Original subtitles

[woman] My food addiction is killing me.

And I know it's now or never.

If I don't get the help that I need,

I'm gonna die.

[woman 2 tearfully] Somewhere in me it's this little glimmer of hope.

I just wanna be a normal person.

[breathing heavily]

You can't do it and then I just... man.

If I don't make a change now I'm scared it's gonna be too late.

[groaning]

It hurts!

[woman3] I refuse to stop fighting.

I have to do this for my children.

I'd like to get better for my kids.

It's not right for you want me to put my life on hold,

my health on hold for you. That's not right.

[Bianca] I let me weight get to the point where

every day is a struggle for me now.

And it takes a lot of effort for me to get ready for the day.

Even the basics of what I have to do is hard for me.

I usually start by getting cleaned up

and putting lotion on my body.

And in the areas there's gonna be friction for me,

because of how my body is now.

And that wears me out even before my day has begun.

So I have to stop and rest while I'm getting ready.

The most difficult part of my day is my hygiene routine.

That makes me feel ashamed that I have gotten to that point.

But that's how it is for me.

So I struggle through getting ready,

and then I have to rest up before getting up.

The pain in my body now is almost unbearable.

It's just the cost of being this size now.

[groans]

But it makes me sad 'cause I have two young kids.

Simeon, who's five, and Marcia who's almost two.

[grunts]

And I wanna get up and go see them first thing each morning, but I cant.

I have to rely on my boyfriend Romonte to check on them,

since it's just such a struggle for me to get going.

[Romonte] Bianca's weight has really affected the household,

kind of because big daddy gotta do everything.

I'm sick of it, really.

She needs to get it together. We need to get it together.

Because I need my help-mate.

I'm a old man. She's young.

But, she's not that active person she used to be.

[grunts]

[whispers] Jesus.

[exhales]

Romonte's had to do more and more for us.

Because of how I struggle.

And I feel bad for that.

'Cause all of that shouldn't be on him as much as it is.

Sometime my cousin Neethie is able to come over

and lend a hand, but most of the time it falls on Romonte.

Because I'm not able to walk for long periods of time.

And when I move, I move slow.

Due to my pain in my back and my knees.

Ooh, Jesus. Oh!

[Romonte] It's kinda rough this morning.

- I know, baby, I-- - It's kind of real rough.

[sighing in exhaustion]

[Bianca] When I have to use the bathroom,

I leave the door open so Romonte can hear me

in case I need him.

That's the most humiliating time for me

when I need help like that.

So I try to operate on my own.

Because that type of help is something

I don't wanna burden anyone else with.

But what helps me with all this struggle and pain is

the smell of what's coming when I know I'm gonna eat.

Because food has become the cause of my pain,

but also the solution to it.

Is it almost done, baby?

[Romonte] ♪ It's ready, baby ♪

I'm hungry.

So, every morning I can't wait to eat.

And Romonte is good cook,

so I look forward to everything he makes.

He tries to get me to eat right.

You know, we've both had weight loss surgery.

And mine failed and his didn't.

So we have food struggles together.

And he wants me to lose wight to be healthy.

[sighs wearily]

[grunts]

Oh!

And when it comes to food, it's my comfort and my addiction.

And it's been hard for me to give that up.

Whoo! Mmm.

[Romonte] Kids, y'all full, too.

Where my syrup at, baby?

- It'll come, baby. You know, I got you a whole tub of it. - Mmm.

There you go.

- You got a tub of syrup. - Whoo!

Yes, yes, yes.

Food is something that always had a way to make me feel better.

No matter what it is I'm facing in my life

or what I'm dealing with.

It makes the pain go away.

It just turns things around like I need.

And it's always been the comfort that I need.

Baby, there's some more pancakes left?

No. No, ain't no more.

You ain't getting no more. It's over.

- [Simeon speaks indistinctly] - Mm-hmm.

Mm-mmm. Eat your food, baby.

- Mmm. - [Romonte] Please slow down.

- Slow down? - Yeah.

For what?

I don't wanna stop because when I eat

I feel peace, I feel joy.

I feel happiness.

But then when I'm done eating, that's when I get depressed

and the sadness sets in.

Of, "Why did I do this to my body again?"

And then to try to fill that void of guilt

I usually take another bite.

Last bite, baby. Going in.

- Look, baby. - [Romonte] No.

Baby, look. Look.

[growls happily]

[chuckles]

Whoo!

It's so hard for me to stop eating

because it's something that was instilled in me as a child.

- [Simeon] Done? - I'm done, baby.

[Romonte] You get enough?

- I'm ready for lunch. - I bet you are.

[Bianca] Food has always been a comfort to me.

And that started for me very early on because of my mother.

She struggled with alcohol, and when she was drinking,

she would get me food to keep me quiet

so she could go and drink her liquor.

You know, I didn't know better at the time.

And in a lot of ways she was a good mom.

She gave me the best of everything.

She took good care of me, made sure I had clean clothes and everything.

A roof over my head.

But I just dealt with my mom drinking every night and stuff.

Most nights, when she got drunk and passed out,

I would eat as much as I wanted.

And so I started putting on a lot of weight,

and got up to 200 pounds by the age of seven.

And my mom never put me on a diet or restricted my food.

When I was 12 years old I was 300 pounds.

And I was diagnosed with high blood pressure.

It was upsetting because I had to worry

about taking my high blood pressure pills.

My self-esteem was low.

'Cause I felt like I wasn't good enough.

I felt like I wasn't pretty enough, because of my size.

I went to the only thing that I knew, that was food.

At that time my mom got married.

I was very happy about my stepdad.

Because I felt like I had a parent around who I could trust

when my mom went to drinking.

But towards the end of high school, my mom got very sick.

She had developed something called neuropathy.

And she couldn't walk so I had to start caring for her.

But it was hard for me as a teenager.

Because shortly after my mom got sick,

my stepdad died.

'Cause my dad died in 2005.

My stepdad died in 2006 and then my mom died in 2009.

She died of cardiac arrest.

I felt like a part of me died. I felt alone.

I didn't have anybody else.

I went into a deep depression.

And I just ate and ate.

And the pounds just piled on and piled on and piled on.

After high school I decided to become a registered nurse.

I got a job caregiving, and I did well at it.

But when my mom died I just spiraled out of control.

Because I just ate, ate, and ate and ate.

That was a hard time.

With my weight still increasing I had to stop doing my job.

At that time...

that's when I met Simeon's father.

Thank you, babe. [sighs wearily]

[exhales] Ooh!

I would say the first few years were good.

I got pregnant with my son.

And then after that's when I went through emotional,

and physical abuse with my son's dad.

He started to go to alcohol and he started to get drunk.

And he started just cussing, spitting.

And then, when I was about five month's pregnant,

he got violent.

But after that happened, I left.

Then had Simeon on my own when I was 27.

And when Simeon was three, I had a gastric sleeve

and started to lose some weight.

But unfortunately I ended up gaining it back.

So, that didn't last long.

That started when I was pregnant with my second child, with Romonte.

Whoa, look at that bread. Uh-uh-uh.

Butter bread!

I met Bianca on a gastric sleeve chat.

Both of us just had the surgery.

Mine was real complicated, I suffered a lot.

And she was there to comfort me and we talked a lot.

[Bianca] Come here, Marcia.

Monte was funny and caring and that's what attracted me to him.

[Romonte] When we first got together Bianca was pretty plump.

Got smaller and smaller, then she gave me a baby.

And now she's back plump.

And she gave up her weight loss journey to have a child.

So, she sacrificed herself.

I got pregnant with my daughter.

Then started back picking up bad habits.

So, that's when started back drinking sodas and eating chips and...

