Does 'My 600-lb Life' star Megan lose enough weight to get approved for Dr. Now's weight-loss surgery? See what she looks like after 12 months.
24-year-old Megan's life is hanging by a thread. The My 600-lb Life star has gotten "too big to [take] care of myself on my own" and now lives with her enabling mom.
"When I eat, I feel a sense of comfort, love, a sense of fullness," Megan explains about her relationship with food, which she calls "my constant best friend."
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Megan's unhealthy relationship with food began at an early age, and around the time she was 5 or 6 years old, the reality star recalls she weighed "about 200 pounds."
Now, she's ready to change her life and break out of her habits. "I just can't continue to live like this, it's a living hell," she tells the camera, holding back tears.
So, is Megan able to get weight-loss surgery on My 600-lb Life? See her today, 12 months after starting Dr. Now's program.
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Megan enters Dr. Now's office at 604 pounds.
For Megan, who doesn't even see her beloved father because he lives 30-45 minutes away at a facility that is too far for her to drive to, making the two-day trip to Dr. Now's office fills her with inspiration. For the first time in years, she gets to see a world outside of the confines of her mother's house, where she lives.
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Dr. Now is surprised at her health when she arrives in his Houston office. "It's shocking to see so many medical issues in someone so young," he says of her many conditions, and the 12 medications she has to take daily. "Some of the medications you are on," he adds at another visit, "typically people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s are on."
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Megan knows she can't go on with her health the way that it is. "I know my health is really bad now because the more I move, my breathing gets worse and worse," she says. What's more, she always dreamed of having a career as a pediatric nurse, but her weight is keeping her from having any job where she has to be on her feet.
Does Megan get weight-loss surgery?
Megan's is a very long and windy journey. Slowly, she commits to taking responsibility for her food choices and manages to lose weight consistently, despite the fact that her mom isn't changing her own unhealthy diet.
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At the three-month mark, Megan loses 14 pounds. By the next check-up, a few months later, she weighs 558 pounds. "You still haven't made much of a change in your eating habits and that's the issue right now," Dr. Now scolds.
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After Dr. Now tells Megan she has to buckle down to get approved for surgery, she and her mom move to Houston. By her next weigh-in, she loses 37 pounds, for a total of 84 pounds since the program started. "You've at least stayed consistent," Dr. Now commends.
The doctor and patient make a deal: "If you lose 30 more and get down to 500," Dr. Now offers, "to show us your body is healthy enough for weight-loss surgery, we will move ahead with that."
How much weight did Megan lose? See her today!
While Megan manages to lose even more weight than Dr. Now suggests, and checks in at under 500 pounds, her health concerns remain such that the celebrity surgeon can't approve her for gastric sleeve surgery.
"As much as I'd like to tell you we can move ahead with your weight-loss surgery," he laments, "it looks like it is too risky still and that you need to lose more fat in your body by losing more weight."
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"I'm proud of your progress," he adds, saying that if she can continue to stick to the diet, he will monitor her health and surgery options on a monthly basis. By month 12, Megan, who buys her own heavy-duty scale on the internet, weighs 481 pounds.
Sadly, she reveals she "went in for more testing and nothing really changed."
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Amazingly, Megan hasn't lost any hope. After being understandably "upset and discouraged" when Dr. Now initially broke the news, she now has a new lease on life.
"The opportunity to get surgery and have a new life has motivated me to work harder than I ever have," she reveals at the end, on a walk with her dog and mom, adding that she's "not letting anything get in my way."
Megan admits that she never imagined she could lose this much weight simply by dieting, and now can't wait to live independently, start a career, make a family, and "do all the other things I wasn't able to do because of my weight."
We're so proud of Megan's progress and attitude. New episodes of My 600-lb Life air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on TLC.
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