Injured 550-lb man, unable to afford health care, dies waiting for a 'Job miracle'

[BurtWorm]

This is American health care at the very roots: If you don't have money, you better pray for a miracle.

http://www.ksn.com/content/news/also/story/Man-dies-after-sitting-in-recliner-for-eight/IYHyG3psmkWk6UgSGpq9Ww.cspx

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (NBC) -- Believing his faith would heal him, a Greenwood County, South Carolina man sat down in his recliner after an injury in March and never got up.

On Thursday, his wife explained why he stayed in the recliner until shortly before he died.

"The man totally believed in God and his healing," said Ada Webb.

In March, Webb's 550-pound husband, Tillmon, sat down in a recliner inside their trailer in Greenwood. Wearing nothing but a blanket, the 33-year-old didn't move from that recliner for the next eight months.

"He couldn't do nothing for his self and I couldn't do but so much," Webb explained.

Webb says Tillmon tore his ACL in March and drove to a doctor's office.

"They were gonna give him an appointment, but they wanted $300 up front, and we didn't have the money," said Webb.

Webb says he returned to the recliner, picked up his Bible and became determined that faith would heal his leg.

"He read his Bible daily, he spent his full focus on God," said Webb. "And he was literally waiting and praying for a Job miracle. If anybody knows the Bible and knows Job, he really and fully believed that God was going to heal him just like he did Job, because he said he couldn't think of a better testimony to go out and to tell people."


...

[fujiyama]

1. Wow talk about all bad American stereotypes rolled into one

The man was a religious nut, obese, and had no health care. Talk about a recipe for disaster!

[SoCalDem]

21. and yet it sort of proves Darwin's theory too..

there are free clinics and there are also agencies who would have helped that man, but he decided to do otherwise..and paid for it with his life:(

[winyanstaz]

30. free clinics do not exist in all parts of America..

and exactly what agency in his area would have helped him?

[undeterred]

43. I am so sick and tired of these "Darwin" posts.

Its a dead giveaway that the poster is quick to judge and low on information.

[SoCalDem]

49. feel free to not click on them , then.. and please don't get sick.. it's dangerous in the US

tired can be cured by a nap

:hi:

[Zoeisright]

52. +1

Thank you. And BTW, for all the 'Darwin' posters - severe depression, which this person probably had, is MORE debilitating than end-stage heart disease.

Judging is for assholes. And repukes.

[laughingliberal]

107. I'll 2nd that. And damned hard to get effective treatment for even with health insurance nt

[Bertha Venation]

129. "Judging is for assholes." Damn right. n/t

[QC]

58. +2

[Canuckistanian]

133. It does point out two major problems in society

1. The utter disgrace that simple health problems can't be taken care of effectively by poor people

and

2. The dependency of a large percentage of the population on "religious" solutions to worldly problems.

Both problems are getting WAY out of hand, in my opinion.

[metalbot]

76. Almost no free clinic would treat an ACL injury

ACL surgery is generally considered an optional surgery, since the ACL isn't critical - it's a ligament that prevents the knee from further injury in the cases of rotation.

Regardless, the man was not a good candidate for ACL surgery. The first thing a good surgeon would tell him would be "lose 200 pounds, then we'll talk". For an ACL surgery to be successful, the patient has to be willing to put in the effort to properly rehab the knee. That means time on the exercise bike, moving up to lots of walking and some running, and non-trivial strengthening exercises for the knee that lead up to plyometrics. Given his physical condition (and willingness to rely on being miraculously healed), it's a safe bet that he would not have done what he needed to do to rehab the knee, and would have taken up free clinic resources that could have gone to someone else.

This guy was nuts (and paid for it with his life).

[Cali_Democrat]

87. How could he lose 200 pounds when he has a torn ACL?

I would imagine that any exercise would be pretty painful if not impossible. Especially for someone who is not very active.

[Book Lover]

2. Or, Man Becomes Delusional After Rejection From Doctor's Office

I am so sorry to hear this story. My condolences to this gentleman's family.

[Cali_Democrat]

9. It was a torn ACL that kept him immobile

It looks like it was his bible reading that killed him when you think about it. He stayed in that chair for 8 months and his wife kept feeding him and he went from 550 to almost 800 pounds. All that time he was reading his bible.

I have never heard of someone dying from a torn ACL.

[BurtWorm]

15. Interesting observation. Death by Bible.

:think:

[readmoreoften]

110. After Death Sentence By Poverty

[Lance_Boyle]

117. Not so sure on that - see post 81

The guy couldn't afford $300 to see a specialist, but died with a broadband-connected laptop in hand watching cable TV. That's poverty of priorities, there.

[enid602]

3. wow

This story is just wrong and sad on so many levels. "He couldn't do nothing for his self and I couldn't do but so much." Wow.

[Cali_Democrat]

4. Damn! That's a crazy story. nt

[TheCowsCameHome]

5. And where were the right wing nuts that sell this stuff to these poor folks?

Nowhere. That's where.

Nowhere to be found, and offering no help whatsoever.

[BurtWorm]

6. 'The lord god almighty helps those who help themselves.'

[TheCowsCameHome]

66. Yeah. And bootstraps - don't forget about the bootstraps.

Pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.

That always works, too.

[dmallind]

89. interestingly, not scriptural (I know you did not claim it was)

But the sad fact is most people think that phrase IS in the Bible. It's not. Franklin popularized it but I believe he was not the original either.

[dustbunnie]

7. Well, since he died 300 pounds heavier dead than when he went into the recliner

it looks like she did plenty for him.

[marshall]

42. That recliner has got to be nasty!

I'm surprised his skin didn't grow into it.

[sinkingfeeling]

50. It was. From the full story...

" They say he was stuck to his chair, and they had to saw the recliner apart. They cut a large hole around the front door to get him out."

[Systematic Chaos]

8. I could write a novel in response to this post, but I think I'll just bookmark the thread...

...and save it for later.

[BurtWorm]

10. I'm seeing it as a sort of opera

[Systematic Chaos]

12. Care to clarify?

:shrug:

[BurtWorm]

19. See mainer below

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7188412&mesg_id=7188692

There's something tragic and elemental about this story, all about basic survival in a cold and inscrutable universe.

[mainer]

14. oh man, you're making the creative wheels turn.

A stage play. Two characters -- the man (in his chair the whole time) and the wife.

What an interesting concept.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

11. I'm not sure if this speaks out against or for our health care system.

Jesus, what a fuckup.

[mainer]

13. He was an operative nightmare. And no wonder he tore his ACL.

Think of the stress his weight must have put on his joints!

Any doctor would probably insist he lose about 200 pounds before they'd operate on him anyway. So it wasn't non-access to medical care that killed him.

[Lex]

20. he thought

Jesus would cure him

[Lex]

16. Belief in a Magic Sky Being can be harmful or fatal if swallowed. nt

[dwnorman]

17. Nothing to do with "American health care at the very roots"

This man did not die from a torn ACL. This man died because of the choices that got him to 550 lbs. When did Americans give up responsibility for themselves? His preexisting condition was his inability to say "no" to himself. I know, I'm a fat slob too. If I did less eating and more exercising I'd be a lot better off, but it is still my choice. I was just denied life insurance because of the choices I have been making the last 30 years.

Should I blame the insurance company? They are in business to make money. And if they weren't then all the people who work for them would be out of jobs. It's no different than a college or a restaurant, if they don't turn a profit they close the doors. If you own a business you are doing the same thing. The lawn service company doesn't cut the grass if they don't get paid. The teacher doesn't teach if he/she doesn't get paid. And the doctor doesn't see patients who don't pay or have insurance.

Why is it yours and my responsibility to get this guy medical insurance? And besides, if he was so poor that he could not afford insurance, there's medicaid, or if he's disabled there's social security.

[BurtWorm]

24. This guy was as much in need of quality health care as the next guy

In Europe, he wouldn't have been forced to choose between getting his ACL cared for and sitting in a recliner.

That is the evil of American health care in a nut shell.


PS: He was actually MORE in need of it than the next guy.

