My 600-lb Life S12 Episode 4
My 600-lb Life S12 Episode 4
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00:00 I've been lying in this bed in Movil for seven years.
00:00:06 The only thing that motivates me to keep trying is Brenda.
00:00:10 Somewhere in me is this little glimmer of hope.
00:00:20 I just want to be a normal person.
00:00:28 You can't do it and then I just get mad.
00:00:37 If I don't make a change now, I'm scared it's going to be too late.
00:00:47 I refuse to stop fighting.
00:00:50 I have to do this for my children.
00:00:56 Hi Abby.
00:00:58 Hey Doctor.
00:00:59 How are you?
00:01:00 Finally good to meet you.
00:01:01 One, two, three.
00:01:02 Ah!
00:01:03 Ow!
00:01:04 Ow!
00:01:04 Ow!
00:01:14 Ow!
00:01:24 Ow!
00:01:34 Ow!
00:01:42 Ow!
00:01:52 Ow!
00:02:02 Ow!
00:02:08 Ow!
00:02:09 Ow!
00:02:10 Ow!
00:02:11 The only thing that motivates me to keep trying
00:02:14 is my beautiful wife, Brenda.
00:02:16 It's time for your bath, Avi.
00:02:19 I've got everything ready for you.
00:02:22 She is my inspiration, my light at the end of this tunnel.
00:02:26 When I wake up, the first thing I have to do is bathe.
00:02:33 It's extremely painful.
00:02:35 It's the worst part of my day.
00:02:38 Is it OK if I do your feet while you wash your head and face?
00:02:42 Yeah.
00:02:42 And it's difficult because this bed is too small for me.
00:02:46 And Brenda has to bring over a bucket bath.
00:02:48 In a bigger bed, I would have more space
00:02:52 to be able to maneuver and flip side to side better.
00:02:55 But I got to deal with what I got.
00:02:58 My front part, I do by myself as best as I can.
00:03:03 I wash the front parts that I can reach.
00:03:05 And Brenda helps wash my sides and the parts
00:03:08 of the lower legs.
00:03:09 And the parts of the lower legs that she can reach.
00:03:12 In 2014, I was in a car accident.
00:03:19 I lost feeling from my chest down.
00:03:24 And now, because I've been bedridden for seven years,
00:03:29 I've developed bed sores and lymphedema.
00:03:32 So every morning, Brenda has to thoroughly clean them
00:03:35 and disinfect them.
00:03:37 Should be good, yeah.
00:03:38 Doing baths is extremely painful.
00:03:42 But in my head, I try to maintain happiness
00:03:46 just to try and move through it and not dwell on it.
00:03:50 Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast for breakfast.
00:04:01 All right.
00:04:04 Your breakfast.
00:04:04 OK.
00:04:08 And coffee.
00:04:10 Thank you, baby.
00:04:11 You're welcome.
00:04:13 Breakfast, it doesn't have to be huge.
00:04:15 It just needs to be something that will
00:04:17 satisfy my urge right now.
00:04:19 I know I think about food more often than I should.
00:04:22 And I know I eat too much.
00:04:25 Is it good?
00:04:26 Yes.
00:04:27 But I've always liked food.
00:04:29 And the way I eat today is still a giant improvement
00:04:33 on how I ate when I was a kid.
00:04:37 My sisters and I were born and raised in Puerto Rico.
00:04:41 We were a close-knit Christian family.
00:04:43 And on Sundays, we would go to church together.
00:04:46 And Caribbean comfort food was part of everything.
00:04:49 Crispy pork, deep-fried bananas, rice and beans,
00:04:52 and mashed potatoes.
00:04:55 It wasn't a good diet for a little kid to be.
00:04:59 But I loved it.
00:05:01 I couldn't have enough of it.
00:05:03 And I wasn't overweight.
00:05:04 I was really skinny.
00:05:07 Back then, I was playing a lot of basketball.
00:05:09 So whatever I ate late at night would burn off.
00:05:12 Until I was 14, that's when I started having a growth spurt.
00:05:17 I grew to 6'4".
00:05:19 That's when I started gaining more weight.
00:05:23 I stopped doing athletics and playing basketball.
00:05:26 I started liking more music.
00:05:27 So my physical activity was playing the drums.
00:05:32 And you know, I started getting bigger.
00:05:36 It's crunchy.
00:05:37 That's why I went.
00:05:39 Crunchy bacon?
00:05:40 Yeah.
00:05:41 I thought, OK, I'm young, and my metabolism will kick in.
00:05:46 No, it just stopped and kept on gaining weight.
00:05:51 When I graduated from high school,
00:05:54 I went to school in Florida to become a sound engineer.
00:05:58 And going there was life-changing.
00:06:02 I was just learning in a sponge and just
00:06:05 trying to learn everything that I could.
00:06:07 I was living the college life.
00:06:09 First time I had my own place.
00:06:10 And because I was completely alone,
00:06:13 I had no parenting, no nothing.
00:06:17 The apartment that I was living in,
00:06:18 I had a fried chicken chain right across the street.
00:06:21 And I wouldn't buy a combo.
00:06:22 I would buy the bucket.
00:06:24 I ballooned to 450 pounds, and my weight just piled up.
00:06:28 But I thought, it's OK.
00:06:30 I'm still young.
00:06:31 I can lose weight later.
00:06:33 I graduated with honors, which was one of the proudest
00:06:36 moments of my life.
00:06:38 I came back to Puerto Rico, and I
00:06:40 started working for the theater in my home city, which
00:06:45 I was the most proud of because I'm actually
00:06:49 working for my city.
00:06:52 I learned how to light ballet, which I never
00:06:55 thought I would be able to.
00:06:58 I wasn't focused on food.
00:07:00 I started losing a lot of weight.
00:07:01 Plus my job dealing with so many equipment that's heavy.
00:07:07 It was like a working out.
00:07:08 So it made me lose a lot of weight.
00:07:13 So I lost like 100 pounds.
00:07:15 I was 20 years old when I started actually
00:07:19 in the dating scene.
00:07:20 One of my co-workers, he told me about a new dating
00:07:24 app for larger people.
00:07:25 And I saw Brenda's face.
00:07:27 And I was like, she's cute.
00:07:29 And I just decided to send her a message.
00:07:32 She wrote back.
00:07:33 And we started a relationship over the phone.
00:07:36 And then we went on our first date.
00:07:39 We went to the movies with my nieces and nephews.
00:07:42 And they were like, oh, and being kids.
00:07:45 And I'm like, oh my god, I'm so ashamed.
00:07:47 And she's like, don't worry.
00:07:49 I love this.
00:07:51 And she took control of the whole situation.
00:07:53 And she had them eating off her head.
00:07:56 Were the sausages good?
00:07:58 Yeah, everything was great, baby.
00:08:01 So I bought her the engagement ring.
00:08:04 Then the day before her birthday,
00:08:07 I was on my way to Brenda's house to propose to her.
00:08:10 And a lady didn't stop at a stop sign.
00:08:13 And I didn't see her before it was too late.
00:08:16 When her car hit me, I didn't have any broken bones.
00:08:19 But my neck got whiplash.
00:08:22 And it came out of place.
00:08:26 Since-- because of the accident, I can't feel my legs.
00:08:31 They took me to an MRI machine and got the X-ray imaging
00:08:34 they needed to find out what was going on.
00:08:38 I had a problem with three discs.
00:08:40 They were damaging the spinal cord.
00:08:43 So immediately, they took me to emergency surgery.
00:08:47 Honestly, it felt like he was in the ICU for years.
00:08:52 He was basically quadriplegic.
00:08:54 He needed help for everything at that point.
00:08:58 And once they saw that he was able to move his arms again,
00:09:02 that's when he was able to come home with a hospital bed.
00:09:07 Because the doctor told us that he might not
00:09:10 be able to ever walk again, it really
00:09:13 depended on his nerves and seeing
00:09:16 what they were able to do.
00:09:18 Go up the stairs.
00:09:20 Stairs.
00:09:22 Good boy.
00:09:23 After many months, my spinal cord lost all its swollenness.
00:09:26 And I started being able to move my legs.
00:09:29 I remember the first day that he moved his leg, I was crying.
00:09:34 And we took a video of it.
00:09:35 And we sent it to all the family.
00:09:38 But that was enough for me to know
00:09:40 that he will get through this.
00:09:43 I was finally allowed to move back home with my parents.
00:09:47 As soon as Avi got back, I would basically
00:09:50 stay at his house days at a time.
00:09:53 Because I like to be the one that cleans him up,
00:09:58 who basically takes care of him.
00:10:02 I couldn't bend the knee.
00:10:04 But I had her right next to me.
00:10:06 And I got the ring.
00:10:07 And I told her, I love you with all my heart.
00:10:10 And you're the one.
00:10:11 I'm not looking for anything else.
00:10:15 I didn't fall in love with the body.
00:10:16 I fell in love with his soul.
00:10:18 So I just wanted him to do better for himself.
00:10:22 Because I knew I was always going to be there for him.
00:10:24 My dad was a huge influence on me.
00:10:31 He was so happy for me getting married.
00:10:34 It did affect me a lot once we lost him.
00:10:38 And I feel like I didn't really get to say goodbye
00:10:43 the correct way.
00:10:45 But knowing what was coming ahead,
00:10:47 it was a blessing when my dad went when he did.
00:10:50 Because a year later, we had Hurricane Maria.
00:10:52 And if he was still alive, that hurricane
00:10:55 would have killed him for sure.
00:10:57 Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in September of 2017.
00:11:02 It was a huge category 5 hurricane, which
00:11:05 affected the whole island.
00:11:07 We had no running water.
00:11:09 And we were without electricity, at least in our case,
00:11:14 for 56 days after the hurricane.
00:11:17 Because it took all the trees away.
00:11:20 It was mostly 90 degrees.
00:11:23 So I was basically cooking in my bed every day.
00:11:26 Because I had a friend that saw the condition that I was in.
00:11:30 She was like, you need to get out of Puerto Rico.
00:11:33 She did a post, which was shared by a lot of people
00:11:37 in Puerto Rico.
00:11:39 And we got referred to our foundation,
00:11:44 which was helping a lot of people after the hurricane.
00:11:47 They took me out of Puerto Rico and brought me here.
00:11:52 And then I moved to where my sister was living in Austin.
00:11:56 All right, I'm going to go to the grocery store, OK?
00:11:58 I'll call you when I get there.
00:11:59 All right.