And because of that I gained all the weight back I lost.

But now I'm back to being around 600 pounds.

And let me get about four or five toasts.

[Romonte] I got you.

♪ Mama mia, mama mia Mama hmm, hmm ♪

Stop the antics, please, and just come over with my stuff.

Girl, I know you want mayo and hot sauce soon.

No, I don't want no hot sauce, I just want ranch.

- You want ranch, hold on. - Yeah.

The worst part is that my weight makes me less of a mom.

And it's just hard because I'm not able to walk much.

My weight has impacted my family

by not allowing me to interact with my kids like I want to.

And I can't take care of them like they deserve.

[Romonte] My hands washed.

Okay, come on, you gotta make your way to the table now.

Whoo! Whoosh.

You know I contribute to the income in the house,

because I work a couple of days out of the week

at a call center,

where I can sit and stay put all day.

But when it comes to being a mom,

you can't do that from a chair.

You have to be active to take care of the kids.

But I can't do that now.

So Monte has to pick up the slack for me for a lot of things.

[grunts]

[Romonte] All right!

- Here, baby. - Ooh.

We both take care of the kids but he does most of the hands-on things,

'cause I'm not able to take care of them like that.

And it's hard for me.

Because my kids don't deserve that.

My son didn't sign up to have a mom like me.

You know, yes, I provide for him,

yes, I'm a good mom to him,

but he didn't sign up to have an obese mom.

My daughter didn't either but she's

not old enough to understand, but he is.

So I wanna change.

I have to change.

But it's hard for me to stop eating.

Because the world of food in my life right now is a comforter.

When I have a let down I go to food, I feel like it cures all of it.

It helps me emotionally and I don't know how to stop myself.

- Here, give me a bite. - Hell no. Here.

- Ah! - Ah.

[Romonte] Okay, go eat that.

It bothers me because I... She was so perky.

So energetic.

But now, she's not that active person she used to be.

Can you imagine...

being a Arabian horse.

Strong, ready to run.

But you're stuck in the body of an elephant.

Bianca's like that.

I know she wants to be that vibrant woman that can move around.

But right now...

she can't stand up and cook.

She can't stand up and wash no dishes, I know that much.

And that ain't cool.

So, I know she struggle,

but she takes real good care of her kids.

You know, I know for a fact

when she lose this weight this time, she can do what it do.

But, it's time to move.

You know? It's time.

It's time.

- It's full, baby. - Okay, babe.

Thank you.

Let me get one more little bite.

[Romonte] Okay.

[children mumble]

I'm scared because of the hold that food has over me.

It had a poison in my body every day with the food I put in it.

What scares me the worst right now

is dying and leaving my kids motherless.

That scares the living daylights out of me.

Them having the burden of trying to figure out this life

alone without me, without any life lessons.

And not being able to meet my grandkids

because I was too selfish to put down that snack.

That I could be selfish and leave them prematurely.

And I wanna change now because I don't wanna leave them

to make to make memories of someone else.

[sighs wearily]

[breathing heavily]

My weight has hindered me for so many years.

I don't want, every time I go somewhere, to worry about,

"Do they have the right accommodation for me?"

I want to actually live,

instead of just being alive, I want to live.

But I can't as long as I'm addicted to food.

Because my food addiction is killing me.

And I know it's now or never.

If I don't get the help that I need,

I'm gonna die.

I don't think I would make it another six months to a year.

I feel like at any moment, that my heart could fail me.

And that could happen to me without any warning

like when my mom passed, you know?

There was no warning signs or nothing.

My mom just died, she just left me.

And I know that if I don't die,

and I don't lose this weight, I'll be bedridden

and I'll end up in a nursing home.

And I refuse to end up in a nursing home or bedridden.

I got you. I got... Come on, baby. Come on, baby.

I know that Monte tries to be strong for me.

But I know deep down inside he's scared.

It scares him that he might wake up to

me being dead in the bed one day.

That he might have to raise two kids by his self.

So I have to do this now and get help to change

before that happens and I don't make it.

Because not gonna be much longer...

I can't live like this much longer.

Baby, do you got everything you need?

[Romonte] Yeah, pretty much.

Can you come in here, kinda help me finish packing?

Yeah, I'm coming, baby.

Romonte's gonna take me down to Houston

to have an appointment with Dr. Now

to see if he can help me lose weight.

And have weight loss surgery again

since my first one failed.

Is there anything else you need?

I don't know how I'm gonna make it.

- I'm so tired. - You got all your clothes?

No, almost.

[Bianca] But I know this trip is gonna be a difficult one for me.

I just need to pace myself.

Come on, baby. Come on. Come on.

- [sighs wearily] - Come on, now. Come on.

- Oh. Mmm, my knees. - Uh-huh.

Ooh. [sighs wearily]

Uh-oh, uh-oh.

[exhales]

Oh, God.

Oh!

- Okay. - You gotta...

[Bianca] I have a lot of fears doing this.

But I'm facing them. And not letting them stop me.

I just have to walk slow, and take my steps carefully.

Let me put these shoes on these old tender feet of yours.

Okay, please do.

[Bianca] This is the last option and hope I have.

So if this doesn't work, I don't know what I'm gonna do.

Okay. Hold on, let me get this.

Did you already pack the food for the road?

- Yeah, I got you plenty of snacks. - Okay.

- You know, your snacks took up half the bag. - Okay.

But I would like to stop to get something to eat 'cause I'm hungry.

I bet you are.

- [grunts] - Come on, why wouldn't you?

- [Bianca exhales] - Let's go.

[sighs in exasperation]

[Bianca] This is gonna be a long trip.

We're leaving early enough to make it in a day but,

it's about an 11 or a 12 hour drive.

We're gonna leave soon.

Hmm. Come on.

I just had to see how long I can handle the road at one time.

And I think food, unfortunately, has got to be

a crutch I'm gonna have to lean on to get through this trip.

Especially down the road,

when being in the car starts to get tougher on me.

- Oh! - Take your time.

Take your time.

[sighs wearily]

There. Don't worry.

[Romonte exhales]

Girl, you got something on there. You look pretty good. I'm proud of you.

Tuck it in, you ready?

Oop. One more time.

Okay.

Lord, have mercy.

Let me get these kids.

[Romonte grunts]

All right. Ooh.

Okay.

Mmm.

[Romonte grunts]

- All the windows is-- - Ooh, baby. I'm tired.

Let's just get some... stop and get something to eat.

Yeah, buddy.

[Romonte] We got a long way, baby.

[Bianca] I know, baby. I just hope I can make it.

[Romonte] I know you can.

But the main thing here, you are on your way.

- Yes. - Yeah.

And that's the beautiful blessing of it all.

It is. It is.

We have a very small car that I have to have to have my seat so far back.

The kids are cramped.

I know I'm gonna have to drive with pain and agony.

I'm gonna have to start out by getting something to eat.

[Bianca sighs]

Mm-mmm, I just don't feel good today.

Maybe I'll feel better if I get the food in me.

[Romonte] I bet you will.

Right now I just feel so weak and this hurt in my back and my knees.

And to be quite honest the ultimate pain reliever is when I eat.

Welcome to Jack's. Can I take your order?

[Bianca] Okay, can I get the number three,

the bigger Jack burger?

And instead of a soda can I get a strawberry milkshake?

I want that large.

And then also can I get a chicken BLT with fries?

And then I just want a big BLT.

[Romonte] Also, give me three cheeseburgers.

A large order of fries.

And four-piece chicken tender.

[Bianca] And the pain's only gonna leave for a little bit.

But after that, and I'm hurting again...

[Romonte] Thank you so much.

[woman] Thank you. You have a great day.

[Romonte] Think that's gonna be enough to hold you up?

