A 680lb woman who hasn’t left her home in three years is apprehensive about undergoing weight loss surgery after her morbidly obese aunt suffered complications following a gastric bypass.
Chitoka Light, 49, and her cousins Naomi Anderson and Drew Stewart weigh a combined 2,000lbs and are contemplating undergoing potentially life-saving weight loss surgery on the premiere of the TLC reality series Family By the Ton.
In a preview clip from Wednesday’s episode, Naomi reveals her mother Beverly had to be hospitalized following her gastric bypass surgery, leaving Chitoka to question if she should be having the procedure.
Morbidly obese: Chitoka Light, 49, weighs 680lbs and hasn’t left her home in three years. She and her cousins are contemplating undergoing weight loss surgery
Bad news: Naomi (L), who weighs 400lbs, breaks down while telling her coustin Chitoka (R) that her mother Beverly was hospitilized for complications following her gastric bypass
Naomi, who weighs 400lbs, says she realized her mother was suffering from more than just blood sugar issues when she was having trouble walking.
‘Her breathing was off. She couldn’t even walk in,’ she says of her mother being admitted to the hospital.
‘I am just scared. I am really worried about her. I am just trying not to panic, so I need somebody to talk to,’ she tells the camera.
Naomi head over to Chikota’s house to tell her cousin that Beverly had suffered a complication and was really sick, noting that her mom expected to ‘have her surgery and be done’.
Feeling guilty: Naomi starts to cry as she explains the only reason her mother had weight loss surgery was because she asked her to
‘I am considering the surgery, but since Beverly is having complications, it is concerning,’ Chikota admits to the camera.
Meanwhile, Naomi is feeling incredibly guilty that her mother had the surgery because of an agreement that they had made.
‘Now that my mom is sick, I kind of feel bad because she said that she’s doing it for me,’ she tells Chikota.
‘The agreement was we would do it together. We would do it for each other.’
Naomi explains that her mother thought she was going to go first and be able to tell her that the surgery wasn’t that bad.
Struggle: Despite her fears, weight loss surgery may be the only option for Chikota, who feels like she is ‘encased in a flesh prison’
Hard times: Chikota does almost everything in her bed, as she can barely walk to the bathroom by herself
Pain: Chikota collapses on the bed after walking just a few steps from the bathroom
‘A part of me feels kind of guilty because I asked her do it and I didn’t know that was going to happen,’ she says as she starts to cry.
Despite her fears, weight loss surgery may be the only option for Chikota, who feels like she is ‘encased in a flesh prison.’
In another clip published by People, she explains that she stopped going out because carrying her weight around was causing her too much pain.
‘When I got to the point that I couldn’t leave my room. That’s kind of when it became more of an alarming situation for me,’ she admits.
‘I do everything from this bed. I have strategically placed mirrors, where I can see reflections all over the house, cameras, and monitors. It doesn’t matter what’s going on — this is central base for everything.’
Horrific: ‘It’s just like wrapping four or five of you and carrying it somewhere. It’s just painful,’ she says of the weight on her joints when she walks
Growing pains: Chikota (L and R) says she wasn’t always fat, but her weight spiraled out of control over the years
Confession: Chikota admitted that when her weight started to cause her pain, she just told herself she would avoid taking the stairs and get a bigger car
Everyday movements like going to the bathroom are a struggle for Chitoka because the amount of weight that rests on her joints.
‘It’s just like wrapping four or five of you and carrying it somewhere. It’s just painful,’ she says.
Chikota says she wasn’t always fat, noting that ‘nobody plans to be obese.’
‘When the weight started causing pain and difficulty in moving around, instead of me saying, “Hmm, I should probably lose weight,” I said, “I’won’t take the stairs,” or “I’ll park a little bit closer,”or “I’ll get a bigger car.”
‘Because I am the heaviest member of my family, I have a lot more to think about and consider as far as going through with surgery,’ she explains.