00:12:00 I'll be good.
00:12:01 Yeah.
00:12:02 All right, I'll be back.
00:12:03 Take care of the boys.
00:12:04 Brenda found a job working for an auto refinancing company.
00:12:08 And then another job came up in customer service,
00:12:11 working with customers looking to refinance their vehicles.
00:12:14 Yes, you received a pre-qualification letter.
00:12:17 They had a vocational rehab program.
00:12:20 And my caseworker got me a desk and a headset
00:12:22 so that I could work from my bed.
00:12:24 I'm sending them an email so that they could call you back
00:12:27 as soon as they can, OK?
00:12:29 Thank you for calling.
00:12:30 Have a nice day.
00:12:31 Hello.
00:12:36 Hey, baby.
00:12:41 Hey.
00:12:41 I'm at the grocery store.
00:12:43 You need bread?
00:12:45 Bread and tortillas.
00:12:46 I don't know if they're in the same area.
00:12:49 Yeah, they are.
00:12:50 Yeah.
00:12:51 The plan for me this year is to lose enough weight
00:12:54 so I could get another surgery.
00:12:56 Because just being in this bed 24/7 for so long,
00:12:59 my muscles have atrophied in my legs
00:13:02 because I'm not using them.
00:13:04 And that caused what we call dropped feet.
00:13:07 So once they correct that, I should
00:13:10 be able to start rehab and get my feet back
00:13:13 to where they should be to start walking again.
00:13:16 But in order to get there, I know
00:13:18 I need to start making better choices than what
00:13:20 I'm doing right now.
00:13:21 My meals surround themselves with being just bread and carbs
00:13:28 and all these things that fill you up
00:13:33 but are not the best choice.
00:13:36 There's cookies over here.
00:13:38 Cookies?
00:13:40 Yeah, you want the chewy kind, chocolate chip?
00:13:43 Yes.
00:13:44 OK.
00:13:45 Sandwich cookies too, right?
00:13:47 Do they have the macadamia ones?
00:13:49 Yeah.
00:13:49 Yeah, they do.
00:13:51 The main thing that stops me from not making the good choices
00:13:54 is that it tends to be more expensive.
00:13:56 Thank you.
00:14:05 The time to prepare meals is just not there.
00:14:10 Some days we're just either dead tired from working
00:14:14 or just tired from the day that we've been through.
00:14:18 So it's convenient for us to just pick the bad choices
00:14:25 instead of just going for the correct choices.
00:14:34 I think it's around lunchtime.
00:14:35 Do you want something to eat?
00:14:37 Sure.
00:14:39 We got chips, right?
00:14:41 Yeah, we got chips.
00:14:41 I guess a sandwich and chips.
00:14:43 OK.
00:14:44 Since I first arrived in Austin after the hurricane,
00:14:48 I went to the Capitol building once, saw it.
00:14:51 Oh, this is great.
00:14:53 Never been outside again.
00:14:57 All I see is the wall in front of me,
00:14:59 the walls right beside me.
00:15:03 And my wife that comes in and out.
00:15:05 My only look for the outside world is TV or the phone.
00:15:12 But I try not to dwell on it because if I do,
00:15:17 I won't be able to go day by day just thinking about it
00:15:20 every day.
00:15:21 And the way I just try to keep that off my mind is with food.
00:15:26 Lunchtime is the part of the day I enjoy the most
00:15:29 because Brenda comes home from work
00:15:31 and we get to eat together and play video games together.
00:15:35 And that helps me to relax.
00:15:38 After she goes back to her job, I do my work here in bed.
00:15:42 Hi.
00:15:54 Hey, baby.
00:15:56 We ready?
00:15:58 Let's do this.
00:16:00 The only time I see my sister Miriam now
00:16:02 is during her visits to help Brenda take care
00:16:05 of the largest vexers on my back.
00:16:08 She only sees me when I'm at my worst.
00:16:11 And even if I drink the medication
00:16:15 that they give me for pain, my back is hurting.
00:16:19 My hips are hurting because I don't have that much movement.
00:16:22 So it's just-- it's extremely painful.
00:16:25 It's the worst part of my day when
00:16:28 I have to take a bath.
00:16:30 And it's just-- it's painful not just on me.
00:16:33 It's painful on my family who helps me.
00:16:36 I'm screaming bloody murder.
00:16:38 And they have to deal with it.
00:16:41 They're helping me out.
00:16:42 But it's just so painful.
00:16:45 It hurts us all.
00:16:46 And I try to live my life not trying to complain,
00:16:55 just trying to live through it.
00:16:57 But it's super hard.
00:16:59 [SPEAKING SPANISH]
00:17:02 [SPEAKING SPANISH]
00:17:03 [SCREAMING]
00:17:04 Mother [BLEEP]
00:17:06 Brenda has been by my side for nearly 10 years.
00:17:09 I don't want to take it for granted,
00:17:11 thinking that she would stay with me forever
00:17:13 if I don't lose the weight.
00:17:14 I want to have a normal relationship with my wife.
00:17:16 Oh my god.
00:17:19 But every time I try to change my eating habits,
00:17:22 it's been so hard.
00:17:23 [SCREAMING]
00:17:24 [SCREAMING]
00:17:26 But I hate living like this.
00:17:28 And I can't go on much longer.
00:17:29 I got a video call with Dr. Now today.
00:17:48 I reached out to his office.
00:17:49 I told him I'm bedridden and I need to find a way to get help.
00:17:52 So they set up a call to talk to him.
00:17:55 I'm really hoping that Dr. Now can figure out a way,
00:17:57 because no one else would help me.
00:18:00 Hey, baby.
00:18:01 Hey.
00:18:02 You are-- you nervous?
00:18:08 I am.
00:18:09 Yeah?
00:18:11 It's OK to be nervous.
00:18:13 It's fine.
00:18:14 I just-- I'm going to get a--
00:18:17 A whooping.
00:18:18 You feel it?
00:18:18 Yeah.
00:18:20 What?
00:18:20 What you been doing?
00:18:22 No, you'll be fine.
00:18:25 It's fine.
00:18:26 Need any help?
00:18:31 It's small.
00:18:33 All right.
00:18:33 All right, thank you.
00:18:34 Good luck.
00:18:35 [LAUGHS]
00:18:36 [PHONE RINGING]
00:18:44 Hello.
00:18:49 Hey, Abby.
00:18:50 Hey, Dr. Now.
00:18:51 How you doing?
00:18:53 I'm doing OK.
00:18:54 How about you?
00:18:55 I've been better, but I'm good.
00:18:58 You're in a bed?
00:19:00 Not walking, right?
00:19:01 Yes.
00:19:02 I was walking.
00:19:03 I was working.
00:19:04 I was doing everything.
00:19:05 And I had a car accident.
00:19:08 That's when I went paraplegic.
00:19:13 I lost the feeling from my chest down.
00:19:17 And I had to have two surgeries.
00:19:21 And my neck went through here and went through the back
00:19:24 to try and fix that.
00:19:27 And it got fixed to a certain point.
00:19:32 But since I've been in the bed so long,
00:19:36 I've lost the strength in my legs.
00:19:39 Well, do you have a sensation in your feet?
00:19:42 I do.
00:19:43 I do have a sensation on my feet.
00:19:45 But since I've been so long in the bed,
00:19:48 instead of having my feet normal, like up,
00:19:53 they have both dropped foot.
00:19:56 So they're like imbalanced arena stance.
00:20:00 So that's why I can't put my feet on the ground
00:20:04 to try and stand up.
00:20:06 Because if I would, I would rupture my Achilles tendon.
00:20:10 Well, you know, you may have to have an operation
00:20:13 to lengthen your Achilles tendon.
00:20:16 But what is going on that you have
00:20:20 not been able to lose weight?
00:20:22 Well, since I've been in the bed, I don't do that much.
00:20:27 I don't do that much physically.
00:20:29 Your physical activity is good for your stamina.
00:20:31 But it's not a major factor for your weight loss.
00:20:34 Your weight loss has to do with your eating habit.
00:20:37 You're eating way over what your requirement
00:20:42 is for the calories.
00:20:43 So you're going to have to change your eating habit
00:20:46 to the point that you're going to have a reasonable weight
00:20:50 loss and get your feet back on the ground.
00:20:52 So who's bringing you the food?
00:20:54 My wife, normally.
00:20:57 OK, is she bringing you what you're asking for?
00:21:00 Or is she bringing you food, what you think is what you should?
00:21:05 Basically, what I'm asking for.
00:21:07 I know I'm overeating completely.
00:21:10 Is your family going to cooperate with that
00:21:12 to give you less food?
00:21:13 Yes.
00:21:14 Yeah.
00:21:15 And when was the last time you actually physically
00:21:17 went to the doctor's office?
00:21:19 I would say physically, I went like three years ago.
00:21:25 Can you bend your knee at all?
00:21:28 I can bend it, but not me actually bending it.
00:21:32 It's just somebody has to push it.
00:21:34 Can you move your toes?
00:21:36 No.
00:21:38 So we've got a lot of issues that we need to address with you.
00:21:43 The longer you're in the bed, the longer you're inactive,
00:21:48 and the likelihood you're going to be able to walk or move
00:21:52 is going to get less and less.
00:21:54 Yeah.
00:21:55 Do you have any physical therapy or anybody working with you?
00:21:58 No, not physical therapy.
00:22:01 I've been to the hospital.
00:22:02 They know that I need physical therapy.
00:22:05 But having a physical therapist come here,
00:22:10 we haven't gotten that yet.
00:22:12 So you're in a bad place right now.
00:22:17 So I'm going to see if we can get some physical therapy
00:22:21 to come in and see if they can work with you to help you
00:22:25 get some strength in your leg and work with that foot drop.
00:22:28 OK?
00:22:29 OK.
00:22:31 I do feel like physical therapy would help me out a lot
00:22:34 to eventually get to walking.
00:22:36 So that's-- yeah, I really would love
00:22:41 to go to physical therapy.
00:22:42 We'll see what we can do for you, OK?
00:22:45 But everything will start with you
00:22:48 and changing your eating habit and paying attention
00:22:53 to your health and doing your exercise.
00:22:56 So what I'm going to do is I'm going
00:23:00 to go ahead and send you some instruction that I
00:23:03 want you to read every day and see if we can get you
00:23:07 to start to lose some weight, OK?
00:23:10 OK.
00:23:11 All right.
00:23:12 Thank you, sir.
00:23:13 All right.