[mrbarber]

31. Self-delete

[anigbrowl]

33. He was not forced into that choice

Nobody is forced to sit in a fucking recliner. In Europe he would likely have been treated better, but they would have started by putting him on a diet and making him swim for an hour or two a day. Our health cre system badly needs reform but this is a particularly poor example of what's wrong with it.

[BurtWorm]

34. You're just making my point for me.

American attitudes toward health care (and what Americans deserve) are totally fucked up, top to bottom.

[laughingliberal]

108. +1 nt

[anigbrowl]

135. I'm European.

[UpInArms]

28. nasty visualization going on here -

eating, shitting, texting sermons and reading the bibble in a loungechair for eight months

:puke:

[Contrary1]

29. They were gonna give him an appointment, but they wanted $300 up front, and we didn't have the money

Nope, nothing at all wrong with the health system here. :eyes:

[BurtWorm]

37. The kind of health system god himself would have created.

;)

[EOTE]

32. Actually, it does. For many of the very reasons you point out.

The whole of society betters when health care is considered to be a basic right. When our citizens our healthy, we can work more, be more productive. Regardless of whether or not you feel inclined to pay for anyone else's insurance, the economy would be greatly stimulated by it. Every other industrialized nation in the world realized this long ago. We shouldn't be playing catch up, we should be providing an example for the rest of the world. Our health care system is a joke. People should not be becoming billionaires due to the misfortune of others, it's just sick.

[sinkingfeeling]

57. While you might be on the wrong site, this man died because of his insane belief that Jesus was

going to make him all 800 pounds of him get up and walk. This man needed a ton of help because of his messed up physical body, his zealous believes, and his inability to stop stuffing himself.

You say the doctor doesn't see patients who don't pay, but I remember when doctors cared more about helping people than about having a Mercedes and living in a million dollar home on the golf course. Those type of doctors and nurses still exist, but there are fewer of them all the time.

I thought 'christians' believed they had a responsibility to help others and to have compassion. Since they fail completely, than I'm all for the government assisting people who need it.

[tosh]

72. Very well stated. Thank you. nt.

[misanthrope]

96. "Like a restaurant?" Yes. "Like a college?" No...

...Colleges are not supposed to be businesses; most are public institutions of higher learning and just a variation on a non-profit.

With a business, an owner can sell it and the individual(s) keep whatever profit is made.

With a state-owned college, that isn't the case. Its purpose isn't to show profit but to educate and whatever surplus is earned should ideally be put back into operations or public service.

This is why so many universities are starting to rankle observers and draw the ire of the public, because they have adopted the 20th century business mindset and are accumulating obscene endowments. The allure of "the almighty dollar above all else" is also what has driven universities to prostitute themselves into the sports entertainment industry.

[Ms. Toad]

103. Medicaid is NOT generally available for males

past childhood.

He may well qualify for SSI or SSD, if he was unable to move out of the chair. If he just chose sit there and pray, he might not qualify, and waiting periods may prevent them from being much good to him anyway.

[Marr]

18. Am I to understand the man was sitting in his own filth for eight months?

She couldn't roll him over to use a bed pan, and he was sitting in a recliner. And all the while, he's talking about God's perfection. There's a loaded image for you.

[Stevenmarc]

22. "If I feel anything right now, it's envy for him because I wish he had taken me with him,"

Well take a seat and pray.

[mikelgb]

23. sorry to be blunt but, where did he shit?

[dustbunnie]

25. On himself. She had to hand clean him.

When the paramedics arrived to come get him at the end, they noted the foul odor.

[BurtWorm]

26. Same as the 800 lb gorilla--wherever he wanted.

:spank:

[Lance_Boyle]

27. same place he urinated - where he sat.

I can't believe it took 8 months for the infections to kill him.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

35. I'm Speechless

There should have been some kind of intervention.

[FarCenter]

36. At 550 to 800 pounds fixing his ACL would not have worked

It would have torn again or the other knee would have gone out.

[BurtWorm]

38. So the story ended the only way it could end?

If we had a healthy health care system, he would have had a doctor who would have worked with him to get healthy. No matter the cost.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

40. No, he could have gotten up his fat crazy ass and taken care of himself.

But he chose not to.

