Dede "Treeman." I'm overwrought.

[Fairy]

There have been two documentaries that have aired on DHC about this man. He has an unthinkable, horrible autoimmune disease stemming from HPV, which results in warts all over his body that resemble, literally, woody trees. They're all over his body, but his hands and feet are unimaginable, and he needs help to do absolutely everything.

He's from a tiny village in Indonesia, and he had help from US doctors after being ignored or written-off by the Indonesian government-run hospitals. Once his story became public, the government suddenly got very interested in "curing" him. They've taken over his treatment and are doing their own thing. What's truly worse is that he's become a media circus. He is being used terribly for publicity, it's awful.

The man spent nine months in ONE ROOM in the hospital with cameras on him all the time so that the gov't could promote his "amazing story." They operated rather than go with the drug treatments urged by the US doctors for what seemed like a multitude of complicated reasons. And the man's surgeries were horrific. The short term is clearly working, but the long term as a result is just a curse of chronic, regular surgeries for the rest of his life.

I just feel so terrible for this poor man, and I had to get it out. I don't know why I keep watching these docuemntaries on DHC. They're fascinating but seem wrong, somehow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treeman#Notable_cases

[MMMommy]

I've heard, seen and read about this man. And it gives me chills just thinking about his plight. I can't even imagine the suffering he must go through. Sadly, pictures of him gives me goose bumps. My heart goes out to this man and his daughter.

[Clarity]

I was just telling dh yesterday that this type of programming is the equivalent to the Freak Shows of the past. TLC is especially guilty of this type of exploitation. I can't watch the channel anymore.

[JTsMom]

I agree- TLC is starting to take on a "freak show" type of programming. :(

I did see these specials, and Fairy, you may have missed it, but at the end, they did end up doing the chemo treatment that the Dr. from Maryland rec'd. I was disgusted when they didn't hold off on the original surgery too, but I'm hoping since they did start listening to the American Dr. in the end, that Dede ends up with good results.

[Fairy]

Thanks, Lori. I did notice the update at the end about the chemo, but why they couldn't just wait for this in the first place is something I'm sure can be blamed on the Indonesian gov't wanting their doctors to "find the answer." Whatever the case, I just want him to get well.

Ater having seen this show a few months ago, I think about him quite a bit and worry. This happens to me sometimes, I see things on TV about people, and it just affects me. I can't think of this man without tearing up. Back in the '90's, I saw an ABC news magazine segment about twin boys who were much older but suffered great abuse from their parents -- it was on child abuse. And to this very day -- it's been 15 years! -- I still think about them and wonder what happened to them. I know I'll be worrying about Dede forever.

These shows just really straddle a line, I think. The plight of people like this that suffer oppression, even if it's not the standard kind, from their own bodies, from their own parents, whatever -- we need to know about them. Someone needs to know about them so that they can be helped when the people who aren't giving them the attn they need don't. However, most of these shows cross that line into exploitation for me, definitely. They are so upsetting.

I didn't even think for a minute about watching Mermaid Girl ...

[Moneypenny]

I didn't even think for a minute about watching Mermaid Girl ...

I watched the first 10 minutes of Mermaid Girl and then DH made me turn it off. I just can't handle these kinds of things either.