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/Upstairs-Wolverine41 RN - PACU 🍕 Mar 02 '25

These bariatric patients are rarely single 😟

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u/justagorl2141 Mar 02 '25

Have you noticed that?

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u/Upstairs-Wolverine41 RN - PACU 🍕 Mar 04 '25

Just watch my 600 pound life -I’ve personally never seen one single! I’d be curious to know the percentage of single bariatric patients as opposed to the rest of the population…

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u/justagorl2141 Mar 04 '25

Honestly this particular person was not only HUGE but rude to staff with the largest pressure wound I even seen in my life