'My 600-lb Life': Where is Michael Blair now? Here's how much weight he lost after Dr Now approved his surgery
Michael Blair, 43, from Conroe, Texas, appeared on the recent episode of 'My 600-lb Life'. He was open about his struggles with his weight as well as the mental and emotional trauma that he had endured during his life. Even at this age with his loving wife Kimberley and two teenaged sons, Xander and Liam, he was not happy and constantly battled agoraphobia that stopped him from stepping out of his front door.
Michael didn't want to be around people as he equated being seen as an opportunity for other people to target his wife and kids for the way he looked, at a staggering 609 pounds. Michael had been through a lot but he knew that his fears were not as big as his love for his family for who he wanted to turn to a healthy path. It's for this reason that he decided to step out of his comfort zone and drive to Houston for an appointment with Dr Now.
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What did Dr Now say about Michael Blair?
This was not the first time that Michael had considered gastric bypass surgery. He and his wife Kimberley were both scheduled for this procedure during their early years as a married couple. Kimberley received her surgery, however, a tragic road accident right before his surgery left Michael with a number of scars in his stomach that later turned into scar tissues so extensive that the surgery was no longer an option for him.
After an endoscopic examination, Dr Now and his team found a lot of scar tissues as well as a hernia left most of Michael's stomach muscles damaged. However, all hope was not lost because Dr Now decided to treat his hernia instead and use that as an opportunity to remove as much scar tissue as possible during the procedure. However, Michael was asked to lose close to 100-150 pounds before he got the procedure.
Did Michael Blair lose 150 pounds?
Michael was dependent on Kim sometimes for his basic needs including powdering his body so that he didn't develop a rash. However, by no means was he lazy. It was just difficult for him to move around but he tried his best to keep himself mobile. Upon hearing his goal, Michael didn't for once doubt that he would not be able to lose the weight and worked hard towards achieving it.
Did Michael get the surgery?
Armed with a diet and certain exercises after his first consultation with Dr Now, Michael returned for a follow-up and found that he had lost 61 pounds and his weight had dropped down from 609 lbs to 548 lbs. Dr Now asked him to cut down on his portions and try harder the next time, however, Michael was found to have lost only 36 pounds in the next follow-up.
He was disappointed in himself and Dr Now made it clear that at this rate the surgery looked like a farfetched dream. Michael didn't let his failure stand in his way and in his final weigh-in, Michael was found to have lost a total of 135 lbs out of the 150 he was supposed to lose and Dr Now cleared him for surgery to treat his hernia with an assurance that he might be considered for gastric bypass surgery too if his body responded well and healed up enough. Whether Michael received the surgery or not was not covered in the episode. Michael's final weight at the end of the episode was 474 lbs.
Catch new episodes of 'My 600-lb Life' every Wednesday at 8 pm ET on TLC.