Amber is 24 years old and weighs nearly 700 pounds. She is one of the newest individuals to share her struggle with weight on TLC’s My 600-Pound Life. The show will follow Amber as she prepares to undergo a risky gastric bypass surgery in a desperate attempt to lose weight and save her life.
TLC’s My 600-Pound Life chronicles the journey of eight morbidly obese individuals. Its third season premieres on Jan. 7 and shows the daily struggles of individuals too overweight to even take care of themselves. In the preview for the debut episode, we meet Amber, a 24-year-old Oregon women who lives with her parents and boyfriend.
“Waking up takes an hour or so of just clearing my head and trying to feel a little bit more human,” Amber said.
Her weight has progressed to the point that it is a serious health concern, and she complains of being in pain every day due to weight-related issues. She also has mobility problems and must wash herself with a sponge while seated on the toilet because it is one of the few places Amber can actually fit.
“I am so limited in what I can do and where I can go,” Amber says. “I feel trapped. I’m miserable.”
Amber will undergo gastric bypass surgery, an operation that makes your stomach smaller in an effort to make an individual feel less full with food. Doctors divide the stomach into two sections: a small pouch that collects food and a larger bottom portion. The small intestine is surgically connected to the upper pouch portion of the stomach, which is smaller than the bottom half, and therefore forces the body to absorb fewer calories.
Although the surgery comes with risks such as blood clotting and infection, most will lose half or more of their extra weight in the first two years.
For more on this story, visit: http://www.medicaldaily.com/pulse/my-600-pound-life-documents-gastric-bypass-surgery-preparations-amber-nearly-700-314848