Bariatric Talk

In a Long Island Hospital, two high school pupils were faced with transporting their Dad the hospital for breathing problems. The man weighed 500 pounds. The hospital beds and transport equipments were not made for such extreme bodyweight. The first episode occurred when the newly arrived patient had a bowel accident due to his inability to walk to the restroom and the lack of proper equipments to lift him from this stroller to the toilet seat. Let alone the fact that most hospitals lack motorized strollers that could help transport bariatric patients with least human effort.

The two adolescent girls were faced with an unprecedented dilemma. They were not raised or taught to see their father naked or care for his diaper and spilled feces. Their beloved father was humiliated by the helpless staff members. Female nurses are not that strong to move a heavy patient, nor does the hospital offer security to those who hurt their backs on the job. The panic and despair on the faces of the two young daughters is still itched in mind and for many years to come.

In another nursing home setting, a man in his late forties was transported to the nursing home due to having high blood pressure and his need for immediate care. The man was red pink, with large distended belly. Upon arrival and during placing him in his new bed, the man could hardly breathe or talk. He slammed into his new bed and immediately positioned his large belly to the side, while laying down in fetal position. While everyone else was busy getting him comfortable, the new patient telephoned a relative and started complaining about the scarcity of the food he was served. I could hear his voice requesting from the person on the other  end of  the line to deliver to him five steamy hot burgers with plenty of catchup. Within minutes after his telephone conversation, the man was already snoring into deep sleep. Myself, I had already been enticed into the steamy hot burgers with catchup. I could even smell their delicious zest in my nostrils. I bet that the man fell asleep immediately for the exact same reason: the  aroma of the steamy burgers. Aren't we all carnivores, to begin with?

While reciting those stories to a fellow of mine, he hinted to a movie that was made about a New York Bariatric hospital where overweight resident patients were bypassing the hospital security regulations and ordering pizza to be delivered to their hospital wards.