[Bianca] Hopefully, baby. Maybe for about two hours.

[Romonte] I hope so.

[Bianca] Part of me feels like these are my last meals.

You know, I'm gonna get help to change my addiction.

So I don't go to food for comfort like I do.

Mm-hmm. That was so good.

So this is my last chance to enjoy what tastes good before that happens.

Oh, that's hit the spot, baby. I already feel better.

- Are you just starting? - Yeah, I'm just starting.

Okay.

These meals on the road to Houston are my last like this.

Because I'm ready to change.

[child whining]

[Bianca] What?

Then when I finished eating, the guilt set in.

Of, "Why'd I put things in my body

that could prematurely take me away from my kids?"

[Romonte grunts]

[Bianca grunts]

Now you got a long way to go.

- Come on. - [sighing in exhaustion]

[continues sighing]

- [Romonte speaks indistinctly] - I'm about to sit down.

- Hold on. - Go on.

Go on. There ain't nothing I can do.

[Romonte] Hmm.

[sighing in exhaustion]

[breathing heavily]

[continues breathing heavily]

Oh. [grunts]

Oh. [exhales]

You okay?

Oh, my feet's so swollen.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

[Bianca] I'm nervous about the appointment, meeting Dr. Now.

That he's gonna think that my fat ways

and my life, is too much for him.

Because of how it is.

Because I choose to eat.

Because I choose to be overwhelmed by emotions.

And just feed myself to death.

I'm hopeful that he's gonna get me on this program.

But I'm more scared that he's gonna tell me no.

You ready, baby?

Is it a long walk?

It's a strong walk. It's not long but it's strong.

That means you gotta be strong, baby.

Do you wanna get the kids first?

- Yeah, I'm just gonna get the kids right now. - Okay.

[Romonte sighs]

[Romonte coughs] Come on.

Come on, let's go.

I'm gonna leave you. And you have to catch up.

I gotta go.

Come on, son. Open the door for your mama.

[groans]

[Romonte] You gonna stay with Mama?

[breathing heavily]

At one point I thought I wanted to turn around,

that I wasn't gonna be able to make it.

[breathing heavily]

I'm not gonna make it, baby.

I'm not gonna make it.

Baby, you only got a couple of more...

You want me to put you on and push you on this?

I'll push you. Here, come on.

Hold the door, son. Hold the door.

Hold the door. I'm gonna push you.

So you can't take these last five steps?

And you wanted that good old Louisiana chicken?

Here you go. There you go.

Ride the cart.

Ride the cart.

You came this far you can't go that far.

So you gonna give up every time.

When Dr. Now tell you about, "You can't eat this, you can't eat that."

- You gonna give up? - [Simeon] Move. Move.

- You gonna give up? - [Simeon] Move.

[Romonte] Here. There you go.

Whoa. Here, come. on.

I gotta help you up.

Come.

You gotta... Come on. Come now. Come on.

- [gasps] - Come on. Come on.

- [whimpering] - Come on, you're gonna have to get in. Come on.

Hold on. I got to get myself together.

- You gonna sit right down? - No.

'Cause you sit right down, I'm not gonna help you up this time,

you'd likely kill me.

Okay. Come on.

Quick. There's a whole bathroom in there somewhere.

There's a whole bathroom.

It's a good bathroom. Come on, she can make it.

Come on. Have yourself a seat. Come on now.

That's it.

There you go.

Don't know where I'm gonna sleep but I'll be all right.

So, I'm worried about my appointment with Dr. Now tomorrow.

Because this is the last shot I have.

So, no matter what, tomorrow I'm gonna get up and keep going.

Because I have to.

Because if I walk away from this,

my family could be planning my funeral.

Curbed my appetite for the rest of the day.

- [Romonte coughs] - I'm gonna lose some weight.

[Romonte] Okay.

[Bianca] We're all in Houston.

But it took us driving over four hours straight

to get here on time.

- [Romonte] We're here now. - [Bianca] I'm nervous.

Ah, don't be nervous now.

[car beeping]

- Come on, son. - Go ahead and get up, Simeon.

- Can I hold that for you, Mom? - Okay, thank you.

[Romonte] Come on.

[Bianca grunts]

All right.

Now.

Get on up and get out of here.

Let's go.

The queen has arrived!

I have a lot of fears that it's not going to be possible for me

to get another weight loss surgery.

Mainly because I've had one weight loss surgery already.

Miss Hayes.

[Bianca] But I'm keeping a positive outlook

that this is gonna be something

that's gonna give me a second chance.

On the road I said goodbye to the foods that I crave to bring me comfort.

But from here on out I'm doing what I have to

to succeed, if I get this chance.

Hopefully my starting point isn't a lot higher than I expected.

[woman] Step up on the scale, please.

I think I should be around 600.

So, that's the range I'm expected to be at today.

But if the number that comes up is higher,

then that's gonna be a hard moment for me when I see that.

Well, there it is.

There you go.

What you mean by that?

There it is. There you go.

You know what it is now.

I'm not happy about that weight.

But I'm happy that it's not higher than I was thinking.

But I'm ashamed that I let it get as high as it did.

I know I did that to myself.

And I'm praying that Dr. Now can do something.

Anything to help me change that and to lose weight.

Because if he gives me the chance that I need,

I'm ready to do whatever it takes to get on that right track.

Close it on up.

[Romonte] Come over here, have a seat.

Here's Bucky Beaver. Here play with the Beaver.

Hello, how you all doing?

Fine. How are you?

Good.

- So, you must be Bianca? - Yes, sir.

All right, I'm Dr. Nowzaradan and you come in all the way from

- Fayetteville, Tennessee? - Yes, sir.

All right.

Well, glad you're here.

So, and who have you got with you?

I have my son Simeon, my daughter Marcia and my boyfriend Romonte.

It looks like the trip left Marcia in a

- tired and sleepy, huh? - Yes, she is.

So, tell me what brought you down to Houston?

Because I wanted to see if I could get a second chance

at life with weight loss surgery.

Okay.

And you had weight loss surgery about four years ago, huh?

Yes. sir. I had the gastric sleeve.

And then what happened after that?

I got pregnant with my daughter and fell back into old habits.

Okay, explain that more.

What do you mean you fell on old habits?

Sort of back eating slider foods like chips, drinking soda.

And my problem is I graze eat.

Instead of eating a meal I graze eat,

and just pick all day and put stuff in my mouth all day.

Well, there's no operation that's gonna correct that.

So what's gonna be different this time

if you have a second chance?

I need to go through therapy

and get down to the root of my emotional eating.

Well, hold on. What do you mean "emotional eating"?

Um, I eat when I get upset, when I get stressed.

If you understand that, then why haven't you gone

to a therapy to address that before now?

I'm not sure.

So we need to get you away from giving yourself a pass

to eat junk food.

And that's typical,

everybody overeats and their eating disorder,

and they call it, uh, "Oh, I'm an emotional eater."

Uh, "I'm happy I eat, I'm sad I eat,"

uh, to give a pass for them to do that.

But that's not reality.

So, the first step you're gonna need to take

to show me a second chance would be different for you

is taking responsibility for your eating,

not making any more excuse to yourself,

and showing you're willing

to put in the work that it's gonna take

to change your life. You understand that?

- Yes, sir. - Okay.

Well, you know, there is no second chance

to get you successful unless you discipline yourself.

Surgery is not gonna correct your eating disorder.

- Okay. - You are the one

that need to do that.

- Okay. - Okay?

Romonte, you're nodding,

so you agree with me, huh?

Yes, I do.

That's good, so you can be a support to her with that.

But do not be her enabler, all right?

Uh-uh.

Me... We both had the surgery done

around the same time.

