penguinz
09-15-2004, 12:06 PM
Half-Ton Man Takes Life One Day at a Time
By DORIS HAUGEN
Associated Press Writer
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Patrick Deuel, who once weighed more than a half ton, perches on the edge of a super-sized hospital bed in a room specially remodeled to accommodate his girth.
At 1,072 pounds before he entered Avera McKennan Hospital in June, the 42-year-old Valentine, Neb. man, has attracted plenty of attention from the curious as well as the caring.
Type his name into an Internet search engine and thousands of references pop up. Casually drop his name in a conversation at coffee and people recognize it almost instantly.
Yet instead of fleeing from his newfound celebrity status, Deuel embraces it. In interview after interview, he talks freely about his obesity as well as his path to a smaller, healthier body.
"So long as people hear what I have to say, as long as I am succeeding in getting my message out - it doesn't bother me," says Deuel, who has dropped more than 370 pounds since entering the hospital in June.
People have warmed to his story because they care about him, not because they see him as a freak, Deuel says. He offers as proof dozens of letters and cards taped to the walls of his hospital room and a 2-inch thick stack of e-mails from well-wishers - some from as far away as Australia.
His tale is riddled with what some might consider joke-inspiring details:
- Just getting him to the hospital required busting out a wall of his Valentine, Neb., home.
- Then there was a trip to a feed mill, where he was weighed on a scale designed for trucks carrying heavy loads of grain.
But only a few people have been critical, he says.
One e-mail called him "fat ass" and another scolded him for gaining weight in Nebraska and then asking doctors in South Dakota to solve his problem.
Nearly all the rest of the correspondence has offered encouragement, prayers for healing and support, he says.
Bedridden since last fall, Deuel thought about not going public. In the end, he figured he could do more good by talking about obesity, the stigma that goes with it and the lack of financial and medical resources available for people his size.
Obesity is a problem that is not going away, says Deuel.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, about 65 percent of American adults are overweight and 31 percent are obese.
Yet the nation's health care and insurance system has done little to recognize the issue, Deuel says.
"There's not near enough help for the obese and there are getting to be more of them every day," he says.
A former restaurant manager who went on disability 16 years ago after a fall, Deuel relies on Medicare to cover his medical expenses. But Medicare, which is funded with tax dollars, did not consider weight loss treatment medically necessary, says Deuel.
"Medicare and Medicaid tried to tell me that at 1,072 pounds, my weight problem was cosmetic," he says.
The implication is "losing weight is not something you do for your health. It's something that you do to make yourself look better."
For the severely obese, weight loss has little to do with looks, says Deuel. "There is no way that a 1,072 pounds is cosmetic. That's life-threatening."
Edith Deuel, who met her husband through a classified ad in a newspaper, says the attention generated by her husband's hospitalization doesn't bother her. The couple will celebrate their ninth wedding anniversary this month.
She hopes that by sharing their story, people will not be so quick to judge those who are obese.
"I want people to look at people for who they are on the inside and not by the package on the outside," Mrs. Deuel says. "There are so many people out there who are being shunned because of their size."
Dr. Frederick Harris, the leader of a nine-person medical team responsible for Deuel's treatment, knows firsthand about bias against the obese. Harris had gastric bypass surgery several years ago to treat his own obesity.
He says he worked for weeks to persuade hospital officials to bring Deuel to Sioux Falls.
With a patient Deuel's size, they fretted over issues than generally are more routine.
To get to the hospital, Deuel rode in a special ambulance equipped with heavy-duty stretcher, winches, ramps and other tools needed to move and carry a person his size.
At the hospital, the staff set up a custom-made bed reinforced to carry his weight. Workers installed a patient lift system to help nurses and assist with weigh-ins. A hospital room was remodeled to accommodate Deuel, his plus-size bed and the medical staff tending him.
There have been some new patient care practices, too. For one, nurses have had to figure out the best ways to keep the folds of Deuel's skin clean to prevent infection.
"The deal with him has required out-of-box thinking," Harris says.
Deuel figures he's lucky just to have made it this far.
Because of genetics, he says he's always battled being overweight. He says he weighed around 90 pounds in kindergarten and more than 250 pounds in middle school.
Two workers came in to help him each day after he became bedridden. But Deuel says he knew he had to get medical help after a serious infection from neglected dental work.
Along with that, heart failure, diabetes, high blood pressure and other problems brought on by severe obesity threatened to kill him. He had trouble breathing and was malnourished because so many of his calories came foods high in fat and carbohydrates.
"When Patrick came in, he was dying," says Harris.
Deuel is on a 1,200 calorie-a-day diet, and both he and his doctor are pleased with the progress. His weight loss is about eight months ahead of schedule, says Harris.
Recently, Deuel started to pull himself up to a standing position from the edge of his bed. He grabs onto two walkers, and a nurse stands near to steady him. He can only toddle around the edge of one walker, but it's the most he's been able to move in months.
Eventually, Deuel wants to lose enough weight so he can have gastric bypass surgery, a stomach-stapling procedure. In all, his hospital stay could be a year or longer.
He also hopes to get in the swimming pool, but that has complications, too.
"Swimming for me has always been a good way for me to lose weight. But they can't let me in the pool until they can get me out."
Mrs. Deuel admires her husband's determination and is excited for the day when he can come home again.
Before he went into the hospital, her usually upbeat husband became depressed and couldn't seem to feel better, Mrs. Deuel says.
"He didn't have that laugh and that song because he was a person who was so sick," she said.
