Tammy Slaton of TLC’s 1000-Lb Sisters has checked into a rehab facility for weight loss after allegedly displaying “reckless” behavior and admitting to drinking excessively and smoking to cope with her mental health issues.
According to The Sun, Tammy–- who appears on the show with her sister Amy–- checked into the Ohio treatment facility prior to the holidays and plans to remain there until this summer.
“She is in a facility and she’s getting help,” a person close to the TLC reality star told The Sun.
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“She is doing it on her own,” the source told the outlet. “The show is not paying for it, she’s paying for it. She’s doing it on her own and she’s choosing to be close to eight hours away from her family.
“I know that she wants to be out this summer,” the source continued. “She has a goal for herself. Because again, she’s paying for this. She has a goal for herself to get out this summer.”
Tammy now has a tracheostomy due to being put on life support back in November after suffering from pneumonia, sepsis and carbon dioxide poisoning.
(The carbon dioxide poisoning was a result of Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome. According to the National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute’s website, OHS “is a breathing disorder that affects some people who have been diagnosed with obesity. The syndrome causes you to have too much carbon dioxide and too little oxygen in your blood.”)
Although Tammy recovered, she still has the tracheostomy in. It is present in all of her Instagram photos posted since late November.
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As fans of the show may recall, Tammy’s sister Amy lost enough weight to qualify for weight loss surgery during Season 1, while Tammy did not. After undergoing bariatric surgery, Amy went on to deliver a child. She and husband Mike Halterman welcomed son Gage in December 2020, and this month, the couple announced they were expecting their second child.
During Season 2 of ‘1000-Lb Sisters’, Tammy entered a rehab facility to assist her in her weight loss journey, ultimately losing 60 pounds with just 40 more to go before qualifying for surgery. Unfortunately, Tammy went on to leave the facility early, and though she vowed to continue dieting and exercising on her own, she gained the weight back after returning home.
While Amy and her husband moved out of the duplex they once shared with Tammy and into a home of their own to raise their child, Tammy’s lifestyle continues to concern those close to her, given her 639-pound weight and partying lifestyle. The 35-year-old’s drinking and smoking even caused Tammy’s other siblings to speak out in the latest episode of the TLC show.
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“She has enough health problems without adding more to the fire,” Tammy’s brother Chris Combs said on the episode. “Do we just let her live and be comfortable, and plan, for her not being here in five years, and take care of all the arrangements?”
“It sucks to have to sit and have a conversation like that about final arrangements when she has the opportunity to change,” their sister Amanda added.
Chris even admitted the family was “at the end of our rope” regarding Tammy’s health issues, and said he planned to address the situation with his doctor in order to get some professional advice on how best to help his sister.
In People’s exclusive clip from next week’s season finale, Tammy is seen getting some professional advice from her own doctor, bariatric surgeon Dr. Eric Smith, who stops by for a check-in, during which Tammy reveals she’s been “battling mental health” and depression “big time.”
After telling her doctor she needs to “just take a break and not think about diets, relationships,” or anything other than clearing her mind, Tammy admits she’s been drinking and smoking to help her cope with her struggles. When asked how much she’s been drinking, Tammy cops to downing “maybe eight bottles a week”– as in eight “fifths of liquor.”
“Tammy’s doing a lot of partying, which raises a concern for me,” Tammy’s doctor says. “That alone is putting her in severe danger.”
Dr. Smith also says that while Tammy needs to address her mental health issues, she hasn’t done anything to improve the situation and he suspects she’s “actually just using that as an excuse to buy her more time to not work on her activity level, making some changes in her diet, or anything further than that.”
The season finale of ‘1000-Lb Sisters airs Monday, January 31 on TLC. Watch a preview of the finale below!
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RELATED STORY: TLC Debuting New Weight-Loss Series ‘1000-lb Best Friends’ in February
(Photos: TLC; Instagram)
27 Responses
I understand why surgeons won’t give Tammy the Bariatric surgery. But do we let her die? Wouldn’t you give her the surgery and let her hope for the best after?
Tammy how do I reach you? Need to share some stuff with You. Thanks
Some of you are RIDICULOUS!!! Especially @CRUSTY, talking about her weight and cremation, TOTALLY PATHETIC AND UNCALLED FOR!!! @The Ashley, here’s another comment that needs deleting.
Yes, she got heavy on her own but do you think maybe she has a slow metabolism or something medical that she can’t fix?
You cannot be serious- Crusty DOES have a legitimate concern. Let’s not sugar coat it to make her comfortable. Sometimes, brutal honesty is needed to get people to wake up! She DID get heavy on her own and even with a slow metabolism or ANY of the few possible medical conditions that might contribute- this doesn’t just happen. And it DEFINITELY does not happen overnight. It definitely is not being helped by drinking the way she is and essentially doing NOTHING to combat said obesity.
Talking about the price on cremation for a HORSE and comparing it to someone her size is inappropriate.
But if it’s medical and she can’t help it, why be mean? Being brutally honest and being mean are two COMPLETELY different things.
If she unfortunately passes from her obesity, drinking or both, shouldn’t she pass BEING HAPPY?? It is HER life.
My bad, I shouldn’t have compared her to a horse. She’s more like a pony at 650 lbs.