00:23:14 It'll be nice to meet you.
00:23:16 Yeah, you too.
00:23:17 And if you need anything, give me a call.
00:23:20 OK.
00:23:20 All right.
00:23:21 Thank you.
00:23:22 All right.
00:23:22 Bye now.
00:23:23 All right.
00:23:23 Bye.
00:23:24 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:23:27 Thank goodness I'm getting a little help and guidance
00:23:31 from Dr. Now.
00:23:33 And I'm really excited about doing physical therapy.
00:23:36 I just really want out of this bed and to have my life back.
00:23:40 So I'm ready to do whatever it takes to make that happen.
00:23:43 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:23:47 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:23:50 Brenda?
00:23:54 The coffee's already made because I wake up
00:23:57 and I already have coffee.
00:23:59 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:24:01 Ever since I spoke with Dr. Now, I've been doing the diet.
00:24:05 It's been a tough adjustment, but I'm getting used to it.
00:24:08 I've also been doing physical therapy a few times
00:24:11 a week for the past month.
00:24:12 It's been hard because of the pain.
00:24:14 You're ready for Jason.
00:24:15 All right.
00:24:16 Thank you.
00:24:18 You're welcome.
00:24:20 If you need anything else, let me know, OK?
00:24:22 And I tell Jason, the PT guy, that I have to stop sometimes
00:24:26 when the pain gets too much for me to be able to move a lot.
00:24:30 What do you think you guys are going to work on today?
00:24:32 We're working on trying to get my legs
00:24:35 moving as best as we can.
00:24:36 Come in.
00:24:42 Hey.
00:24:43 Hey, man.
00:24:44 How are you doing?
00:24:45 Good, how's it going?
00:24:46 Anything out of the ordinary?
00:24:49 Same stuff?
00:24:49 No, I'm good.
00:24:52 I guess my knee hurts a little bit.
00:24:54 OK.
00:24:55 And I'm OK.
00:24:57 OK.
00:24:58 I'm fine.
00:24:59 Right on, OK.
00:24:59 Good.
00:25:00 Trying to move as much as you can?
00:25:02 OK, bring this knee up.
00:25:03 All right, bring it up again.
00:25:05 Hold.
00:25:06 Hold for me.
00:25:07 Come down slow and easy.
00:25:09 I'm going to slide you out a little bit.
00:25:11 Ready?
00:25:16 We're going to straighten that knee.
00:25:19 And then push down on me like you're pushing on a gas.
00:25:22 All right, big man.
00:25:25 All right.
00:25:28 Push on me.
00:25:29 Push, push, push, push, push, push, push.
00:25:30 Good.
00:25:31 Ready?
00:25:32 Good.
00:25:33 Come back down.
00:25:34 Good, man.
00:25:35 I'm hoping that the more I do it, the less it'll hurt.
00:25:38 Because I want to get out of this bed.
00:25:41 But I feel like I'm making some progress with my legs,
00:25:43 a little bit at least.
00:25:44 One of the big challenges is going to be the range of motion
00:25:49 that is in his ankles.
00:25:51 That is going to take a significant amount of work
00:25:53 for him to be able to have a unsupported, supported,
00:25:56 seated position, and eventually be able to stand up.
00:25:59 It should feel like work.
00:26:00 You're doing it right.
00:26:01 Good, yeah.
00:26:02 It means you're doing it right.
00:26:02 Ready?
00:26:03 Go.
00:26:04 Come on, bud.
00:26:05 Good.
00:26:06 I know the doctor was concerned to be
00:26:08 able to waive off the possibility of the blood clots.
00:26:12 He wants him to have that much more mobility.
00:26:14 That's definitely something that needs to be addressed.
00:26:16 All right, increase your pace just a touch.
00:26:19 There you go, bud.
00:26:21 Good.
00:26:22 Keep your breath moving.
00:26:22 Don't hold your breath.
00:26:24 Good.
00:26:25 Keep going.
00:26:26 Let's go 10 more seconds.
00:26:27 Jason has given me a great workout.
00:26:29 He got me the spark to pull up, and he
00:26:32 has me doing all sorts of exercises
00:26:34 to get my heart rate up and to build up my stamina.
00:26:37 And that all is going great.
00:26:41 All right, man.
00:26:42 Good.
00:26:42 Keep working hard, OK?
00:26:43 All right, you got it.
00:26:44 We'll talk to you later.
00:26:48 Shout out.
00:26:49 Well, that was a pretty good workout today.
00:26:56 Overall, I feel like I'm making good progress.
00:26:59 And I think Dr. Nall will be happy with me.
00:27:02 It's hard, and I do have my limits.
00:27:04 And I hope Dr. Nall sees the effort that I'm putting in.
00:27:07 And I hope he counts that for something.
00:27:09 You let me know if you need anything, all right?
00:27:29 Today, I'm going to see Abby, then
00:27:32 see what's going on with him.
00:27:34 I had a virtual call with him a couple of months
00:27:37 ago and gave him the diet.
00:27:40 Then I started working on his eating habit.
00:27:43 And I arranged PT to start working with him
00:27:46 to see how much progress he could make with his weight loss
00:27:50 and improving his mobility.
00:27:52 And now, after two months, we will see
00:27:55 how far he has come with that.
00:27:57 If he works hard, we should have some hopeful situation
00:28:00 with him being able to walk and change his life.
00:28:04 I'm having physical therapy.
00:28:07 Come join me.
00:28:08 And I'm going to assess his situation
00:28:10 with physical therapy and see what option we got for Abby.
00:28:15 Hopefully, we will see some level of positive improvement
00:28:18 with him today.
00:28:20 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:28:24 [KNOCKING]
00:28:35 Hi.
00:28:36 Hello.
00:28:37 How are you?
00:28:38 Good.
00:28:39 How are you?
00:28:39 Hi, Abby.
00:28:40 Hey, doctor.
00:28:41 How are you?
00:28:42 Finally, good to meet you in person.
00:28:43 All right.
00:28:44 You doing OK?
00:28:46 I'm doing much better now.
00:28:47 I think I'm doing pretty good.
00:28:49 Um, I'm already tired of salads.
00:28:54 But I'm looking with my wife to see
00:28:57 if we can find something else that we could eat that's--
00:29:01 So what are you eating every day?
00:29:03 A lot of salads, at least at lunch and not dinner.
00:29:07 But--
00:29:08 OK.
00:29:09 So what are you drinking?
00:29:10 Water, mostly.
00:29:12 Yeah.
00:29:12 OK.
00:29:13 He likes to drink water a lot.
00:29:14 All right.
00:29:15 So no sugar and no juice, huh?
00:29:17 No.
00:29:18 No.
00:29:18 All right.
00:29:19 How are we doing with your exercises and physical therapy?
00:29:23 I've been doing my exercises.
00:29:24 This is why I have this here and this to--
00:29:28 To breathing exercise?
00:29:30 Breathing exercises.
00:29:31 But it helps, like, the core.
00:29:34 That's what a physical therapist told me.
00:29:36 So I've been doing those since he got me those things.
00:29:41 So I've been doing those exercises.
00:29:44 All right.
00:29:45 Let me check a couple things and see how things are.
00:29:47 Take a deep breath.
00:29:54 Take another one.
00:29:57 All right.
00:30:05 And do you have any stomach pain or anything like that?
00:30:08 No, no.
00:30:09 And do you have a feeling down here when I touch?
00:30:12 Yes.
00:30:13 You feel-- you're feeling OK with that?
00:30:16 Yeah.
00:30:17 You have a lot of swelling in your feet.
00:30:19 You have the foot drop on your feet, too.
00:30:23 Yeah, both.
00:30:26 So I'm going to talk to a physical therapist,
00:30:28 see if they can make some splint for your feet.
00:30:34 Can you move your hip?
00:30:35 A little-- a little bit.
00:30:38 Like this.
00:30:39 OK.
00:30:41 The other hip, too?
00:30:42 For this one.
00:30:43 This one is a little bit harder because this one
00:30:47 hurts a little bit more, the hip.
00:30:49 Where do you have the pain?
00:30:51 Like in the joint itself.
00:30:53 In the hip joint?
00:30:55 Yeah.
00:30:55 So those knees, can you straighten them out?
00:31:03 I used to be able to.
00:31:05 I just lost a lot of strength in them
00:31:07 because I haven't done exercises on-- with them.
00:31:12 So I lost strength in them.
00:31:13 That's why I really do need physical therapy
00:31:17 to get the strength back.
00:31:19 So what you need to do is you got to--
00:31:24 all day to do your exercise on your leg.
00:31:28 Movement of the hip is going to be very important.
00:31:31 And let me see how much you can do with this hip.
00:31:34 OK.
00:31:36 Move this leg.
00:31:41 And here, you got a bunch of skin issues
00:31:47 that has been chronically infected.
00:31:50 So this oozes all the time?
00:31:53 Yeah.
00:31:54 You need to get all this infection under control
00:31:57 because, you know, that is going to be a problem, OK?
00:32:01 [KNOCKING]
00:32:01 [DOG BARKING]
00:32:03 I'm in.
00:32:04 Careful with the dog.
00:32:05 Hey, Debbie.
00:32:06 Hey, Dr. Herriman.
00:32:08 Hi.
00:32:09 You doing all right?
00:32:10 Herriman, how you doing?
00:32:11 How we doing, honey?
00:32:13 Eric, good to see you.
00:32:15 We need to work on getting him to move the hips.
00:32:19 And his joints are freezing.
00:32:22 And he has a significant foot drop.
00:32:25 If we get some right angles, length made for him
00:32:30 to push him up a little bit.
00:32:31 And get him in trouble.
00:32:32 And see if we can work on those issues.
00:32:35 So we got a lot of territory to cover.
00:32:39 But you know, you have to be the driving force and all that.
00:32:44 And do your own part.
00:32:45 Because, you know, we can give you the road map.
00:32:49 But if you don't do the hard work,
00:32:50 you're not going to benefit from it.
00:32:52 Yeah, got to work hard at it.
00:32:54 You can.
00:32:54 Yeah.
00:32:55 Milestone will be for him to get to the point
00:32:58 that he can put at least feet on the ground and stand up.
00:33:02 Get you sitting at the edge of the bed
00:33:04 here within the next 30 days, maybe?
00:33:05 Being able to have that kind of trunk support?
00:33:08 Yeah.
00:33:09 There's a possibility to be able to get out of this bed.
00:33:11 Yeah.
