A Kansas woman had to be "extracted" from a bathroom after having spent 2 years in it. Apparently, the woman, who suffered from phobias stemming from childhood traumas, thought she'd be safer in the bathroom. A day became a week, weeks became months and before anyone knew it, two years had elapsed. The woman's boyfriend sought help when she became "groggy" and knew she'd require medical attention. She didn't want to leave, but finally consented after much coaxing from responders. She had to be carried out of the home with the toilet seat lid still attached to her, as her skin had grown around the lid. The hospital was able to remove the lid surgically but she may be left in a wheelchair as her legs have atrophied.

Read the Story Here

Good heavens. The above story thankfully aside [ except I must wonder how one hangs onto a 'boyfriend' after spending years in the bathroom, grown to the fixtures that way....ugh] I really spend little time in the bathroom.

A five minute shower does it for me, then another few to dry my hair in the winter time. When I'm in the mood, I love a hot bath. Unfortunately, as anybody with a cast iron, 100 year old tub will tell you -it isn't worth the trouble. By the time you get the hot water in, and sink down into the bubbles -your water's cold.
Sigh.

I find it hard to believe, though it appears to be true, that any human being could allow another to stay fixed in a bathroom for 2 years. I think the boyfriend is in need of as much psychiatric help as the woman, if not more. What was the boyfriend using for toilet facilities? I don't even want to know, never mind. Talk about having absolute control over someone!

Yikes ... and I occasionally think MY life is, or has been, weird . I agree, too, that this "boyfriend" has MORE screws loose than this woman does! I'm not sure it's what I (personally) would call a control issue ~ although it might well be, but it just sounds more like being bona fide nuts to me. No more specifics required to aptly put to it than that . WHAT ON EARTH did either of them "get" from this alleged 'relationship'? Ugh. I'm trying to picture a little for-one toilet surrounded by a stove, refrigerator, TV, a wee telephone, maybe a few books, hopefully a sink and a toothbrush nearby. God, it boggles the mind. Talk about two people so ritually settling for so little, when it comes to being 'alive'. Some might (wrongly) suggest "well, what's the difference between this kind of a set-up and, say, one partner in a relatonship being bed-ridden and the other not?" Um ... well, I reckon I could list several thousand differences .
Ya gotta wonder, though ... just how LONG did it take these people, both of them, to get so screwed up? And, conversely, how long will it take (if ever) to "fix" them. How sad and mostly sickening! Considering how [ahem] functionally they acclimated to this, they might consider it perfectly normal?
Of course, how can it all be sensibly figured out? Keeping in mind that this poor woman decided somewhere along the line that the safest/most palatable place in her world was, of all geographies, a toilet?
Good heavens....

I would like to know what brand of toilet they use, because if it didn't need a plunger for over two years it must be pretty good.

Gatsby,
When I made reference to the 'control', I was thinking along the lines of: He would never have to wonder where she was, who she might be with, or what she might be doing. The whole thing is really just too sick for me to have written more than I did at the time, but every single thing you said covered the rest! If that can be remotely thought of as 'living', my life is pretty damn good even on the worst day/days. Sandy

A plunger in two years? Thats a long time, really? I dont think I've ever needed to use a plunger on the loo in my entire life.

Ok, the whole thing is just crazy!( No pun intended.) The boyfriend said she changed into the clothes he brought her every day...So how did she 'grow around' the toilet seat? Pretty sick, if you ask me!

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I find it hard to believe, though it appears to be true, that any human being could allow another to stay fixed in a bathroom for 2 years.

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I wholeheartedly agree...something just doesn't add up about this situation, and that's why I had so little to say in speculation and chose to talk about my bubble bath instead. Or maybe when I try to imagine such a state of affairs, my mind shuts down and just can't go there.
It's just plain better to talk about bubbles.

I wonder how she slept. Sitting up on the toilet? Did she get cold with her pants down all the time.
A very sad story indeed. Then there is the chance she may be paralized (due to nerve damage) and never walk again.
If I had to choose a place to 'veg out' I think I would go for the bedroom, in my bed NOT the loo.

A future Scopes.com story? I am NOT a doctor or dermatologist, but I was not aware that skin could grow that fast- the whole story sounds like a beat-up to me.

I am guessing that there was another WC available, otherwise the boyfriend has a bladder the size of Lake Baikal.

It is about as believable as Maggie Thatcher being able to fly...

