I don't know much about this topic, but she's said that exercise makes the swelling or fluid or whatever the fuck is in her legs worse. Is that something she should see a doctor for? (I mean... obviously she needs medical help, but is there a chance it explodes or something equally horrific if it keeps getting worse?)
It is something she needs to lose weight for, no doctor needed for that part.
The heart can only accomodate so much mass before it starts getting overworked. This means the lymphatic system also does not have enough pumping action to pump the lymphatic fluid back up after it goes down in the legs, there is just too much mass and so too much fluid to pump around. Her circulation is shit. She has a real problem on her hands. Once she is gone far enough, the fluid will just come out through her skin. Quite a few obese will start leaking fluid all over the place. This is when you see these scaley crusts appear. See James K for a more extreme example. Big AL has been lucky so far, because she still has youth on her side. But that clock is ticking. Cellulitis and lymphnodes can also cause infections, for which you need antibiotics, which need to be circulated through the body, but with a circulatory system that is not fully functional, you have an issue.
Those lovely legs:
This is also why the human body starts to create these masses on her legs which you can now see hang over her damn ankles, just fat and fluid that has nowhere to go, which adds to the issue, now she has lymph masses hanging there where circulation is even worse. When you eat like shit (say, Arby's and orunge chikun by the boatload) your blood will literally go greasy and clog the arteries in the heart only making the problem worse. So the poor heart has to work overtime 24/7 to keep this huge mass alive.
Obese people work out just by breathing, let alone walking, so that is no real excuse. Actual work outs would help her lose weight so she needs to do that, fluid buildup or not. So if and when she loses the weight, she will still have these lymph masses, now deflated hanging there, and they have to be cut off by a surgeon, and with all the veins that have to be tied off this is not something free of risks.
It doesn not explode, but it is not exactly a nice thing.
