S06.E15: Bettie Jo & Susan

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Quote

A 400-lb, woman learns that she's pregnant, but wonders if she'll be able to deliver the baby without complications; a woman who lost 400 pounds is in a relationship, but it could be in jeopardy when weight-loss journey stalls.

This is a Where Are They Now? type of episode.  Bettie Jo and Susan are two prior poundticipants.  We get to see the next part of their lives. If history tells us anything, expect to see some new material and quite a bit of the old episode leading up to it.  Prove me wrong, TLC, please prove me wrong!

This topic will open after the US East Coast showing.

[Pretty5Vacant]

Is this open? Testing

Isn't this Bettie Jo's 2nd  "where are they now?" I remember her baby shower scene and spine problem. Bettie Jo again? Why?!

[ams1001]

How freakin' cute was that baby!?

[sainte-chapelle]

I remember feeling really badly for Bettie Jo, I thought she had cancer but she is just a liar who lies.

Edited April 19, 2018 by sainte-chapelle

[mmecorday]

Susan desperately needs to get away from her mother! That is not a healthy relationship. They feed off each other's dysfunction and as long as her mother is in the picture, Susan is never going to have any kind of lasting success. Her mother wants her to be dependent on her. BTW, Susan was the one who got all pissed off when she got fast food from a drive thru because it was taking too long for the kitchen staff to make all the stuff she ordered.

OK, never in a million years would I have guessed that Josh would be the attentive parent. Betty Jo acted like she was Preston's babysitter, not his mother. And while on the subject of Preston, can we add him to the Adorable Kids of My 600-Pound Life Hall of Fame? That baby was seriously cute. And I am confused -- why did Betty Jo think she had cancer? Did she just make that up? I don't remember her getting on my nerves so much the first time around. She talked like she had just taken an Ambien with a Benadryl chaser. Good on her for getting on the plane. I hate to fly.

I think I would have a hard time taking Lola seriously as a therapist. I'd be sitting there thinking the whole time, "That wig, tho."

[Cherrio]

I am going from memory, but I keep thinking back to another Betty Jo episode where she said she had cancer? Or was this just a continuation of that?

3 minutes ago, mmecorday said:

I think I would have a hard time taking Lola seriously as a therapist. I'd be sitting there thinking the whole time, "That wig, tho."

+2    The wig and that voice.  Way too distracting. 

[babyhouseman]

5 minutes ago, mmecorday said:

 

I think I would have a hard time taking Lola seriously as a therapist. I'd be sitting there thinking the whole time, "That wig, tho."

She has Ann JIllian's hair. 

[aliya]

6 minutes ago, mmecorday said:

I think I would have a hard time taking Lola seriously as a therapist. I'd be sitting there thinking the whole time, "That wig, tho."

I'm a lapsed lawyer. There is no way, as a super cute black woman who needed to be taken seriously by other lawyers, government types, judges, etc., that I would wear wigs like that. I am torn between saying Lola gets to have her hair anyway she wants it and thinking that it just doesn't look professional. I can imagine what people (let's be clear - white males) are saying at conferences behind her back. Even now that I'm in an academic setting where there is a bit more leeway to look bizarre, the doctors I audit don't look like that. Their high level administrative staff don't look like that. I don't get it. I'd be staring at her wig the whole time as well - and maybe asking for my money back. Lola needs some therapy to determine why she feels a need to look like that.

[mmecorday]

1 hour ago, babyhouseman said:

1 hour ago, mmecorday said:

I think I would have a hard time taking Lola seriously as a therapist. I'd be sitting there thinking the whole time, "That wig, tho."

She has Ann JIllian's hair. 

That last wig made her look like Gumby's mother.

[Tenarife60]

Was it mentioned how Susan and her mother get their money?  I was surprised when they said they were both long time smokers because tobacco isn't cheap.  I thought Susan could quit simply because she didn't have money for the habit anymore.

[rlc]

I want to be hypnotized by Dr Babyvoice.

