OK, babies.
Come over here.
Oh, what a good boy.
Rusty, don't do that.
I'm Nancy.
And I'm retired from the phone company.
Rusty, leave him alone.
Come on.
I think I'm a hoarder.
I like to collect books, CDs, and videos.
And I like to collect things that have to do with creating.
I think I started collecting things or hoarding
things when I was a child.
But what I like to collect and what I end up collecting
aren't always the same things.
My house is filled with empty bottles, empty boxes,
and empty dog food cans.
Instead of throwing them away, I let the dogs lick them clean.
There.
And then I never manage to pick them up off the floor
and throw them away.
My name is Michelle.
And Nancy is my aunt.
She can't even sit at a table or make a meal in her kitchen
because she would be standing on two feet of garbage.
And I don't know what happened to her bedroom.
I can't even see if there's a mattress in there.
It's filthy.
She cannot turn on the heat in her home.
I'm afraid of her getting hypothermia, pneumonia.
I'm really confused what happened.
My name's Janine.
And Nancy's my sister.
When you can sleep in garbage like that, or the crap laying
on the floor, at some point she has decided
that life's OK like this.
And she's not of any value.
Her house was always messy.
But it was never to this extreme.
When I am in my aunt's house, I feel sad.
It's very difficult for me to watch her decline.
We pray for my sister a lot because she's
dying a slow death.
And if she doesn't get help, she's
going to die in that house.
And I can't stand the thought of that.
All right, you guys.
So we got to get started.
We have the bio crew here.
They're going to take care of the really bad stuff in there.
My name is Corey Chalmers.
I'm an extreme cleaner that specializes
in biohazard and hoarding.
What-- you look like you have concerns already.
What's wrong?
I just want to say, please do not ask me
why I want to keep something.
Listen, if we don't question you--
this is how you got here, OK?
This is your thinking process.
So if you don't change some of that thinking process,
then we're going to end up right back where we were.
So there are going to be some challenges to the way
that you think.
What's of value is right here.
Nancy, you want to come sit right here?
First thing I'd like to do this morning
is take Nancy and her family into the kitchen.
I want them to work together, learn to communicate,
talk about things.
Because once we leave, they're going
to be stuck with this mess.
I think you will agree that the majority of this
is gonna be trash.
Yes.
OK.
The bottom fell out.
Look at the spiders in that.
Ew, spiders.
Let me see, please.
Nancy, it's covered in feces.
I just wanna look in there.
It's not [inaudible].
It's heavy.
I've seen it.
Everything was going fine in the kitchen.
But then all of a sudden, Janine just kind of
had a breakdown, looked like.
She just started staring at the floor, you know, and crying.
I'm just upset.
I've never experienced anything like this.
I think reality set in of how her sister's
been cooking and eating in filthy, disgusting conditions.
I can't believe this is a house.
This is a house.
I know.
This is a kitchen.
But she-- she fixed food in that?
And then put it in her body?
She says she comes in here and cooks.
- Yeah. - No.
Oh, god help me.
The microwave is covered in rodent feces.
And to think of preparing food in that type of environment--
there just aren't certain words.
Your sister's really having a hard time being in this kitchen
where you're cooking and eating and putting stuff in your body.
It's heartbreaking.
And this is one reason I would never
have told you what was going on, because I don't want
to see you distressed about it.
Life is never meant to be walked alone.
You can't walk alone.
You understand that?
I do.
I didn't know if I could trust you.
But now I know I can.
I'm sorry.
What were you afraid of before, Nancy?
Judgment and rejection.
And are you feeling that now?
No, not at all.
I didn't [inaudible] any form of it, nothing.
All these tears from all of you
are because they want you to live a better life,
and because you want a better life.
You all want the same goal.
So you've got to give this back to them
and show them that you really do appreciate
them getting us here.
I can do that.
Break!
OK.
This one's full.
I just have to throw it away.
Good job.
What's really scary here is look at-- when you touch this--
I'm really worried right now.
We're cleaning out the kitchen.
And we're finding very significant damage.
There's nothing left.
We need to bring the whole family together.
We need to show them that this house is literally
crumbling right around her.
You have major slant to your floor
back here, where the house is actually sinking.
You also can see the mold damage all through that wall.
It's very evident now with all the damage
that we've uncovered that Nancy cannot stay in this home.
I know it's not good news.
But is this anything that you didn't already know?
Well, I didn't know it was as bad as it is.
I just need some time to accept it.
It's just too hard.
Everything can only get better from here.
How do you get worse than living in a home
filled with dog waste?
Really?
OK.
I am Dr. Michael Tompkins.
I'm a psychologist.
And I specialize in the treatment
of obsessive compulsive spectrum disorders,
like hoarding disorder.
The real consequence of what now is
starting to sink in for Nancy-- and I think
that she's just overwhelmed.
Now we're really trying to help her and her family
stay in problem-solving mode.
My concern is her being so far away from family and support.
And so my recommendation would be
that she relocate closer by you guys
so that she is again part of your family.
You can come in and check on her and see how she's doing.
I wanted to hear from you about whether that
is something that you think would work for your family.
It is absolutely crucial that she has people in her life
that love her and care for her and accept her.
Now is the time to bring up my daughter, Maureen, came to me
and said her and her husband are moving to a big farm house.
There is a large room over a double garage.
And they want to offer it to you for the winter.
Wow.
She would immediately have a place to live.
Oh my gosh.
For the winter.
That would be wonderful.
Thank you.
It'll be nice to have her nearby.
And I won't be worrying all the time about her.
I can check in on her.
Do you need it?
Yeah, that's brand new.
She's gonna be around family and a new clean environment.
Her health is going to get better.
She's going to get some professional help.
Geez, I can't name how many blessings
are going to be in her life.
If I have observed anything today,
it's that the family is right there for her.
She sees the value of it.
They see the value of it.
And it's wonderful.
Look, it's all throw away.
It is.
Thank you.
OK.
You got rid of more than you kept.
Good job.
Hey, you're doing great, Nancy.
Thank you.
This is the best possible outcome.
We couldn't save the house, but we can save Nancy.
She has a family that's very willing to support her.
I really think she has the best chance
to fully recover and manage this disorder with this outcome.
I think I'd like to walk through the house one
more time and kind of say goodbye
and think about the times that I had that were
good when I lived here.
Goodbye, house.
I'm so sorry that this is you're ending up.
I feel very sad about having ruined my house.
That was death.
Goodbye, house.
Now she has life.
She's got hope.