I've been a little reluctant to post on this thread because it's the sort of thread that can get heated, it definitely brings out strong feelings in most people but I thought I'd join in anyway.
I watched it last night on 4od after I saw you all discussing it and my main feeling coming away from it was why aren't there more people like that surgeon around. I thought that he was fantastic and spoke honestly and frankly about the problem of weight loss. Once bed bound there is little that a person can do to lose weight, even going on a normal calorie controlled diet won't shift much weight because nothing is being used up and I think that must be how someone goes from being very fat to the size of that chap. Only a diet like the jelly one will make a huge difference quickly.
Before I started SW I'd got to the point that if I didn't do something then I'd be bed bound, walking was getting impossible. I was also eating very little compared to most people that I know, what I did eat however was bad for me but (and I know how stupid it sounds) the only thing that gave me much pleasure. Had I continued then yes I would probably have been like him within a few years. It's a slippery slope and it's surprisingly easy to start sliding in my opinion. If you think nothing of yourself, if you can't deal with life and problems and that sort of thing then it's easy to let go and not care what happens. Believe me, I know!
One of his points was about how he wished he'd been given help earlier, say at 20 stone. This is a really good point. The help is not there and whether or not we think it should be available to people on the NHS or not, if someone goes for help because they don't feel they can do it alone then I think it should be. It's very easy to say you just need to sort yourself out but not easy to do as we all know.
I was referred to an eating disorder clinic about 4 years ago, we talked, they agreed that I needed help because I was going to end up killing myself if I carried on as I was. A month later I had a letter saying that there was atleast a 3 year waiting list! My GP spoke to them and said I should be treated as an emergency case because he was concerned about my heart but it got me no further up the list. Last year I had a letter asking if I wanted to stay on the waiting list but that it could still be years. It's hardly ideal! If this guy went through a similar thing then I can understand his frustration, yes he chose to keep on eating crap but when you care so little about yourself and then find that no one else does either it is pretty hard to take.
I got quite angry at his reaction to losing alot of his home help but then I realised that probably to him it would be like someone taking away family. He had no one else and he and his carer seemed quite close. I think it was fear that made him react that way though I could be wrong!
Anyway, sorry didn't mean to waffle on for so long. I think it was a good programme all in all. I think it said a lot about the media and the hatred that many people feel towards fat people. Yes it probably has a lot to do with him being on benefits but then there would have been massive hype even if he wasn't on them, certain papers would have picked up on the cost to the NHS just for the surgery alone and still caused a media frenzy because finding a 'freak' (it's the only way I can think to put it and reminds me of circus' 100 years ago, not because I think he's a freak!) sells papers and people like to take the pee!
