One of The New York Times’ Neediest Cases:

For the past two years, [one of The New York Times' Neediest Cases], 74, who has diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and depression, has been largely confined to a bed set up in the living room of her apartment in the Amsterdam Houses near Lincoln Center.

Her weight has risen to 400 pounds from 277 in the past three years, much of it, she says, on account of twice-daily shots of insulin.

[One of The New York Times' Neediest Cases] is now too big to fit in the complex’s elevators, so if she needs to visit the hospital, or to go anywhere else, the Fire Department must come and carry her down four flights of stairs.

. . .

Because [one of The New York Times' Neediest Cases] cannot easily leave her bed, even for the bathroom, the world comes to her.

A home health aide comes four days a week, eight hours a day. A doctor visits every two weeks. A psychotherapist meets with her weekly. Volunteers come twice a week to engage her in conversation. Food typically comes from Meals on Wheels, or neighbors or a restaurant with delivery service.

“It’s impossible for me to go out, and I don’t want to fight anymore,” [one of The New York Times' Neediest Cases] said in Spanish.

The highlight of her day has long come from watching television. A religious woman, [one of The New York Times' Neediest Cases] said she spends much of her time in prayer, and does not start watching TV until late afternoon, after her second self-administered insulin shot of the day.

But this summer, when her television set suddenly stopped working, [one of The New York Times' Neediest Cases] said she felt even further cut off from the world. She sank into depression.

“I was looking at the ceiling,” she said.

Recently, the Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center, a member of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies — one of the agencies supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund — bought [one of The New York Times' Neediest Cases] a new $300 flat-screen television. It was an expense she could not afford because her only income is a monthly $660 Social Security check.