[Lex]

45. Your ignorance about mental illness is staggering. nt

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

100. Ah, the Bill Frist school of psychic diagnoses.

Tell me, Lex, which do you consider a form of mental illness- obesity, or religion?

Both?

[Lex]

106. Mr. Frist, you said "he could have gotten up his fat crazy ass . . . " nt

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

109. Yeah, but I'm using "crazy" as a perjorative.

As in "damn, that motherfucker's crazy." I'm not actually diagnosing anybody with mental illness, or incest for that matter.

[Lex]

112. I should've figured it was just name-calling by you.

Not surprised.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

113. Didn't you just call me staggeringly ignorant?

Nice glass house you have there.

[Lex]

114. Name-calling mentally ill people isn't staggeringly ignorant?

Okay.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

115. Just because they're mentally ill doesn't mean they're not dicks.

But again, we're back to the Bill Fristesque telepathic medical diagnosis.

[LanternWaste]

132. I suppose it was merely a matter of time.

"Just because they're mentally ill doesn't mean they're not dicks..."

I suppose it was merely a matter of time before the sun-baked veneer began to peel.

[LiberalAndProud]

130. Religious zealotry is a mental illness?

The man's faith killed him, not our lousy healthcare system.

[Lex]

131. Yes it is when you think the Magic Sky Being is going to rescue you. nt

[LiberalAndProud]

134. He's not alone. I've met many people who testify to the healing power of God.

And I do mean testify.

If you only believe -- I blame Peter Pan. (clap your hands)

[Obamanaut]

120. Ooh, I wish I had said that. +1 n/t

[mainer]

39. Agreed. No doc would want to operate on him.

With that much weight, he might have died on the table.

Doctors can't MAKE you lose weight. He had to take some responsibility.

[BurtWorm]

44. No doctors in America.

In other countries, care of the patient is more of a factor than likelihood of a malpractice suit.

[mainer]

47. No, it's fear of killing the patient that would stop them

I doubt a French or Canadian doctor would want to risk killing the man just to fix his ACL.

There's a risk/reward ratio to consider here. Do you fix a ligament and risk his death?

All the guy had to do was STOP EATING so damn much. Even if he's confined to a chair, he would lose weight.

[BurtWorm]

51. You treat a condition, if you're a good doctor.

You don't say, sorry bub, lose weight and then talk to me.

PS: They are more ways to treat this type of condition than merely repairing the torn ligament. This guy couldn't even get to the point of being told what he had to do to get the ligament repaired. A good doctor would have made a plan with him, not asked him for $300 up front or no service.

We're so conditioned as Americans to think of health care as a commodity rather than a right.

[mainer]

62. Where were the social service agencies? Why are doctors being blamed?

Doctors don't sit in your house and regulate your diet. A social worker or a dietician or mental health worker was what he needed.

Funny how M.D.'s are expected to solve everyone's problems.

[BurtWorm]

67. Because he went to a doctor and the doctors sent him away for lack of money.

That's why they're being blamed. He tried to take responsibility for his health and got sent packing for his trouble because he was poor and probably because he was obese, but obese people ought to have a right to health care too--even (and especially) morbidly obese people.

[dustbunnie]

70. The original articles at the time said he was seen at a hospital.

They told him to make an appointment with some doctor, then the paramedics took him home. They warned him that if they moved him onto the recliner he would never get up. The man insisted anyway. And of course, he couldn't get up. His idiot wife has also said that there were many resources available to help, but they couldn't find anyone to help get the man there. That was the issue, transportation... not the lack of medical help per se.

[BurtWorm]

74. Doctors can transport their considerably less heavy asses can't they?

They used to do that all the time. What magical obstruction suddenly arose that now makes it virtually impossible for doctors to make house calls anymore?

[mainer]

86. Um -- because a doctor has other patients to see?

One house call by a doctor would probably take up two -- maybe in this case, even three -- hours.

In that time, the doctor could probably see four to six patients in his office -- thus taking care of SIX people.