She’s a human being with feelings, have some decency and heart!!!
No comparison needed!!!!
She drinks 8 bottles of hard alcohol may seem like a lot, but she is almost 650lbs. This means she can drink a considerable amount of booze before she “feels it”. I really hope she gets her life back on track.
True but her liver is still probably processing 8 fifth of booze a week. The amount or damage she’s doing is immense.
The cremation bill for my horse was 2100. It was the only place I could find that would bake him whole, most places cant accommodate a big piece of meat. I wonder how it works with a 650lb human.
In all seriousness, the obesity issue in the U.S. is an extra challenge on the funeral industry as morbidly obese patients can’t fit in a regular size coffin or fit into the cremation machine. Funeral plots are only so wide. The cost of the funeral probably costs twice as much to do as a non obese person. Also, who wants to be pallbearer? I guess they could use heavy machinery to lift the coffin down the aisle during the funeral.
Tammy needed help over 400 lbs ago, but it’s hard to help someone who doesn’t want help and makes excuses for their behavior. I don’t think this will turn out well for Tammy, considering where she’s at right now. Her family members must be quite frustrated. I’m proud of Amy for putting in the work and getting help.
Amy said that her mom already bought a double plot years ago when Tammy was in her FIRST coma.
Yep, that sentence was truly morbid.
Who wants to be a pallbearer? I almost chocked on a piece of candy from laughing so hard
Cue the circus music ??
She is doing all of this to get to Amy, so Amy will let her move in with her. I swear if Amy lets her move in with her I am done with this show. Let Tammy call her trashy friends when she wants food, if she calls any family member they should only bring her salads and healthy foods, then she will knock that crap off of bugging them all the time.
Talk about a comment that should be deleted.
Totally uncalled for!!
She just keeps using her relatives to do everything for her and has no desire to change, really, so they should just leave her alone and let her kill herself if that is what she wants to do. She seems to enjoy manipulating people. She is not seriously wanting to really change and get better and lose weight so she can be independent. She won’t get the psychiatric therapy/counseling that she needs, won’t eat less, won’t eat the right foods. If an addict doesn’t really want to stop, they won’t. So the family should just stay away and see if she won’t get it together.
If she dies, she dies. It will be her choice.
As a compulsive overeater, this is my worst nightmare, that I could just go on and on and get bigger and bigger until I had zero quality of life. Death would be kinder than existing like this.
Sodies 4 Life!!!
What a misleading article. Tammy got carbon dioxide poisoning, which means she couldn’t expel enough carbon dioxide and breathe in enough oxygen. (it’s really only seen in morbidly obese patients).
That resulted in her getting pneumonia, septic, and was put in a medically induced coma.
She had to have a trach put in because she isn’t getting enough oxygen even with that oxygen tank she used.
The trach needs to be cleaned and cared for, and Tammy can’t even take care of her care before she was this sick. So she only had an option to go into assisted living, and I assume they picked Ohio because its hard to find places that can accommodate a 650 lb women. Beds that are big enough, doors, machinery, etc.
Please stop feeding her delusions, Tammy has always downplayed how serious her medical issues were. She is really sick, she’s not “doing her own thing”. Doctors don’t put trachs in just cuz… Doctors don’t put patients in medically induced comas for fun.
She’s a 35 year old women who is 650 lbs and is living in an assisted living facility, with a trach and a whole slew of medical problems. She is in worse shape than most 80 year olds.
I hope she gets better and does better. But please stop making it seem like she’s just living her life and doing her thing.
I left a similar comment but it’s not showing up. My thoughts exactly – this is terrible “reporting” because it completely leaves out almost dying and the fact that she needs skilled care daily.
They actually updated the article since I commented, the first “draft” didn’t include carbon dioxide poisoning, sepsis, or coma. So you can imagine my anger when I first wrote this.
So I guess good for them for updating it, but still. My comments still stand.
Also, she stopped “partying” because the rehab doesn’t allow drugs or alcohol so no more weed vaping.
But I mean the woman was already on oxygen its insane she thought smoking was good. You can eat thc or use lotions/oils etc for the CBD if you want the benefit without the additional strain on your lungs.
She’s got a trachy??!!! Scary, I’m nervously waiting for the announcement that she’s no longer here.
I wouldn’t say that Amy “lost enough weight to safely deliver a child”. She lost enough weight to be able to conceive. Her pregnancy was high risk because of her weight and recent WLS & she delivered via c-section. Dr. Proctor just said Amy is still considered morbidly obese, so this second pregnancy is high risk as well.
Agreed.
Amy would need to lose another 70 lb just to be considered Obese and not morbidly obese anymore.
Dr. Proctor pretty much told her to wait in the last episode until she was 230, which means another 50 lbs.
I honestly am appalled they chose to get pregnant AGAIN, with the conditions. She just hasn’t learned anything. It was a very selfish choice considering there is now a child and will soon be another, that will not have a parent for very long until they decide to make other choices.
Amy talks a good game but she deflects so much on Tammy for her failures she doesn’t see her own.
She doesn’t follow her Drs advice and has completely stopped watching what she eats.
She’s back to overeating and of course gaining weight after bypass surgery???