Romanian obese journalist writes about his experience as a fat patient (part III) Part I Part II This is taking way more than I expected, sorry for that lol Mircea Badea's six pack At the ultrasound I talked with Sorin Tescu from Mioveni. What a coincidence! He was a journalist as well a few years after the revolution. This job is not healthy at all. We both stood since together we'd break the wooden bench in the hallway. He was taller and much fatter than me, really close to 200 kg. I felt space and time bending around him like in Einstein's theory. He was panting just from talking. He had fat deposits on his arms. It was like chestnuts under the skin. I disliked him. He disliked me as well. But we also pitied one another. He told me he's not sorry that there's no TV in his room. He gave up "the damn TV" at home as well. All it does is urge you to eat anything and as much as possible. Armies of people are plotting in advertisment's labs on how  to fool you. He couldn't bear to see those kids in commercials munching on chips and chocolate bars with nuts and caramel. Rolling their eyes in pleasure, like they were getting high. One day he got angry and threw the TV out the window. Obese people are often capable of such outbursts. From that day he decided to start an active life of with a healthy diet. Sorin told me that he only regrets the TV loss because of Mircea Badea (a local TV star, in shape, shitlord, but a bit of a mouthbreather, his target audience is below average IQ imo). Even if the show makes ruthless fun of fatties Sorin likes him, he's a fan of his. But it's not Mircea Badea's celebrity that the former journalist covets. Neither the verve, talents or his teeth. But those formidable abs that he can curl as he wants. "He was a sensation with his abs on TV, live. The whole country watched. So it can be done" concluded the giant, optimistically patting his belly. He urged me and me to lose weight as well. "Now is the time, under Boc's government!" Eat, momma's baby boy! Tudor Tudosa decided to lose weight as well. He was a twelve years old boy that weighted over 100 kilograms (over 200 pounds). He seemed to be made entirely out of cheeks. He was a pink and likeable fattie. You'd want to play with him like you would with a big teddy bear. He was from Suceava. "Parhon" hosts especially patients from around the country. The locals come, get their bloodwork results and go home, unless it's something serious. Obesity is a common disease in Romania, but there are few centers where it can be treated. We go up the stairs every day, panting, to Tudor's room to weigh myself in. In the ward there were some professional electronic scales that you don't normally find for sale for the end user. They can hold up to 350 kilograms (700 pounds). Whenever I weighed in the kid wouldn't take his eyes off the screen. You'd think he's feeding off the digits. He enjoyed every bit of weight loss. Like he was losing it, not me. He said every night he was dreaming of pork chops with fries and donuts with powdered with sugar. And Coke. I confessed that I have nightmares about fried chicken. Those hypermarket roasted ones. I ate one at a meal. There were amazingly good and tender! I probably had that high expression that Sorin was seing on children in commercials. After a few days, I got used to the smaller portions the hospital served to the obese, and I started dreaming of women again. I was on the right track. But Tudor, who had been admitted before me, was still dreaming of chops when I got discharged. Things were more complicated for him. His mother had been admitted at the same time with him. She admitted that it's her fault. She kept stuffing Tudor with everything. She also gave him pocket money to buy whatever he wanted at school. The fridge was always full. She rejoiced seing him appetite, saying it's a sign of good health. And now the boy was bursting with health. He was dreaming of chops and weighed himself every hour. He was obsessed. All he wanted was being a kid again. As soon as possible. Only he knew what he was going through at school. You don't even know how mean kids can sometimes be with one another. They can end up killing each other like in "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding. But Tudor experienced it first hand. Hospital lessons Tudor's mother didn't know that obesity in children occurs by increasing the number of fat cells. In adults like me they do not multiply, they just increase in size. So when Tudor grows up he will have way more fat cells than I do, because I grew up a normal kid, exercised, so no additional fat cells formed. And when those cells additional cells from childhood will increase in size, Tudor could become a planet. With his own gravity and all. Mrs. Tudosa didn't know that obesity delays sexual development of her son either. For girls is the opposite: it hurries the process. And in adults, like I already said, it just takes away the ability. Like a gift they did not know how to cherish. Obesity instates hormones anarchy. Increased estrogen that can lead to breast cancer or cervical cancer, increased testosterone and you see women needing a shave, while infertility stalks all of them alike. Who would have thought that if you eat cake you're in danger of losing a breast or having no offspring? Mrs. Tudosa didn't know that, neither did I. The professor taught us. He also explained to me it's stupid to say that if you stop smoking, you'll gain weight. It's not the lack of nicotine that's fattening, but overeating. He stopped smoking 15 years ago and never gained a pound. He even lost a few. He went to med shool, he knew that. Me? Once I quit smoking, I replaced cigarettes with candy as an internet friend told me to. Then I switched to waffles. I was always munching something so I don't smoke. I didn't even notice that I got as big as Russia and I began to fall apart. My heart stopped just looking at my lengthy diagnosis. The record of my crimes against myself. At the hospital I found out that adipose tissue is considered an endocrine organ. It is involved in the synthesis of peptides, non-peptide components and other factors. It releases triglycerides, cholesterol and retinoids. It interact with other organs. It scared the life out of me, learning that I basicallly grew an additional organ. I was not born with it. What if I'd grow another limb? And this new organ weighs 60 kg (120 pounds)! I feel like there's two persons inside my skin. One that doesn't belong there. I feed him and in return he dumps his thrash inside my body. Now that's an organ that can do so many things! Maybe it even acquires feelings, who knows? Hopefully fall in love with someone else and leave me be. But that would be too simple.