I lost the weight.

She went back to her old ways.

She really did. So...

she's the only person that could make this happen.

You're right.

We agree about that

because we each have to make the choices

not to be unhealthy, no matter what the excuse.

- Okay? - Okay.

That is something that is not easy,

but it is something you have to do

if you want to save your life.

- Yes, sir. - So if you feel like

you're ready to do this now,

then what we can do to help you

is give you some instructions as a guide

that will help you understand what to do.

But the choice to do it is up to you.

The first thing is going to break down for you is

a 1,200-calorie-a-day diet

that focuses on protein, not carbs.

And I want you to start that immediately.

- Okay. - Okay?

And the instructions will also have

some exercises for you to do every day.

So how is your activity?

Uh, my activity, it's okay.

My back starts hurting and stuff

when I get tired sometimes.

But you get up and walk and do things?

- Yes, sir. - Okay.

So, what we're gonna start doing here is

walk at least once in the morning,

once in the evening.

If you do that, then you should easily be able

to make the goal I'm gonna give you

to lose 55 pounds over the next two months.

- Okay. - Is that something

you think you can do?

Yes, I can do that.

Okay, if you meet that goal, then at that point,

we're gonna see what option we have for you,

- okay? - Okay.

But if we move ahead with you, you're gonna move to Houston

if you want to do the program since you live so far away.

Is that something you think you can do, too?

I'll have to see.

But I'll do whatever it takes

because I'm about, you know, saving my life.

So I'll do it.

But I guess it depends on how soon I have to do that.

Well, we'll see about that after you make it to the goal.

Okay.

But if you just, um,

go back and fall to the same old habit,

and you eat whatever, whenever,

then there's not much we can do for you.

- Okay. - Okay?

So, there will be no point in you moving down here

- if that's the case, okay? - Yes, sir.

So right now, we give you the tools to change,

if you do that, then we're gonna see what else we've got.

Okay. All right.

I'm gonna bring in some stuff,

- and go work, okay? - Okay.

All right.

We just thought we had it worse, didn't we?

The ball is in your court,

it's been in your court from the beginning.

[Dr. Now] It's always a concern

if any patient looking for weight loss surgery

has already had one and failed.

In those situations,

the chances of long-term success

are less than 1%.

Because they have already been giving her tools

that took away the physical drive to eat,

but they chose to continue,

justifying their overeating,

hoping that the surgery

would magically fix everything for them

no matter what they did.

And usually, that justification

revolves around needing food for comfort.

Whether it's life situations or a particular circle,

that patient hasn't given up the excuse of overeating,

and eating unhealthy food to get through things.

And it's clear, that's the case with Bianca,

because she was very ready to offer up that excuse

of emotional eating

as the reason why she undid her gastric sleeve.

And gained all her weight back.

All right.

Now, this is what I want you to read every day.

- Okay. - So let's go over that now.

Long term, we're gonna need to help Bianca

address the emotional issues that drive her to eat.

But she needs to take the first step

and show a willingness

to take control of her behavior and choices,

because if she's not at a point

where she's gonna do that,

then no tool anyone gives her

is gonna make anything but a temporary change.

And the book, this is the exercise chapter.

Okay.

So you start doing those exercises

an hour in the morning,

an hour in the afternoon.

So these are the starting point.

- Okay. - And if you follow this,

and change your eating habit, you should be able to lose

at least 40 to 50 pounds easily in one month.

So if you're sticking to the diet,

there is no excuse for you not to lose that.

- Okay. - Okay, so any questions?

- No, sir. Thank you so much. - All right.

Let me leave that all with you,

since she has her hands full.

[Romonte] I'm gonna read these myself.

All right.

"The scale does not lie."

People do!

Thank you.

So this is gonna be a starting point,

and let's see

if you can make all those changes, okay?

Okay. Thank you, Doctor.

All right, nice to meet you guys.

- Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you, too.

- You all take care. - [both] You too.

[Bianca] The appointment went

better than I thought it was gonna go.

I was scared that there wasn't gonna be

a second chance for me.

But I'm thankful for what happened instead.

He basically just laid down on the table

He said the ball's in my court,

and it's up to me to play it the way that I want it.

The main thing that stood out to me that he said was

I have to change my eating habits.

That's the only way he's gonna be able to help me,

if I help myself first.

And he said that, basically,

no weight loss surgery was gonna help me

if I don't get down to the root

of why I just eat just to be eating.

And hearing that was a real wake-up call.

Because if I think about it, it makes sense to me

when he said that I'm just making excuses to eat.

Because all my life, I've just always have excuses

to just eat and eat and eat.

And now, I'm just ready for a change.

No matter if I did grow up with an alcoholic mom,

no matter what happened to my life,

what I put into my mouth determines

if I wanna live or if I wanna die.

And at this point,

I wanna eat to live, not eat to die.

So no more excuses.

I know what I need to do, so I'm gonna go do it.

Because I'm determined to do this.

Failure is not an option

unless I wanna be six feet under.

[Simeon] Right here beside you?

Yeah, you can get on this side of me.

Stand right here.

Okay, let's see what's first.

Since coming back from my first appointment

with Dr. Now,

I reshaped how I'm doing everything

with my eating and my exercising,

and I'm doing it all in accordance to the instructions

in this book he gave me

with the diet and exercise guide.

I'm gonna do the first count, and then you count.

Okay, you ready?

Mm-hmm.

One,

two...

My exercises, I do three times a day.

When I very first started I was just sitting here and,

my son, he just said, "Momma, can I do it?"

He just does it right there along with me.

Five,

four,

three,

two,

one.

We do our shoulders to the side.

Ten,

nine,

eight...

So he's my workout partner, and I love that.

My exercise time with him

has become one of my favorite times

with him because of that.

one.

The food and what I'm eating

is something that I'm on my own with right now.

I prepare and cook my own meals

apart from what Monte cooks for himself and the kids.

And the rest of my family,

they still eat what they want to,

because my kids are still kids.

Yes, I still make them eat healthy choices.

They can still have certain things in moderation also.

But the focus is mostly on me.

I have to focus on Bianca.

Because Bianca got Bianca to where Bianca's at.

Either I'm gonna eat healthy and live,

or either I'm gonna eat what I want to

and die.

I hope that I reached my goal for this appointment.

[Romonte] We don't know what's gonna come,

but whatever comes,

we are gonna be ready.

Me and Monte are back in Houston again

for my second appointment with Dr. Now.

But I'm a little nervous

to see how much I've been able to drop off my weight.

Bianca?

At my first appointment with Dr. Now two months ago,

I weighed 604 pounds.

And then Dr. Now gave me a goal

of losing 55 pounds by today

to show that I'm taking control,

and I'm willing to make the changes that I need

for his program and get surgery.

Okay, you can step up on the scale.

So if I did that and made it,

then my weight would be under 551.

- And now we're gonna go to Room 5, Okay? - Okay, thank you.

You know, that's a large amount of weight for me to lose.

But I missed my goal from Dr. Now

'cause that is still not enough progress

for me to move ahead.

Hello, how are you all doing?

- Fine. How are you. - [Romonte] Hey, Dr. Now.

You all doing oaky?

- Yes, sir. - Good.

All right. How was your trip to Houston this time?

It was a lot better this time.

So then you figured out what made it better?

Yes, sir, 'cause I've lost some weight.

Yes you have, and you lost 46 pounds,

which isn't as much as you could have,

but it's still not bad.

So I'm happy with that.

That's very good.

So what changes have you made in your eating habit?

I've been using my food scale,

I've been eating protein and vegetables,

and I've been exercising three times a day.

Well, I'm glad to see that you're in the right track,

and doing the right thing.

