What Happened to Tammy Slaton?

What happened to Tammy Slaton? The 1000-Lb Sisters star experienced a health scare in a January 2022 episode, which gave fans answers as to why she had to wear a trach tube for a while. But viewers are wondering whether she still needs the tube one year later. 

Keep reading to find out why Tammy needed the tube and get an update on her health.

What Happened to Tammy Slaton?

In a preview for the January 31, 2022, episode, Tammy was sitting in the back seat of their van on a trip with her brother, Chris Combs, and his wife, Brittany Combs. “Feeling OK, Tammy?” he asked her from the driver’s seat.

“Why am I so sleepy?” she asked as she appeared to not be feeling well. “How’s your oxygen?” Chris asked as Tammy placed an oximeter on her finger to check her blood oxygen level.

“65,” Tammy replied, which is dangerously low.

In her confessional, Tammy’s sister Amy Slaton shared her thoughts on the state of her health. “I don’t know how long her body will hold up.”

While the episodes didn’t air until early 2022, the incident took place in November 2021. 

Why Did Tammy Slaton Need a Trach Tube?

As fans recall, Tammy has been wearing a nasal cannula, which is connected to her oxygen tank, since the end of season 2. Around that time, Tammy had contracted COVID-19 and pneumonia, which landed her in the hospital. She shared an update with fans on her health journey in a YouTube video in November 2020. I was in the hospital [for] just about two weeks,” the TLC star shared. “I’m doing great. I mean yes, I’m on oxygen. That’s just to keep my lungs sturdy, strengthened — I won’t be on [oxygen] much longer. I was on 15 liters of oxygen and now I’m on three.”

Unfortunately, Tammy’s health took a turn for the worse in November 2021. She took to TikTok to reveal that she had been hospitalized yet again, this time for carbon monoxide poisoning, which took an additional toll on her lungs.

“I ended up in the hospital because of carbon dioxide poisoning … which led in to pneumonia and I was septic,” Tammy said in a TikTok video at the time. “After I got off life support, they put a trach in, so, yeah. I’m trying to get used to that.”

Tammy added, “I’m doing better day by day. I’m supposed to be getting out of the hospital in a couple days. I’m going to another nursing rehab to get my strength back and loose more weight.”

A trach, also known as a tracheostomy, is a hole that is surgically made in the front of the neck and into the windpipe, or trachea, according to Mayo Clinic. After the procedure, a tracheostomy tube is placed into the hole to keep it open so that it can help the patient with breathing.

How Is Tammy Slaton Doing Now?

Toward the end of 2022, it appeared that Tammy had her trach removed, according to multiple TikTok videos she shared. In January 2023, the reality TV star shared a TikTok video of herself wearing a band-aid on her throat where the trach used to be.

Is Tammy Slaton Still in Rehab? 

A teaser clip for the season 4 premiere revealed that Tammy returned to the same rehab facility she has been in throughout her weight loss journey. In one alarming moment of the trailer, doctors were seen rushing to her bedside because her oxygen was “dropping.” 

“I told you, Tammy, you have real risks,” Dr. Eric Smith, Tammy’s surgeon, said to her during the trailer in response to her question on whether she could undergo bariatric surgery. The doctor noted that she still needed to lose more weight in order to be eligible for the procedure. 

Tammy is reportedly still at the same Ohio rehab facility, where she also wed her husband, Caleb Willingham, in November 2022.