I did a search on Snopes when I initially saw this. NOT that I was doubting for a minute the veracity of BurgGurl's post, just that I have heard some strange things come out of Kansas. I don't know, maybe it's the whole Wizard of Oz theorem behind my thinking. If Dorothy can get sucked off a farm, why can't a woman in a trailer park get sucked onto a toilet? Sandy

Not to create any further images of disgust in anyone's minds but I couldn't help wonder if the "growth" wasn't necessarily her skin, but possibly fungal. I imagine it might be possible if one sat on such a place where, shall we say, not the cleanest items would be found, could be the source of the problem. It could also contribute to nerve damage, no?

I would guess that the nerve damage was from lack of circulation due to the "perching". As much as you tried to avoid the disgusting image of an "alternate growth", BurgGurl, I am still grateful my breakfast was consumed long ago.

She may have also been suffering from some kind of infection that caused her to behave in a "groggy" manner, or maybe it was lack of a good night's sleep for such a long time. Whatever the case, I hope her family can afford a decent therapist, bless her heart.

I agree, bottom line is that this woman gets the help she desperately needs. I can only hope she drops the boyfriend in the process also, as he does not sound like someone she needs in her life.

Hmmm. I'm wondering something here. Clearly the woman is in need of a few centuries of therapy - but this weirdo "boyfriend" thing is bugging the heck out of me. Chances are he's a basket case (without handles) as well, but I'd call his part in this 'criminal negligence' at least, if not worse. The more I think it through, it seems to me his involvement here is borderline (maybe completely?) criminal.
Or maybe he's just a whacko, too, and not responsible for his own behavior? Dunno. I'm probably just being harsh ....

This is weirdness on so many levels .. can someone physically sit for that long? I think you're being a bit harsh on the boyfriend, Gats, he obviously looked after her by bringing her clothes and food and taking her to the loo (oh wait! ) perhaps he thought he was doing the right thing and complying with her wishes?

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A plunger in two years? Thats a long time, really? I dont think I've ever needed to use a plunger on the loo in my entire life.

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Me neither What are you putting down yours, JTJ? Although maybe it's all that extra water in the bowl than we have? Dunno.

Copago you are a hoot.
Of course there are plenty of questions this story raises one being her job. Did they call to find out where she had got to? What about their friends? Did they have any?

Has anyone seen a follow up story yet?

I haven't seen a follow-up on this story, but my mother said she did see this original story on TV as well.

oh dear, I knew that, JTJ - it's caught me before - you'd think I'd look out for it now! Sorry!

So what is Barracuda putting down the loo??

The police described both the woman and her boyfriend as being of "diminished mental capacity", and my guess would be that they are both mentally retarded, or seriously limited intellectually. If the woman resorted to living in her bathroom, as the result of fears or phobias, she probably has psychiatric problems as well. I gather they are still trying to decide whether to charge the boyfriend criminally, perhaps on a neglect charge, for failing to get her appropriate medical and psychiatric treatment. But that would depend on his level of legal competence, and how fully he understood the situation and her need for professional treatment.

This sort of story generates some humor, simply because it is so peculiar, and because it involves a bathroom and a toilet used as a virtual place of residence. But, if the minimal known facts are true, it is much more tragic than amusing.

That someone would imprison herself in a bathroom, for two years, apparently out of fear/anxiety/phobias, is certainly not funny. That her boyfriend would enable or assist this endeavor, rather than getting her help, even when she developed serious medical problems, is definitely not funny.

On the surface at least, this appears to be a very sad tale of two individuals, with very limited coping skills, who appear to have been isolated from any adequate social support network. When something happened to cause the woman to retreat into her bathroom, neither of them appear to have been able to appropriately deal with the situation. Apparently, there were no family members or friends to turn to, or who knew what was going on in that mobile home. These two people just floundered, and wound up dealing with the situation rather poorly, possibly because they could not see, or utilize, other options.

Hopefully, these people will now receive the social services assistance they appear to need in order to live independently. It sounds like they need a good case worker to routinely check up on them and make sure they are managing adequately.

I feel I must clarify my reason for posting this in the first place.

This thread is for current events and this is a current news story. I posted this with no intent to make fun of anyone, I objectively posted what was already in print as put forth by the press and left it open for discussion. I do not feel any humorous remarks made herein were directed toward either of these people in the story as it is obvious there are problems on both sides.

I made some of those 'humorous remarks', but in no way would I make fun of or maliciously attack someone with mental problems. I grew up with a mother who was a paranoid schizophrenic, spent from age 11 to 18 years taking care of her after my father divorced her and I was the only child left at home. I certainly know how serious the situation can be. She is no longer alive, but thank God I am able today to laugh over some of the things that happened, even though they were tragic and life-altering at the time. Sandy