While the lifestyle of Tammy and Amy Slaton is not everyone’s cup of tea, there’s no denying that the “1000-lb Sisters” have captured the hearts of audiences of all ages and backgrounds.
Though just showing their weight loss journey and how it affects their personal life is a big deal in itself, the personalities and sometimes lighthearted humor of Tammy and Amy play an important role in their show’s success, in addition to gaining the pair an influencer status on social media.
However, it hasn’t been an easy road for either of the Slaton sisters and especially not for Tammy, who on top of struggling with achieving such an extreme physical transformation, has also recently faced other very tough health complications.
So is Tammy alright? Was she hospitalized recently? What is really happening with her health? Keep with us to know it all!
What’s Up With Tammy’s Health?
Although Tammy Slaton’s health is often a topic of discussion for viewers of “1000-lb Sisters”, it always has to do with her weight and physical transformation as seen in the show.
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However, in November 2021 Tammy’s fans were deeply worried when she revealed to be suffering non weight related health issues. As it happens, she had just been hospitalized to treat pneumonia, which was apparently caused by carbon dioxide poisoning.
Though she didn’t explain how or when exactly she was having those problems, Tammy affirmed that the poisoning resulted in sepsis, a condition in which the infected blood streams cause a variety of symptoms such as low blood pressure, fever and an increased heart rate. Suffering from sepsis and pneumonia at the same time severely affected her breathing, leaving doctors no other option than to give her a tracheotomy after she woke from a coma she was induced when her lungs collapsed.
While Tammy overcame the unfortunate episode successfully, her health problems took her away from filming “1000-lb Sisters” for over a month.
Did She Develop A Substance Addiction?
The consequences of carbon dioxide poisoning surely took a toll on Tammy, but that wasn’t the only difficulty health-wise which she’s faced in recent times.
As seen during “1000-lb Sisters” third season’s finale aired in early 2022, Tammy’s habit of drinking and vaping has been playing an important role in slowing her weight loss journey, even if she isn’t an addict to those substances.
It all started in Tammy’s early 20s, when her then newly-acquired adulthood gave her a free pass to explore things she couldn’t before: ‘As a teenager I wasn’t doing any partying. I was super shy about my weight, and I really didn’t have too many friends’, she said in the show, admitting that the added years made her feel more confident in herself: ‘I don’t care. I’m gonna be me’.
Nonetheless, Tammy’s not-so-healthy routines, weight and recently-developed respiratory problems make the situation quite worrying for her loved ones, friends and doctor Eric Smith, who considered that Tammy’s habit of drinking around eight bottles of liquor per week was ‘putting her in severe danger.’
While Dr. Smith affirmed her taking time away from her diet wasn’t helping her journey, it doesn’t seem that Tammy’s love for partying, alcohol and vaping was going to end anytime soon.
Weight Loss Update
Though all aspects of Tammy’s health are certainly of importance, her weight loss journey is still the most pressing matter when it comes to achieving her goal of improving her life.
However, any loyal viewer of “1000-lb Sisters” knows that her path to finally undergo bariatric surgery by Dr. Eric Smith hasn’t been an easy one so far. While her sister Amy’s improvement was constant, Tammy’s weight loss has been deterred by her physical health, family problems and own lack of determination.
Nonetheless, not everything is bad news for Tammy in this regard. Following her discharge from hospital after overcoming sepsis and pneumonia, Tammy entered a rehabilitation program in Ohio with the goal of reducing her addiction to food, and the results are better than expected.
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As Life and Style Magazine reported, she entered the program weighing approximately 650lbs, of which she lost an unlikely 115 in approximately one month of rehab. Looking evidently lighter on an Instagram selfie she posted in late February 2022, it’s clear that Tammy is closer than ever to achieving the 500lbs mark she needs to get her surgery, something she seems to be aware of: ‘I’m not doing this for anybody but myself, I’ve decided to put myself first’, she affirmed during the first stages of rehab.
Did She Have Covid?
Unfortunately, Tammy Slaton was indeed affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as she announced through her social media in early 2021.
Despite struggling to overcome the pneumonia caused by the virus, Tammy shared a YouTube video updating her fans on her condition after being hospitalized for over two weeks: ‘I’m doing great. I mean yes, I’m on oxygen. That’s just to keep my lungs sturdy, strong. I won’t be on oxygen much longer’.
Though her efforts to keep her fans well informed about her health were appreciated by most of her followers, others accused her of faking her diagnosis, something she vehemently denied: ‘If you have a problem with me, fine, so be it. But I’m not the one going around saying that I was sick when I wasn’t’, she concluded on another video later on.
While some of the strongest criticism Tammy received was related to vaping while infected with COVID, she wasn’t too mindful of that. The unpleasant experience was left behind only when Tammy completed her recovery a couple of months later.
Did She Lose Her Home?
Tammy’s recently-achieved improvements in her weight loss journey are undeniably positive, but she isn’t doing well in one important aspect of her life.
As it happens, Tammy lived for the longest time with her sister Amy in Dixon, Kentucky. That was until Amy and her young family moved out of the house in mid-2021, leaving Tammy alone in a $240,000 house, which was admittedly too big for only one person.
While nothing seemed out of place in the first couple of months, entering her rehabilitation program in late 2021 took a toll on Tammy’s finances: ‘(her) social security pays it, it takes her whole social security check, the show isn’t paying’, as Amy told The Sun in early 2022, when Tammy was still undergoing treatment to reduce her food addiction.
