# Seriously, how do the morbidly obese (bedridden) go poo? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 10, 2006, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-how-do-the-morbidly-obese-bedridden-go-poo/363855 "2006-07-10T12:35:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-how-do-the-morbidly-obese-bedridden-go-poo/363855/21 "2006-07-10T18:19:06Z")
[QUOTE=Uncommon Sense] Right, but these people were soooo large that the folds that the matter would have to clear to see daylight (or a bedpan) were overwhelming. And one of these guys could not roll over and was kind of on his side, sort of. It took a team to get him to roll over. He, in my opinion, could not facilitate positions that would allow useage of a bedpan. [/QUOTE] TMI WARNING: I have to agree with **Sense.** The turd has to make its way past the ass cheeks to plop into the pan. It seems like the problem with this would be that the turd would get lodged between the cheeks after it cleared the rectum and be able to travel no further. It seems like the same problem would occur with urination. Men could pee into a receptacle held by others, but a woman would have to lie there and let it run down between her legs toward the pan, but it seems like the pan itself would be blocked by her bulk. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-how-do-the-morbidly-obese-bedridden-go-poo/363855/22 "2006-07-10T18:37:26Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] my question; what prevents these people from stopping when they are like 300 lbs? surely they know that they are gravely endangering themselves. [/QUOTE] Why doesn’t a smoker stop when he notices he’s short of breath, or an alcoholic when he gets a DUI, or a gambler when he maxes out the credit cards? ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-how-do-the-morbidly-obese-bedridden-go-poo/363855/23 "2006-07-10T18:38:33Z")
**Lissa** said: > [@](#): > > Men could pee into a receptacle held by others The penis has a finite length, being attached to the pelvis by ligaments. If a man is obese enough, the fat in the groin is deeper than the penis is long, meaning that the penis looks like it has retracted into a sort of vagina that can be many inches deep. This skin tube can hold a fair amount of urine even after the bladder is empty, and the skin is subject to breakdown. It’s not much easier to manage than urination in morbidly obese women, except maybe that it is easier to tape a bag over the hole… ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-how-do-the-morbidly-obese-bedridden-go-poo/363855/24 "2006-07-10T18:45:46Z")
So we pretty much agree that the odds of wallowing in one’s own feces and urine is quite high for the extremely M.O., and that in the most extreme cases one might not get a chance to wallow in one’s own feces as one’s own feces might be lodged between one’s own buttocks once ejected from the rectum. Seems like rolling in urine is the least of their problems, when feces is wedged between fleshy parts. story in brief: Father-in-law…ex-cop…story: Went to rescue a morbidly obese man who, using his words, ‘…had rotted to the mattress…’. This describes what happens when the flesh is left to rot with fecal matter and urine. They had to carry the “mantress”, as I like to call him, yes the man and the mattress (which were one, sort of like Grundle-Fly) out by forklift after busting down a wall. -end story. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-how-do-the-morbidly-obese-bedridden-go-poo/363855/25 "2006-07-10T18:57:07Z")
[QUOTE=Philster] So we pretty much agree that the odds of wallowing in one’s own feces and urine is quite high for the extremely M.O., and that in the most extreme cases one might not get a chance to wallow in one’s own feces as one’s own feces might be lodged between one’s own buttocks once ejected from the rectum. Seems like rolling in urine is the least of their problems, when feces is wedged between fleshy parts. [/quote] Sure, but in a hospital? How would trainded pros deal with this? > [@](#): > > story in brief: Father-in-law…ex-cop…story: Went to rescue a morbidly obese man who, using his words, ‘…had rotted to the mattress…’. This describes what happens when the flesh is left to rot with fecal matter and urine. They had to carry the “mantress”, as I like to call him, yes the man and the mattress (which were one, sort of like Grundle-Fly) out by forklift after busting down a wall. -end story. I read (on a different site) this morning of an M.O. lady that became one with her couch. I can’t imagine. _Years_ in the same position. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-how-do-the-morbidly-obese-bedridden-go-poo/363855/26 "2006-07-10T22:18:56Z")
[QUOTE=Uncommon Sense] Sure, but in a hospital? How would trainded pros deal with this? I read (on a different site) this morning of an M.O. lady that became one with her couch. I can’t imagine. _Years_ in the same position. [/QUOTE] [http://www.wftv.com/news/3643877/detail.html](http://www.wftv.com/news/3643877/detail.html) ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-how-do-the-morbidly-obese-bedridden-go-poo/363855/27 "2006-07-10T23:30:59Z")
[QUOTE=astro] [http://www.wftv.com/news/3643877/detail.html](http://www.wftv.com/news/3643877/detail.html) [/QUOTE] Never did understand this one, either. Six years worth of poop is a big pile. If she kept pooping in the same spot, did it become a mound underneath her butt? ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-how-do-the-morbidly-obese-bedridden-go-poo/363855/28 "2006-07-10T23:37:24Z")
[QUOTE=Philster] …Father-in-law…ex-cop…story: Went to rescue a morbidly obese man who, using his words, ‘…had rotted to the mattress…’. This describes what happens when the flesh is left to rot with fecal matter and urine. They had to carry the “mantress”, as I like to call him, yes the man and the mattress (which were one, sort of like Grundle-Fly) out by forklift after busting down a wall… [/QUOTE] I have a hunch your F-I-L was a Nassau County cop. My old man told me the same exact story a number of years ago after returning from (what sounds like) an identical call. If memory serves, the man in question died shortly after in the hospital. [QUOTE=Lissa] …It seems like the same problem would occur with urination… [/quote] I’ve read that exact topic here (I believe) twice before. Odd how these kinda things stick in your mind. Here’s the more informative, less caustic [GQ version](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=108324). ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-how-do-the-morbidly-obese-bedridden-go-poo/363855/29 "2006-07-10T23:38:27Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] Never did understand this one, either. Six years worth of poop is a big pile. If she kept pooping in the same spot, did it become a mound underneath her butt? [/QUOTE] It’s appears that the feces and urine combined into a corrosive slurry that caused her flesh to erode, and to eventually crust itself in a permanent “flesh-weld” onto the couch fabric. > [@](#): > > A 480-pound Martin County woman has died after emergency workers tried to remove her from the couch where she had remained for about six years. > > Gayle Laverne Grinds, 40, died Wednesday, after a failed six-hour effort to dislodge her from the couch in her home. Workers say the home was filthy, and Grinds was too large to get up from the couch to even use the bathroom. > > STRANGE PHOTOS > WEIRD! View 99 unusual photos capturing a variety of strange news. New photos are added frequently! > Everyone going inside the home had to wear protective gear. The stench was so powerful they had to blast in fresh air. > Not weird enough? > Read more strange news. > > LOOK! Strange News Photos > > Sign Up To Receive Our Daily News Of The Strange Email > > A preliminary autopsy on the the four-foot, ten-inch woman lists the cause of death as “morbid obesity.” But officials want to know more about the circumstances inside the home. > > Investigators say Grinds lived with a man named Herman Thomas, who says he tried to take care of her the best he could. He has told them he tried repeatedly to get her up, but simply couldn’t. No charges have been filed, but officials are looking into negligence issues. > > Emergency workers had to remove some sliding glass doors and lift the couch, with Grinds still on it, to a trailer behind a pickup truck. Removing her from the couch would be too painful, since her body was grafted to the fabric. After years of staying put, her skin had literally become one with the sofa and had to be surgically removed. > > She died at Martin Memorial Hospital South, still attached to the couch. > > Neighbors say they had no idea Grinds lived at the duplex, though they had seen Thomas and some children outside ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-how-do-the-morbidly-obese-bedridden-go-poo/363855/30 "2006-07-10T23:53:55Z")
[QUOTE=Uncommon Sense] Sure, but in a hospital? How would trainded pros deal with this? [/QUOTE] [http://enw.org/Obese.htm](http://enw.org/Obese.htm) specifically: > [@](#): > > …A bedside commode may make toileting easier. Determine if an extended range size is available suitable for the weight and width of the patient. It is not uncommon for a standard commode to uncomfortably pinch or for a patient to “get stuck” between the hand rails. Assistance with perineal and perianal cleansing afterwards may be necessary, often in a standing position with one person to steady the patient and another to cleanse. > > \< snip \> > > Applying and keeping a condom catheter in place may be difficult to impossible in obese males as the pendulant adipose in the pubic area pushes forward, it causes the penis to seemingly “retract” and vanish. Warmth and humidity in the area makes adhesion a problem; and, the patient’s generally large size makes drainage tubing easily tugged. > > \< snip \> > > …Excreta may irritate perineal tissue or be trapped in clefts of skin… And… [http://rnweb.com/rnweb/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=110006](http://rnweb.com/rnweb/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=110006) > [@](#): > > …Using a bedpan proves difficult for Ms. Robson and often results in urine and fecal spillage. Over the next two days, her perineal area becomes red and excoriated… I would assume that those people on the show you saw who are fed all day by enablers also have the enablers clean up after them. My guess would be that, absent catheters or bedpans, they basically just mess the bed, and the enabler cleans it up. “Roll over this way…now roll over that way…” etc. An enabler who is capable of denial to the extent of ignoring the fact that their loved one weighs 1,000 pounds is also capable of denial to the extent of ignoring the fact that they have to clean up after them 24/7. I would also guess that their bedrooms probably don’t smell too good. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-how-do-the-morbidly-obese-bedridden-go-poo/363855/31 "2006-07-11T00:00:55Z")
[QUOTE=CynicalGabe] If they were receiving any type of care at all, they wouldn’t have an enabler there to perpetuate the situation. I think whatever impulse that drives ‘feeders’ is one of the most twisted psychoses I’ve ever heard of. [/QUOTE] I think I know the show the OP is talking about. I saw the show about 4 or 6 weeks ago concerning a woman that was M.O. and scheduled for, I think, gastric bypass. She had a young black woman that I think was a nursing student (?) as her caregiver. (Anyone recall this episode to refresh my memory?) Anyway my wife and I were watching it and the caregiver fixed a meal that had to be in the mid-4 digits for calories. IIRC, desert was actually a frosted mascot of cholesterol. I remember thinking, This is part of the woman’s problem. There is no way she can feed herself, so we need to share a bit of blame among others. I know it’s easy to say, and sounds a bit cold, but if you’re responsible for feeding someone in your charge, feed them so they can eventually make it to the fridge to get the chocolate cake. Of course, most of these cases, I’m sure, are of the _What’s Eating Gilbert Grape_ variety. There the “feeders” don’t have the heart to step in and lay down the law. A terrible spot to be in, to be sure. And I have to agree at some point a person needs to say “Well, this has gone too far. Time to shed some weight.” The situation is so foreign to me I’ll never understand it, so I try to limit myself to opinion without judgement. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-how-do-the-morbidly-obese-bedridden-go-poo/363855/32 "2006-07-11T00:15:53Z")
If you’re a caregiver having to search for fudgies lost in the folds of people’s butts, then maybe the last thing you feel like dealing with is a patient who won’t stop whining and crying for food. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-how-do-the-morbidly-obese-bedridden-go-poo/363855/33 "2006-07-11T12:35:18Z")
[QUOTE=monstro] If you’re a caregiver having to search for fudgies lost in the folds of people’s butts, then maybe the last thing you feel like dealing with is a patient who won’t stop whining and crying for food. [/QUOTE] I recall that the first fellow they profiled (the 750 lb’r) on the show was actually _malnurished_. ! He ate large amounts of food but nothing with substantial nutritional value. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-how-do-the-morbidly-obese-bedridden-go-poo/363855/34 "2006-07-11T14:58:51Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Some people are what you call “feeders”, who for some strange, psychological reason, encourage this behavior. Don’t ask me why. [/QUOTE] Your partner will never leave you and while they are there they depend on you for everything. I can see how that would appeal to people looking for a purpose and fearing abandonment. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-how-do-the-morbidly-obese-bedridden-go-poo/363855/35 "2006-07-11T17:45:02Z")
I have just informed the wife that if I ever shit myself for any reason (_and_ it doesn’t bother me\*) she is to call the authorities. - Just in case I shit myself and am later bothered by it, like in a state of extreme drunkeness, fright or joy. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-how-do-the-morbidly-obese-bedridden-go-poo/363855/36 "2006-07-11T17:48:56Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] Your partner will never leave you and while they are there they depend on you for everything. I can see how that would appeal to people looking for a purpose and fearing abandonment. [/QUOTE] I’m curious, who’s paying the bills in these situations? The feeder, or the feedee? Where are the feedees getting the money? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-how-do-the-morbidly-obese-bedridden-go-poo/363855/37 "2006-07-11T20:06:42Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] I’m curious, who’s paying the bills in these situations? The feeder, or the feedee? Where are the feedees getting the money? [/QUOTE] Disability checks? Occasionally the feedee has become disabled in some other way and gets assistance. I think that was the case with the one guy on the TLC show who dies in the treatment facility. His wife worked part-time IIRC. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seriously-how-do-the-morbidly-obese-bedridden-go-poo/363855.md?page=1)