So, keep it up and we're gonna set you up

- for endoscopy... - Okay.

to look down your stomach

and see what issue you got there.

Hopefully, it's still possible to do a revision,

or add another weight loss surgery on you.

- If we did, that will be good. - Okay.

And if we determine that,

then you will need to move down to Houston.

And if you stay on track up to that point,

then we will move ahead with weight loss surgery for you

once you're down here.

Okay.

You think you can do that?

Yes, sir. If I can get a surgery, I can do that.

Okay, good. So...

we'll figure out what's going on with your stomach.

Okay, thank you.

But if there is too much scar tissue,

or any other issues to where it is not possible

to move ahead with any surgery options,

then we're gonna stick with your diet.

But hopefully, we will figure out an option for you, okay?

If you stay in town tonight,

I can schedule that for tomorrow.

Would that work for you?

Yes, I can do that. Thank you, Dr. Now.

All right, you're welcome.

That went a lot better than expected.

See there?

See? Well,

you don't have to be nervous, you did your part.

I'm happy to see that Bianca went back

and made some important changes

to lose almost 50 pounds.

If she had been sticking to the diet completely,

she would have lost around twice that.

So she is still likely eating

around 2,000 to 3,000 calories a day,

but she has shown me enough improvement

to feel confident about moving ahead with her.

But the big question now is

what kind of weight loss surgery or revision

is possible for her, if at all.

Because the scar tissue that has formed

from the first surgery she had

could prevent us from being able to do much

with a second surgery.

So we will know more about what's possible

after endoscopy.

And if there is a path,

we can move ahead with weight loss surgery for her.

- You want me to put your hair... - Yes, please.

Okay, I got you.

I'm here at the hospital to have my endoscopy

and find out if it's possible

for another weight loss surgery for me.

And I'm a little nervous

about what the result of the procedure could be.

Because the option of my weight loss surgery

hangs in the balance with that.

But even if I don't have it,

I'm gonna stick to the plan.

I've already started my new life,

but I'm looking forward to a better life.

And I'm just ready to lose more weight

and keep having a better quality life.

'Cause I'm inspired by the more stamina

I'm getting day by day

and the healthier I'm getting day by day.

So I could already imagine 75 pound or 100 pound weight loss

could be like, months from now.

So I'm just ready to keep pushing regardless.

[Romonte] You look like...

the duchess of Zubundu.

Okay, thank you.

[Dr. Now] Today, we're going to do an endoscopy on Bianca

and look at her stomach, to see how things look from her first weight loss surgery,

because she had a sleeve gastrectomy

and she gained all her weight back.

We could have you go to the waiting room right over there, okay?

Okay, thank you.

No problem.

[Dr. Now] So depending what we're gonna find in endoscopy,

we're gonna make a decision what will be best option for Bianca.

[woman speaking]

[Dr. Now] All right, I think we can line her.

[woman speaking]

[woman speaking]

[Dr. Now speaking]

[woman speaking]

[Dr. Now] She's released for stomach back out.

And it is probably bigger now than it was before her first weight loss surgery.

[Dr. Now] All right, removing the scope. We're done.

[Dr. Now] The procedure went well today.

And we were able to find out what we needed to determine the next steps with Bianca.

Unfortunately, one of the things we learned

was that Bianca has a stretched hernia sleeve, a tremendous sleeve.

That's one of the reasons that she's not losing weight.

The issue is that Bianca does have a significant amount of scar tissue

from her previous weight loss surgery that may make it difficult

for us to perform a full gastric bypass on her.

The good news is that we should be able to perform

a gastric sleeve for her.

But since she already had one weight loss surgery,

the most optimal thing is to do gastric bypass.

So that's what we will attempt to perform.

But whether or not we are able to successfully do that

will have to be determined during the procedure.

However, either option should be enough to give her

the tools she needs to lose more weight.

So ultimately, that's the good news.

Do you have your sunglasses on?

All right, Bianca. Well, you know, you had a sleeve.

And it looked like the sleeve is a little bit dilated.

So you have really stretched it back out.

But I think it's gonna be possible for us to do a full bypass.

- Okay. - So we can do another weight loss surgery on you.

So as soon as you move down to Houston, we will set you for surgery.

- Okay. - Okay?

Okay.

So this is gonna be something that's gonna help you a lot.

- Okay. - Okay?

Okay.

- All right, if you need anything, let me know. - Okay, thank you.

- Okay. Bye-bye. - Bye.

During a full gastric bypass on Bianca will give her

a more aggressive tool this time to help her to lose more weight.

And then after surgery, we will start her going to psychotherapy

to help her work on dealing with her emotional issues.

Normally we wait until there is some struggle after surgery.

Because once the physical drive to overeat is gone

and they still struggle,

the patient is far more receptive to see and understand

the emotional component to their overeating

and embrace what they need to do to address that.

But since Bianca has already had one weight loss surgery

and failed it, we'll start that immediately after surgery.

So we have our plan with Bianca and know what next steps are for her.

So we will move ahead with her

as long as she stays on track and moves down to Houston.

[Bianca] I've been doing okay the past few months.

I was very relieved and excited

when Dr. Now said my results were good for my endoscopy,

and that I could get weight loss surgery as long as I move to Houston.

Okay, we got a little bit more stuff in here.

I'm gonna slip around.

I'm gonna put some of this medicine in here.

[Bianca] You know, that was almost four months ago.

So it's taken a bit to get it all figured out

because it's a lot.

But we started to get what we need straightened out.

My cousin Neethie is over helping me with that now.

And then my Aunt Judie and my Uncle Darrell and his wife Odessa

are gonna come spend some time with us since we're leaving soon.

So things are comin' together, but it hasn't been easy.

It's hard to move on your own.

But it's even harder with a whole family and two young kids.

And what's been the most difficult is finding an apartment for us.

I mean, if it was just me and Monte,

we could, you know, make it work.

But when you have kids, there's a lot of things you can't settle for.

I have two kids, so I have to make sure

it's good for me and my two kids.

[Bianca] Neethie, do you mind helping me with this box right here?

[Bianca] It was very hard.

I mean, it was some blood, some sweat, some tears.

Some days when I was stressed and Monte told me,

"Hey, just back away and just pray about it.

If it was meant to be, God'll find a place for us

If it was not meant to be, then we won't find a place."

And after about a month and half of feeling

like I wasn't finding good options,

that started to get to me.

And I would try to go to foods that I wasn't supposed to have,

and Monte would slap it out of my hand and say,

"You know you're not gonna do that.

'Cause it's not worth it. Look how far you've came."

He'll trash it. And when I mean trash it,

he'll take it from me, put it in the trash can, and walk it to the dumpster.

And he's like, "If you want it, go get it."

So when I have my weak moments, he keeps me in line.

But thankfully, we found a place.

And all of us are moving to Houston for a year.

So it's all come together, and we're making it happen.

[Romonte] Come on in here, baby!

[Bianca] Hey, how y'all doin', Uncle Darrell and Aunt Odessa?

[Bianca] How y'all been doin'?

[Romonte] Come on in here!

How you doin'?

You doin' all right, sweetie?

Oh, hi. I'm doin' good. I'm doin' good.

[Bianca] I do think the move is gonna be positive and something good for us.

But leaving the family we have here

is the only really hard part for me.

That's hard for me to do.

They're a big support for me.

And not seeing them is gonna be hard.

And I would never wanna do that outside of a situation like this.

I mean, it's very scary.

[crying] That's why... You know, I had to go to the bathroom while ago...

and just get my emotions out 'cause it's very, you know, scary.

It very scary.

With two kids, you know, and going all the way across the world. It's scary.

[sniffles] You know, I don't show my emotions a lot,

but it's scary.