[gardendiva]

While watching this episode, I was struck by how really pretty Susan could be. If she styled that lovely hair into a style and eventually got the skin surgery to remove that waddle under her chin, she would be quite pretty. She has beautiful skin, a perfect nose and those blue eyes. I wish she could see that in herself. Maybe it would help motivate her.

 

[BuddhaBelly]

I'm still scratching my head at Betty Jo and in full Oprah voice, "what is the truth?"

[fonfereksglen]

20 minutes ago, gardendiva said:

While watching this episode, I was struck by how really pretty Susan could be. If she styled that lovely hair into a style and eventually got the skin surgery to remove that waddle under her chin, she would be quite pretty. She has beautiful skin, a perfect nose and those blue eyes. I wish she could see that in herself. Maybe it would help motivate her.

 

Her sister was gorgeous.  Hopefully behind the scenes, she is still in Susan's life.  Evil mothers do their best to tear siblings apart, something I deal with almost daily.

[CoachWristletJen]

Huge difference in attitude. Susan says if Dr. Now gets upset with her, she'll be hearing what she needs to hear.

Bettie Jo comes into his office off her diet and loaded for bear. And, her jerk husband jumps into the argument. Don't they realize Dr. Now saved her life? Where's the gratitude? 

Dr. Now made an excellent point when he noted that Bettie Jo didn't even attend to her own baby. She didn't even look in the child's direction.  She may be soft spoken and mealy-mouthed, but she's an incredibly selfish person! 

I feel sorry for that baby.

[Sasha888]

Bettie Jo and Josh are EXACTLY the people my wise old father (may he rest in peace) was talking about when he said people should have to pass some kind of IQ test before they have kids. It sounds harsh, but it's true. What kind of life is that poor child going to have. A mother who lies her ass off about having cancer (and having just lost both of my parents to cancer, this REALLY pisses me off), and a father who backs up the mother's lies...to the point that he'll argue with a medical professional. Even though he's so stupid he says the cancer might have to be diagnosed with a TELESCOPE! Yes, you are just the kind of person who needs to be arguing with a doctor...an idiot who can't tell a microscope from a telescope.

Not to mention the two of them winging that baby around and not supporting his head at all! Clueless freaking idiots. Or the fact that they were living in his uncle's basement, and said uncle had to loan ("loan", ha! He'll never get paid back) them money to get what appeared to be a pretty crummy apartment...yeah, you are REALLY prepared to have a baby.

I enjoyed the update on Susan (although she has her issues) but Bettie Jo and Josh need to get their lying asses off my TV. They pissed me right off.

[iwasish]

If Bettie’s “mass” was so dangerous she couldn’t even lift the baby to feed him, who changed his diaper and fed him during the day? She was sitting there alone with him in his walker(?), saying how she couldn’t care for him.

[AVM]

42 minutes ago, Sasha888 said:

Bettie Jo and Josh are EXACTLY the people my wise old father (may he rest in peace) was talking about when he said people should have to pass some kind of IQ test before they have kids. It sounds harsh, but it's true. What kind of life is that poor child going to have. A mother who lies her ass off about having cancer (and having just lost both of my parents to cancer, this REALLY pisses me off), and a father who backs up the mother's lies...to the point that he'll argue with a medical professional. Even though he's so stupid he says the cancer might have to be diagnosed with a TELESCOPE! Yes, you are just the kind of person who needs to be arguing with a doctor...an idiot who can't tell a microscope from a telescope.

Not to mention the two of them winging that baby around and not supporting his head at all! Clueless freaking idiots. Or the fact that they were living in his uncle's basement, and said uncle had to loan ("loan", ha! He'll never get paid back) them money to get what appeared to be a pretty crummy apartment...yeah, you are REALLY prepared to have a baby.

I enjoyed the update on Susan (although she has her issues) but Bettie Jo and Josh need to get their lying asses off my TV. They pissed me right off.

Amen and thank you.I too have lost my parents and two sister to cancer and everything Betty Jo said was ridiculous ,and that poor baby I found my self yelling at the TV  ...hold his head you stupid Bitch ...

Edited April 19, 2018 by AVM

[Sasha888]

Whoever said "How long before they get a GoFundMe", you called it! Begging for a deposit on an apt and "everything needed for a new place" because they sold everything and left Texas.

