Nancy Makin weighed an astounding 703 pounds in May 2000. She was forty-five years old and had diabetes and heart disease. Thanks in equal parts to shame and logistics, she'd been homebound for a dozen years. All that changed after her sister gave her a computer. Nancy ignored it for months, until finally boredom and curiosity pushed her into cyberspace. And there, in a chat room, she found the friendliness, the support, and even the love she'd been missing for so long. Nobody flinched when Nancy spoke up; people treated her with the same respect accorded to everybody else. Thanks to these emotional connections, Nancy's life was transformed. She followed no diet plan, no pills, potions or ab-crunching exercises played a part. There was no silver bullet, no magical, elusive ingredient, and yet today Nancy has lost more than 530 pounds. A moving, funny, tongue-in-cheek, and deadly serious story, Nancy's tale is one of redemption, and of reevaluating her worth.