With all of her money put into improving her health, Tammy is apparently unable to pay for her house’s rent, meaning she won’t have her own place once she’s released from rehab: ‘When she comes out she’ll stay with me for a little bit, soon as we find a place she’ll go there’, affirmed Amy.
Though Tammy is fortunately not alone in this matter thanks to her sister, her situation is undoubtedly concerning.
Why Amy And Tammy No Longer Live Together
Despite starting their weight loss journey together, the paths of Tammy and Amy Slaton have taken different routes.
For Amy, life has brought her many blessings in the last couple of years, such as having her bariatric surgery, losing a lot of weight, marrying her long-time boyfriend Michael Halterman in 2019 and giving birth to their first son Gage in early 2021.
With a newly-formed family, it was only expected that Amy took the big step and having her own place. That finally became a reality a couple of months after Gage’s birth, when she and Michael bought a three bedroom house for $37,000 for their growing clan.
Although Tammy apparently didn’t take the news of her sister’s move badly, viewers of “1000-lb Sisters” saw Amy’s lack of conviction regarding her sibling’s attitude: ‘Tammy would never admit it, but she wants me to stick around because she’s afraid of being alone’.
However, Amy also made sure everyone knew that moving away was a decision solely taken for her own family’s benefit, and especially for her son, who apparently had to sleep in her former home’s kitchen due to the lack of space.
Who’s Tammy Dating Now?
Tammy isn’t dating anyone at this time, though it hasn’t been that long since she was last involved in a romantic relationship.
As revealed in the “1000-lb Sisters” third season aired in late 2021, Tammy had recently started dating Phillip Redmond, who’s somewhat of a popular TikToker who often publicly shows his preference for ‘big beautiful women’.
To strengthen their newly-formed relationship, Phillip traveled from Nevada to Kentucky to spend time with his new girlfriend, which greatly pleased Tammy: ‘I like everything about him. I like how he makes me feel. Like, he makes me happy. And I can honestly say this is happiness’, she affirmed in her show’s confession section.
Though Phillip was a face for the audience of “1000-lb Sisters”, back in 2007 he actually appeared in an episode of “Dr. Phil”, affirming that his preference for ‘big women’ had negatively affected his relationship with his brother.
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While maintaining a long distance relationship might have been tough for the couple, the reason behind Tammy and Phillip’s split after only a couple of months was due to the constant fights between them, in addition to him not wanting ‘to deal with her insecurities’, as she affirmed in the show.
What Happened To Her Ex-Boyfriend?
Given that “1000-lb Sisters” hasn’t been on air for that long, it’s hard to identify who Tammy’s past romantic partners were. However, her only boyfriend besides Phillip Redmon that we have known so far is a man named Jerry Sykes, who was introduced to Tammy’s fans through a Twitter post on which she described him as her ‘Babe for life’.
Despite her happiness with her then-new relationship, Tammy’s fans were quick to point out that she was actually dating a married man, opinions she didn’t take kindly: ‘Are you aware that I do know he is married and his wife is very sick so you ain’t telling me nothing I don’t know’, she answered to one of her followers.
Besides Tammy’s fans displeasure with Jerry, her sister Amy openly showed her distrust towards the man: ‘She needs somebody that’s gonna motivate her in this weight loss, not just want her to stay the way she is’.
Regardless, Tammy and Jerry’s relationship lasted a couple of months until Jerry ended things between them for allegedly feeling guilty for cheating on his wife. Later that year, Tammy revealed to “1000-lb Sisters” viewers that she had met Jerry again a couple of days before entering rehab, but it’s unknown if the pair’s story has come to an end yet.
Tammy’s Sexuality
Unbeknownst to many, Tammy Slaton considers herself a pansexual, as she affirmed when she came out during a dinner with her then-boyfriend Jerry Sykes, her sister Amy and brother-in-law Michael during a “1000-lb Sisters” episode.
It’s unknown how long it’s been since Tammy came in terms with her sexuality, but she affirmed to have considered herself bisexual for the longest time, until a conversation with her pansexual friend changed her perspective: ‘I asked her kind of what it meant.
It means you love everybody, not just the same sex, and I was like, ‘Well, I guess I am too’’, she claimed in the show.
Affirming that she valued more the way people made her feel instead of their appearance, Tammy concluded she was very open-minded when it came to love: ‘I wouldn’t mind being with someone who’s transgender, or whatever… or girl’. Luckily, Tammy coming out was fortunately well accepted by her family and fans.
Scamming Accusations & Financial Situation
While no one denies that fame has its positive things, becoming an internationally famous reality star also has its cons, such as being targeted for identity theft.
The latter happened to Tammy in late 2021, when an account pretending to be her was asking her fans for money. It’s unknown if anyone fell prey to that person’s malicious intentions, but Tammy warned her fans about the issue as soon as she could, by asking her followers not to send money to the scammer.
Nonetheless, this isn’t the first time Tammy has faced problems related to money and her online presence, as in late 2021 she attracted a backlash for using unauthorized artwork in her merchandise, which violated copyright laws. Though Tammy apparently didn’t know the severity of such a thing beforehand, asking her fans to send her artwork to use on her merchandise for free only gained her a new wave of negativity.
While the situation might be hard to understand from the outside, Tammy’s financial situation is apparently not the best. As she once said on a TikTok video, she and her sister weren’t paid well for taking part their show, as TLC allegedly only covered their medical costs, but wasn’t very generous with their salaries.
Whether or not Tammy’s claims are genuine, it’s certain that her repeated health problems have taken a toll on her financial situation, which makes her weight loss journey even more admirable, but just as urgent.