But it's something that I have to do,

so I can be around for my kids. You know?

[Darrell speaking]

[Bianca speaking]

[Odessa speaking]

[Darrell speaking]

So I'm just taking it day by day.

I can't worry about next week. I can't worry about next year.

I can't worry about next month.

All I can worry about is today.

So that' what I'm doing.

- [Darrell] It's going to be okay. - Yeah, it is.

They're gonna take good care of ya.

I know they are.

[Bianca] So I'm hoping here soon

we'll have all the final things we need figured out.

So we can head to Houston and start the new life

that's full of promise, hope, and opportunity for me and all of us.

- Lean into him. - Lean on him.

- Prayers every day. - Yep.

[Bianca] That's Marcia's dad, and I love him whether Monte know it or not.

You know, K.K., that I always look after his best interest.

And all he keeps saying, K.K., is that I'm leaving him.

I said, Monte, I'm not leaving you.

I have to do what I gotta do for my health.

I got to get better for my kids.

It's not right for you want me to put my life on hold and my health on hold for you.

That's not right.

[K.K.] Go on and do what you got to do.

Yes, ma'am.

[Bianca] The past week has been hard on me and Romonte.

With all we've been trying to figure out

for the final steps and move to Houston.

And the stress has been getting to us, so we've been fighting a lot.

Me and Monte have had different views on some things.

And it got to a point where last night I just got frustrated,

so I told him to stop.

I just need a break from the arguing.

I didn't tell Romonte that I wanted to break up with him.

I didn't tell Romonte that I wanted to leave him.

I told Romonte that I have to get Bianca together

so I can take care of my kids.

Our kids.

Me and Romonte were together for three years.

And I still worry about him.

But like I told Romonte, I love him, but I love my kids more.

And I have to get better for my kids

so I can be around for them.

My plan is still to go to Houston. I'm a fighter.

This is just a steppin' stone and gonna be part of my testimony.

You know, I'm gonna continue to pray for him, continuing to wish the best for him.

But I have to continue on my journey.

I'm gonna finish packing up some boxes and just get everything together

so we can still move.

And, luckily, Neethie said that she'll move with me, so that's a plus.

So I'm gonna figure it out and get to Houston.

[woman speaking]

Okay.

Okay. I see it. Mm-hmm.

Mommy.

Okay.

[Bianca] Me and Neethie have been working

to get all the last things we need done

to get on the road and move to Houston.

And right now, we're gettin' the movin' van.

- [Bianca] Are we going out this door? - [woman] Yeah.

[Bianca] This was something that Romonte was gonna do, but it's on me now.

And I've never done anything like this

because I have to drive it, too.

[Bianca] Yeah.

Does the seat let back any more, miss?

Okay. Okay, thank you.

[Bianca] But I'm ready to do whatever I have to.

To keep moving forward no matter what I face.

[Bianca grunts]

[Bianca] No!

[turn blinker clicking]

[woman on phone speaking]

[Bianca speaking]

[Bianca] Okay, thank you, sweetheart.

[Bianca speaking]

[Bianca] I've hired some movers to help us get everything loaded up.

So having the extra strength will hopefully get us on the road quickly.

Because once we get loaded up,

we're gonna head out and start the journey to Houston.

[Bianca] It's dragging right there on the floor.

[Bianca] Y'all gotta get it off that grass

'cause there be chiggers and stuff on that grass.

Y'all need me to try to help y'all?

'Cause I don't want it on that grass. My kids'll be on that.

I'll try to help y'all. Come on.

'Cause I don't need it on that grass.

Tacor, you wanna come help them, and I'll pay you somethin'.

I got you, bro.

[Bianca] 'Cause you know how expensive that furniture is.

I wasn't trying to be rude.

But my baby got ate up by chiggers.

I just don't want the, you know, chiggers in the couch

and her to get ate up.

[Bianca clears throat]

[Bianca] Just recently, this level of moving activity wouldn't have been possible.

[Bianca] Yeah, I told them I didn't know anything about taking the bed down.

They said y'all could take that bed down.

Uh-huh, yeah, I'd like to take them all with me

'cause I like to, you know, be better safe than sorry.

- I get ya. - Uh-huh.

[Bianca] I stuck to the diet and exercise religiously

to insure that I keep moving forward.

The only period I've let myself struggle and given in for some comfort

is recently with everything going on.

And I plan to keep working hard once I get to Houston,

even moving forward without Romonte to do a lot on my own.

That's scary.

But I believe in myself, and I know I can do this.

[exhales] Oh, Jesus, give me the strength, Lord. I'm tired.

[exhales]

Gotta keep goin' though, for my kids.

I gotta keep goin'.

[Tacorey] Thank you.

-Well, thank you. Enjoy Houston. -Thank you.

Thank you so much. Her bed's already gone out?

- No, it's the last one we're gettin'. - Okay.

[Bianca] This was tough to get done physically.

But we got it done in two hours.

I did more than I thought I was able to.

I pushed my body to the limit today.

And I'm know I'm gonna be very sore tomorrow.

When I say I'm tired, it's an understatement.

Neethie has always been a plan B.

Because, deep down, I kind of...

I kind of figured that Neethie was gonna come anyway.

So, Neethie-- once I asked her, you know, could she come with me

'cause I still want to complete this journey that I started,

she agreed to it.

I hope Houston is ready for myself, Neethie and my kids

because we're ready for Houston.

[Bianca] Oh, you're gonna carry her, Neethie?

I handled the travel better this time,

but the packin' up before we left took a lot out of me.

So I just wanna get moved in and rest.

So we have some movers

that will help us with all the big and strenuous stuff.

What you think, Marcia?

- Do you like it? - I like it.

[Bianca] As of lately, I've had some slip-ups,

but that's only very recent.

In the majority of all that time, I was doing exactly as I need.

You know, it's been months of eating right and exercise

and just about every day as I've dealt with everything that has come my way.

So, as soon as we get settled and have some time to recoup,

I'm gonna call Dr. Now to set an appointment

so I can show him my progress

and that I'm still sticking to it,

and doing what I need since my last appointment.

Simeon, be good.

[GPS automated voice] Use the right two lanes to exit right to I45.

[Bianca] We're heading to Dr. Now's

to get my weight and my progress checked.

And to, hopefully, get my weight loss surgery approval

now that I'm here.

And I'm ready to do this.

Here we are, ya'll. Dr. Now's office.

[shuts car door] [Bianca] Come on.

Come on.

Bianca?

- [Bianca] How are you? - I'm okay. Hi.

[Bianca] At my last appointment,

I was 558 and Dr. Now didn't give me a specific goal.

Since I met the one he gave me,

he told me just to make sure that I keep making progress.

[woman] Okay, so step up on the scale.

[Bianca] I'm losing like I should and I think I've done that.

So hopefully I have a good number

that Dr. Now will be happy with.

- We're gonna be going to Room 5. - Okay. Come on.

[Bianca] It's discouraging

because I think if I had my weight checked just two weeks ago,

it would have showed a lot of progress.

[Bianca] Over here, baby, come on.

Hopefully, Dr. Now doesn't think

this means I'm not dedicated

and try my hardest because I have been.

I just had a really bad couple of weeks.

[knocking at door]

[Bianca] Come in.

[Dr. Now] Hello, how ya'll doing?

Okay, how are you?

All right.

Well, nice to see you again, Bianca.

Good to see you also.

How you been?

I've been going through a lot, Dr. Now, but I'm here.

I, I've finally moved to Houston,

but this week was a tryin' week,

it was a very hard week for me.

Well, what happened?

[sighs] Well, you know, you see, as you see, Romonte is not here.

We had an argument.

He had tough times dealing with the stress of this move to Houston.

