thinks if she is going to die anyway, why not just make herself happy. It is so hard for Bella to see her mom like this, it breaks her heart. She doesn’t know how to describe her emotion. She is excited, but unsure. She thinks that maybe the best place for her mom is in the hospital. She is so afraid that her mom is going to have suicidal thoughts on her own. At first everything was fine, then things went south really fast. It’s really hard for Bella to watch Samantha to spiral downward. Samantha starts crying and she is really negative. Bella shouts at her, tells her to stop it and find the positive. She goes on to say that with her negative mindset, it makes it hard to be around her.
Month 5: This past month has been hard, harder than Samantha thought it would be. Bella and Ivan are still staying with her, but she thinks she is closer to being able to take care of herself on her own. She looks forward to going to the hospital and getting her weight checked, she feels like she has been starving her. She has been following the diet for the most part, but she gives herself treats and a cheat day once a week.
Shortly after Samantha returned to the hospital for her weight-in, a nationwide quarantine was issued in response to COVID-19. For the next five months, she remained in hospital because while she was on her own, her weight had climbed to 974 pounds. Her highest weight yet. As a result, Samantha’s health started to decline and Dr. Nowzaradan grew concerned that she would not survive long without an extreme intervention. He worked with a colleague in Denver, Dr. Heydari, to perform a gastric sleeve in a last ditch effort to keep Samantha from overeating in the hospital.
Dr. Heydari was able to perform the sleeve and it has now been three month since the operation. Getting weight loss surgery saved Samantha’s life. She twister her knee coming back to the hospital, and can’t go back home now. She is down to 638 pounds. That is the lowest she has been in fifteen years. She is miserable and depressed and doesn’t know how to cope with life without the food. If food makes her happy, the happy her is gone and she feels incredibly sad.
In Houston, Dr. Nowzaradan has been working for months with Dr. Heydari for Samantha. He believes that if he didn’t help Samantha, she would have died within a month. He calls his colleague to talk about Samantha who tells him that she is doing very well. She is really motivated and doing PT. Although the weight loss has slowed down in the last couple of weeks. He says he would like to transfer her to a rehabilitation center for additional help. She has a lot of issues that she is going to have to address. Both doctors think she needs phsychotherapy before she goes back home so she doesn’t gain the weight back.
Dr. Heydari visits Samantha, he tells her that she is doing very well and moving forward, she is going to rehab. She needs to have physical therapy and behavior therapy, to not gain the weight back. Her final weight before leaving is 616 pounds. He tells her that he is proud of her and she has done a great job. They are only going to be able to keep Samantha in rehab for a month or so. She really needs help to get through this; the weight loss will slow down and they want her to have the support of a behavioral specialist. Her doctors are worried that if she doesn’t deal with her emotional issues, she will fail.
Shortly after Samantha was admitted to rehab, she developed an infection in her leg and had to be transferred to a facility for treatment. Her doctors consult with each other about Samantha. Sr. Heydari says she had a setback. They had to remove some skin because of the infection and now she is dealing with wound problems. It could take two months before it heals. She is a lot happier than before, she is quite motivated. She is on and off with the behaviour therapy. But that is the positive, if she is there longer with them, they can work more with her. Her present weight is just under 500 pounds, she has lost about 500 pounds. Now the fight is to keep Samantha in the right direction, to get her where she needs to be.
Due to COVID-19 protocols, filming Samantha wasn’t an option. However, Samantha self-shot the following message. She posts a video, she looks beautiful and so positive.
THE END!
