HOUSTON -- The thought of losing 10 to 20 pounds may seem tough. But, imagine trying to lose hundreds of pounds. Weight loss becomes about saving your life more than looking better. A Houston-area man hopes a hospital in another state can help him shed the weight that is killing him, KPRC Local 2 reported Wednesday.

McRay Robbins Jr. weighs nearly 800 pounds.

"It hurts and it is embarrassing and you think, 'Why is this happening to me?'" he said. "I don't want to deal with this anymore."

In the past four years, the 30-year-old has gained almost 400 pounds. He uses a ventilator to ease his breathing. He also suffers from sleep apnea.

"It is like being in lockdown, in a way. You can't go anywhere, you know," Robbins said.

It's a death sentence.

"Someone who has a weight of 700 to 800 pounds, their expected lifespan is definitely less than 10 years," said Dr. Erik Wilson, with the University of Texas Health Science Center Houston.

Robbins has heard it before. But something he saw on television made it more than just words.

Filmmaker Joseph Piner captured the phenomenon of super obesity in a documentary about John Keats.

Bedridden with a weight of more than 700 pounds, Keats was evicted from his home and began a weight loss program at an Ohio hospital.

He died one month later.

"If this could help just one other person, I'll know I didn't die in vain," Keats said in the documentary.

He could get his dying wish.

Robbins was glued to Keats' story, especially because he lived a similar life.

"It physically hurts to get up and do stuff. But, then, when you get out, everybody is staring at you and stuff and it hurts. It hurts," Robbins said.

Some may ask why Robbins doesn't do something to lose weight, such as exercise.

Picture what it's like carrying two full vending machines. That's the amount of weight that Robbins carries on his body.

"It is their responsibility to be as healthy as possible but the general public needs to understand that it is a lot harder for them to do that than the average person," Wilson said.

The doctor said the body sometimes works against those who try to lose weight.

"Your body tries to maintain a given weight. Once it hits a set point -- everyone has different set points -- but when a person gets to 400 to 600 pounds, they tend to maintain that weight. It is because their body is trying to maintain it," he said. "You have a certain feedback mechanism in your body, in your brain, that tells you to eat without even thinking about it. It helps you eat the right calorie to maintain that weight.

"They usually have to drastically change what they are eating or drastically change their activity level to get out of that set point and then whey they get down to another set point, they can maintain it but they have to do something more drastic to either gain or lose weight again."

Watching Keats' story gave Robbins hope.

"Now he is real anxious about getting his life in order, together, and he wants to live," Robbins' mother said.

An Ohio hospital has accepted Robbins into its program to treat the super obese.

But the problem is getting there.

"I'm not going to say if -- when I get there, cause I am going there, I am going to give it 100 percent," Robbins said.

Robbins needs to rent a van and medical personnel to get him from Houston to the hospital near Cleveland.

"I feel like if I -- when I -- when I get down to a decent size where I can exercise every day and walk every day, I feel like I could take off flying," he said.

The program, one of only a handful in the United States, is a light at the end of a long tunnel for Robbins. He said it's a journey that offers him a chance to make it to his 40th birthday.

Doctors said the trip would take a week with frequent stops to avoid blood clots and heart attacks from the strain of travel.

Robbins' church has set up a fund to help with the costs.

Donations can be made at Wachovia Bank, under the McRay Robbins Jr. assistance fund.