Losing weight can be hard work. This tastes so good. I'm my own worst enemy. For some, it's hopeless. I love the taste, feeling it coming down my throat. So now with the help of the Manukau SuperClinic,... That there is a cabbage, but it's red. Cabbage. OK? ...these supersized individuals... At the moment, I can't even feel your ribs. ...are about to launch themselves into the controversial world of weight loss surgery. Carbohydrates are very very addictive, like heroin or sex. We'll share their highs... BOTH CHUCKLE Nicki Minaj ain't got nothing on us. ...and their lows... I look at the rain, and it's like tears that are deep inside me. ...during their year-long quest... (SIGHS) Oh my God. LAUGHTER I've never done this stuff before. ...for a new body. This is... BOTH: ...awesome! HEART MONITOR BEEPS HEART MONITOR FLATLINES Copyright Able 2016 UPBEAT MUSIC CHUCKLING BOTH CHUCKLE Nicki Minaj ain't got nothing on us. No. BOTH CHUCKLE We got you there, sister. (CHUCKLES) At 166 kilos, Josephine's big ambition is to shake off 20 kilos to qualify for weight loss surgery. Ooh, I'm leaving my ass, though. I want Nicki Minaj. BOTH CHUCKLE At 35 years old, reclusive Josephine has discovered that exercise is fun... (LAUGHS) Oh, she's on fire. ...outdoors. (WHOOPS) Yeah, she` I very proud for her. Yeah, my legs are on fire. BOTH CHUCKLE They have to be. I've got that goal, got that goal ` 20kg. (WHOOPS) See, she` you can do that. I can't wait to be skinny. I don't know what that will be like. I've never been skinny. (CHUCKLES) Oh, you know, to be skinny ` don't be surprised ` you'll be very happy. I know. I'll have a lot of energy. Yeah. You'll be very happy, enjoy doing things, you won't get tired. You will have a lot of friends. (CHUCKLES) I won't be too shy then. (CHUCKLES) Oh, no, and people won't look down on you any more. I'm very sad and feel sorry for my daughter ` to see her like that. Uh, I had to push her along to stay` so she can go out and do other things and enjoy life and be` feel good about herself and to love herself more, than staying in the house. (BREATHES HEAVILY) What's it like walking on your own? I went from being isolated in the house, not talking to anyone, to coming out here, because I realised I just don't wanna live like that any more. I spent... almost 35 years... living... not` well, not really living ` hiding ` because of the shame of this,... the weight, and, um, it's not easy moving a` moving around, because I'm too heavy. I get nervous. I'm not quite sure, um, how people will react to me walking. Um, I get either a positive reaction or a very very negative reaction when I'm walking on my own, so most of the time I have my glasses on so I don't have to look at them when they're giving me that negative reaction, more like` What`? What negative reactions have you had? Stopping, like this, and looking at me or either pointing. So I just put my head down and just walk. LIGHT MUSIC Across town, sugar addict Maria is getting close to her goal weight and is on a Saturday morning high. INTERCOM: Place your order, please. Hi, can I have a BLT combo, please, with hot chocolate? It's time for a little treat... (KNOCKS) ...for Vincent. Thank you. Can I just have a smell of it? A smell? That's all I want is a smell. Mmm. (SNIFFS) BOTH CHUCKLE Deep-fried. Mm, it's good, eh? Yeah. Can I have another smell? The cat wants some now. (SNIFFS) Mmm, yes. (CHUCKLES) Cheap f` Cheap food for me, eh? (CHUCKLES) Just having a sniff. You` You can't have hot chocolate, can you? > Oh, I dunno. Don't really feel like it. One more smell... BOTH CHUCKLE ...to satisfy me. Yeah, just (SNIFFS) smell it. Can feel like I'm (SNIFFS) at the, um, (CHUCKLES) fish and chips or something. (SNIFFS) I might... (CHUCKLES) MUFFLED: Oh, all gone now. Oh, eat it properly. Don't just stuff it in your mouth. Enjoy it! I did. Learn some respect. Maria's in the right headspace for dieting. She's lost a total of 7 kilos, but her body has yet to get the message. Suffering from arthritis in her hip, exercise is a challenge. It's like a rocking feeling and as if you were walking on a stone on your left. It's in the groin area. You feel like you've got a knife pushing up in your side... in your hip there. Despite the pain, the former food explorer is determined to blaze a new trail. For the first time in 20 years, Maria is exercising, but a punishing daily walking routine is taking its toll. So, when you say you're getting pain... Not that sharp sorta stabbing, cos I'm more careful ` I try to use the other leg more ` but just, um, a consistent aching and just, so... which is` makes me do less exercise, because I haven't` (CHUCKLES) it's hard to, sort of, like` the enthusiasm has to be stronger to do it, (CHUCKLES) and just like, ugh. Uh, is it just the walking that you're doing? Yeah, but I try to, sorta, do big strides and push myself and... (CHUCKLES) Right. > Yeah. I think your hip's probably telling you something. You're probably pushing a little bit too hard. Um, so let's have