Here's a thought...if you can't afford new furniture and housewares, and "all the stuff for a new place", maybe don't sell all your stuff? Maybe, oh I don't know, take it with you? Sometimes known as "moving", or in this episode I guess it was known as "taking stuff from the old house and putting it in the new house"!

[missnoa]

I'm gonna have to put Bettie Jo on the same spectrum as Steven - not nearly as severe of course - because what kind of horrid person lies to everyone that she has cancer? Everyone in her life probably thinks she has it and she's been lying about it because she doesn't want to do what she's supposed to be doing. Appalling. Her husband is also an idiot but we knew that from the original episode.

[auntjess]

31 minutes ago, iwasish said:

If Bettie’s “mass” was so dangerous she couldn’t even lift the baby to feed him, who changed his diaper and fed him during the day? She was sitting there alone with him in his walker(?), saying how she couldn’t care for him.

The production crew?  And does Josh work?  He doesn't look old enough.
Seriously, maybe his mother and/or his aunt and uncle, watch the baby.
 

[missnoa]

38 minutes ago, iwasish said:

If Bettie’s “mass” was so dangerous she couldn’t even lift the baby to feed him, who changed his diaper and fed him during the day? She was sitting there alone with him in his walker(?), saying how she couldn’t care for him.

Did you notice she was just fine to lift her dog when they were at the airport and that she was fine to have a super fully, heavy backpack on her shoulder too? Dr. Now also commented that when the baby cried she didn't even look at him. And there was no reason for her to not finish feeding the baby that bottle before she ate herself and then took her meds but she still made Josh stop moving them into their new place to take the baby and feed him. She's using every excuse to not take care of that kid. She wants to be taken care OF, not to do the caretaking.

[Sasha888]

6 minutes ago, missnoa said:

Did you notice she was just fine to lift her dog when they were at the airport and that she was fine to have a super fully, heavy backpack on her shoulder too?

I certainly noticed...and as the owner of a small but sometimes very determined Chihuahua, I can tell you when I'm in pain I'd much rather be carrying a small child than carrying a wriggling 7 lb dog who does NOT want his toenails trimmed! ;-)

Seriously though, you are absolutely right, she could carry everything else...that she FELT like carrying.

[MrHufflepuff]

Hey, everyone, I'm starting the Schenee and Bettie Jo Foundation for Cancer Intelligment and Telescope Knowledged.  Please make sure to donate.  Thanks!

[leighroda]

I said some of this in the live thread but what I don’t get is that this mass was soooo dangerous, yet she’s had it all her life. I don’t doubt it caused discomfort, even without a mass your back is bound to hurt at 400lbs, but she was milking that for all it’s worth. It was also frustrating that THEY insisted on a biopsy, that wasn’t medically indicated, but cry about how poor they are and live off everyone else. Then after being called out by Dr. Now she tried to pull the same crap on Dr. Paradise. So the pain all magically went away after they found out it wasn’t cancer? I don’t recall her saying it was removed just that it was confirmed not to be cancer... but suddenly she was able to start working out and eating better, if she were in so much pain before simply finding out it wasn’t cancer would not alleviate that.

 

It also annoyed me how she was all shocked at Dr Nows office that she hadn’t lost weight, she knew full well she had been eating crap and not working out, they think they can fool everyone by starving themselves the week of the appointment, that’s not how it works. They (the patients) have to know how important calorie counting and tracking is, so when she didn’t know how many calories were in the “protein bar” (my guess is it was a snickers) it was painfully obvious that she hasn’t done jack to watch her diet since she couldn’t work out.

[Miss Ruth]

58 minutes ago, Sasha888 said:

Whoever said "How long before they get a GoFundMe", you called it!

That was started in October, 2016.

[GoldaVining]

When Josh made the "telescope" comment during tonight's episode I was so happy/excited I could hardly finish watching the show. I just wanted to come here and read everybody's comments. Squeee! This is straight out of Steinbeck. Remember in Steinbeck's novel Sweet Thursday (sequel to Cannery Row) when Mack and the rest of the boys from the Palace Flophouse hold a raffle to buy Doc the microscope he needs to finish his research -- and then in their innocent ignorance they proudly present him with a telescope. Gold. Comedy gold! I'm so happy right now.

