Tammy Slaton has a new outlook on life after a scary close call. In the 1000-Lb. Sisters premiere, Tammy reveals that she decided to go back to rehab two months ago after finding out that she’s weighed the most she’s ever weighed: 717 pounds.
At one point, her oxygen levels dropped. She had to be taken to the hospital and put in a medically-induced coma. “I was septic,” Tammy says. She came close to losing her life.
“I think me hitting my rock bottom has opened my eyes. I have to get better. This is my last chance. I just don’t understand why God saved me again,” Tammy admits as she begins to cry. “This is why I didn’t want to do this.”
Tammy now has a trach in her throat. Chris and Amanda come to visit Tammy when she gets back to rehab. “I told y’all when y’all see me again, I wasn’t gonna be that same person,” Tammy explains. She tells them that she wants to get better. “I’m not ready to give up,” Tammy says. She wants to get weight loss surgery.
Chris is a little hesitant to believe that Tammy’s really serious about this. This is the second time she’s been on a ventilator for multiple days.
Tammy has recently lost about 100 pounds, but a lot of that weight was medically induced, Dr. Eric Smith says. The goal is for Tammy to get down to 550 pounds. “It’s achievable,” Tammy says. Tammy stresses that she has a “different outlook” after being hospitalized. She wants to truly live her life and be healthy.
Every night when she goes to bed, Tammy has to take her speaking valve out, which prevents her from talking. At 3:09 a.m. a nurse rushes into Tammy’s room to ask if she’s OK after the monitors go off. Tammy isn’t breathing. A blockage in her trach prevented her lungs from getting oxygen.
“Last night, I literally about died,” Tammy admits. Her oxygen level dropped down to 20. She began to black out. “I could not breathe at all,” Tammy says. “I was about gone.” Thankfully, the nurse was able to suction the mucus plug out before it was too late. While Tammy tries to make light of the situation, she’s honest about how much it scared her. New episodes of 1000 Lb. Sisters air Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on TLC.