'Food addiction has become my life:' 37st woman fails to lose weight DESPITE undergoing radical stomach surgery



Penny, 46, weighs 530lb and has been confined to bed for four years

Suffers many health problems and cannot look after her young son

Says 'world is closing in on her' yet refuses to face up to her situation



Family uprooted so she could receive risky weight loss surgery

Stomach size was massively reduced but she insists she can't lose weight

A super morbidly obese woman who underwent risky weight loss surgery in a bid to help her regain her life, has failed to lose weight, despite saying her size makes her feel like she's dead.



Penny Saeger, 46 years old, from Atlanta, Georgia has spent her last 4 years living in her hospital bed.

Weighing in at 530lb or 37 stone, Penny’s size confines her to her bed totally forcing her to rely on her husband for even basic needs, and meaning her ability to mother her young son is severely restricted.

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Penny, who weighs 530lb, has been bed bound four over four years ‘I started out like everybody else, but every time I had a problem it would be one pound, two pounds, five pounds, and it just kept going. I let food be the way which I found solace.

‘Sometimes it feels like I’m dead. I cannot do the things that other people take for granted. My bed is my bathroom, my dinner table, my world. I might as well be a prisoner in jail. Food addiction has become my life.’

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After marrying her husband, Edgar, Penny had four miscarriages before giving birth to her first son, Liam.

Penny's ability to care for her son Liam is restricted by her size. She has to experience much of his life through pictures or videos sent to her in her bed

Shortly after Liam was born, Penny’s weight forced her to become bed ridden, making Edgar the primary care-giver for her and her son.



‘Even as early as third grade I knew I was heavier, and I remember in fourth grade I started having to wear plus sizes and I hated that.

'I just gained about 20lb a year, I ended up being close to 300lb by the time I was 22 or so.



'My weight is very near 600 at this time. My world has closed in around me.’



Penny experiences Liam’s life through technology, seeing him arrive for his first day at school through pictures sent on her iPhone and participating in family dinners through Skype as she sits on her bed, eating.



Though Penny does help take care of Liam, her care is confined to what can be done with her remaining in her bed.



Penny is transported inside her own home carried on a blanket. Her and her family traveled to Houston, Texas so she could receive risky weight loss surgery

‘If he refused to come into my bubble then I wouldn’t be able to help him,’ she says.



Husband Edgar, who bathes and cooks for Penny as well as helping her in going to the loo without leaving the bed, says: ‘Her weight has affect us in many ways. I have to go to all the school functions. Liam does tai kwon do and she has never actually seen him, I’ve had to video him.'

Growing up with an abusive father, Penny continued to gain weight and found that her body was a defense tool that she could use to protect herself and her two sisters. Her weight continued to climb and as a young adult, Penny found herself to be over 400-lbs and admitted to having a food addiction.



Her sisters Christina and Angela say they believe Penny’s distorted relationship with food began in childhood, when they witnessed their mother being physically abused by their father.

It takes an entire of people, including the local fire department, to help get Penny off her bed and out of her house

‘Penny was the oldest and she probably experienced a lot more of it than we did,’ Christina says.

‘She had to bear the brunt of a lot of what we have to go through. It’s not always her fault; the eating now is but a lot of the stuff in our history… she had nobody to tell her yea it’s going to be ok.’

When Edgar and Penny became a couple she was around 420lb and, although large, was able to lead a normal life. While pregnant with their son Liam her weight ballooned to 620lb and after giving birth she struggled to lose the pounds.

Penny’s size means the couple haven’t been able to share a bed for years and Edgar became her full time carer, forcing the family to live off disability benefits.

Her weight also left her with numerous health problems including diabetes and, desperate to receive the weight loss surgery she believed she needed to save her life, Penny was forced to travel to Houston Texas to find a doctor who specialises in patients at her weight.



Penny traveled on a hospital mattress in the back of a van and the local fire department had to help manoeuvre her out of the house.



