Catfish | 700lb Man Loses Over 500lbs With The Help of Surgery (Patreon)

700lb Man Loses Over 500lbs With The Help of Surgery

     A 700lb Gainsville man who reluctantly was “killing himself” with mountains of decadent food managed to lose over 500lbs after going under the knife. At 702.5lbs, he was a “dead man waddling.” He didn’t really want to change, but against all odds he did take the necessary steps to improve his health. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t live to see the age of 35.

     “I was always a big kid and was bullied because of my weight throughout school. However, things got really bad when my dad passed away. I was only sixteen and all I could think to do was eat. When I turned 18 I was already 500 pounds,” he told Channel 6 News.

     Some wonder how someone that young gets so big. He has an answer for that too. He found comfort in sugary snacks and often ate in secret, squeezing fast food bags under the seat of his car. “I didn’t care what I was eating, I just wanted to eat. My parents let me eat whatever I wanted and the bigger I got, the more I wanted. Really, it’s not what I wanted, but what I needed. You may say an 18 year old doesn’t need to feast on four double cheeseburgers. My mind told me I needed it to feel full and cope with my spiraling depression and anxiety. It’s what helped me through coming out as gay when no one wanted to date a fat guy and it’s what got me through my dad’s funeral. Food was my addiction and it still is to be honest.”

     Then, things took a turn for the worst. One evening he was laying in bed, drowning his loneliness in several boxes of pizza. He could still get up on his own, but being such a colossal size meant that moving hurt his entire body. He reached for another slice of pizza before going into a coughing fit. “I used to have some coughing fits, but nothing like this before. I thought nothing of it at first, but then came the wheezing. My breaths kept getting shorter and shorter.”

     His mother heard him choking for oxygen and called 911 as he struggled to breath or sit up in bed. He tells Channel 6: “it felt like my lungs were collapsing. I silently hoped it would be the end. I didn’t want to go on anymore.”

     Fortunately, it wasn’t the end for him, but he was running into serious problems due to his rapid weight gain. The doctor at the emergency room told him he had developed diabetes, high blood pressure, and the culprit responsible for the trip: Adult onset asthma. “Like I said, I thought my lungs were collapsing under my heavy chest. As it turned out, my airway was restricted by the fat around my neck and chest area. The doctor also warned me I’d die young because of my weight and that he thought maybe he could help me with weight loss surgery.”

     The surgery seemed to be his only option of getting out of the grave he was diligently digging for himself. Thanks to the procedure and changes he’s made he lost an astounding 512 pounds. He certainly looks healthier now and his doctor agrees that he is back on track. His asthma has gotten better and he’s reversed his diabetes.

     He has a routine, although he doesn’t like it very much. “Just because my weight melted off after my surgery, doesn’t mean it was easy. I never liked exercising or eating vegetables. Things haven’t changed on that front. I do it because I have to do so to try to keep my cravings away.”

     The surgery does not come without a warning from the new weight loss guru. “When I first had the surgery, I couldn’t eat. Anytime I tried to overeat or had something with a rich flavor, I’d get so sick. It got to the point I couldn’t enjoy eating and didn’t. I’m slowly able to introduce foods again. I’m also very displeased with all the loose skin. The extra skin from all of the weight loss compromises my mobility. There’s so much skin being dragged down by gravity that it makes walking and bending daily challenges. People stare at it just like they did my fat. It almost feels worse.”

     He finished his interview with this: “Some days I’m unsure whether it’s worth it because of all the excess skin and because the addiction is still there. I’ve completely lost track of how many diets I’ve started over the years. I quit every single one and started again. If I ever gained the weight again, I don’t know what I would do. I’d probably just eat myself to death, so it’s important that I stay on track this time.”