00:33:12 It's going to be very difficult for you to stand up and walk.
00:33:15 Yeah.
00:33:16 So we need to cut back on whatever we give him now.
00:33:19 So make sure whatever he eats is a protein, no carbs.
00:33:24 OK?
00:33:24 All right, let's see if we can make some progress.
00:33:27 At this point, everything is up to you.
00:33:30 You have to work hard on your physical therapy as well.
00:33:33 Yeah.
00:33:34 OK?
00:33:35 This is a very difficult situation that we have.
00:33:38 His condition is much worse than I thought.
00:33:41 Tabby has lost a lot of muscle.
00:33:43 He didn't have any reflexes on his joint.
00:33:45 So he has frozen joint in the hip, and both knee,
00:33:49 and both feet are dropped.
00:33:51 His hygiene is very poor.
00:33:54 You can tell with the smell in the house.
00:33:56 All those bacteria growing on the side of his thigh and hip
00:34:01 area indicate that he probably has
00:34:03 serious skin issues in his back.
00:34:05 The starting point will be to lose some weight
00:34:08 and increase his mobility.
00:34:10 So we're going to work with him, and I'm
00:34:12 going to be optimistic and see what kind of progress
00:34:15 he's going to make.
00:34:16 But at this point, this is going to be a very difficult
00:34:18 situation.
00:34:19 All right.
00:34:20 Appreciate your help, and see if you can speed up the work on him
00:34:24 and tighten up a little bit more physical therapy for him.
00:34:27 OK.
00:34:28 All right?
00:34:29 Thank you.
00:34:30 Thank you, doctor.
00:34:31 Thank you.
00:34:31 Thank you for coming all the way here.
00:34:33 Well, now I got some idea what's going on
00:34:36 and what we need to do to get you out of this situation.
00:34:39 All right.
00:34:40 OK?
00:34:41 Yeah.
00:34:41 Thank you.
00:34:42 All right.
00:34:42 We'll see you all later.
00:34:43 All right.
00:34:44 Thank you, doctor.
00:34:45 If you're late, then give us a call.
00:34:46 All right.
00:34:46 All right.
00:34:47 All right.
00:34:49 All right.
00:34:51 Bye, Abby.
00:34:52 Bye, Jason.
00:34:53 Bye, Abby.
00:34:54 Bye.
00:34:55 Bye.
00:34:56 Thank you, Dr. Nell.
00:34:57 You're welcome.
00:35:00 I'm really thankful that Dr. Nell came to see me in person
00:35:04 and for all the help that he's given me.
00:35:06 I wish I had made more progress for today,
00:35:09 but I feel like I finally have a chance to change things.
00:35:12 I think that we should start with those stretches
00:35:28 that he showed you.
00:35:30 So he wants us to do the hands out like this.
00:35:35 So wrist up and down.
00:35:38 15.
00:35:39 OK.
00:35:40 [SPEAKING SPANISH]
00:35:43 13, 14, 15.
00:35:47 OK.
00:35:48 The next one.
00:35:50 [SPEAKING SPANISH]
00:35:53 5.
00:35:54 I was doing really well for a few weeks
00:35:56 after Dr. Nell came to see me.
00:35:58 10.
00:35:59 You did it.
00:36:00 All right.
00:36:01 But I pushed myself a little bit too hard, and I hurt my knee.
00:36:07 Yeah, OK.
00:36:07 I'm going to make the salad.
00:36:09 But I think I'll be back at it soon.
00:36:11 I just need to rest for like another week, I guess.
00:36:14 Wow, this little kit brings everything, huh?
00:36:20 Yeah.
00:36:21 Yeah.
00:36:22 It brings the croutons.
00:36:24 It brings like cheese, right?
00:36:27 Yep, it brings Parmesan cheese.
00:36:29 OK, yeah, that's fine.
00:36:30 And then the Caesar dressing.
00:36:32 OK, that's fine.
00:36:34 Do we have like any extra chicken to put on it?
00:36:38 Yeah, I got a rotisserie chicken in there.
00:36:41 Oh, OK.
00:36:42 Can you put some of it in there?
00:36:45 Yeah.
00:36:46 Yeah, but I was reading, and it said
00:36:48 that chicken would be good to add to a salad
00:36:53 just because it's a protein.
00:36:55 So that's why I asked.
00:36:58 Did you want the skin or no?
00:37:00 Sure.
00:37:01 I'm still doing my upper body exercises, though.
00:37:05 I'm also still doing the diet and eating right, too.
00:37:08 So I must be making progress.
00:37:14 OK, you ready?
00:37:15 Your chicken Caesar salad.
00:37:21 I cut back on my portions, and I've
00:37:27 been feeling hungry a lot.
00:37:29 So I must be doing something right.
00:37:31 All right, so your appointment is soon.
00:37:51 So I'm going to push this forward towards you
00:37:54 so we can give you the laptop.
00:37:56 You can sign in.
00:37:58 OK.
00:38:01 Here's your laptop.
00:38:04 Give me your thermos.
00:38:05 I have another follow-up call with Dr. Nao today.
00:38:09 I've been making more progress over the last two months.
00:38:12 I work harder this time, so I feel like I did much better.
00:38:15 So I hope Dr. Nao is happy with where I'm at
00:38:18 and that he has some specific next steps for me that would
00:38:21 help me make more progress faster.
00:38:23 [PHONE RINGING]
00:38:26 Hey.
00:38:31 I'm good.
00:38:32 I'm good, and yourself?
00:38:33 I'm just doing my exercises every day.
00:38:41 Doing the legs, I'm trying to push them in, push them out.
00:38:48 Try to bend the knees and push them out.
00:38:52 It's been getting easier because I've lost weight.
00:38:55 I haven't tried that because I don't trust this bed.
00:39:02 I don't trust the side rails on it
00:39:08 because I would have to pull on them or just trust on them
00:39:11 to be able to sit on the side of the bed.
00:39:14 The diet, I've kept doing it.
00:39:20 I've been going pretty strong.
00:39:24 We're both doing it, me and my wife.
00:39:26 So we've lost a lot of weight.
00:39:28 I don't know how much I'm weighing right now
00:39:31 because I would have to go to the hospital to weigh myself.
00:39:35 But I've kept doing the diet for every meal,
00:39:38 and we're working on that.
00:39:41 Breakfast, I just do just eggs.
00:39:49 No toast, no anything like that.
00:39:53 Lunch, kind of the same thing.
00:39:55 And dinner is the strongest meal,
00:40:00 but I'm doing much more salads and all that
00:40:05 to just work with it.
00:40:09 So for breakfast, how many eggs are you eating?
00:40:12 Three.
00:40:14 Three? Maybe cut it back to two?
00:40:17 And dinner is a smaller portion.
00:40:19 Okay. Yeah.
00:40:24 So in the meantime, you have to do your part
00:40:27 and doing daily exercises.
00:40:29 Cut back as much as you can with your eating habit.
00:40:32 If you're not hungry, don't eat.
00:40:35 And see if you can lose more weight more rapidly.
00:40:38 All right, son.
00:40:41 All right.
00:40:43 Have a nice day again.
00:40:45 And if you need anything, give me a call.
00:40:47 All right.
00:40:48 And we'll see what's going on
00:40:49 and see what we can do for you, okay?
00:40:52 All right. All right, son. Thank you.
00:40:55 All right. Bye-bye.
00:40:56 All right. Bye.
00:40:57 All right.
00:41:03 How was it?
00:41:04 He seems to see that I have lost weight.
00:41:11 Mm-hmm.
00:41:12 Just we can't, we don't know how much it is.
00:41:14 I'm positive and negative,
00:41:16 so it's kind of like, "Hey, I'm in the middle."
00:41:18 But I just have to look at it in a positive way.
00:41:22 We just have to get that done.
00:41:24 I don't need a cheerleader.
00:41:30 I don't need that.
00:41:31 I already have one there.
00:41:33 But I don't,
00:41:37 I need structure or a goal.
00:41:40 I don't have a goal.
00:41:43 I just have this task to do.
00:41:46 (soft music)
00:41:47 Nice.
00:41:48 If you have a goal,
00:41:51 then you have a set,
00:41:52 a place that you want to get to.
00:41:54 But when it's just,
00:41:57 yeah, we'll see how we do it for next time.
00:42:00 That's not a goal.
00:42:02 That's a, it's for nothing.
00:42:05 So I feel like I'm
00:42:07 doing the things and the effort,
00:42:13 but I'm not getting anywhere.
00:42:16 And that doesn't feel good.
00:42:17 (soft music)
00:42:28 - Dr. Now called me a few days ago
00:42:38 and told me that he arranged for a transfer to come get me.
00:42:41 - I guess we're going to the hospital to see Dr. Now
00:42:44 and have him, I guess, do some different checks
00:42:49 on my health and to at least get a goal going.
00:42:53 - Morning.
00:42:56 - Hey, good morning.
00:42:58 - Hey.
00:43:00 I brought your toothbrush and stuff.
00:43:02 You ready for today?
00:43:07 - I'm as ready as I can be right now.
00:43:13 Everything's gonna, I gotta keep in my head
00:43:16 that everything's gonna be okay.
00:43:18 - Yeah.
00:43:19 - But I'll be honest, I'm nervous
00:43:21 because I don't know what to expect
00:43:23 or how long I'm gonna be gone from my home
00:43:25 and away from Brenda because she can't call with me
00:43:27 because she has to work.
00:43:29 And I'm also worried what kind of toll
00:43:31 this is gonna be on my body.
00:43:33 So this isn't gonna be easy for me.
00:43:35 So I'm nervous, but I know this is gonna be for the best.
00:43:38 And that I need to do this.
00:43:40 - So the ambulance should be on its way.
00:43:43 - Okay.
00:43:44 All right.
00:43:45 - You done?
00:43:46 - I'm done, yeah.
00:43:49 Thank you.
00:43:50 - All right.
00:43:51 Right there.
00:43:52 (gentle music)
00:44:00 (ambulance siren blaring)
00:44:03 (indistinct chatter)
00:44:06 (gentle music)
00:44:09 (dog barking)
00:44:25 - Stop barking.
00:44:29 - Hi. - Hi.
00:44:30 - Welcome, come in.
00:44:31 Oh, they'll come back in.
00:44:32 - Oh, look at that.
00:44:33 - And do we got pillows, anything that we could put on the floor?
00:44:39 - See that foam underneath here?
00:44:40 We've got that.