That's the reason doctors don't make house calls. It means they spend too many wasted hours in their cars. Is that what you'd rather have them doing, stuck in traffic?

[BurtWorm]

88. How was it possible in days when there was considerably less technology than now?

It's a matter of priorities, not logistics. Excuses, excuses...

[mainer]

93. And in the old days, they bled patients, too.

Medicine nowadays often involves lab tests, EKG's, X-rays, and other technology that's not easy to perform away from a doctor's office. Kind of hard to take an x-ray when you're twenty miles from the nearest hospital, standing in a patient's living room. And if a doctor prescribes a medication, the patient still has to get out of the house and go to the pharmacy to fill it. A doctor is not a traveling pharmacy.

It's merely a matter of practicality. Most diagnostic resources are based around clinics or medical centers. House calls are low-tech visits during which accurate diagnoses are harder to make.

[BurtWorm]

97. This man needed a lot of care.

He needed someone to help him get well. His wife failed him--of course! She didn't have a clue. God failed him--of course. Now maybe he needed a different kind of health care professional from a doctor (though in a healthy health care system, in my opinion, he'd have had access to one at some point).

But the point is, only a person or persons knowledgeable about medicine and caring about people could realistically have helped him. Did he not "deserve" that? If you can't afford it, you don't deserve it? If you're too much of a problem, you don't deserve a solution? Is that all there is to it? That's what the American view basically is, or has become, among a wide spectrum of Americans, left and right, Democratic and Republican. And this is why American health care is so intractably unreformable. Because every one wants it for themselves and screw everyone else.

[dustbunnie]

90. A house call wouldn't have helped would it?

Not many doctors are capable of lifting 500-800 lbs by their lonesome are they? And when called, the paramedics did arrive quickly to haul him away again. They just needed to be dispatched much earlier. That's the wife's fault, isn't it?

I think people put too much faith in this woman's credibility. She's already changed her story probably due to questions about her negligent behavior. At first, she said he refused help because after a week he was stuck in his recliner and was embarrassed over the hoopla required to get him out and to a doctor. Now it's all about God. Well, she enabled him to his grave.

PS... I've lived in a single payer country. Nobody did house calls.

[BurtWorm]

92. Why all these excuses for the American health care system?

Was this man's condition a health problem? Or wasn't it? Did he seek help from the system? Did he get help? Does this case demonstrate the health of the care delivery system? I think it shows the unhealth of the system very clearly.

A health care system should be measured by its ability to enable people to get healthy. This guy and his wife were failed by a sick system.

[dustbunnie]

99. I'm not making excuses for the American health care system. It sucks.

However, I have lived in a single payer country, and people are not pampered with personal attendants to cart them around when they're that overweight. I worked in a physio center and saw plenty of people who hobbled in and out, barely mobile and often in excruciating pain. Single payer doesn't mean everyone's magically rosy-cheeked healthy, and lots of people still fall through the cracks, especially when they're being enabled by dimwits like this woman. No matter where you live, you have to ask for help when you need it.

[BurtWorm]

101. I remind you that this man did ask for help and was turned away.

To me, a healthy health care system is one in which it is irresponsible, when presented a problem, to refuse working on the solution for any reason. If you're a doctor and someone comes to you and says, "My husband is morbidly obese. He tore a ligament. He's in terrible pain. We have no money." What do you do? What does a viable, sane, well-designed, responsive health care system do? In the American system, we know very well what they do. What does a reformed health care system do?

[dustbunnie]

111. In this case, the issue was the transportation, not the help.

A well-responsive health care system would've had professionals in place with the capacity to see that this man and his wife had mental health issues and required that a social worker follow up on the case.

I'm trying to visualize this situation happening in Canada, and could still see it playing out the way that it did. It isn't necessarily so that the man's doctor would've divined their mental health predicament and would've likely sent him home with the same instructions. And even though the follow up care would've been free, the couple would've still been dealing with bureaucratic, ambivalent, miserable f*cks while trying to get him transported to wherever he needed to go. I'm not even sure the transportation would be free. They might've become shut ins anyway, and no one would've been the wiser.

