'Hoarders': Jan's Home Goes From Squalor To Beautiful In An Incredible Transformation (VIDEO)

Jan's home experience prior to the introduction of "Hoarders" (Mon., 9 p.m. EST on A&E) into her life could optimistically be described as living in squalor. More realistically it was simply horrific and inconceivable. But what happened to that home throughout that hour was nothing short of a miracle.

Normally, when a house has reached the level of filth that Jan's has, the damage to the home is such that even cleaned up, it still looks rather horrible. That was not the case with Jan's house. It was one of the most impressive transformations any home has undertaken on the show. With such a short span of time to achieve these changes, it's rare that a mess like that can get cleaned up at all. In this case, they managed to clean everything perfectly, and then refurnish the house.

It was as if months had passed, looking at the newly furnished, brightly colored and functional house. Jan was beside herself, weeping and sobbing as she was taken from room to room in what might as well have been her new home.

"I can live again," she said finally. "I can be a person again." And she has continued to do so, taking advantage of the after care therapy to work through the grief of losing her father, and her feelings about the way her past relationship ended.

Watch new transformations -- or disappointments -- each week on "Hoarders," Mondays at 9 p.m. EST on A&E.

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Comments

[DCMediagirl]

05:43 PM on 02/23/2012

Hoarders is a fascinating show. The one major problem I have with it is that many of the people featured on the show are seriously mentally ill and need the services of a psychiatrist, not just a well-intentioned psychologist and cleanup crew.

[luvobama]

12:54 PM on 02/22/2012

These people have a tolerance to fi lth that most people don"t.  They have already shown that they can live in a du mp ster with no problem.  I will never understand the depths.

[westaqua]

07:00 PM on 02/21/2012

Maybe if they had let her clean up that bathroom she would think twice about letting it get that way again. Pure laziness, child abuse and animal cruelty.

[Candide33]

06:25 PM on 02/21/2012

I love that show... I don't watch TV but I saw something about it here on HuffPo and looked it up on the internet ad watched all the episodes I found. Sometimes they end badly but most of the time they have a happy ending. I feel really bad for people who find themselves in such a place of hopelessness that they can't get out of it on their own, it is good to know someone cares enough to try to help them.

[luvobama]

06:20 PM on 02/21/2012

I can wrap my head around collecting stuff, but raw garbage?  Sickness or not, that is beyond anything I can make sense of.  Who can live like that?  They sleep with rodents, bugs, feces etc.  There is something not right that I don't think anyone can fix or treat.

[midnitebride]

12:35 PM on 02/22/2012

Thank you!! I got blasted on here yesterday by someone who didn't like that I said the new home would end up the same way! And I agree with the person up above who says if someone else cleans it up, why would they change?

[peacekitten]

06:12 PM on 02/21/2012

omg. this thread is absolutely appalling.

[NYGHTCLOUD]

02:59 PM on 02/21/2012

Everyone would like a second, third, fourth and endless supply of chances to get things corrected in their lives. It is great we have God who always gives us that opportunity. That being said, what good is it to give a person a chance if they are not going to change the way they live. I pray these alleged "hoarders" get the help they need otherwise nothing anyone does will make a difference.

[peacekitten]

06:11 PM on 02/21/2012

did you read the article before you made this terribly UNchristian comment?

[midnitebride]

12:37 PM on 02/22/2012

There's nothing un-Christian about it. It's reality.

[carolyndewrance]

02:53 PM on 02/21/2012

Sis why do the produces even waste their money on this type of so called entertainment, that money would be better spent on a charity instead. If thats the way she wants to live well let her live it and die in it as well.

[klroski]

06:19 PM on 02/21/2012

she was so phoney! I agree, let her live the way she was, minus the poor animals!

[caroleann926]

02:34 PM on 02/21/2012

Instead of helping these hoarding pigs, the money would be better spent helping our homeless, elderly and our Veterans. We all have our grief and our sorrows, some of us even taking care of spouses with debilitating diseases and yet we don't live like pigs. She's a lazy person and this house will soon look like it did before. What a waste of money.

[peacekitten]

06:18 PM on 02/21/2012

quit using plgs as an insult.  they are highly intelligent beings with a complex social structure.

human beings need to own their foibles and mistakes, not try to pretend that there's something wrong or abnormal with being an anim***.  just like you need to own your own cruel and judgmental nature.

[caroleann926]

06:35 PM on 02/21/2012

Perhaps I was cruel and judgemental, but I cannot understand why this woman would be given so much when there are so many other needy people. Why not have a reality show that helps children who deserve to live, instead of someone like this. I apologize for using the pigs as an insult. This woman deserves nothing....she's an insult to people around her.

[sprkyreed]

02:24 PM on 02/21/2012

Hoarders can be a hazard to the health and well being of others, particularly if they live in a large apartment building. If other tenants were aware, they would be incensed. Landlords should be held accountable and leases should not be renewed for such people. I know an 87-year-old woman who has been a hoarder ever since I met her over 20 years ago. There are canyons of debris, worse every year. She refuses to let anyone help her clean it up. I feel that she is mentally ill, and I am basing this judgment not only on her hoarding but also other behavior. I hesitate to turn her in to the City of Chicago because I do not want to be involved in depriving her of her independence. The problem is that so many nursing homes are so bad and I'm sure that the City has a long backlist of people whose living circumstances need to be checked out.

[timeformusic]

04:36 PM on 02/21/2012

You never know -- you might be saving her life if you were to report it. There have been people that have died from being buried in their "belongings."

[peacekitten]

06:19 PM on 02/21/2012

i don't think this person actually gives a sh** about the old lady.

i think all this commenter cares about is themselves.

[Ajtlawyer]

02:18 PM on 02/21/2012

She'll be back living in squalor within 12 months.

[tnfourstar]

02:03 PM on 02/21/2012

It was all trash. Why don't people that get on hoarders throw the trash out? Lazy people get a free cleaning. Hoarders please come clean my house. I have 3 kids that keep me busy all day. I could use a break.

[David M Tavernier]

02:02 PM on 02/21/2012

What a waste of time. Hoarder is just a euphemism for bum and these bums will have the place looking like a pig sty as it before in a very short time.

[elkscorpion11]

02:32 PM on 02/21/2012

most hoarders have mental health issues alot of time dealing with loss of a loved one. if you dont understand it you should read up on it more before assuming these folks are just bums that is not what they are.

[David M Tavernier]

03:54 PM on 02/21/2012

I do a vast amount of reading, but do not have the time or the inclination to read about the naivety of social workers who coddle bums.

[klroski]

06:29 PM on 02/21/2012

yea right......I guess the person who hoards can't throw away mounds of trash? Or can't flush their own feces, or.... scoop up piles of it too through away in the garbage? Poor cats had no choice...they had sit in their own fecal and urine!

Give me a break!

[westaqua]

06:39 PM on 02/21/2012

I agree, this is not hoarding.....this is just a case of being lazy and disgusting.

[jtas27]

01:53 PM on 02/21/2012

Thats wonderful now she can make it a pigpen again.

[trowgotn]

01:51 PM on 02/21/2012

I watched the show last night. It is sad how this happens and even sadder that family and friends turn a blind eye and let there loved ones get to the level like shown last night. I'll go as far to say any of the episodes they have shown. It proves it is a medical condition. I am happy at what they did as far as cleaning, painting repairing her home. Second chances are needed and I do hope she is doing well, now that the burden and shame is out, over and gone. I have had rental properties that just shock us when we go in after the move. I have had to put on a Bio-suit more than once. And the people like her are usually such sweet people. You would never guess they live the way they do.