a look at your movement and your strength. Now, is that hard work or painful? Um... Or is just there in the background? CLICKING Yeah, just in that. Just bending up both knees for me. CLICKING And if I bring this one up, tell me when it starts to give you... That is probably it, to be fair. (CHUCKLES STIFFLY) Yeah. Feel that twig in there. Yeah. Can you go up? Yeah. Push, push, push. Now, does that give you the same amount of pain? > Ow. (CHUCKLES) Can I drop it? (CHUCKLES) Yeah, sure. The muscles aren't functioning as well as they need to be. I mean, if you're getting... discomfort during an exercise, that's OK. If you're sore as a result of the exercise afterwards for up to half an hour onwards, it's not OK. This is a little bit of a setback, so,... Yeah. ...um, we'll see if we can get the inflammation under control for... Yeah. When you're in constant pain, you don't really feel like doing much with the joint at all, and constant pain can cause depression or lead to depression, um, as well as not being able to sleep through the night, which is a big factor. (BABBLES) Oh, my turn. (CHUCKLES) No. My turn. My turn. (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) No. . Tucked under the flight path in deepest Papatoetoe, Maria takes the physio's advice to heart and pulls the plug on the exercise. It's a crash landing for Maria's dreams, as she's forced to ease back just as she needs a last push to make her weight loss goal. Now it's such a struggle. Mm. Big sister Rose offers some support. What do you`? What are you missing right now? Mm... I suppose the takeaways. But apart from takeaways, anything else? The McDonald's morning breakfast is like, 'Mmm!' (CHUCKLES) You know, it's just like` There's all sorts of things like, 'If you do this, do this, you're gonna feel better.' But you gotta have the motivation, and you don't want to. < And you haven't got the motivation? Oh, no, I haven't. It's just, like, anything` any excuse under the sun or, you know... I don't know if it's being stubborn or not, but it's just like, 'Nah.' You've gotta be stronger than your conscience. You've gotta want to do it. Oh, well, that's` I don't know if` I think you've gone this far and you wanted to do it. Is Maria's longing for fast food going to derail her future? LIGHT MUSIC It's two weeks later, and Maria is scheduled for her weigh-in appointment, but is she going to show up? LIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES I haven't, uh, been able to do as much exercise as I would've liked to have done, so I'm not feeling 100% happy with myself, cos I expect more, and, um,... yeah, it's not been easy. It's been hard. Go on. MOCKINGLY: Yes, Vincent. Whatever you say, Vincent. Yes, come on, Mother. Yes. Don't call me Mother. (CHUCKLES) She does it without the shoes on. That's right. Come on, up you go. Come on. Deep breaths, look straight forward. Yes, yeah. Look down. Look down. Oh, it's moving. That's what you are. So, it's... What is it? 130? 129.8 The magic number is 129. She's made it. Maria, what did it say? Are you pleased? No. I` I know I should be happy about it, but... you go through the phases of the chocolate and the sweet and the salt, and now it's just like you feel in limbo. (CHUCKLES) OK, Maria. Hello. Hello. Kate Berridge, bariatric nurse specialist. Bariatric specialist nurse Kate Berridge helps patients overcome the physical and the mental challenges of weight loss. She is a crucial member of the team and helps decide who gets surgery. You've met the goals. Really really happy with the goals that you've met. I'm delighted that you've been putting a lot of thought and energy into this, but being well prepared mentally is really really useful, > and we're gonna work on where you come from in the past so that you get to the future, and what we need to do is work on today. We just deal with today. Anxiety and fear in our heads ` we spend a lotta time in the future, and we forget to be really present here and now. Maria's made it on to the surgery waiting list, but now she's got what she needs, she's unsure it's what she wants. POIGNANT MUSIC I'm questioning myself ` if I really want this surgery, if I'm 100% for it. When they've taken that stomach out, you can't think, 'Well, I can go back to normal,' or, 'I can...' It's never gonna be the same. Everywhere you look, you see people eating. Even animals are eating, (CHUCKLES) and... it's` I just stare and think, 'Gosh,' you know, 'I'm giving that up, and I'm not gonna be able to eat for a long time.' I look at the rain, and it's like tears that are deep inside me. I... (SIGHS) . CHATTER Today, Josephine's life could change forever. She finds out if she qualifies for weight loss surgery. It could be a lifesaver for Josephine. Struggling with size and sickness, it could reverse her illnesses. Without it, she'll be facing an early death, just like her dad. (KISSES) Hi, Dad. This is where Dad was buried, right here. That's for extra large. I'm just measuring from where Dad is. Um, my dad was 