[Sasha888]

1 minute ago, Miss Ruth said:

That was started in October, 2016.

So then I guess they only raised enough money to move into his uncle's basement? 

Sorry, I'm confused as to when this was filmed vs when the GoFundMe started.

It's sad to me that I only know what a GoFundMe campaign is because of this show. So many deserving people have actual reasons for needing things like a GoFundMe site. Haven't seen one from this show yet that I'd call "deserving". Regardless of when it was started, "moving expenses" is not a real reason to me.

Got a sick kid? Sign me up. Have an terrible illness yourself? I'm there. House burned down, tornado, lost everything? I'd do whatever I could for someone like that.

But people whose reason is "I wanna move?" Go screw yourself. And get a job.

[NeitherSparky]

On 4/14/2018 at 10:22 AM, PrincessPurrsALot said:

A 400-lb, woman learns that she's pregnant, but wonders if she'll be able to deliver the baby without complications; a woman who lost 400 pounds is in a relationship, but it could be in jeopardy when weight-loss journey stalls.

I was wondering where this episode description came from? Because while the first one is Bettie Jo the second one isn’t Susan.

[Pretty5Vacant]

2 hours ago, leighroda said:

They (the patients) have to know how important calorie counting and tracking is, so when she didn’t know how many calories were in the “protein bar” (my guess is it was a snickers) it was painfully obvious that she hasn’t done jack to watch her diet since she couldn’t work out.

Lol! Snickers bar (King size)

[Kellyee]

So 95% of Dr. Now's patients will gain most of the weight back. Given how expensive the surgery is, what is even the point?? These people are mentally ill, and clearly surgery isn't the answer. Bettie Jo is living proof of that. I wanted to smack her for getting pregnant at 400 pounds. Stop whining about the health of your baby. If she cared about the health of her baby, she wouldn't have gotten pregnant when her body was not in a state where she could safely carry a child to term. These people are all about short-term happiness and satisfaction. That is their real problem. 

[gardendiva]

2 minutes ago, Kellyee said:

So 95% of Dr. Now's patients will gain most of the weight back. Given how expensive the surgery is, what is even the point?? These people are mentally ill, and clearly surgery isn't the answer. Bettie Jo is living proof of that. I wanted to smack her for getting pregnant at 400 pounds. Stop whining about the health of your baby. If she cared about the health of her baby, she wouldn't have gotten pregnant when her body was not in a state where she could safely carry a child to term. These people are all about short-term happiness and satisfaction. That is their real problem. 

I don’t think those two knuckleheads would even understand how babies were made, or how to prevent it from happening.

[Ray Adverb]

10 hours ago, mmecorday said:

And I am confused -- why did Betty Jo think she had cancer? Did she just make that up?

I think because of the spinal thing, one of her doctors probably mentioned cancer as a possibility.  So the topic was on her mind.  She sort of took a small seed and exaggerated it a lot, rather than making it up out of whole cloth.

[AnnaBaptist]

It must be so boring 99% of the time for the film crew to follow the patients around for months and watch them sit in bed, prepare a meal, visit Dr. Now, and maybe walk on the wild side and take a stroll to the mailbox and back. The moment Josh said "telescope", I could just picture the film crew looking excitedly at one another.

This really wasn't the best two to pair up for a "Where Are They Now?" episode. Bettie Jo spoke so slowly and deliberately, and Susan, in trying to avoid facing her issues with her mother, was not exactly Chatty Cathy, either. It was pretty slow going until the cancer business.

That said, I liked Susan. She had her ups and downs, and she has a lot of issues to work out, but she was honest. I was very happy to see that she got new walking shoes by the end of the episode. They must have felt like heaven compared to those beat-up shoes she wore before.