[BurtWorm]

123. What would have happened if this came to light? Would Canadians shrug their shoulders

like Americans?

[dustbunnie]

126. The reactions would be similar I think.

Some would deplore the system (even though it's great, people still love to complain) and others would be shaking their heads over the ridiculous behavior of the couple. Some like me, would blame the wife.

Would it change the way Canadians dole out healthcare? I doubt it. When you're dealing with people who are that overweight, there's only so much help available. Remember the huge man from Mexico who died after begging for help on tv? The authorities basically said there was nothing they could do. Mexico's a single payer country too.


http://www.seriousopinion.com/jose-luis-garza/

[metalbot]

84. If they wanted $300 up front, then they were specialists

There's no shortage of doctors in the US who will see you for a whole lot less.

A couple points here:

1. The story said he tore his ACL. How did he know? That's a diagnosis that I don't expect a trained athlete to make, let alone a 550 pound guy.
2. Most likely, he went to a doctor first who diagnosed the problem, and told him "I'm not a surgeon, so I can't fix this". It may very well be that this doctor counseled him to get healthy. Or maybe he didn't. Who knows?
3. Once going to a specialist, expect to pay more. Doctors who specialize in optional surgery shouldn't be expected to treat people for free. Doctors who specialize in orthopedic surgery are NOT responsible for the patient's overall health. That's what your primary care physician is for. If I went to my orthopedic surgeon and asked him about a skin condition, he'd tell me to go see a primary care physician or a dermatologist. My ortho is in the business of repairing knees and shoulders. It's all he does. It's the whole reason I went to him - I wanted someone who was very good at knees.

I don't think there's a lot of individual blame here, and certainly very little on the doctors. The man was mentally ill. One of the problems with mental illness is that those who suffer from it don't always seek out treatment. If there's more to the story about how he sought treatment for his weight and mental issues and couldn't find care, that's an indictment of how society deals with the poor. But if the story is as written, then I think you write it off as "tragic things happen to people who are mentally ill" - and this includes the guys wife.

[BurtWorm]

124. You make good points. But this country's HC system also fails the mentally ill.

Not just this man. As a society, we (somehow "we") have made the calculation that mental illness must often be shrugged off as not our problem--or too difficult a problem for society to solve or grapple with systematically. But there could be common care procedures when someone with mental health issues comes into the purview of a physical health provider. Here is an instance when the system could learn from mistakes. Or "we" could just decide, as we usually do, that these mistakes belong to know one.

[Lance_Boyle]

78. when treating is more dangerous than not treating, a good doc does not treat

"First, do no harm."

This is not any doctor's fault.

[BurtWorm]

79. On that view, what does a good doc do in this case? Stick his thumb up his ass?

Seriously, what does a god doctor do given this case?

[Marr]

119. A good Doctor would tell the patient to lose weight so he could

have corrective surgery. He/she would make some recommendations for accomplishing that goal.

A very good doctor would put him touch with an expert.

Doctors aren't to blame for this.

[BurtWorm]

121. I'm not blaming doctors, I'm blaming the system that failed this man.

[Marr]

116. Part of treating the condition is having the patient lose weight prior

to surgery, which is traumatic for any human being. His risk would be greater at his enormous weight, and he would've needed to get that somewhat under control before surgery.

On top of that, there'd be no point in repairing his ACL anyway. The man was between 500-800lbs. It's like fixing a blowout on a car that overloaded with four times it's recommended capacity. You've got to fix the core problem before you fix the little problems it's created.

[BurtWorm]

122. Exactly. It's a whole condition, not just a torn ligament.

The condition, if there's a single name for it, is morbid obesity.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

41. Poor, uneducated man killed by food and religion.

What a horrific way to go.

[Tailormyst]

48. Not just food and religion

Also lack of health care access, education and mental health care. There has to be a better way to care for those in our communities who cannot help themselves.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

60. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Tailormyst]

71. Thank you Lone Star!

[Tailormyst]

46. He needed medical help and then mental health help, poor man.

I don't understand why the wife did not reach out to someone sooner. Family, friends, community, anyone?