Bypass surgeon Dr Nowzaradan discovers Penny's BMI is 85.7 when she is admitted to the specialist hospital in Texas

Edgar and Penny travelled across the country to see bypass surgeon Dr Nowzaradan.

‘A normal BMI is under 25, over 40 is classed as super morbidly obese. Penny’s BMI is 85.7, that is very big,’ explains Dr Nowzaradan. ‘Penny has a lot of issues; some of them are real and some are imaginary. It seems like she has played the role of being a victim and encouraging family to be enablers. This dynamic is very difficult to break.’

Penny spent a month in hospital under supervision on a strict diet and lost 40lb before undergoing surgery to dramatically reduce the size of her stomach in an attempt to help her eat less.



Penny, pictured here with husband Edgar (left) insists she can not walk and is trying hard with her diet, despite gaining weight after the gastric bypass

However following the surgery Penny struggled to readjust her attitude to food, and in particular to get out of bed and start walking – a crucial component of continuing her weight loss.



Despite being on a 1,200 calorie a day diet, Penny failed to lose any more weight, leading Dr Nowzaradan to conclude she must have convinced someone to sneak additional food in for her.



Three months after the surgery Penny is sent home by the hospital due to her failure to comply with treatment, but she insisted that this was ultimately a good thing.

‘I am going to lose the weight for sure, I just need to be at home with my family,' she says.



The family rented an apartment near the hospital to allow Penny to continue receiving treatment at the hospital.



Once at home Penny is provided with a physical therapist to try and help her walk but she continued to resist and, despite being given detailed instructions on her strict diet plan, returns to her old unhealthy eating habits,.

Even when a nutritionist visits the home to attempt to help the family improve their diet, Penny remains resistant.

Penny spent a month in hospital under supervision on a strict diet and lost 40lb before undergoing surgery to dramatically reduce the size of her stomach

‘You have no manner of people telling you what you can and can’t do but ultimately the only person who knows what’s best for you is you,’ she justifies.

‘I’m just not able to walk or stand, I know my limitations. The thing is there just wasn’t a diet given to me. There’s only so many popsicles and soups and cream of wheat’s you can eat before you are done with it.

‘I cannot function without wantons (a type of deep fried dough with filling). They’re probably not the best thing for me, but I could eat all of this (indicating a platter of wantons) and it wouldn’t be as detrimental to me as not eating.'

When she is readmitted to hospital five months after surgery, Penny has regained five of the initial 40lb she lost in hospital before surgery.

After the surgery Penny's weight loss stalls and Dr Nowzaradan suspects she is having extra food brought into the hospital for her

‘I think Penny is convincing herself. She is her own worst enemy and her husband is her second worst enemy and they don’t realise this is a dangerous game she’s playing,’ say Dr Nowzaradan.

Despite renewing her attempts to lose weight back at home, Penny fails to achieve her goal of being able to walk, and so attend her son Liam’s graduation.



Over nine months on from the surgery that drastically reduced the size of her stomach she has not lost weight and remains bed bound.

Over nine months on from the surgery that drastically reduced the size of her stomach she has not lost weight and remains bed bound

‘Penny lives in a false reality where she chooses to over eat but won’t admit it. She has to decide she wants to lose weight and that she wants to walk. But I don’t see any willingness to want to get well,’ Dr Nowzaradan.



Eventually Penny decided to leave Texas, terminating her treatment at the hospital, and returns home to Maryland where she feels she feels she will be able to lose weight.



‘Even if I’m not successful in the world’s eyes, the fact that I did all of this so far changed my path in life forever.

'I don’t ever have to be an ideal weight in Liam’s eyes because he has seen what I’m willing to do for him, and he’s proud of me.’



Dr Nowzaradan adds: 'At this point I don’t think Penny has any intention to change anything in her lifestyle.

‘I don’t know what will work for Penny. I hope that she wakes up at one point otherwise I don’t think she is going to live too long.'