# 600 lb woman dies after being surgically removed from her couch **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 12, 2004, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512 "2004-08-12T08:18:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/41 "2004-08-12T19:06:58Z")
> [@Coldfire](#): > > Strange how some things vary between the two links: 40 vs 39 years old, 600 vs 478 pounds… Do the math. The couch was a year old and weighed 122 pounds. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/42 "2004-08-12T20:26:36Z")
> [@JohnBckWLD](#): > > Do the math. The couch was a year old and weighed 122 pounds. Good thing my glass is empty or there’d be cranberry juice all over the monitor. 😃 What I’m wondering though, (maybe TMI), was her skin bonded directly to the couch or was there a layer of clothing in between. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/43 "2004-08-12T21:10:36Z")
While rare, cases like this do happen. In my career I’ve cared for two after hospitalization. One was a woman in her 40s who had been in a recliner for over a year. She did make daily trips to the bathroom, so her skin wasn’t as involved. The most amazing thing with her was she couldn’t reach her mouth! Her arms were too fat to bend far enough. She had been weighed on a truck scale a year before admission. At that time she weighed 575 lbs (261 kg). We did the same, took her, on a gurney, to our loading dock & weighed her on our truck scale. (yes, we weighed the gurney afterward and subtracted) Her new weight was 680 lbs (309 kg)! She had gained over 100 lbs (45kg) in a year while unable to feed herself! The other patient weighed 880 lbs (400 kg) on admission, but was in renal failure. I was a dialysis nurse at the time. I did his first dialysis and removed 120 liters of fluid. ( the average dialysis run removes 1-6 liters) That was more than a whole person worth of water. He had several record-breaking runs after that one. His weigh after 2 weeks was about 670 lbs (304 kg). That’s 210lbs of just water (96 kg). ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/44 "2004-08-12T21:23:39Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > The most amazing thing with her was she couldn’t reach her mouth! Her arms were too fat to bend far enough. > She had been weighed on a truck scale a year before admission. At that time she weighed 575 lbs (261 kg). We did the same, took her, on a gurney, to our loading dock & weighed her on our truck scale. (yes, we weighed the gurney afterward and subtracted) Her new weight was 680 lbs (309 kg)! She had gained over 100 lbs (45kg) in a year while unable to feed herself! Was someone feeding her? ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/45 "2004-08-12T21:26:39Z")
My daughter in Hunsville AL saw it on TV while talking to me on the phone. Neal Boortz mentioned it on his radio show this morning but not on his web page. Ring a bell? TV piece a hoax? No fish mentioned lest it be a “fish story.” ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/46 "2004-08-12T21:27:12Z")
I hearby nominate this for Most Nauseating Thread of the Week. My grandmother was a shut in. She hated leaving home, even to visit her sisters at their houses. Once when we went to one of her sisters’ home for Thanksgiving (about 65 miles from home) she wanted to leave after just a couple of hours. We didn’t, because Grandpa overruled her, but she just didn’t want to be away from home. Most of her time was spent laying on the couch. She didn’t spend _all_ her time there and wasn’t huge, but she was heavy. It bothered Grandpa but at some point there wasn’t much he could do. Thankfully, I don’t think she would have ended up like this, but I bet this situation could have started the same way. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/47 "2004-08-12T21:39:38Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Was someone feeding her? She lived with her husband, a 20 year old daugher and 2 sons in their late 20s. No one directly admitted to over-feeding, but I think they each thought they were being nice by sneeking her treats. They were all a bit over weight, and not well educated. They had been told by her doctor a year before that if they didn’t stick to the diet he perscribed, she’d die… maybe… no, I’m not going there. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/48 "2004-08-12T21:57:28Z")
> [@Rufus Xavier](#): > > Disclaimer: the following is in no way intended to minimize the terrible suffering of the human being featured in the linked news story. I am saddened at yet another example of man’s insanity and the damage it can do. > > However. > > I’m thinking about getting my butt reupholstered. What do you think? Should I get it done in luxurious velvet, or something more practical, like denim or corduroy? Don’t use a fabric that generates static electricity and/or excessive friction (to cause heat). Otherwise, a pretty nasty fart might cause the butt cheeks to vibrate excessively. The static charge generated woulld ignite the methane, or the friction generate enough heat to do the same thing. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/49 "2004-08-12T22:13:03Z")
> [@Coldfire](#): > > Is anyone else’s BS-meter going off in a major way? :dubious: Nope. 'Course, I’m a paramedic. > [@scr4](#): > > Perhaps they were afraid they couldn’t pay for it. If you call an ambulance, don’t they send you a bill later? You will get a bill. However, just like emergency rooms, ambulance services are required to treat & transport anyone who needs help, regardless of their ability to pay. Where I work, we never even find out about insurance info until after the patient is already in the ER. In addition, we, like almost every other ambulance service, will make payment arrangements with anyone and write off a great deal of unpaid bills. ---
**Author:** ![nonpolar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@nonpolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonpolar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/50 "2004-08-12T22:37:21Z")
This is prime example of our evolution in progress ,human\couch. For example instead of sitting in economy class on jets you bring your couch grown onto your back and presto, comfortable flight . 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/51 "2004-08-13T05:37:59Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > The other patient weighed 880 lbs (400 kg) on admission, but was in renal failure. > I was a dialysis nurse at the time. I did his first dialysis and removed 120 liters of fluid. ( the average dialysis run removes 1-6 liters) That was more than a whole person worth of water. > He had several record-breaking runs after that one. > His weigh after 2 weeks was about 670 lbs (304 kg). That’s 210lbs of just water (96 kg). :eek: ---
**Author:** ![JoeSki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b487fb/32.png) [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/52 "2004-08-13T06:59:20Z")
Anyone know what kind of couch it was? ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/53 "2004-08-13T10:27:03Z")
> [@JoeSki](#): > > Anyone know what kind of couch it was? Obviously a very, very comfortable couch. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512/54 "2004-08-13T11:06:40Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > She had gained over 100 lbs (45kg) in a year while unable to feed herself! Actually, that is something I know from my own experience. The vet told me my cat should lose some weight. Although, in theory, I control what my cat eats, I couldn’t resist the “poor starving kitty”-act he put on. It takes discipline and understanding to let the cat mew (it’s hard to see the cat 'suffer", AND the mewing drives you mad), instead of silencing it with food. In the end, my BF took over the feeding and the cat succesfully lost 3 pounds. But I couldn’t really do it. Magnify that a thousand times, and you’ve got the family tragedy from the OP. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/600-lb-woman-dies-after-being-surgically-removed-from-her-couch/259512.md?page=2)