And he told me that he knows that I don't care about him.

- He said he rather just end it instead of moving to Houston. - Okay.

So, I have my cousin, Neethie, with me

and she didn't hesitate when I picked up the phone

and asked her could she come to Texas with me and my kids to help me on this journey.

Well, I'm, uh, sorry that you're going through that.

[Bianca] Thank you. But I'm still focused on being here

and doing what I need for my kids and my life.

I can't focus on that right now, I have to focus on my journey.

- So, he has to focus on himself right now. - [Dr. Now] Okay.

All right, so, it's you and your kids and her.

- Yes, sir, my cousin Neethie. - Okay.

So, y'all situated in here and all that?

[Bianca] Yes, sir, we got all situated.

[Dr. Now] Okay, so,

how you doing with your eating habits during all this?

You didn't lose any more weight over the last four months.

[Bianca] Um, it's been okay, it's been up and down.

I've been, you know, making some mistakes and stuff,

but I've been trying to stick with it despite all of that.

I've just been, you know, going back to old habits and stuff like that

and it's been stressing through this past week or two with the move and stuff.

Okay. I can understand that.

Things have been tough, but you still have to focus on your health.

And you could have easily lost over 150 pounds

since the last time you were here.

But the fact that you didn't lose anything is a bit concerning.

The last time, you lost some weight,

but you could have done better...

- Yes, sir. - with your weight loss.

But it was still enough to show me

that you are taking control of things to turn your life around.

So, that's why I approved you for weight loss surgery if you moved down here.

Now that you got in here,

I have some concerns with your lack of progress

and how you're doing with everything that happened to you recently.

So, I'm gonna postpone the new weight loss surgery for two things.

Okay.

Okay, the first is, I want you to see a therapist,

so you can start meeting with them about your emotional issues.

But also, because I want them to asses

if they think you still ready to move ahead with weight loss surgery.

Okay.

So, let's start focus on getting your weight down and see a therapist

- and we'll pick it up from here. Okay? - [Bianca] Okay.

- All right, I'll see you later. - Okay, thank you.

[door closes]

So I know things aren't easy for her right now.

But as hard as it has been for her to get here,

it's not gonna be good for us to move ahead with her

and do any sort of weight loss surgery

if she's not in a place where she's focused

on doing what she needs right now.

She used her circumstances and her emotions

to justify her waiting for her whole life.

And now, all she has going on in her life,

I need to know it's not gonna be too much for her.

If everything looks good in a couple of months,

I will move ahead with her surgery.

But if not, then we'll have to start working on a different plan with her.

[Bianca] I'm disappointed I'm not getting to move ahead with my surgery right now,

but I can understand Dr. Now's thinking.

And I was happy that the appointment

went better than I thought it would.

I thought that he was gonna be very upset with me,

but he was more concerning with my mental health

and making sure that I was okay

with what happened with Romonte.

Come on, Marcia and Simeon.

Um, he's gonna set a therapy for me.

Go ahead and get in and buckle up for me.

So I'm staying focused and doing with I need

because I didn't bring my family to Houston, Texas, just to play any games.

I could have stayed in Tennessee and played games.

You know, the ball's in my court now,

this is my opportunity and I'm not gonna mess it up.

[Bianca] Yesterday, I met with Dr. Now

and I told him about everything that happened with Romonte.

And he told me that he thought it was best

that I went and saw a therapist.

So, I'm nervous about it, but I know that it's very much needed.

And I'm tired of my kids having to be hindered from living a fulfilling life

because they have a mother that's obese

and not able to take on the activity of just walking

from day to day without getting exhausted.

Bianca, I'm Dr. Paradise Come on in.

Welcome. So, what was your childhood like?

My childhood was okay.

My mom took care of me, she was a good mom.

- She was just an alcoholic. - Okay.

So, what she would do is

she would be drinking and to keep me quiet, she would feed me.

Who was in your house? Who did you grow up with?

- My mom an then, my stepdad. - Okay.

So, she got drunk that meant you got cookies and chips and...

It was even deeper than that, Dr. Paradise.

I could remember times when I would eat pizza and throw up.

And then after that, she was giving me some burgers.

It was to that point.

What do you think she was doing by feeding you so much?

- Just trying to keep me quiet so she could drink. - Okay.

Did you have friends?

Um, I didn't really call 'em friends

'cause friends don't talk about you.

- Okay, so, the kids were mean. - Mm-hmm.

And that's a kid that sounds like junior high, middle school.

Okay, what did... What did the teasing do?

Did it motivate you to lose weight?

- It just made me eat more. - Okay.

What's goin' on at home with this...

Mom and stepdad still together?

Okay, my dad died in 2005,

my stepdad died in 2006,

and then my mom died in 2009.

- Are you-- - I found my mom dead.

Oh.

Okay, tell me about that.

When we walked in there, she was already dead.

Her lips were already blue like she had aspirated.

Then they said that it was cardiac arrest, she had a heart attack.

And that's what makes me wanna fight so hard, too, Dr. Paradise,

because my kids shouldn't have to go through that with me.

You know, it hurts me

because the last thing I should've told my mom was I love her

and the last thing I had with my mom was an argument

'cause I just begged her... [crying]

[sniffles] I begged her not to drink.

I just didn't want her to drink.

I just begged her, I said, "Please.

Please, Mama, don't drink tonight, please."

And she still drank.

I just... It's very hard. That's why I named my daughter after my mom.

So she can live on.

So, Bianca, let's talk about that idea

that the last interaction you had with her was an argument.

I feel like you were trying to help her.

I was trying to help her, I was.

It wasn't an angry argument, it was a loving argument, right?

Yes.

I mean, the last interaction you had was, was an attempt to help her out.

Yes. I just, I just wanted her to stop drinking.

I just wanted her to get better.

Yeah, I hear that commitment to your kids.

And you're committed more than anything

to make sure that your kids don't go through

all the bad things that you went through.

Yeah, I, I kind of want that to be the thing that mobilizes you.

Right.

You know, when an airplane's going down and the oxygen masks drop,

they say, "Put the mask on yourself first

before you put it on your kids."

So, we gotta get you taking care of yourself before anything else.

The best way to take care of your kids is to focus on you.

And coming her to Houston is a great example of that.

Do you believe you're gonna be successful here?

I know I'm gonna be successful.

- Okay, prove it to me. - I will.

- Have a good night, okay? - You too, thank you.

[Bianca] A lot of what I discussed was hard for me to go through.

- Take care. - You too.

[Bianca] But it felt good to do.

And I know getting healthy physically and mentally is the only way

I'm gonna be able to get my approval to move ahead with surgery.

[Bianca] I'm headed to see Dr. Now for my next appointment

and find out where my weight

and on my progress stands for the past two months.

- Okay, Simi, we're here. - [Simeon] Yay!

[Bianca] I'm nervous to get on the scale.

I won't move forward if my progress isn't sufficient for Dr. Now.

So, that's all I'm nervous about.

I was only 557 two months ago at my last appointment.

Come on, Simeon.

And that was pretty much where I was the prior time

I got my weight checked before that.

So, Dr. Now needed to see me go in the right direction

by losing at least 30 pounds today to get down to 527.

Simeon, stand still.

Bianca?

[machine beeping]

[sighs in relief]

Thank you, Simeon.

Thank you.

- [woman] So, we are gonna be going to Room 5. - [Bianca] Okay.

[Bianca] You know, seeing that number feels really good.

I'm making a such a huge leap in my weight loss.

I feel really proud of myself right now.

Close the door, Simeon.

- [knock at door] - [Bianca] Come in.

- Hello. - Hello, how are you?

-I'm doing okay. How you doing? -Good.