00:44:41 It's underneath if we need to pull it out for your side.
00:44:45 - Yeah, right.
00:44:46 - All right, slide board coming in, guys.
00:44:48 Watch yourself.
00:44:49 - Thank you.
00:44:50 - This one needs to lift up.
00:44:52 - The gray one.
00:44:52 - 'Cause that one's underneath the white.
00:44:53 - All right, roll out.
00:44:55 Ready?
00:44:56 One, two, three.
00:44:58 (dog barking)
00:45:00 - All right.
00:45:02 All right, come on up.
00:45:03 Down on the bed, down on the bed.
00:45:04 Let's go.
00:45:05 - Ow!
00:45:05 - All right.
00:45:06 - All right, keep pulling.
00:45:08 - All right, let's go.
00:45:09 - Keep pulling, keep pulling, keep pulling.
00:45:11 - Is he in the center?
00:45:12 - Yeah.
00:45:13 - We're gonna get this board out from under you, okay?
00:45:17 - Ready?
00:45:18 One, two, three.
00:45:19 - Hey.
00:45:21 - All right.
00:45:21 - We got you.
00:45:22 - All right, buddy.
00:45:23 - That's it, Abby, that's it.
00:45:24 (dog groaning)
00:45:26 That's it.
00:45:27 - This is the worst of it, okay?
00:45:28 - All right, Mr. Biff gets pushed to the wall.
00:45:30 - There you go.
00:45:31 - Your left hip.
00:45:32 - Your left hip?
00:45:32 - Yeah.
00:45:33 - All right.
00:45:34 - All right, let's go up a little bit.
00:45:35 - Here.
00:45:36 - Going up?
00:45:37 - Yeah, going up a little bit.
00:45:37 - Watch this side.
00:45:38 - All right.
00:45:39 - All right.
00:45:40 - That's it.
00:45:44 - Good?
00:45:45 - Awesome.
00:45:46 - Do it opposite.
00:45:47 - Yeah.
00:45:48 - Grab the other end of this,
00:45:48 and we're just gonna protect.
00:45:49 - Oh, from hitting him?
00:45:51 - Yeah, yeah.
00:45:51 - From hitting the door.
00:45:52 - Exactly.
00:45:53 - The pain, it was hard for me to see.
00:45:55 It's always hard 'cause he cries a lot in pain,
00:45:58 and it makes me feel his pain,
00:45:59 so it makes me tear up 'cause I love him.
00:46:03 I don't wanna see him go through pain.
00:46:05 I'm happy he's going through this,
00:46:06 and he's finally gonna get the help he needs.
00:46:09 - Watch that slide, boy.
00:46:12 - All right.
00:46:13 - Let me know.
00:46:14 - Let me know.
00:46:15 - Bye, baby, I love you too.
00:46:18 - Have a better home, I promise.
00:46:20 - Yeah, call me when you get there.
00:46:21 - I love you.
00:46:22 - Love you too.
00:46:24 (laughs)
00:46:26 - Yep, you got it.
00:46:27 You're good.
00:46:28 - Ow.
00:46:45 - Let me go for you.
00:46:49 All right.
00:46:50 - (beep) hips.
00:46:52 (somber music)
00:46:54 - Yes, sir.
00:46:58 - Okay.
00:46:58 - I'll be right back.
00:47:20 - Well, we're pulling in literally right now, okay, sir?
00:47:23 So when we get you up into the hospital,
00:47:26 it'll be nice and cool,
00:47:27 and then from there, we'll get you to your floor,
00:47:29 and hopefully they'll give you some more pain meds, okay?
00:47:32 (somber music)
00:47:35 (somber music)
00:47:37 (somber music)
00:47:40 (somber music)
00:47:43 (somber music)
00:47:45 - This trip likely took a lot out of Abby.
00:48:11 He used to the comfort of his bed
00:48:13 and not having to move ever,
00:48:15 so this is a lot of activity for him.
00:48:18 So we will run some tests on him
00:48:20 and get his current weight
00:48:22 and address any issues we need.
00:48:24 And then, like the rest of her,
00:48:26 before we start him working with PT here,
00:48:28 but we're gonna start Abby on a controlled diet immediately
00:48:32 to try to get his weight down as much as we can.
00:48:35 And then once we do that,
00:48:37 we will bring in some specialists
00:48:39 and consider what options we have for him at that point.
00:48:43 Being here is gonna help to determine
00:48:46 what level of his progress is slow
00:48:48 because of his lack of effort
00:48:49 and to what degree he may need some treatment to help him.
00:48:53 - One person count, please.
00:48:55 - On the head.
00:48:56 - One, two, three.
00:48:58 (Abby screams)
00:48:59 (Abby groans)
00:49:00 - Mother (beep)
00:49:02 Could you lift my back, please?
00:49:04 - Yes, we're gonna slide you up.
00:49:05 We're gonna slide you up real quick, okay?
00:49:07 (Abby groans)
00:49:09 - He will likely need some operations
00:49:12 to be able to walk normally again.
00:49:14 It is likely he can start to get up on his own.
00:49:17 And at this stance, if he just apply himself,
00:49:20 he'll rehab his lower body and lose some weight.
00:49:22 So we're gonna help with that as much as we can.
00:49:25 But with all these issues,
00:49:26 but it's very clear we have a lot of work to do with Abby.
00:49:30 So Abby, how you feeling?
00:49:34 It was your treat?
00:49:36 - It was pretty good.
00:49:37 It's just at the end,
00:49:39 like it just got rougher and really hard.
00:49:43 - Okay.
00:49:43 - But it was better than I was thinking it was gonna be.
00:49:48 - Better than what you're thinking, huh?
00:49:49 - Yeah, definitely.
00:49:51 - All right.
00:49:52 - But now we're in a nice seat here,
00:49:54 so I'm happier with that.
00:49:56 - Your leg doing okay?
00:49:57 - Yeah.
00:49:58 You could check whatever you need.
00:50:01 (indistinct chatter)
00:50:04 - Any pain in your stomach?
00:50:08 - No, just no.
00:50:10 - Yeah.
00:50:11 How's your diet coming along?
00:50:20 - It's been, I've been doing that.
00:50:23 - All right.
00:50:24 We're gonna get some tests done
00:50:25 and see what kind of shape you're in.
00:50:28 And what we need to do is to get everything
00:50:31 straight down for you, okay?
00:50:32 So at this point,
00:50:34 I think we gotta do something to improve your condition.
00:50:39 Gotta make some changes, okay?
00:50:41 - No problem.
00:50:42 Right now we just,
00:50:53 we gotta get my blood drawn and the tests going.
00:50:57 I'm hoping for a good bill of health.
00:50:59 I know that not necessarily my body right now
00:51:03 is in a good state,
00:51:05 just because of the sores
00:51:06 and all of those other things that I have.
00:51:10 But I feel good.
00:51:11 I'm, you know, as good as I can feel
00:51:13 from being in the hospital.
00:51:16 (soft music)
00:51:18 Being here at the hospital has been an adjustment for me.
00:51:42 It's been hard to be honest,
00:51:44 but I meant it when I told the doctor,
00:51:46 I'm here to do whatever I need,
00:51:47 as long as I get help.
00:51:49 And I meant that.
00:51:51 But it's still been hard with the diet
00:51:52 and being away from Brenda.
00:51:55 You know, I never been away from her like this.
00:51:58 So I would say that's been the hardest part.
00:52:00 - We have had Abby in the hospital
00:52:05 for almost a month now.
00:52:07 When he first arrived,
00:52:08 we got his weight and he was 728 pounds.
00:52:12 He is at 605 pounds.
00:52:14 So he lost 123 pounds on a controlled diet.
00:52:18 So that has been a big improvement for him.
00:52:21 But the diet has been hard for him.
00:52:23 He's been constantly complaining
00:52:25 that he doesn't have enough to eat.
00:52:27 Thankfully his family is in Houston.
00:52:30 So he doesn't have anyone to try and sneak him food.
00:52:34 So we have been able to keep control
00:52:36 over his eating habit for now.
00:52:38 And so the result of that are good.
00:52:41 (dog panting)
00:52:44 - Hello. - Hey.
00:52:45 - Hello, Mr. Abby.
00:52:47 - Hey guys.
00:52:48 - Hi, how are you?
00:52:49 - I'm good.
00:52:51 - We're gonna look at your wound first.
00:52:53 - First?
00:52:54 - Infection disease, yeah.
00:52:55 - Okay.
00:52:55 - Okay.
00:52:56 - Oh no.
00:52:57 - No, it's...
00:52:58 (beep)
00:53:00 - You're good, you're good.
00:53:04 (beep)
00:53:06 - He was septic when he got here
00:53:10 because the blisters on his side and his back
00:53:13 were infected.
00:53:14 Mostly because he goes to the bathroom in the bed
00:53:17 and sits in it.
00:53:18 Because it takes a whole group of people
00:53:20 to move him and clean him.
00:53:22 And there was no way his wife could handle that.
00:53:25 But we have been doing that for him every day.
00:53:28 So his overall condition has improved too.
00:53:32 The biggest struggle we have with him is his PT.
00:53:35 - Can you lift this leg straight up?
00:53:38 - I'm getting the biggest trauma.
00:53:41 - They push forward with him,
00:53:44 but there is only so much that can be done.
00:53:46 He's mentioned he misses home,
00:53:49 but we need to keep him here for a bit longer.
00:53:52 Because if we send him home now,
00:53:54 he will just go back to what he was doing
00:53:56 and end up undoing all the progress he has made here.
00:54:00 So we need a strategy to help prevent that.
00:54:03 One option I'm considering,
00:54:05 he's doing weight loss surgery on him.
00:54:07 To try to give him a fighting chance if he goes home.
00:54:10 But we need to get his weight down
00:54:12 and I need to see more effort from him
00:54:14 before that is an option.
00:54:16 (soft music)
00:54:23 - The doctor has been giving me homework
00:54:32 to do with the diet and my understanding on nutrition.
00:54:36 So I've been working on that.
00:54:38 It gives me something to do, so I don't mind it.
00:54:41 But I'm hoping that at some point soon,
00:54:44 Dr. Now is gonna take me to the next level, you know?
00:54:47 And I need something more to make this go faster.
00:54:50 - We have made more progress with Dabby.
00:54:55 We had his weight down almost 200 pounds since he arrived.
00:54:58 So he lost another 80 pounds last month.
00:55:01 So I think with his progress and effort
00:55:04 that the next step for him is to do weight loss surgery.