[Adsos Letter]

53. Just guessing here, but it could be that he would have considered "reaching out"

to be a denial of absolute confidence/faith in God.

[Tailormyst]

68. Yup- hence the mental health issue.

The whole thing is so sad.

[FarCenter]

54. She helped him achieve his goal -- to be with the Lord

[Tailormyst]

69. I have to wonder

is she mentally ill also or just ignorant and uneducated? The whole thing just really breaks my heart.

[FarCenter]

77. For more quotes from the wife ---

http://www.wmbfnews.com/Global/story.asp?S=11538931

Webb says she has no regrets about leaving him in that recliner.

"If I feel anything right now, it's envy for him because I wish he had taken me with him," said Webb.

[Tailormyst]

102. I think she is in need of mental health intervention also.

[mitchum]

55. Further proof that magical thinking isn't thinking at all

[The Midway Rebel]

56. This type of thing happens all the time.

It is called "falling between the cracks". Coulda, woulda, shoulda. The only likely reason we are even hearing about it is because of the guys weight. What is truly disheartening is to see his death and final months turned into fodder for humor on DU. Some of you are as mentally sick as he was. Some responses here clearly illustrate for me why we will not have health insurance reform any time soon--- you got yours and everybody else can get fucked.

[TrogL]

59. Reminds me of a joke

A man was shipwrecked and washed up on an island.

A passing yachtsman saw his plight and offered him a lift home. "Nope, God will rescue me."

Time passed. A cruise ship, noticing his cooking fire, sent a dinghy over. "Nope, God will rescue me."

A passing helicopter got the same response.

Eventually the man starved to death. At the Pearly Gates, he demanded of GOd, "why didn't you rescue me?"

Spake God, "well, I went you a yacht, a cruise ship and a helicopter and turned me down. What did you expect?"

[beyond cynical]

61. Lack of health care didn't kill this man, irresponsible eating habits did him in.

[BurtWorm]

63. Join the club of Americans with health care myopia.

You have plenty of company.

The point is, this is a health care problem that demonstrates the very worst about the system: it's not about health. It's about money.

[FarCenter]

64. A relative of mine died from complications of obesity

But the obese person would not leave the house, basically an agoraphobic.

Every calorie brought into the house was brought to the person by the spouse.

I've always had a problem understanding that situation.

[FarCenter]

83. PS -- Note that in this case, both people had health insurance

So access to health care does not prevent this type of tragedy.

[KamaAina]

65. Oh dear. God never healed Job.

All S/He did was take away his blessings in order to prove a point to Satan, then give them back so Job could live happily ever after.

Has it come to this, that the Bible-thumpers can no longer read the Bible?!

[mitchum]

73. Bible-thumpers DON'T read the Bible...they have their preachers/grifters...

read it for them.
Kinda negates that whole Protestant Reformation thing, doesn't it?

[dugaresa]

75. perhaps "bible thumping" means the sound the bible makes as it hits their heads repeatedly?

and doesn't have anything to do with reading the bible??

[csziggy]

137. Exactly - just like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7wc55oXWf8

[mdmc]

80. God has welcomed him home

Welcome home!
God bless this poor fellow and his family. I hope they don't lose faith..

[Spider Jerusalem]

81. Nice to see that people have their priorities in order.

This guy could afford to eat enough to gain 250 pounds in 8 months, could afford an Internet connection and a mobile phone, and probably cable TV, but not to forego enough of the above to get medical treatment?

[dugaresa]

82. this situation is the result of two mentally ill people

The husband apparently had an eating disorder perhaps related to depression (I have no clue but am guessing).

His wife clearly had mental issues as well because she was unable to recognize the situation they were in as well and perhaps had some sort of dependency issue with her husband.

The problem was that neither one of them could recognize that they needed help and apparently they didn't have anyone else who could help them.

[FarCenter]

85. They would most likely have both resisted any attempts to help

[The Midway Rebel]

105. Are you suggesting this as a reason not to offer? n/t

[FarCenter]

128. They lived in a trailer park

Trailer parks are not known to be bastions of privacy. Yet none of the neighbors were aware that Mrs Webb had a husband living in the trailer.

