My 600lbs Life: Wheelchair bound woman turns life around

A morbidly obese woman left wheelchair-bound by her 633lbs frame is on her way to walking again after managing to shed 235lbs in the space of a year. 

Comfort eater Karina Garcia, 38, from Coverse, Texas, saw her weight spiral even after she had a gastric balloon fitted, but with help from TV surgeon Dr Nowzaradan on TLC’s My 600lb Life, she’s finally turning her life around. 

The surgeon performed a second gastric surgery on Karina, who says her weight issues can be traced back to her childhood spent in and out of hospital, removing the old balloon and fitting her with a gastric sleeve. 

A year later, she has dropped 235lbs – more than a third of her body weight – and has gone from being confined to a wheelchair to using a walker to get around.   

Karina revealed on the TLC reality series, which aired on Wednesday night, how being afflicted by severe asthma when she was young had a disruptive effect on her childhood that led to her toxic relationship with food.

 

Karina Garcia was confined to a wheelchair after her health continued to fail her, she was overeating pizza and chocolate after moving back in with her parents

With the help of Dr Nowzaradan (standing, left) Karina had a second weight loss surgery to remove the balloon and have gastric sleeve bypass

With the help of Dr Nowzaradan (standing, left) Karina had a second weight loss surgery to remove the balloon and have gastric sleeve bypass

Struggle: Karina (pictured) weighed more than 600lbs after years of turning to food for comfort

Struggle: Karina (pictured) weighed more than 600lbs after years of turning to food for comfort

Although her health had improved by the time she was five or six, Karina’s parents then had to work long hours to pay off the medical bills that had mounted.

Karina admitted she had grown used to her family lavishing attention on her while she was sick – so she began eating as a way of coping with her sudden loneliness.  

By the age of 15 Karina weighed 250lbs, and had fallen in with a bad crowd. 

At 23, she was over 400lbs, and another 10 years later, she weighed 480lbs – forcing her to give up her job as a nurse’s assistant.  

She moved back in with her parents and – despite having a balloon inserted into her stomach – her failing health and debilitating size saw her confined to a wheelchair.

Karina began hiding food from her family, sneaking in chocolate and pizzas when they left the house.

But after finally realising her failing health was putting her life at risk, she turned to TV surgeon Dr Nowzaradan.

He put her on a 1,200 calorie a day diet, and in the first month she lost 42lbs. 

The doctor then removed the old balloon from her stomach, and  Karina was scheduled in for gastric sleeve surgery. 

Dr Nowzaradan told Karina that he wanted her to be up out of her wheelchair and walking after surgery, but her initial results were a loss of just 7lbs – prompting the surgeon to speculate that her emotional issues were hindering her weight loss journey.

He advised her to go and see a psychotherapist to deal with her strained relationships with her parents, Maria and Ezequiel, and her sister, Marisabel.

After the session Karina got back on track, and after 12 months she shed a total of 235lbs, taking her down to 398lbs – and had swapped the wheelchair for a walker. 

 She had a balloon fitted in her stomach but she was still over 600lbs and was confined to a wheelchair

 She had a balloon fitted in her stomach but she was still over 600lbs and was confined to a wheelchair

She underwent surgery to remove the balloon and be fitted with a new gastric sleeve thanks to Dr Nowzaradan in the TLC programme

She underwent surgery to remove the balloon and be fitted with a new gastric sleeve thanks to Dr Nowzaradan in the TLC programme

Karina was desperate to turn her life around after her weight caused problems in her life 

Karina was desperate to turn her life around after her weight caused problems in her life 

By the time Karina was 32 she was 480lbs and had to give up her job as a nurse's assistant and move back home 

By the time Karina was 32 she was 480lbs and had to give up her job as a nurse’s assistant and move back home 

Before she was suitable for gastric surgery Karina was told by the doctor to lose weight, she managed to shed 92lbs before she could have the operation

Before she was suitable for gastric surgery Karina was told by the doctor to lose weight, she managed to shed 92lbs before she could have the operation

Health concerns: Karina (pictured with her mother) was very sick with severe asthma when she was a young child 

Health concerns: Karina (pictured with her mother) was very sick with severe asthma when she was a young child 

Karina, the oldest of three children, had revealed on the TLC show how – while she and her sister are only 10 months apart – she didn’t get to spend much time with her when they were kids because she was so sick. 

‘I had asthma really bad, so I was in and out of the hospital with asthma attacks and I was in an oxygen tent most of the time,’ Karina explained in the programme. 

‘I remember them holding me down, pinning me down, sticking IVs in me. I felt like I was suffocating,’ she said of her hospital visits. ‘But my family was always there when I was sick.