[calpurnia99]

I was really confused because they could not deal with her cancer while she was pregnant so I assumed as soon as she had the baby she would have surgery or radiation or treatment. But she just had it and no one was doing anything. Dr Now did say if you had cancer there it would be being treated immediately. She had back pain because she is 400 pounds. She kept saying before she saw Dr. Now that she had SO MUCH going on she had an excuse to be off the diet, and once he saw her he would agree..lol lol lol. She had NOTHING going on. She had a baby but no job. You had relatives helping you. No reason you can't stay on the diet. 

Susan is pretty but she also needs to fix her front teeth. 

[Tosia]

Bettie Jo is a narcissist, (like Twitney Thore), and upped her game to Munchausen's to seal the deal for sucking  all the air in the room. 

Crazy selfish in other (non-politically-correct)  words. 

Agree with missnoa that she's  on the spectrum, but mostly low cognitive factor for both of these gems--BJ and Josh. Poor cute baby,  Preston.

John Steinbeck would have a great laugh, as I did too, Goldavining!  You can't maje this stuff up,  but I guess Steinbeck did.  Hilarious in both cases. 

[Ray Adverb]

I found Betty Jo's half to be mostly boring because she hasn't really made much progress.  I can't blame her for stalling during the pregnancy though.

 

I didn't like the way Dr. Now treated Susan during her visits.  She stays the same or gains 6 pounds in two months and suddenly he's all "shape the fuck up or you're gonna be 600 pounds again!"  Did you see how terrified she was of every weight gain and of ballooning up again?  This kind of treatment is how people become anorexic.

[nlkm9]

So here is my question- was Susan a smoker when she had her skin removal surgery before and that’s why she had complications ?? Or did she just start smoking?? I would be surprised that dr now would do surgery on anyone who smoked. FYI it was so obvious dr now was going to check on Bettie jos cancer:)

[gardendiva]

Poor Susan has a tough road ahead of her. If she actually does manage to quit smoking, she is going to struggle even more with her weight as a result. 

[CarolMK]

I remember Susan saying that she did start smoking when she went on Dr. Now's diet, as a way to distract herself from eating. She says she traded one addiction for another. I do like the fact that Dr. Now told her mom to stop smoking and get healthier too. Also glad that Susan went to her final appointments without her mom.

I felt sorry for Bettie Joe thinking she had cancer, and was super irritated when I found out that she didn't. I'm a breast cancer survivor, and Dr. Now is absolutely right, cancer is treated right away. 

[CoachWristletJen]

9 hours ago, Sasha888 said:

Bettie Jo and Josh are EXACTLY the people my wise old father (may he rest in peace) was talking about when he said people should have to pass some kind of IQ test before they have kids. It sounds harsh, but it's true. What kind of life is that poor child going to have. A mother who lies her ass off about having cancer (and having just lost both of my parents to cancer, this REALLY pisses me off), and a father who backs up the mother's lies...to the point that he'll argue with a medical professional. Even though he's so stupid he says the cancer might have to be diagnosed with a TELESCOPE! Yes, you are just the kind of person who needs to be arguing with a doctor...an idiot who can't tell a microscope from a telescope.

Not to mention the two of them winging that baby around and not supporting his head at all! Clueless freaking idiots. Or the fact that they were living in his uncle's basement, and said uncle had to loan ("loan", ha! He'll never get paid back) them money to get what appeared to be a pretty crummy apartment...yeah, you are REALLY prepared to have a baby.

I enjoyed the update on Susan (although she has her issues) but Bettie Jo and Josh need to get their lying asses off my TV. They pissed me right off.

I hope that Social Services is watching the two of them like a hawk! I agree they are too dumb to be parents. And, it's just a safety issue. I'm thinking of properly fastened car seats and cleaned out sippy cups good choices in baby sisters and yes, simply supporting a baby's head when he's held! Not to mention the fact that they are both seriously f'd up! What kind of values can they possibly impart?

Bettie Jo has gone on the attack on her Facebook page, saying the show portrayed her wrong and the timeline was wrong. Uh, no. You lied, Bettie Jo. There was no timeline involved. And there's sycophants sucking up to her saying "You be You" or whatever. I think she's deleting negative comments.

I think that what she's really pissed off about is that her plans for a GoFundMe have been thwarted. Seriously if she had come out as a mom with cancer on a TV show people would have donated.