49 years old, and he died because of his weight. And it turned the food` eating the food, uh, to his best friend. Me and Dad, looking at it, we're both the same. I followed his same patterns ` um,... eating, unhappiness... and health problems. I know you don't want me to end up like you, but I did, but things are gonna change now. I'm gonna have surgery done. What this surgery will do, it will change my life. I know you're gonna be happy, eh, Dad? POIGNANT MUSIC But for Josephine to fulfil her promise to her father, she has to weigh-in 20 kilos lighter than she did three months ago. What was your target weight loss? Oh, 20kg. Have you weighed yourself recently? Do you have any idea how much you weigh right now? No. No, she don't know. No. I have no idea. You wanna pop yourself on here, my darling? Mm. And he's given you a very big tall order, hasn't he? Yeah. < Right, okey-dokey. Come through with me. You're pretty much the same weight. We're not gonna be moving toward surgery in a big hurry. When did the weight come on? How long...? > Uh, I've always been, uh... Even when you were a teenager? > Yeah, eh, Mum? Always been a fattie. OK. > Since I was little, all the way... But, um, it got worse when Dad died. OK, so how long ago is it since he died? > 16 years ago. < He did everything for us. OK. I didn't have a say... in anything. So` So there was lots of stuff, > because you didn't need to,... Yeah. ...you didn't learn. < Yeah. OK, so food was something that just got provided for. < Yeah. OK. There was always food in the house, um, but since he died, everything just... ...changed. > ...fell` Yeah, changed, fell apart. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. > So, tell me, what have you been doing since you saw Mr Babor? Weet-Bix, I have four, um, two toasts and cup of tea, um, and for lunch, I have my sandwiches, but not as much as I did before, and in the afternoons I have noodles, um, one of those container ones, but I have two. OK, good. So, I think what we need to tackle is the food. Yeah. So, what we've got in there is we've got quite a lot of what we call carbohydrate and not a lot of the vegetables and the green stuff, which is kind of important. So what I'm thinking might be really really useful is we do need to change what you eat. What's that? Turnip. Oh. Um... These? Beans. Shallot. Sha` Shallots. I have no idea what these are. So, that there, that's called parsley. Oh. That's a different kind of lettuce. Oh. That there is a cabbage, but it's red. Cabbage. OK? And something really interesting about vegetables ` see how they're all quite different colours? Mm. See, that one's a red one. Different coloured vegetables have different nutrients in them. So we like you to have lots of different colours, cos you get different vitamins from different colours. So, that's a cabbage, but it's red. What do you do with that? That one, you make coleslaw or you just put it in a little bit of water, and you sort of steam it, and put some` maybe some lemon juice or some mint jelly with it or something like that. It tastes really yummy. Those are beans. OK. What do you do with those? Steam them, make a salad out of them. Oh, you can have salad with that. Have them hot, cold. Yeah, you can put that into a salad. Do you know what baked beans are? Oh, yes, yes. That's what baked beans are made out of. Is that what it looks like? Yeah. Oh. Yeah. Oh. POIGNANT MUSIC Josephine doesn't make it on to the surgery waiting list. She has to start her weight loss journey all over again and wait another three months before she gets the chance to weigh in. (SNIFFLES) POIGNANT MUSIC CONTINUES It's not easy for me to express how I feel. I've never worked so hard for anything before. BIRDS CHIRP POIGNANT MUSIC Are you gonna let it get you down? No. What are you gonna do? I'm gonna fight harder, because now I know that I` I deserve... a life, not like before. I always thought I didn't deserve anything, but, um,... just thinking about it made me realise the only reason why I didn't deserve those things is because I didn't believe in myself, but having that emotion that day, it fired up` it's fired something inside of me to... not look back, just keep on going. SOMBRE RESOLVED MUSIC BIRDS CHIRP So the next time, when I go for my appointment, I'll be ready. (CHUCKLES) I'll be ready. I'll be ready. I'll be ready. I'll be... I'm gonna lose that weight. I'm not gonna go back. BIRDS CHIRP Next time on The Big Ward ` I'll have the` the sandwich one. we meet Pasione. This is the same combo I've been buying for about the last four years. Actually, probably seven years. Maria gets ready for surgery,... I hope I don't have to wear a hairnet. That just will not look good. CHUCKLING ...and Richard gets stuck. (CHUCKLES) We're gonna have to pull out of this one. This will be the first case ever that I've not been able to do. (SIGHS) Man, turn the camera off. Captions by Shrutika Gunanayagam. Edited by Ingrid Lauder. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air.