Saturday, February 14, 2015

This lady needs to be helped. How about a 'Give a Little,' help!

Having chosen the Bariatric Surgery pathway, I know how much one's health and life improves, if one sticks to the plan. As an older person I had to increase the mortgage on my home in order to pay for the procedure. I figured that by doing this, I was investing in my life. I am extremely happy with the result. I have been lucky in that I did not have the huge 'skin hang' and the associated problems, both physical and psychological. I have chosen not to go ahead to remove excess flab, mainly due to my age and the extra expense. However this the young lady is completely different to me and I am NOT talking about her obvious beauty! I admire her so much as she has 'done it for herself,' something that I tried many times but failed as the weight kept going back on and then some after each FAILESD diet. We are all different and need to consider options that work for us. In the long term, State funding of both procedures would save the tax payer money in the long run. For the obese and the attending health problems, losing the weight would lessen the health bill and for those having BS, it is often necessary to have the operation the young lady wants. I totally support her and her battle with the hospital. Give her back her life! However politicians do not see the bigger picture. They bare enmeshed in the three year election cycle. What does that say about them. They are more concerned with their political survival than look at real solutions. I am not suggesting that either operation is the way to go for everyone. I would far rather we had healthy kids and a society that does not rely on fast and processed foods, locked away in offices and bedrooms, with our eyes fixed upon LED screens, instead of using that which NZ has in abundance--- the great outdoors. I have noting but good wishes for Elora and would love to help; once the 'Give a little' campaign starts---if it has. I suspect that Elora has not chosen this method, but please ---someone who knows how to start it ---do so. Elora deserves this chance. www.authorneilcoleman.com Here is the article from the NZ Herlad::::::: Christchurch Health Health & Wellbeing A Hamilton man who lost 70kg is backing a woman's call for the government to fund excess skin removal. Elora Harre documented her two-year battle against obesity online and has called on her thousands of fans to help fight Christchurch Hospital's decision not to go ahead with a "life changing" operation. The 21-year-old wants the excess skin - which is the result of losing nearly 55kg through healthy eating and exercise - to be removed from her body. Now, Hamilton man Joseph Arthur, 21, said he was in the same position and supported her call. About five years ago he weighed in at more than 174kg, but has since lost 70kg through eating healthy and exercise. Arthur said doctors have told him we would not be able to remove his excess skin because there is not enough funding. "I can use things like Bio Oil to help but it won't be instant. I don't see why I don't see why I can't have surgery. I'm a lot more healthy than I was," he said. "I've gone through all that hard work, they didn't spend the money on a gastric bypass. Imagine if I had become diabetic, how much I'd cost the health system. The health difference is astronomical." Arthur added that the excess skin made him unhappy and he felt his weight loss was not such an achievement. "I have no self-confidence and feel personally unattractive and other people think I am. I really wanted to look better and be healthier," he said. The call to have the surgery funded for patients like Arthur and Harre has sparked debate online. "I'm a bit bewildered by it all, taken aback by what's been going on," she told the Herald on Sunday. "It's good that it sparked debate." Harre's sister has set up a Give A Little page so that she can pay for the surgery privately. "I will still be sticking up to the CDHB to try and pave the way for others in my shoes," she said. She has booked a consultation with a surgeon for April. "I think that the excess skin removal surgery should be available to a select amount of people who fit a certain description (not as certain as it is now!) to help those who are left with the aftermath of extreme weight loss. "Despite the fact I have lost this 100 per cent naturally through a paleo lifestyle, I do not think it needs to take away from gastric bypass or any other weight loss surgery, but I do believe it is just as important."