So, yes, I'm suggesting that they didn't actually want help -- at least not from mortals.

[ismnotwasm]

91. I thought Job was pissed

I thought the whole point of the book of Job was that God can do what God wants to do, when and how God wants to do it. Job wanted to know what he did wrong, God said (eventually) mind your business, I'm God. And God said; (eventually) fuck you too; to Job's so-called friends who were fucking with him during the time of misery, arguing and criticizing the suffering Job,(assholes really, wouldn't call them friends exactly) telling him he HAD to have fucked up and pissed God off somewhere, or none of that shit would have happened to him in the first place, now would it?

Or something.


Not the book I'd use in hopes of healing. I'd go with the NT (If I were so inclined)


Anyway, How sad that man couldn't get the care he deserved as simply a human being.

[QC]

94. As a fat religious person, he deserved to die.

:sarcasm:

[yawnmaster]

95. much more going on here than lack of health care and a torn acl...

for one...acl injuries don't necessarily put one in a recliner until death. Depending on activity of the individual, one can function without the surgery.
Of course, being 550 lbs, it is questionable how much one can function with or without surgery. I don't think they would treat it until he lost at least 200 lbs.

What I really think is that there are mental health issues here.

[Javaman]

98. Poverty and ignorance is what killed this man.

we live in this nation mostly oblivious to the suffering around us.

even the ignorant need help.

Personally, it appears, no matter how religious or poor this man was, he was gripped in the vice of depression. It can do some pretty strange things to a person.

we have a massive moral and ethical deficit in this nation, people post regarding darwinism or being a "classic stereotype", I used to exhibit that same sort of dark humor, but I just don't have it in me anymore.

not everyone has the faculties or the inherent ability to figure things out.

This is why it's important to get to know your neighbors.

this man died, not because he read the bible to console himself, he died because he didn't have health care. period.

we live in a very sad time, but then again, we have been living like this for a very long time.

[misanthrope]

104. I tore an ACL that was never repaired...

...decades ago. Did it playing flag football, of all things.

I had no insurance and couldn't afford reconstruction. I was tending bar at the time and was out of work for three weeks. The money I had saved to repair my then-defunct car was diverted to living expenses.

I was on crutches but managed to keep attending class, walking my dog, etc. After talking with a physical therapist about what exercises I would undergo if I could have afforded therapy, I instituted a regimen on my own involving weights, lots of exercise and substantial bike riding. In three weeks, I was back to work, limping terribly, but working nonetheless. I wouldn't wish it on anyone because it wasn't easy.

I kept up the home therapy for a good while. I stopped playing sports that involved pivoting actions on that leg, but managed to keep myself in decent shape until genetically inherited pulmonary problems sidelined me in my 40s. Even now, without that ACL and breathing capacity so diminished I qualify for handicapped status, I'm less than ten pounds above my ideal weight. In some ways, I'm lucky.

I feel sorry for this man in the discussion because it's evident he had far deeper problems than his knee. However, I'm not so sure this particular scenario is evidence of the failings of our shameful healthcare system as much as it an illustration of how dangerous mental and emotional problems are.

[malaise]

118. He should have started praying to lose weight a few years earlier

This one goes way beyond health insurance.

[mainer]

125. Wow. He had to have gained a pound A DAY for eight months!

If the estimates are correct, then he went from 550# to 800# between March and November. Which is about a pound a day.

I'm just trying to imagine how much you'd have to eat to do that. That would be 3500 calories ON TOP of maintenance requirements, so he had to have consumed a total of about 5,000 calories a day.

That's more than ten Big Macs! Every day.

[FarCenter]

127. A significant fraction of the 250 pound gain could have been impacted fecal matter

[LanternWaste]

136. I imagine that not only how we treat...

I imagine that not only how we treat the least among us medically, but also how we refer to the least among says volumes about ourselves as a culture en toto, and us as individuals.




I think I can safely assume (at least on this particular thread) that pointing fingers is much more efficient than in actually affecting change as it's being done so much.