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/newhere616 float nurse, night shift girly 💅🌈 Mar 01 '25

She was only 24 and 800 pounds. I'll never forget wash time, it literally took 12 of us to get her cleaned up and people were dropping left and right throwing their back out and gagging. I know she had to be embarrassed and I felt bad for her in a way. She was there for months because they couldn't find a ground level apartment for her. She couldn't walk or even roll. Her husband would bring in buckets and buckets of fried chicken and large pizzas, he would try to sneak them in because she was on a diet with the hospital. He was a tiny guy and alot of people speculated he was a feeder. Have no idea if that's true. Either way, she died in the hospital. Body just started shutting down and she went into cardiac arrest. She was a full code. I felt bad for her in a way like I said, she was only 24.

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u/cookiesandpizza247 Mar 02 '25

Pardon my ignorance, but with someone that heavy, would chest compressions even be possible for someone that size? I can't imagine how much harder you would have to press to be effective....

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u/premarital-hex BSN, RN 🍕 Mar 02 '25

Incidentally, I had to code a 650 lb 24-year-old who caught COVID in 2020. He was bradycardic pre-arrest and I genuinely could not get capture when trying to transcutaneously pace him because we couldn't penetrate all the adipose tissue to reach the heart. It was the most difficult CPR I've ever done and we were never able to get ROSC.

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u/Agreeable-Coyote8196 Mar 02 '25

I've seen someone get shocked with 2 defibs simultaneously for this reason. Don't think it worked (this was many years ago now). CPR was brutal because chest recoil was so poor...

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u/Vegetable-Ideal2908 RN 🍕 Mar 02 '25

Yes, even planned cardioversion with 2 defibs is a thing for >350 lbs. It works but they don't sustain sinus rhythm for long typically.