‘I remember looking over at my mom and seeing her sitting their crying and watching me suffer.’

Karina went through a daily battle to care for herself and had to rely on her mother and father to help

Karina went through a daily battle to care for herself and had to rely on her mother and father to help

Karina went for physical therapy in a bid to start walking again after years relying on a wheelchair for support

Karina went for physical therapy in a bid to start walking again after years relying on a wheelchair for support

The former nurse's assistant struggled to deal with her weight throughout her childhood and became morbidly obese

The former nurse’s assistant struggled to deal with her weight throughout her childhood and became morbidly obese

She had turned to food for comfort over the years to deal with feeling lonely, eating chocolate and pizza

She had turned to food for comfort over the years to deal with feeling lonely, eating chocolate and pizza

Hard times: Karina and her sister are only 10 months apart, but she didn't get to spend much time with her when they were kids because she was so sick

Hard times: Karina and her sister are only 10 months apart, but she didn’t get to spend much time with her when they were kids because she was so sick

Catch 22: Karina's mother Maria can't help but blame herself for her eldest daughter's physical state even though she needed to work two jobs in order to give her kids a better life 

Catch 22: Karina’s mother Maria can’t help but blame herself for her eldest daughter’s physical state even though she needed to work two jobs in order to give her kids a better life 

By the time she was about five or six, her asthma was under control and she felt ‘healthy’ for the first time in her life.  

‘I thought this would be a happy time, but my illness took a financial toll on my family, so my parents were always working,’ she explained. 

Karina’s mother worked two jobs and would leave early in the morning to start her day, while her father was in the military and would be gone long stretches of time. 

She hardly saw her parents, and she admitted their absence in her life really started to affect her because she was used to them paying attention to her. 

Finally healthy: Karina's asthma was under control by the time she was five or six years old, but her parents had to work all of the time to pay for her medical bills 

Finally healthy: Karina’s asthma was under control by the time she was five or six years old, but her parents had to work all of the time to pay for her medical bills 

Feeling alone: Karina was used to having her parents' attention when she was sick, and she started turning to food for comfort when they weren't around

Feeling alone: Karina was used to having her parents' attention when she was sick, and she started turning to food for comfort when they weren't around

Feeling alone: Karina was used to having her parents’ attention when she was sick, and she started turning to food for comfort when they weren’t around  

Out of control: Karina says she got away with eating so much because 'no one paid attention'

Out of control: Karina says she got away with eating so much because ‘no one paid attention’

Lost childhood: She was in and out of the hospital with asthma attacks and was in an oxygen tent most of the time

Lost childhood: She was in and out of the hospital with asthma attacks and was in an oxygen tent most of the time

Lost childhood: She was in and out of the hospital with asthma attacks and was in an oxygen tent most of the time

‘When I was younger and in the hospital, everyone paid attention to me, and now it was like I didn’t exist at all,’ she recalled.

‘But I really just wanted a little attention. I wanted a hug, but they were too busy to give it, so food was my hug.’

Karina said she got away with eating so much because ‘no one paid attention,’ and her mother Maria couldn’t help but blame herself for her eldest daughter’s physical state. 

Karina relied on a wheelchair but Dr Nowzaradan said that after surgery she should make an effort to start walking again

Karina relied on a wheelchair but Dr Nowzaradan said that after surgery she should make an effort to start walking again

Putting on the pounds: Karina says she kept gaining and gaining because of how much food she was consuming

Putting on the pounds: Karina says she kept gaining and gaining because of how much food she was consuming

Putting on the pounds: Karina said she kept gaining and gaining because of how much food she was consuming 

Catching up with her: Karina says by the time she was 10 years old she weighed about 100lbs

Catching up with her: Karina says by the time she was 10 years old she weighed about 100lbs

Looking back: 'Food was always there to comfort me no matter what,' Karina told the cameras in the TLC show

Looking back: ‘Food was always there to comfort me no matter what,’ Karina told the cameras in the TLC show

‘Karina’s mother really feels a lot of guilt, but she had to work in order to try to provide a better life for them,’ her father Ezequiel told the camera. 

Maria burst into tears as she admitted: ‘I don’t think I was there to take care of them better. Perhaps, if I had been there, she wouldn’t have gotten to this state.’

Karina said she ran to food whenever she was feeling any stress or loneliness, adding: ‘I just started gaining and gaining and gaining.’

By the time she was 10 years old, Karina estimated that she weighed about 100lbs. 

‘Before school and with my allowance, I would buy junk food: chips, soda, cookies, cupcakes. Food was always there to comfort me no matter what,’ she said.



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