The Catholic Message Board

A friend of mine who is very obese (500+ lbs) is only 53 and has been living in a nursing home for the past 4 years.

Recently he hit a very rough patch with his health and had to be intubated. For about 5 days he was in and out of consciousness. The pulmonary specialist in the ICU essentially said “game over”. My friend’s lungs were not working on their own, he had fluid buildup in his lungs, and his legs started to get dark spots on them.


But then he had a miraculous rebound. Tubes out and he’s breathing on his own, fully conscious, and even his legs are starting to clear up. When the doctor said that even if he somehow pulled through, he would need to have his legs amputated.

Praise God.

But another thing happened. While he was out he wasn’t eating. Close to 5 or 6 days of no eating and his skin around his face and neck lost most of the blemishes: numerous skin tags, very bad and long lasting eczema behind both ears, as well as dark bumpy skin around his neck.

It all went away. Now that he’s resumed eating some of its coming back. But it’s made him think that, given his weight, maybe a regular fast would be good for him.

As an adult, I've always had bad skin. I inherited it from my father. When my brother died many years ago, I stopped eating. I lost 30 lbs. in a couple of months (I was 140 before). Ny skin was never clearer. Eventually, I started eating again, and my skin reverted. Diet obviously contributes to the problem, but finding a balance in between is difficult.

No appetite because of losing a loved one is hard. Sorry you had to go through with it.

But what you said reminded me of something that happened to me back in 2013. I fell deep into anxiety, insomnia, and depression. For about a two week period of time i probably only had 1 meal.

The asthma and sleep apnea I had, that my doctor said would never leave, completely left during that period.

I remember my wife saying, after I had fallen asleep on the floor in the living room (when I would occasionally crash out in random places)…”the good news is you didn’t snore once and you breathed the clearest I had ever heard from you”.

Even after that two week period of time I was probably fasting quite regularly, albeit unintentionally, for at least a year I probably didn’t use my asthma inhaler once.