A Christchurch woman suffering from obesity says her local health board has issued her a death sentence, by refusing her request for weight loss surgery for a fourth time.
Marie Early-O'Malley is one of many people across the country losing hope in the face of limited funding. She suffers from arthritis in both hips and both knees, which makes walking extremely painful and leaves her to rely on a wheelchair.
The only way she can exercise is at her local pool, as the water makes it easier to move, but losing weight naturally has become extremely difficult.
She says the Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) has rejected her requests for surgery four times, most recently because all funding for the service has already been allocated, leaving her unable to even get on the waiting list.
However, weighing 207kgs, she would need to lose another 20 or 30 kilos before she was eligible for publicly funded surgery.
She also would struggle to qualify for the limited funding available, as she doesn’t have diabetes.
Ms Early-O’Malley says the most recent rejection left her feeling like she was fighting for her life.
“I just felt like, ‘yeah, there's my death sentence, nobody's gonna give a s***’, that's what it felt like,” she says.
“Something has to break, I, and people like me, we deserve to have a decent life, nobody should have to suffer like this, and it's really hard.”
The 57-year-old says her weight blew out due to several medical conditions, including polycystic ovaries, and now her arthritis has left her unable to lose the weight naturally. She can no longer work and her main past-time is crocheting blankets for the YMCA.
Auckland obesity coach Kate Berridge says it's a problem seen all over the country and surgery is often the only viable solution.
“There is not equity across the whole country, there is greater numbers being done in Auckland than being done in the regions,” she says.
“We are currently the third fattest country in the OECD, and we need to be looking at the wider picture, not specifically asking who are suffering with this chronic condition to eat less and move more.”
The CDHB acknowledged the funding gap in a statement, saying that while they do not comment on individual cases publicly, they could “appreciate the person’s disappointment in not being selected for surgery”.
“While we would like to provide this treatment to everyone who requires it, as quickly as possible, as a DHB we have to work with the resources we have to provide treatment to those most in need. Prioritisation of patients is therefore required.”
The five DHBs in the South Island pool their bariatric surgery funding, with applicants assessed against certain criteria, which focus on those most in need.
Fifty-eight surgeries were carried out across the South Island in the 2018/2019 and a further 68 cases have been approved for 2019/2020.
That’s cold comfort for Ms Early-O’Malley, who continues to struggle every day. Her message to the health board today was a simple one.
“Please help me, I want to live.”
SHARE ME