13 minutes ago, Tosia said:

Bettie Jo is a narcissist, (like Twitney Thore), and upped her game to Munchausen's to seal the deal for sucking  all the air in the room. 

Crazy selfish in other (non-politically-correct)  words. 

Agree with missnoa that she's  on the spectrum, but mostly low cognitive factor for both of these gems--BJ and Josh. Poor cute baby,  Preston.

John Steinbeck would have a great laugh, as I did too, Goldavining!  You can't maje this stuff up,  but I guess Steinbeck did.  Hilarious in both cases. 

I agree with all of this.

She worries me more than Schenee because she's got that tiny baby in her 450-pound hands. My guess is that she goes straight back up to 650!

She's also a mouth breather. A lot of the people on the show are. I guess those jaws are just too heavy to hold in place (although you'd think they would be strong from all of that chewing...seriously).

[ShaNaeNae]

8 hours ago, Sasha888 said:

Here's a thought...if you can't afford new furniture and housewares, and "all the stuff for a new place", maybe don't sell all your stuff? Maybe, oh I don't know, take it with you? Sometimes known as "moving", or in this episode I guess it was known as "taking stuff from the old house and putting it in the new house"!

Gah, my boyfriend and I rewound and played that part about 5 times laughing like hell at, "we're taking our old stuff from the old house and moving the old stuff into the new house..."  Yes Susan, you could have saved 30 seconds of your life by just saying "we're moving".

[calpurnia99]

3 minutes ago, ShaNaeNae said:

Gah, my boyfriend and I rewound and played that part about 5 times laughing like hell at, "we're taking our old stuff from the old house and moving the old stuff into the new house..."  Yes Susan, you could have saved 30 seconds of your life by just saying "we're moving".

she didnt even say moving our stuff she said transferring it. Lol

[ShaNaeNae]

10 minutes ago, calpurnia99 said:

she didnt even say moving our stuff she said transferring it. Lol

That's right!  Haha, she needed it to sound as official, tiring and tedious as possible.

[AVM]

Notice Bette Jo instead of actually doing something about her weight  and her overeating she started a weight-loss support group online ! Meanwhile who needs to eat a large taco salad to take a pill ?Bette-Jo does ....

[Tenarife60]

7 hours ago, Miss Ruth said:

That was started in October, 2016.

That's what I was going to say.  I remember when they did that several years ago, but I don't think they've done anything like that recently.  

[Tenarife60]

7 hours ago, Sasha888 said:

So then I guess they only raised enough money to move into his uncle's basement? 

Sorry, I'm confused as to when this was filmed vs when the GoFundMe started.

 

I believe this was filmed around the same time as their Gofundme because this segment was actually supposed to be aired last May, but for some reason it was postponed and only aired last night.  I remember when Bettiejo was talking about it, and her first plane trip to Houston, on her Facebook page.  That was almost two years ago.

[libgirl2]

9 hours ago, Sasha888 said:

Whoever said "How long before they get a GoFundMe", you called it! Begging for a deposit on an apt and "everything needed for a new place" because they sold everything and left Texas.

Here's a thought...if you can't afford new furniture and housewares, and "all the stuff for a new place", maybe don't sell all your stuff? Maybe, oh I don't know, take it with you? Sometimes known as "moving", or in this episode I guess it was known as "taking stuff from the old house and putting it in the new house"!

Unbelievable. And what's worse is the people who give them money! 

[Kellyee]

Quote

I found Betty Jo's half to be mostly boring because she hasn't really made much progress.  I can't blame her for stalling during the pregnancy though.

Lots of people eat super healthy during pregnancy. I know a vegan who had a perfectly healthy pregnancy, and several vegetarians. It was just another excuse. She probably couldn't stick to Dr. Now's 1200 calorie diet while pregnant, but she could have eaten healthy. She is full of shit. 

[calpurnia99]

it sucks they followed up on this deranged lunatic.  She is saying that when she saw Dr. Now it was before she saw an oncologist which makes no sense why did they go to Florida for the testing? Is that the only place that would do it?