My 600-lb Life follows an extremely obese woman named Janine. While her weight has left her nearly immobile, she does gets around in a scooter. Although she doesn’t believe her body will be able to take it, she plans to fly to Houston, Texas to meet with gastric bypass surgeon Dr. Nowzaradan. Before leaving the house, she says to herself, “It’s time to suck it up, buttercup.” Janine says she’s tried everything to control her weight so she knows that this is “literately my last chance to turn my life around.”
In the cab on the way to the airport, Janine sounds determined. But she is scared. She just wants to get onto the plane. While transporting herself by scooter to the gate, she knows that everyone will point and stare at her. “It’s gonna be a freak show.” But her hardest time is a physical one. When she tries to board the plane, she has to stand up in order to cross the threshold. It looks like she’s about to give-up but there is an airline employee there encouraging Janine to keep trying.
Janine has struggled with her weight since a very young age. She was adopted at about 2 months old, and the adoption agency told her parents that her biological mother was very large. At the age of 3, Janine was put on her first diet by a pediatrician. At the age of 4, the same pediatrician, according to Janine, put her on diet pills. Janine says, “That really started to mess me up.” As she describes it, “I was a four year old on speed.” My 600-lb Life airs Wednesdays at 8pm on TLC.