00:55:08 Normally, yeah, I prefer to send him home first
00:55:11 to see how he does.
00:55:12 But in Abby's case, I think the environment he's in
00:55:16 and the fact that he is completely immobile
00:55:19 sets him up for failure.
00:55:20 So we need to give him a tool
00:55:22 that gives him a fighting chance to do this on his own.
00:55:26 Hey Abby.
00:55:31 - Hey Dr. Now.
00:55:33 - How you doing?
00:55:34 - I'm good.
00:55:35 - So how's everything coming along for you?
00:55:40 - Everything's good.
00:55:41 - Great.
00:55:42 I hear you're doing better with your PT.
00:55:44 - Yes, yes.
00:55:46 - In your last session, what were you able to do?
00:55:49 - I was able to do everything that they asked me to do.
00:55:53 - Well, you're still not getting up.
00:55:54 So we still have a ways to go with that.
00:55:57 They're working on these and you moving your leg for me?
00:56:00 - Yeah.
00:56:03 - How much you can straighten up your knee?
00:56:05 - That's the, I am straightening it out.
00:56:08 - That's about it?
00:56:09 Okay.
00:56:11 How about the other one?
00:56:12 - I'll take this off.
00:56:18 Let's see, this one moves too.
00:56:22 - Okay.
00:56:23 - So I'm getting strong on both legs.
00:56:26 I've been doing my exercises every day
00:56:28 and trying to get as strong as I can.
00:56:30 - That's good because we got to get you out of this bed.
00:56:33 - Yeah, that would change my life.
00:56:36 - A big part of that is your weight loss,
00:56:38 which we have made good progress with.
00:56:40 Let's check it and see where you're at today.
00:56:43 527, so you're down 201 pounds exactly
00:56:51 since we brought you here.
00:56:53 I'm worried if we send you home in the same environment,
00:56:56 but you're still in the bed,
00:56:57 that you could gain your weight back
00:56:59 instead of continuing to lose.
00:57:01 But with the weight loss surgery,
00:57:03 you're going to be able to have a better tool to do that.
00:57:06 - So are we looking into that?
00:57:08 Or is that a possibility?
00:57:10 - Yes, with your current progress,
00:57:12 that is the next step for you.
00:57:13 So we'll do endoscopy,
00:57:16 look inside your stomach next week.
00:57:18 And if everything's okay,
00:57:19 maybe any way we could to,
00:57:22 we can do that weight loss surgery, okay?
00:57:24 - That would be awesome.
00:57:26 That would be great.
00:57:26 - So we will plan on that.
00:57:28 Keep working hard and we will set that up.
00:57:31 - Thank you, doctor.
00:57:32 - All right, Abby, we gotta do something
00:57:34 to get you out of this situation, okay?
00:57:37 - All right.
00:57:37 - All right, I'll see you later.
00:57:39 - All right.
00:57:40 (soft music)
00:57:55 (inhales)
00:57:58 (soft music)
00:58:02 - Hopefully everything looks good
00:58:05 and we can move ahead with Abby's weight loss surgery soon.
00:58:09 Once we do that and he recovers,
00:58:12 we will work more closely with some specialists,
00:58:16 especially an orthopedic surgeon,
00:58:18 to see if we can get a game plan
00:58:21 for what it will take to get him walking again.
00:58:24 (soft music)
00:58:27 (soft music)
00:58:29 - Hey.
00:58:30 - Hi, baby.
00:58:31 - Hey, how you doing?
00:58:33 - I'm good.
00:58:34 - Dr. Knight gave me great news.
00:58:37 We're planning on doing the surgery.
00:58:39 - That's great news.
00:58:40 - Right?
00:58:41 - You excited?
00:58:42 - Yes.
00:58:43 - Do they know like when the surgery?
00:58:47 - I don't have a set date yet,
00:58:50 but at least it's gonna be soon.
00:58:52 - That's awesome.
00:58:54 - Yeah.
00:58:55 - Aw, that's so great, baby.
00:58:57 I'm so proud of you.
00:58:59 - Yeah, yeah.
00:58:59 So yeah, but I'll let you go.
00:59:01 I know you're working, but I love you, man.
00:59:04 - I love you too.
00:59:05 I'll call you when I get out of work, okay?
00:59:07 - All right, I love you.
00:59:08 - All right, bye, love you.
00:59:10 (soft music)
00:59:12 - When I heard Dr. Knight tell me
00:59:16 I was finally gonna get the surgery,
00:59:18 I couldn't believe it.
00:59:19 This is a big step I've been praying for
00:59:24 and working hard to get.
00:59:26 I feel really blessed right now
00:59:30 that I'm getting this chance.
00:59:31 And I know it's gonna change my life.
00:59:35 So I'm very happy right now.
00:59:37 (soft music)
00:59:39 (soft music)
00:59:41 (soft music)
00:59:52 - Hey, Abby.
01:00:03 - Hey, bro.
01:00:04 - How you feel?
01:00:07 - I feel good.
01:00:08 I can feel it right now.
01:00:10 - So we're gonna do your surgery today.
01:00:12 The thing will be better after that.
01:00:15 And hopefully we're gonna get you
01:00:17 to get to the point of getting an orthopedic surgery
01:00:20 and get you up and change your life, huh?
01:00:23 - Yeah, that's what we're hoping for.
01:00:25 - All right, so we get started in a few minutes.
01:00:28 We'll see what the next step is, okay?
01:00:31 - All right.
01:00:32 - All right, we get started.
01:00:33 - Thank you.
01:00:36 - Okay.
01:00:37 (soft music)
01:00:40 - Once we get out, I'll push, okay?
01:00:52 This is a great day
01:00:55 because I'm getting my weight loss surgery today.
01:00:58 I've been hoping for this day for a long time now
01:01:00 and it's finally here.
01:01:02 The only thing is, I wish that Brenda was here.
01:01:06 Being apart from her for this long
01:01:08 has been one of the hardest parts of this process.
01:01:11 So she and I were both hoping she could be here today,
01:01:15 but she couldn't because of work.
01:01:18 But I know she's here supporting me in spirit.
01:01:21 So is my mom.
01:01:22 I called her in Puerto Rico to tell her I'm getting it today
01:01:25 and she's also happy for me.
01:01:27 So I feel everyone's support and love
01:01:31 and I feel blessed that I'm getting this opportunity.
01:01:34 (soft music)
01:01:36 - Today we're gonna try to do weight loss surgery on Abby.
01:01:40 All his tests look good
01:01:41 and we have his weight done a great deal.
01:01:44 So he's ready for his slave gastrectomy.
01:01:47 The biggest obstacle is gonna be
01:01:50 getting him on the operating table.
01:01:52 (soft music)
01:01:55 (Abby screams)
01:02:00 He has a lot of frozen joint
01:02:03 and a difficulty to move his extremities.
01:02:06 So that's gonna be a very difficult situation
01:02:09 to move him to operating table
01:02:11 and position him to the way
01:02:13 that's gonna fit in the operating table
01:02:15 because his legs are rotating outward
01:02:18 and that's gonna be a challenging situation.
01:02:21 So this probably would be one of the most challenging
01:02:24 patient to position for any weight loss surgery,
01:02:27 but we're gonna give it a try.
01:02:29 - Yeah, we're good.
01:02:30 (soft music)
01:02:32 - But his size is not only a challenge
01:02:37 to get him on the table,
01:02:39 but it also still make him hard rest.
01:02:42 So that means his body is still under a lot of strain.
01:02:46 Okay, starting the first incision.
01:02:49 Get the light off of here.
01:02:53 Get this light off of here.
01:02:59 Go up.
01:03:01 Hold it there.
01:03:02 Bring the robot.
01:03:05 So if there is any concern,
01:03:10 the surgery is adding to the strain
01:03:13 and pushing his body too hard.
01:03:15 We may have to stop the surgery,
01:03:17 but obviously we hope that won't be necessary.
01:03:21 All right, I'm gonna transition to robot.
01:03:30 (soft music)
01:03:32 Because this operation is an important step for Abby,
01:03:41 because this is an operation that we're gonna take
01:03:43 almost about 80% of the stomach out
01:03:46 and leave him with a small, narrow 20% stomach volume
01:03:50 that is gonna help him to eat less
01:03:52 and be able to lose more weight.
01:03:58 So this is gonna be a very important job for him
01:04:01 that is going to help him a lot.
01:04:03 Without it, I don't think he will be able to stay on track
01:04:07 back into his old environment.
01:04:10 So this should be a big help for him.
01:04:12 Undock robot.
01:04:15 (soft music)
01:04:19 (soft music)
01:04:21 All right, we can remove the stomach.
01:04:35 Keep pulling, keep pulling, keep pulling.
01:04:48 You got a very long stomach.
01:04:50 Okay, put that on the table over there.
01:04:56 Just a little push.
01:04:58 Okay, we can surgery him up.
01:05:07 Turn the light on.
01:05:10 Yeah.
01:05:17 - But Abby's surgery went very well.
01:05:20 That was probably one of the most challenging
01:05:23 weight loss surgery that we have done for a while
01:05:26 with this condition because of his functional paraplegia
01:05:29 and all the extremities.
01:05:31 But after we got all the challenges met,
01:05:33 his surgery went very well.
01:05:35 We were able to do a stable gastrectomy
01:05:37 and complete the surgery.
01:05:39 But we're gonna keep him here in a controlled environment
01:05:43 for a little while longer to see what potential
01:05:46 for orthopedic procedure to get him to the point
01:05:48 that he's gonna be able to function normally.
01:05:52 And hopefully those orthopedic procedure
01:05:55 will do some corrective changes on his lower extremity,
01:05:58 change his life and get him out of that bed.
01:06:01 (soft music)
01:06:06 - Since my surgery, I've been adjusting to how it feels
01:06:15 to get full so quickly.
01:06:16 But it's crazy how a few spoonfuls fill me up now.
01:06:22 And that's just a whole new feeling.
01:06:25 - Hi Abby.
01:06:33 - Hey doctor.
01:06:35 - How you feel?
01:06:35 - I'm doing good.
01:06:38 - It's been about a week and a half
01:06:40 since Abby's weight loss surgery
01:06:42 and he's recovering well.
01:06:44 I'm keeping him here in the hospital
01:06:46 for a little bit longer to make sure
01:06:48 we have a good game plan before we send him home.
01:06:52 Well, let's see how the stomach doing
01:06:54 and thing healing okay?
