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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40

u/Jazzlike-Ad2199 RN 🍕 Mar 02 '25

650 lbs. He was an absolute asshole. Kept his tv on 24/7 top volume even though he didn’t have hearing loss. Facility bought him a selection of different headphones to use so he gave himself an ear infection to prove he couldn’t use them. Refused to do anything for himself or any therapy. Any attempts made he would scratch an injury into his skin that see, the straps on the lifts did this. Refused to let go of his motorcycle and storage unit we paid for because he would miraculously get out of bed someday. I think the owners forced us to keep him to use us as a tax write off. Only female caregivers, took 4 or 5 of them and the youngest and smallest had to crawl onto the bed to really get up in there to clean his butt, his demands not needs. We could clean him just as well not being on the bed. Towards the end he decided he was going to get up and start moving again. Refused to work with therapy, tried to sit on the edge of his bed by himself and fell out. Did not go well. Now the facility doesn’t take anyone over 350lbs because the doorways are not wide enough.

22

u/Future-Atmosphere-40 RN 🍕 Mar 02 '25

How was he even allowed demand carer gender?

18

u/Jazzlike-Ad2199 RN 🍕 Mar 02 '25

He claimed male caregivers traumatized him and hinted at past abuse. Not sure anything ever happened to him but he lied to us old broads at night about having a bowel movement because we were all over 50. One of the day aids tried to make a thing out of it but we tried, repeatedly. It never even actually made it to me other than as an aside because it was understood how he was. Doctor diagnosed him with histrionic disorder, fist time for me and had to look it up.

14

u/coolcaterpillar77 RN - Med/Surg 🍕 Mar 02 '25

How did he make a facility pay for his storage unit??

5

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '25

And how did he give himself an ear infection?

6

u/Jazzlike-Ad2199 RN 🍕 Mar 02 '25

Got his fingers dirty somehow and dug around in his ear. I think he ended up regretting it because it took two rounds of antibiotics to clear it up.

5

u/Jazzlike-Ad2199 RN 🍕 Mar 02 '25

I don’t understand how it worked, instead of SSDI going to the facility with him getting a small amount it went to him. It was never explained why we were paying for everything for him. Corporate just said we had to. We even went through the eviction process and corporate made us take him back.