- Well, I can see that. - How are you?

I'm doing good.

- So, it looks like you lost some weight. - Yes, sir.

[Dr. Now] Good. That's a good progress.

- Yes, sir. - And so, you've done good job on losing weight now.

Which is good. And Dr. Paradise feels

like you are able to focus and what you need right now.

So, I'm gonna approve you for weight loss surgery.

- Are you serious? - Yes.

Oh, my gosh. Thank you so much.

I'm gonna set you up for next month.

But don't get comfortable and start to step on your progress, okay?

- Okay. - Keep your weight going in the right direction.

- You got it? - Got it.

Al right. You're doing great and I'm proud of your progress.

So, keep it up and we get you to the operation and this time,

you want to be successful.

Okay. Thank you so much Dr. Now.

- And you're welcome. - Did you understand what he said, Simeon?

He's gonna do Mommy's surgery.

Are you excited?

Hmm?

You excited?

[Dr. Now] He's not sure about it now.

He's proud of Mom, too.

You are! Go take a seat.

Thank you.

Is everybody doing well and getting settled in?

- Everything's going good. - Okay, that's good.

Keep going to therapy and working on things with Dr. Paradise.

That's important. And then keep up the good work.

And we'll see next month.

- Okay? - Okay, thank you so much, Dr. Now.

You're welcome. And in the meantime, you need anything, you may call.

Okay, thank you so much, Dr. Now. You made my day. Thank you.

-All right. I'll see you later. -Okay, see you later.

- Okay, make sure if you need anything, give me a call. - Okay, I will.

- Are you excited? - Give me a kiss.

[kissing]

- Mama! - What?

What if they go on my cheek?

- [kisses] - [laughing]

I'm gonna go look in the bathroom mirror.

[Dr. Now] I'm very happy to see that Bianca has continued to work hard

to make sure she kept her progress going in the right direction.

- Too slow! - [laughs]

[Dr. Now] I know that wasn't easy for her with everything she had going on.

But she's proving that she's determined to turn her life around

no matter what her situation is. So, because of that and

since Dr. Paradise feels she is ready for this next step,

we will move ahead with her weight loss surgery next month

as long as she keeps making progress.

But I think Bianca is motivated to stay on track until then.

[Bianca] I'm very excited right now. You know, to finally have my approval.

Give me the keys, Simeon.

Come on.

I'm very glad that Simeon was here to share this moment with me.

So, this was a big day for both of us

because of what this means for our future.

[indistinct conversation]

- All right, love you. - I love you too. Okay?

[Bianca] I'm very excited about today.

And I'm thankful Dr. Now is gonna do weight loss surgery on me.

Ready to rock and roll?

He gave me a second chance at my life.

I know that many people in my situation

aren't able to have a opportunity like this twice.

[nurse] I want you to take nice big deep breaths for me.

Okay, keep that.

[Dr. Now] Today we are attempting to do a gastric bypass on Bianca.

We are going to do this operation robotically.

And that will help give us more precision during the surgery.

But my concern is, that the scar tissue from her previous bypass surgery...

may prevent us from completing a full bypass.

If it does, then we'll perform a slee4ve on her.

Both procedures will give her an effective tool

to keep losing weight and making progress.

But a bypass would be best

since she already had one weight loss surgery and failed.

Bring the robot.

But the same procedure will reduce the stomach by 90%,

leaving a small narrow tube that looks similar to a sleeve,

so the patient's food intake is physically limited

and the patient is less hungry.

So, this operation will give them an opportunity to loose even more weight.

So, it will help her a great deal.

But with a full bypass, it will also bypass a portion of her intestines

to reduce the amount of calories she can absorb.

So, it will be an added bonus to help her out even more,

that we would normally wait on if this was her first weight loss surgery.

But we will have to see what's possible here in the moment

depending on the extend of her scar tissue.

My name is Sebastian. I'm Bianca's best friend,

and I flew all the way out from Charlotte, North Carolina.

It's been almost five hours since they took her back.

So, I said goodbye to her, gave her a hug.

And told her I love her and I'm here waiting on her.

I'm nervous for her and I've gone to the nurses' station maybe three or four times now.

They kept telling me 45 minutes, and they've told me that so far three times.

And that has me a little bit nervous.

I'm praying for the best, absolutely.

[Dr. Now] She had a lot of scar tissue that's being very problematic.

So, with that looking like, we can't safely do the full bypass,

and we're gonna have to do a sleeve.

Okay, we are almost done.

Okay, all finished.

Nurse, disconnect the robot.

Room light on.

Bianca's surgery didn't go as planned because she had a lot of scar tissue.

We had to take a lot of scar tissue to get inside the abdomen.

So, there was no way to do a bypass on her.

So we had to improvise and do another surgery.

And we did a gastric sleeve instead, and it will reduce the stomach

by about 70%. And that should give her a better chance to lose weight

because her stomach was very dilated, so we made it much smaller.

So, this will be a very helpful tool for her.

My only concern is that she has already failed one weight loss surgery

so, a more aggressive tool would have been better than a sleeve.

It is not that effective as gastric bypass,

but it can yield the same results in the long term,

If Bianca is at this time, where she is physically restricted

from overeating.

That leads her to emotionally overeat.

It's gonna be very important that we get her to go to psychotherapy and

that she sticks with that and she keeps working on her emotional issues

and learning healthy ways to cope that aren't self-destructive.

Because we have known from her first weight loss surgery that over time,

she will go back to bad habits if she doesn't get at the core of what she needs this time.

So, for the same reason that she failed the first operation,

we need to make sure that she doesn't fail the second operation.

And dealing with her emotional issues is the only way to make sure of that.

So that's what we need to do long term.

But right now, Bianca needs to focus on recovering,

and then when she goes home,

she will be on a liquid diet for one month.

And she'll lose around 35 pounds in that time.

And then if she stays on track, she should lose 15 to 20 pounds

a month after that until she gets close to her target weight.

She has shown me she is very determined to pursue every obstacle she needs

to keep moving forward. But Bianca still has a lot of hard work ahead of her

to get to where she needs.

[Bianca] It's been a little over a month since my surgery.

I'm down to the 400s now, and I'm feeling great.

Dr. Now said my progress should stay around 20 pounds a month now.

So I'm working hard to maintain that goal and stay on track.

And I feel like it's getting easier the more weight I lose.

Because the more independent I become, the more it inspires me to keep going.

Hi!

You know, I joined a gym and I'm doing water aerobics two to three times a week.

That's made my exercising easier on my joints and bones.

Nice, pound it off hard. Come on.

But I'm finding things that I enjoy trying,

they get me out and moving around as much as I can.

You got this. Come on, let's work.

I've even been able to get a new job.

Working at a grocery store, bagging groceries.

So that's been a very big step for me that I'm excited about.

Yeah, you ready to go home, We gotta go get Simeon. You ready?

- Today is the day you can play with us, right? - Mm-hmm, yeah.

Yeah!

Feet up, Mommy.

[Bianca] But the thing that I'm most excited about?

My progress has led me to do more with my kids.

Get over that way, you ready?

Here.

Here.

Throw it to me.

- Come on, Simeon. - Okay.

Come on.

Come on, Marcia.

- [Bianca] Good job, Marcia. - [Simeon] Good job.

You having fun?

Good job, Simeon.

[Bianca] I'm keeping my focus where it needs to keep going.

And I'm not stopping until, I get to my goal.

Because I've missed out on too much of my life.

And my kids already. And I'm thankful for the second chance I have with them.

You know, I'm willing to do anything, I can to give them a better life.

So, there's nothing on this earth that I will let mess it up for me.

All right, good job, Simeon. Let's go, come on.

[Simeon] Come on, Marcia.