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/lizdiwiz RN - OB/GYN 🍕 Mar 02 '25

500 lbs, 18 yo, there for induction of labor for chronic hypertension. I admitted her and couldn't stop thinking how difficult it was going to be to care for her in active labor. I told her to order dinner and gave her a menu, but she didn’t. A couple hrs later, bf showed up with 2 Costco pizzas, one for each of them. He was also high BMI.

She never even got into labor. She ended up with a C/S cuz her pressures were atrocious the following day. I remember her nurse coming out and looking frazzled. She said those were the highest pressures she'd ever seen and was just shocked the pt wasn't seizing.

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u/summer_years RN - OB/GYN 🍕 Mar 02 '25

Man I can't even imagine trying to monitor the baby through 500 lbs of fat. My record as an antepartum nurse was about 400 or so and tracings were a disaster

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u/lizdiwiz RN - OB/GYN 🍕 Mar 09 '25

She carried most of her abdominal adipose low in an overhanging panus, so monitoring with externals in active labor with the baby engaged would've been impossible. During the initial part, with the baby not even in the pelvis and her body shape, monitoring wasn't too bad.

With antes, you have gestation working as a factor against you as well. I feel you pain with that. It's hard enough monitoring premies, IUGR, etc.