Man loses 206kg
2005-01-06 10:55
Sioux Falls - A man who once weighed more than 450kg nearly half his size after seven months in a hospital, where he was put on a strict diet and underwent gastric bypass surgery.
Patrick Deuel weighed 482kg - nearly half a ton - when he checked into Avera McKennan Hospital in June. At the time, he was dying of heart failure.
He has lost 206kg; just 18kg of the weight loss happened after the gastric-bypass surgery that he had in October. Before the surgery, he was losing weight on an exercise programme and a 1 200-calorie-a-day diet.
"I was actually losing weight faster before the surgery," he said Tuesday.
Deuel, 42, of Nebraska, is scheduled to go home on January 22.
The weight loss has helped control his heart problems and other health issues, including diabetes.
"For a little while there, he kind of wanted to give up, but he got it turned around," rehabilitation Dr Steven Guse said. "He's making progress. He's walking household distances and getting more independent. But he's still got a big challenge ahead of him."
Deuel said he is not worried about returning to his former lifestyle.
"I've learned a lot while I've been here," Deuel said. "I'll just keep doing what I've been doing, and I think things will be fine."
Deuel, who is disabled and relies on government assistance to pay his medical bills, is still receiving treatment for a staph infection he got in November.
Once at home, Deuel said he plans to have help from home-health workers, and a doctor will check on him regularly.
"I've had plenty of time to prepare for what will happen when I go home," Deuel said. "I think it will go just fine. I really do."
Deuel tried many diets during his youth and early adult life, but the kilos were slow to melt off. He'd get discouraged, take comfort in old routines and return to overeating.
By the mid-1990s, he stopped leaving his house and ended up housebound for seven years. For several months last year, he couldn't leave his bed and depended on his wife, Edith, to clean and care for him.
Deuel now wears suspenders to hold up pants that are too big. He said he eventually would like to weigh about 108kg.
- AP