01:06:56 Okay, we can get rid of all these bandages.
01:07:01 Also with his hygiene at home,
01:07:04 his surgery would likely get infected.
01:07:06 So he needs to stay here for his whole recovery.
01:07:09 But with his weight down and gastric surgery done,
01:07:13 our focus with him is on the next big step
01:07:16 to get him out of the bed.
01:07:18 So I had an orthopedic specialist examine him.
01:07:22 This is Dr. Lin.
01:07:22 - Hi, how's it going?
01:07:24 - Good.
01:07:25 - They're going to attempt an MRI,
01:07:27 but there is no way Abby's leg can go in the machine
01:07:31 with how they are frozen.
01:07:33 - So can you show me what you can do yourself?
01:07:35 - Sure, sure, sure.
01:07:37 - Can you move your hip yourself at all?
01:07:38 - So they managed to get some portable x-rays done.
01:07:41 Those wouldn't have worked
01:07:43 if he still had all the weight on him.
01:07:45 So now we are able to confirm
01:07:47 that the bone in his upper leg femur
01:07:50 have in fact infused to his hip.
01:07:53 - So this one is...
01:07:54 - That's not bad either.
01:07:57 - I can push it a little bit.
01:07:59 - Yeah.
01:07:59 - So essentially his femur and his hip
01:08:02 now are one bone that have to be broken up surgically.
01:08:07 - You know, certainly we need to build your strength up.
01:08:09 I mean, I think some of the surgery,
01:08:10 getting your weight down will help with that.
01:08:12 I mean, you have a lot of spasticity.
01:08:14 This is not unusual for someone with your injury,
01:08:17 but at the same time,
01:08:18 it's good that you're able to kind of move to some degree.
01:08:20 I mean, the fact that you're able to straighten your knee
01:08:21 is a big improvement.
01:08:23 So I think let's see how much weight you can lose,
01:08:25 how much strength you can gain back,
01:08:26 and then we'll see if you hit a plateau.
01:08:28 If you do, there are options available,
01:08:30 but I think further down the road
01:08:31 as you gain some of that function back.
01:08:34 You know, obesity affects your joints too.
01:08:36 It's not just a mechanical thing.
01:08:37 It's a chemical thing too.
01:08:38 I mean, a lot of the fat produces a lot of enzymes
01:08:41 that break down your body too.
01:08:42 So that weight loss in itself has a direct effect
01:08:44 to making your joint healthy as well.
01:08:46 - I'm on my way to being a model.
01:08:48 - There you go.
01:08:48 Yeah, there you go.
01:08:49 (laughs)
01:08:50 All right, sounds good.
01:08:51 Well, good seeing you again.
01:08:52 And so, you know,
01:08:53 I'll be looking forward to seeing how you're doing.
01:08:55 So.
01:08:56 - All right.
01:08:57 - Okay.
01:08:58 - All right, Abby.
01:08:59 We'll see you later.
01:08:59 Keep working hard.
01:09:01 - All right.
01:09:01 - And do your exercises, okay?
01:09:03 - All right.
01:09:03 All right, doctor.
01:09:04 - All right.
01:09:05 (gentle music)
01:09:09 (gentle music)
01:09:11 - Abby's situation is a unique one
01:09:12 in that his weight has contributed
01:09:14 to some degree to his immobility.
01:09:16 But with how long he's been bedridden
01:09:17 without the use of his lower body,
01:09:19 it's caused his joints to become very stiff
01:09:21 and essentially almost act like it's fused together.
01:09:24 So to correct the situation,
01:09:26 it may require surgery at some point
01:09:28 to regain mobility in his joints.
01:09:30 And that's not gonna be a quick or easy process.
01:09:32 It's gonna take time.
01:09:33 He may have a very limited range of motion
01:09:35 with his joints being stiff.
01:09:37 But with the motion he does have,
01:09:38 he needs to move around as much as possible
01:09:39 to regain as much strength to his lower body as he can.
01:09:42 If he does that, he may even be able to stand,
01:09:45 but he's gonna need an operation to walk.
01:09:47 So long-term, there's a good chance
01:09:48 we can get Abby out of that bed
01:09:49 and potentially walking again.
01:09:51 (gentle music)
01:09:53 (gentle music)
01:10:00 - Hey, buddy.
01:10:06 - Hey.
01:10:07 (laughing)
01:10:08 - Today is a special day
01:10:09 because my mom has come all the way from Puerto Rico
01:10:12 to see me.
01:10:13 (speaking in foreign language)
01:10:36 (speaking in foreign language)
01:10:40 I haven't seen my mom in a long time,
01:10:45 and it feels really good to see her
01:10:46 and to have her here with me.
01:10:49 There was a part of me that didn't want her
01:10:50 to see me in this bed.
01:10:52 But now that she's here, I'm happy to be together.
01:10:55 And hopefully, she would see how much progress I'm making
01:10:59 and how I'm turning my life around.
01:11:01 - Hello.
01:11:03 - Hey, little girl. - Hey, hello.
01:11:04 - Hey, little girl.
01:11:05 - How you doing?
01:11:06 - Good. - Good, good.
01:11:07 - Well, Abby, you doing all right?
01:11:09 - Yeah.
01:11:10 - I hear you got your family here.
01:11:12 - Yep, my mom, my sister, my niece.
01:11:15 - Well, nice to meet you all.
01:11:17 - My mom came from Puerto Rico,
01:11:18 my sister from Austin area.
01:11:21 - Well, that's great.
01:11:23 So you doing okay?
01:11:24 - Yes, I'm doing much better now, yeah.
01:11:27 - All right.
01:11:28 It has been a few weeks from Abby's weight loss surgery,
01:11:31 and we have his weight down to 489.
01:11:33 So we helped him to lose a great deal.
01:11:35 But after Dr. Lin, the orthopedic surgeon, saw him,
01:11:39 he felt Abby's weight need to be around 350
01:11:42 to try to start to put weight on his legs.
01:11:45 So we will work toward that.
01:11:47 Well, you know, Abby got the long road ahead of him.
01:11:51 Once we get his weight down a little more,
01:11:53 we need to see what we can do with the rehab with his legs,
01:11:56 and hopefully get him to the point
01:11:58 that he'll be ready to have some orthopedic surgery
01:12:01 to improve his legs and be able to walk
01:12:04 and get out of this bed.
01:12:06 And that is gonna be something that he has to work hard at.
01:12:09 - We're on that goal.
01:12:11 I know I'm getting stronger in my legs.
01:12:13 Dr. Lin told me that I'm getting stronger in the legs.
01:12:17 That's why every day we're getting the physical therapy.
01:12:21 I'm pushing them, they're pushing me to get that stronger.
01:12:25 I am getting stronger.
01:12:27 And that's my goal.
01:12:28 I wanna do everything that I can.
01:12:31 - I agree.
01:12:32 I'm glad you decided you're gonna follow that.
01:12:35 The big challenge will be when you go home.
01:12:38 And that is when nobody's there,
01:12:41 you have to do your own part and get your strength back
01:12:44 by working hard with PT, okay?
01:12:47 - Yeah.
01:12:48 - All right, so Abby doing okay.
01:12:50 He's making progress, so we're gonna keep working with him
01:12:54 and see if we can get him to the next step, okay?
01:12:57 - We're looking forward to it, honey.
01:12:58 - And if it sounds like a lot of challenges,
01:13:00 those are little goals that help him stay focused
01:13:03 on something that he needs to achieve.
01:13:05 - Okay, that's super.
01:13:07 It's nice to have a supportive family.
01:13:09 - Yeah, that is, it helps out a lot.
01:13:12 - A little gracia.
01:13:14 - He wants to thank you.
01:13:15 - You're welcome.
01:13:17 That's our job to make his life change, okay?
01:13:21 We'll get him to next level.
01:13:23 So it's a long road, but we keep working on it.
01:13:26 - Thank you, we appreciate it.
01:13:27 - Thank you.
01:13:28 - We do appreciate everything.
01:13:30 - Well, you're welcome.
01:13:31 All right, if you need anything, let me know.
01:13:34 I'll see y'all later.
01:13:35 - Thank you.
01:13:36 - If Abby's moving his leg more
01:13:47 and getting to a point where he can stand
01:13:50 and transfer to a wheelchair,
01:13:52 we will perform the orthopedic procedure
01:13:54 to hopefully infuse his leg in one operation.
01:13:58 It may take multiple procedures,
01:14:00 but we are hoping it can be done in one
01:14:03 if the progress gets to where he needs.
01:14:05 So after Abby fully recovers here,
01:14:08 within the next week, we will move him back to solid food.
01:14:11 But it's gonna be very important
01:14:13 to keep working hard and losing weight
01:14:15 if he wants to be able to ever walk again.
01:14:19 - Bye guys.
01:14:19 - Bye.
01:14:20 - Adios.
01:14:21 (laughing)
01:14:24 - Bye.
01:14:25 - Bye.
01:14:25 - Kiss you.
01:14:26 (upbeat music)
01:14:32 - Hi Abby.
01:14:43 - Hey doctor.
01:14:44 - All right, how are you today?
01:14:46 - I'm waking up and I'm okay.
01:14:50 - Well, this is your time to move on to next step,
01:14:54 which is going to send you home.
01:14:57 So we're gonna send you home today.
01:14:59 So we'll have physical therapy come visit you
01:15:01 three times a week.
01:15:02 So we'll make physical therapy to work with you
01:15:05 and get your strength up.
01:15:06 So you need to keep up with that.
01:15:08 And I'm gonna give you a goal of lose 20 pounds a month.
01:15:11 And in three months, we're gonna bring you back
01:15:14 and check your weight.
01:15:15 And you should be able to lose at least 60 pounds by then.
01:15:19 Okay, let's check your weight
01:15:20 and see where you're at today.
01:15:24 So your weight today is 477.
01:15:29 And so you have lost so far 250 pounds
01:15:32 from your highest weight.
01:15:33 So that is good,
01:15:34 but you still got almost 130 pounds to lose
01:15:37 to get to your goal of 350.
01:15:40 - Okay.
01:15:41 - All right, now show me what you can do with your leg
01:15:44 and your progress there.
01:15:48 Okay, some movement in your knee.
01:15:52 All right, how much you can do with your hip?
01:15:54 Try to straighten that and lift it up and all that.
01:15:59 It's been about a month and a half since Abby's surgery.
01:16:03 We have made some more progress
01:16:05 building up the strength and stamina in his legs.
01:16:08 But Abby, he doesn't push himself
01:16:11 as much as he should during PT.
01:16:13 So his progress isn't as fast as it could be.
01:16:17 All right, let's see how you're doing the other leg.
01:16:20 At this point, we have had Abby
01:16:23 in a controlled environment for three months.
01:16:25 And ultimately, he's not going to be able to stay
01:16:29 in an environment like this forever.
01:16:32 So it's important we see if Abby
01:16:35 is still willing to do what he needs if he is on his own.
01:16:39 And so these are exercises that you do on your own,
01:16:42 but we'll have a PT to come and help you with that.
01:16:46 Okay?
01:16:46 And I'm, yeah, that's what we're trying to get at.
01:16:50 So we'll get the PT to come and work with you.
01:16:53 And after three months, I would expect
01:16:56 that you will lose at least 60 pounds
01:16:59 and you'll have some more strength
01:17:02 and mobility on your hip and your leg.
01:17:04 So if you lose that 60 pounds,
01:17:06 then we'll see what option we got for you
01:17:08 to consider orthopedic procedures for you, okay?
01:17:12 But if you don't, then this will be it.
01:17:15 All right, thank you, doctor.
01:17:16 If you need anything, let me know.
01:17:18 - Perfect.
01:17:19 - All right, Abby.
01:17:20 Have a good trip back home. - Thank you, doctor.
01:17:22 Thank you so much.
01:17:23 - Oh, you're welcome.
01:17:24 - All right.
01:17:25 - Abby has come a long way so far,
01:17:27 but he still has a ways to go.
01:17:29 This is a chance to show me he's serious,
01:17:31 that he's gonna do what he needs
01:17:33 outside a controlled environment.
01:17:36 - Ready? - Ready.
01:17:36 - All right. - On a 10 minutes count.
01:17:38 - One, two, three.
01:17:40 (Abby grunting)
01:17:43 - But if he doesn't, and the progress is not there,
01:17:45 in a few months, then we are just gonna be wasting
01:17:49 a lot of important resources on him,
01:17:51 especially after all this we have given him.
01:17:54 So it's gonna be important for him to work hard
01:17:57 and hit the goal I gave him.
01:17:59 If he doesn't, that will be it.
01:18:01 (dramatic music)
01:18:13 - Let's try and cover him right here real quick.
01:18:15 Should be good.
01:18:19 - I know I still have a lot of weight to lose
01:18:26 before I can get on my feet.
01:18:28 And sometimes I get discouraged that I'm not there yet.
01:18:31 Sometimes it feels like I'll never make it,
01:18:34 but I know I gotta keep fighting.
01:18:36 And when I need inspiration, I think about my dad,
01:18:40 and I know he would want me to.
01:18:42 And I think about Brenda, and paying her back
01:18:45 for all that she's done for me.
01:18:46 And I know I gotta keep at it.
01:18:49 I'm grateful for Dr. Now, and the help he's given me too.
01:18:52 It just hurts a lot.
01:18:55 But I know I gotta do it.
01:19:02 And the more weight I lose, I know it will get easier.
01:19:05 So I'm gonna do whatever I need to do
01:19:08 to get out of this bed.
01:19:09 - We got you, he's good.
01:19:11 - He's on the bed.
01:19:13 - Yeah, he's on.
01:19:14 - He's good. - He's good.
01:19:15 - We have Abby back in the hospital.
01:19:34 It's been three months since we sent him home
01:19:37 to see if he's gonna stick on his exercise like he needs.
01:19:41 The big question is if he's sticking to his diet
01:19:44 and losing weight like he needs.
01:19:46 But if not, then the plan with him
01:19:48 is gonna drastically change today.
01:19:50 Hi Abby.
01:19:54 - Hey doctor, how you doing?
01:19:56 - I'm doing okay, how about yourself?
01:19:58 - I'm good, good.
01:20:00 - Well, good to see you again.
01:20:01 How is your physical therapy,
01:20:03 and your exercise and all that been going?
01:20:06 - It's been going a lot better, a lot smoother.
01:20:09 Trying to keep my legs moving.
01:20:11 - Great, and you're sticking to your diet?
01:20:13 - Yeah, it's hard, but I'm trying to keep there.
01:20:17 - Great, so let's see how is your weight doing, okay?
01:20:20 - All right.
01:20:21 - You were 477 when you left,
01:20:24 and you should be 60 pounds down,
01:20:26 so you should be 417.
01:20:29 All right, it looked like you lost another 56 pounds.
01:20:35 You still can pick up the pace a little,
01:20:37 but you're still moving in the right direction
01:20:39 how you need.
01:20:39 So I'm happy with that.
01:20:41 I'm proud of your progress, keep it up.
01:20:44 And if you lose another 70 pounds,
01:20:46 you'll be down to 350.
01:20:48 We can do your orthopedic procedure,
01:20:50 and hopefully with that,
01:20:52 we're gonna be able to get you up walking.
01:20:54 - That would be awesome.
01:20:55 - So it is important to keep your strength up
01:20:59 with your legs, get your feet back on the ground,
01:21:02 and walk in again.
01:21:04 - That's what we want.
01:21:05 - So that would be almost 10 years
01:21:08 since your last walk, huh?
01:21:09 - Yes, yes.
01:21:11 - So it's gonna take a lot of work,
01:21:12 and it's a long road,
01:21:14 but as long as you stick with your diet and your PT,
01:21:17 we'll get you there.
01:21:18 We'll get you there.
01:21:19 - All right, thank you, thank you.
01:21:21 - All right, so we're gonna do some tests on you,
01:21:24 and we're gonna get some lab work
01:21:27 and make sure everything's okay.
01:21:29 And if you don't have any infection or issues
01:21:32 when you try to rest,
01:21:33 and everything is okay,
01:21:35 we get you going home tomorrow, okay?
01:21:37 - Perfect, perfect.
01:21:38 - So keep up the good work,
01:21:39 and we'll get you up walking pretty soon.
01:21:42 - All right, all right.
01:21:43 - All right, Abby, I'll be back and see you later.
01:21:46 - All right, thank you, doctor.
01:21:47 - All right, nice to see you again.
01:21:49 - All right, bye, thank you.
01:21:51 - Bye.
01:21:52 - I am very happy to see that.
01:21:54 For the first time since starting with him,
01:21:57 I have verifiable proof
01:21:59 that Abby is taking things seriously.
01:22:01 That is very encouraging,
01:22:03 and I'm proud of him for coming this far.
01:22:06 He lost somewhere between 300 to 350 pounds at this point,
01:22:11 depending on how his weight was
01:22:14 before coming to the hospital.
01:22:16 With schedule one,
01:22:17 he is less than 200 pounds away from his target weight,
01:22:21 but the focus is on getting him to walk again.
01:22:24 So if he loses another 70 pounds
01:22:27 and get his legs to where they need to be,
01:22:30 then we'll be able to do his orthopedic surgery
01:22:33 and help him to get out of that bed.
01:22:35 (upbeat music)
01:22:38 - Hey, look who we found.
01:22:54 (upbeat music)
01:22:57 - Abby, hey.
01:23:02 - Hey, man.
01:23:03 - So hoping to get you moving again today.
01:23:06 Can you swing the leg toward me?
01:23:08 Just kick it out this way.
01:23:10 Yeah, great, great.
01:23:12 - I've been working hard
01:23:14 and doing what I need to get my weight down.
01:23:16 - Can I help it a little bit?
01:23:18 Too much, okay, now stop right there.
01:23:19 Take a deep breath.
01:23:21 - And I'm almost in the 300s,
01:23:22 and that feels really good.
01:23:24 And I know when I finally stand up,
01:23:26 I'm gonna be amazed at how light I feel.
01:23:29 So I'm still focused on getting to 350
01:23:34 so I can get the surgery I need to walk again.
01:23:36 - Okay, stop right there and relax.
01:23:38 - I feel like I'm getting better and better.
01:23:40 - Better than you thought?
01:23:42 - I'm farther than I have.
01:23:44 - Yeah?
01:23:45 - Yeah.
01:23:46 - Okay, kick it out toward me, ready?
01:23:47 Okay, set it down.
01:23:51 As we do, the heel's gonna come off the bed.
01:23:53 Like, let it out, let it out.
01:23:54 My leg is here too, so it won't fall.
01:23:57 Now we have a whole foot off the bed.
01:23:59 - The doctor says if I apply myself
01:24:02 and lose a little bit more each month,
01:24:04 I can be ready for my leg and hip surgery in three months.
01:24:08 So that's my goal, and that's what I'm working towards.
01:24:10 - Yep, stop, stop.
01:24:11 - Okay.
01:24:12 - This is as far as I'm getting.
01:24:13 - Okay, take a deep breath.
01:24:14 We're gonna hang out here because this is great exercise.
01:24:17 You're using your core to maintain, right?
01:24:20 It's not fully sitting up, but it's quarter, half.
01:24:23 - Sideways.
01:24:24 - Right?
01:24:25 You're sideways sitting up?
01:24:26 - Yeah.
01:24:27 - I'm gonna bring this leg back up.
01:24:28 - I'm out, I'm out, I'm out.
01:24:30 - Okay, let it fall.
01:24:31 Hey, you got yourself back in pretty good.
01:24:39 Right?
01:24:40 - I couldn't do that before.
01:24:41 - You couldn't do that before?
01:24:43 Amazing.
01:24:44 Good work.
01:24:45 Progress.
01:24:48 - I know.
01:24:48 - You know?
01:24:49 - Eventually, get into the side of the bed.
01:24:51 - So today, 25, 30% of the way.
01:24:54 Next week, 40% of the way.
01:24:57 Further, further, you know?
01:24:58 - Yeah.
01:24:59 - It was a pleasure working with you.
01:25:01 I wish you the best, all right?
01:25:02 - All right.
01:25:03 - Thank you.
01:25:04 - All right, thanks guys.
01:25:05 - Thanks, man.
01:25:05 - Bye. - Thank you.
01:25:06 - It's been a long journey,
01:25:10 but I'm closer to where I wanna be than ever.
01:25:13 - You did amazing.
01:25:14 - Yeah.
01:25:15 - That was so much more than I have seen you done in years.
01:25:19 - Wow.
01:25:20 - And I have hope now
01:25:22 that I'm gonna be able to do it finally,
01:25:24 and I won't give up until I do.
01:25:26 (upbeat music)
01:25:29 (music)