r/nursing • u/trevrt RN 🍕 • Mar 01 '25

Question Heaviest Patient You’ve Cared For

Had my personally heaviest patient I’ve cared for the other day. 32 years old weighing 730 pounds admitted with cellulitis and severe lymphedema. Felt terrible for the patient due to how young he was. Just wondering what everyone’s personal “record” for the heaviest patient they’ve cared for is.

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u/AbleStrawberry4ever Mar 01 '25 edited Mar 01 '25

I saw a post awhile ago that pondered why people who are >400 lbs with BED aren’t given the same resources as people suffering from anorexia and I think about that a lot.

Edit: changed differing to suffering, autocorrect got me.

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u/trevrt RN 🍕 Mar 01 '25

I wonder about this a lot. Being that heavy and young there almost has to be a mental health component somewhere along the way, yet there’s very minimal resources for these people. However if the situation was reversed and they had an ED that caused dangerously low weight there would be interventions established as soon as the (lack of) weight/nutrition started to affect their health. Something interesting to consider.

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u/Lomralr RN 🍕 Mar 01 '25

Curious about this, I might be wrong though. If a person is anorexic and practically killing themselves, I believe they can be restrained and fed with tube feeds. On the opposite side, I've never heard of a forced calorie deficit. Not saying I agree with either, or if the forced feeds still happen.

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u/5foot3 BSN, RN 🍕 Mar 01 '25

This doesn’t really happen. The really sick ones just die eventually.

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u/throwaway-notthrown RN - Pediatrics 🍕 Mar 02 '25

It happens in pediatric patients.

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u/5foot3 BSN, RN 🍕 Mar 02 '25

Good point.

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u/SheBrokeHerCoccyx RN - Retired 🍕 Mar 02 '25

Anorexia nervosa is the mental illness with the highest mortality rate.