"Now, he is singing again. He is on his way."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HALF_TON_MAN?SITE=WIMIL&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
By DORIS HAUGEN
Associated Press Writer
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Patrick Deuel, who once weighed more than a half ton, perches on the edge of a super-sized hospital bed in a room specially remodeled to accommodate his girth.
At 1,072 pounds before he entered Avera McKennan Hospital in June, the 42-year-old Valentine, Neb. man, has attracted plenty of attention from the curious as well as the caring.
Type his name into an Internet search engine and thousands of references pop up. Casually drop his name in a conversation at coffee and people recognize it almost instantly.
Yet instead of fleeing from his newfound celebrity status, Deuel embraces it. In interview after interview, he talks freely about his obesity as well as his path to a smaller, healthier body.
"So long as people hear what I have to say, as long as I am succeeding in getting my message out - it doesn't bother me," says Deuel, who has dropped more than 370 pounds since entering the hospital in June.
People have warmed to his story because they care about him, not because they see him as a freak, Deuel says. He offers as proof dozens of letters and cards taped to the walls of his hospital room and a 2-inch thick stack of e-mails from well-wishers - some from as far away as Australia.
His tale is riddled with what some might consider joke-inspiring details:
- Just getting him to the hospital required busting out a wall of his Valentine, Neb., home.
- Then there was a trip to a feed mill, where he was weighed on a scale designed for trucks carrying heavy loads of grain.
But only a few people have been critical, he says.
One e-mail called him "fat ass" and another scolded him for gaining weight in Nebraska and then asking doctors in South Dakota to solve his problem.
Nearly all the rest of the correspondence has offered encouragement, prayers for healing and support, he says.
Bedridden since last fall, Deuel thought about not going public. In the end, he figured he could do more good by talking about obesity, the stigma that goes with it and the lack of financial and medical resources available for people his size.
Obesity is a problem that is not going away, says Deuel.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, about 65 percent of American adults are overweight and 31 percent are obese.
Yet the nation's health care and insurance system has done little to recognize the issue, Deuel says.
"There's not near enough help for the obese and there are getting to be more of them every day," he says.
A former restaurant manager who went on disability 16 years ago after a fall, Deuel relies on Medicare to cover his medical expenses. But Medicare, which is funded with tax dollars, did not consider weight loss treatment medically necessary, says Deuel.
"Medicare and Medicaid tried to tell me that at 1,072 pounds, my weight problem was cosmetic," he says.
The implication is "losing weight is not something you do for your health. It's something that you do to make yourself look better."
For the severely obese, weight loss has little to do with looks, says Deuel. "There is no way that a 1,072 pounds is cosmetic. That's life-threatening."
Edith Deuel, who met her husband through a classified ad in a newspaper, says the attention generated by her husband's hospitalization doesn't bother her. The couple will celebrate their ninth wedding anniversary this month.
She hopes that by sharing their story, people will not be so quick to judge those who are obese.
"I want people to look at people for who they are on the inside and not by the package on the outside," Mrs. Deuel says. "There are so many people out there who are being shunned because of their size."
Dr. Frederick Harris, the leader of a nine-person medical team responsible for Deuel's treatment, knows firsthand about bias against the obese. Harris had gastric bypass surgery several years ago to treat his own obesity.
He says he worked for weeks to persuade hospital officials to bring Deuel to Sioux Falls.
With a patient Deuel's size, they fretted over issues than generally are more routine.
To get to the hospital, Deuel rode in a special ambulance equipped with heavy-duty stretcher, winches, ramps and other tools needed to move and carry a person his size.
At the hospital, the staff set up a custom-made bed reinforced to carry his weight. Workers installed a patient lift system to help nurses and assist with weigh-ins. A hospital room was remodeled to accommodate Deuel, his plus-size bed and the medical staff tending him.
There have been some new patient care practices, too. For one, nurses have had to figure out the best ways to keep the folds of Deuel's skin clean to prevent infection.
"The deal with him has required out-of-box thinking," Harris says.
Deuel figures he's lucky just to have made it this far.
Because of genetics, he says he's always battled being overweight. He says he weighed around 90 pounds in kindergarten and more than 250 pounds in middle school.
Two workers came in to help him each day after he became bedridden. But Deuel says he knew he had to get medical help after a serious infection from neglected dental work.
Along with that, heart failure, diabetes, high blood pressure and other problems brought on by severe obesity threatened to kill him. He had trouble breathing and was malnourished because so many of his calories came foods high in fat and carbohydrates.
"When Patrick came in, he was dying," says Harris.
Deuel is on a 1,200 calorie-a-day diet, and both he and his doctor are pleased with the progress. His weight loss is about eight months ahead of schedule, says Harris.
Recently, Deuel started to pull himself up to a standing position from the edge of his bed. He grabs onto two walkers, and a nurse stands near to steady him. He can only toddle around the edge of one walker, but it's the most he's been able to move in months.
Eventually, Deuel wants to lose enough weight so he can have gastric bypass surgery, a stomach-stapling procedure. In all, his hospital stay could be a year or longer.
He also hopes to get in the swimming pool, but that has complications, too.
"Swimming for me has always been a good way for me to lose weight. But they can't let me in the pool until they can get me out."
Mrs. Deuel admires her husband's determination and is excited for the day when he can come home again.
Before he went into the hospital, her usually upbeat husband became depressed and couldn't seem to feel better, Mrs. Deuel says.
"He didn't have that laugh and that song because he was a person who was so sick," she said.
"Now, he is singing again. He is on his way."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HALF_TON_MAN?SITE=WIMIL&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT