Life or Death
STAND-UP GUY: Cyrus Tehrani exclaims upon standing from a prone position at a pre-surgery checkup last spring by bariatric surgeon Dr. Carson Liu, left, as sister Sheila watches. (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)
A REACH: Nurse Caroline DeOliveira measures Cyrus Tehranis waist during his monthly checkup six months after surgery. Before the Lap-Band procedure, he had been wearing 78-inch-waist pants. (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)
MOTIVATED: Cyrus Tehrani, spotted by half-brother Jacob, lifts weights at a gym in Pasadena six months after his surgery. Cyrus is committed to regular exercise, despite time away from his children. (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)
APPETITE FOR HUMOR: Siblings Sheila and Cyrus Tehrani reminisce about what little they ate for Thanksgiving 2005. Weighing 579 and 578 pounds, respectively, before their surgery last June, they took out a loan on the family home to finance the operations. (Brian Vander Brug / LAT)
