Gluttony is a Deadly sin

I am an ICU Nurse and I love my job most of the time. Today I'm feeling tired and a little jaded after 2 12 hour shifts in MICU [Medical Intensive Care Unit]. Why today of all days? I've certainly had busier days,  when I've felt close to tears. Days when I've felt run off my feet from start to finish. Frustrated days when I've been annoyed by the documentation and the covering my ass. No tears today and  I have to admit, I hate that I feel this way. Today I'm annoyed at my patient and her lack of personal responsibility for her health and her life. Also by the way she expects all around her to wait on her hand and foot and not a thanks for any help that she gets. This women is 54 years old and weighs 520 lbs. That's right 520 lbs!!! I am sick and tired of holding my tongue. It's disgusting.
She can't breath because she's too fat. Her organs are failing because she's too fat. We're giving her medicines to fix her long list of problems which just cause more problems. Instead of fixing the main problem which is.....go on guess...that's right, she's too fat. How does someone who has a family who loves her, friends who care about her get to this place. I watched her husband today he just didn't know what to do to make her feel better. Can you give her something to make her feel better, give her some pain medicine, give her some anxiety medicine. No Sir I can not unless you want her on a ventilator. Her doctors need her to be awake and breathing. Why do we think there is a pill for everything?
She has a long list of experts taking care of her. Her Primary Care Physician who oversees her care. Pulmonary Physician because she can't breath so she's on an Bipap machine [mask fitted tight to her face to help her breath] which she refuses to wear and moans and blames us for making her miserable. She will probably end up on a ventilator and we'll never get her off. So then she'll need a tracheostomy and be prone to getting pneumonia. Nephrologist because she's got kidney problems. Endocrinologist to deal with her thyroid problems. Cardiologist because she has a heart rhythm problem called artial fibrillation. All this because she's fat.
Bear in mind this lady has not worked in years who knows maybe never so she has no insurance so she'll see a Social Worker to get the bills paid. Physiotherapist. Occupational Therapist. The list is endless. I wouldn't mind any of the above if I thought she appreciated any of it. No she treated me like her personal slave "can you turn me over, move my leg, move my arm". Not a thank you, not one. Without one bit of shame she says "I just had a bowel movement" for the 3rd time. Her husband says that's OK that's what they're here for, they'll get you cleaned up. Excuse me but this is not OK.
When I first became a nurse this kind of obesity was rare, very very rare. We might have one or two diabetics on the unit. Now the vast majority of our patient population is diabetic. Obesity is epidemic. We blame fast food, soft drinks etc etc. We need to put the blame where it belongs  on the person who is obese. If a person is so fat that they can no longer walk or care for themselves families make them worse by feeding them like the fattened cow. The sin of gluttony is one of the 7 deadly sins. Gluttony is rampant in America today.

Dora Meulman