'Two years to live': Why we used our super for weight loss surgery

Fili Fili and Natasha Narayan-Fili both had weight loss surgery in 2025. (ABC News: Johnson Raela) Link copiedShareShare articleWARNING: This story contains pictures of a surgery. At his heaviest, Fili Fili weighed about 300 kilograms. He still doesn't know exactly how heavy he was — 300 was just the number his doctor gave him after he maxed out the scales at the clinic in 2017. "You literally have two years left before you die," the doctor told him. Those words haunted Fili and kick-started years of yo-yo dieting — losing and regaining weight — and exercise, often with his wife Natasha Narayan-Fili by his side. "I actually got into dancing. I did salsa and zouk, I tried to get Tash into it, but we were both too fat to do it at the time. Our stomachs kept bumping and we couldn't hold each other," Fili said, as the couple laughed. The Melbourne-based couple said they tried every weight loss fad under the sun, and under the guidance of their doctor, they finally decided to undergo weight loss surgery. Fili Fili was told by his doctor his weight was a major health risk. (Supplied: Fili Fili) In June 2025, Fili received a sleeve gastrectomy and Single Anastomosis Duodeno-ileal Bypass (SADI), an additional procedure that improves metabolism. In a sleeve gastrectomy, commonly referred to as a gastric sleeve, a large portion of the stomach is removed. Since maxing out the scales, Fili has lost 180kg. In October 2025, Natasha underwent a sleeve gastrectomy and has since lost 30kg. Weight loss surgery has become an increasingly common option for people grappling with obesity, and gastric sleeves are the most popular procedure. A surgeon makes small keyhole incisions in the abdomen and removes 70 to 80 per cent of the stomach. The remaining stomach is reshaped into a narrow tube called a sleeve, which holds much less food, and patients feel full much faster. In a sleeve gastrectomy a large part of the stomach is permanently removed. (ABC News: Cordelia Brown) The surgery also reduces ghrelin production, a hunger hormone that helps suppress appetite. Over time, the patient loses a significant amount of weight. Fili and Natasha quickly noticed changes to their lives, including a huge reduction in living expenses. "Our food bill was $600 every fortnight. Since surgery, I've never seen another grocery bill hit $200," Fili said. "In summer, because I was such a massive person, I used to have the air con running 24-7 and that power bill was $500. But now our power bill is like $120 a month." Since they've lost weight, they also feel more ready to consider having children. "With the surgery it's given us opportunity to talk about it," Natasha said. Gastric sleeve surgeries have become a common procedure for people dealing with obesity. (ABC News: Johnson Raela) A Monash University and University of Sydney-led study published in the ANZ Journal of Surgery last year indicated bariatric surgeries, including sleeve gastrectomies, were generally safe. Common risks of bariatric surgeries — an umbrella term for a range of surgical procedures used for weight loss — include gastric leaks, bleeding, infection, and long-term nutritional deficiencies. Bariatric surgery is usually recommended if other weight loss options are not successful, according to Australian health advice website Healthdirect. The Victorian government's Better Health Channel website says obesity surgery is "an effective, durable, evidence-based treatment for severe obesity and its associated health problems" but that it's "best considered as a tool". "To obtain good long-term results, it is very important that patients are supported through their weight loss journey, to assist with permanent changes to their eating habits and lifestyle," it says. The surgery can cost between $20,000 to $30,000 in Australia, and to afford it, more people are applying for and getting approved for a "compassionate release of superannuation" (CRS). Fili and Natasha said they paid about $1,500 out of pocket for pre-operation appointments, but the majority of their surgery costs were covered by taking out the highest hospital cover in private medical insurance. Their remaining costs were covered by CRS. "So [Fili's] was about $10,000 and my gap fee was $7,000," Natasha said. Some patients are accessing their superannuation to fund gastric sleeve procedures. (ABC News: Johnson Raela) According to the Australian Taxation Office, 13,930 people applied for CRS between 2024 and 2025. The ATO approved more than 13,200 applications and $254.9 million was paid out. Wendy Brown, the clinical director of the Australia and New Zealand Bariatric Surgery Registry, said many people lacked private health insurance and needed options to cover the high costs of surgery. "It is important that people do have the option to take out their super to have this life-changing surgery that allows people to live long enough to probably enjoy their super," Professor Brown said.

'Two years to live': Why we used our super for weight loss surgery

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