Melinda Adams: From A Stationary Seamstress To The Ultimate Thrillseeker

Felicity Cohen: Welcome to my Wellness Warriors Podcast. My name is Felicity. I’m the CEO of WeightLoss Solutions Australia. And I’ve been working in the field of bariatric surgery now for 20 years, about to head into a next, the new decade 2020, will mark my 21st year working in this field. And one of the reasons why I’ve started up this podcast is to really dive back into looking at all the people who’ve influenced my career and shaped my future through their own personal journey.

So I’m really, really excited to have the opportunity to launch this podcast and just disclose some of these incredible stories. And I have so many memories and today I’m really lucky, very fortunate. To have Melinda Adams with me today. Welcome Melinda.

Melinda Adam: Thank you, for inviting me.

Felicity Cohen: So, so many memories of my time, since I’ve known you and what your journey’s looked like, and I’m going to kind of cast your memory back to 2004.

And my very, very first memory of meeting you was, your parents brought you along to an information night. And I remember talking to your parents and they were so worried for you, obviously someone that, you know, the love of their lives, you’re their daughter, their pride and joy. They weren’t just worried about your health, they were worried about your longevity.

And I think your parents said to me, “we’re scared that my daughter, that our daughter is actually not going to survive”. And it was a very, very intense, emotional experience for me, you know, getting to know your parents and how that was just, there was so much fear for them.

Do you remember that night coming to the information night?

Melinda Adam: Absolutely. Yeah, just even walking up the hill to, to the event itself. And, yeah, I remember you meeting you and the surgeon, and the team there. Yes. Room full of people. Yes. Very memorable, even though it was quite a few years ago, but yeah,

Felicity Cohen: It’s a really hard position to put yourself in to anybody who’s taking that first step.

And who’s willing to sit there in that room, in that space. The first thing that they’re saying to themselves is, I actually really need to do something to change my life.

Melinda Adam: Absolutely. I think my parents were scared. Because way back in 2004, weight loss surgery was still relatively new-ish.

And I think that were concerned about the actual surgery. Not only just for me, but the actual, my mom was pushing me in a slightly different direction but I was leaning towards the surgery. So they had hesitation about a surgical approach as well as the whole thing. But yeah, it all worked out in the end.

Felicity Cohen: They must’ve been so happy to see you go through that journey, succeed and achieve so much over, over such a long period of time. What was that like for your parents going through that with you?

Melinda Adam: Well, yeah, they were very excited about all my, my little milestones and the one in particular that I do remember was, I started with a figure that started with the two at three figures and started with the two. Unfortunately.

Felicity Cohen: Can we talk about that?

Melinda Adam: Yeah. Yeah. I started at 215 kilos. And I think about a 72 BMI.

Felicity Cohen: Unbelievable. Really to think. I mean, looking at you today, picture of health. That’s kind of hard to believe isn’t it?

Melinda Adam: But yeah, I’m a bit embarrassed that I got that big, but it’s the reality. The first, I think in the first year I lost 35 kilos. So getting back into the one hundreds came quite quickly. It actually came within the first sort of three or four weeks and in the first two weeks, I lost 12 kilos. But it took a long time to get down through the one hundreds.

But one Christmas Eve, I went to my parents weighing 101 kilos. And on boxing day I had a shower and stepped on the scales and I weighed 99 kilos and I screamed. And I called mom and dad to come in and have a look, and here’s me who never shows any part of said body to anybody, wrapped in a towel, but yeah, showing arms, which I don’t, hadn’t never shown people before.

Yeah, because I was so thrilled that I had reached double figures for the first time and never ever, and look who loses two kilos after Christmas? Yeah. So yeah. Cool. My parents who didn’t end yet never went back to ever being in the three figure ever since then. So yeah, that was just, that a milestone that I remember.

Felicity Cohen: An amazing first milestone.

Just huge. Well, I think first milestone was actually showing up for yourself at that seminar, making that decision to have your surgery and just choosing the future that you wanted to create for yourself. So when I first met you, you made your own clothes. You were wearing some ink, you know, they were always obviously beautifully made because you were an exceptional seamstress.

And I remember what you were doing in your career at that time, but I also vividly remember, not only did you make your own kaftans and clothes to wear, but you were so limited in your capacity in that work environment. You would live behind or hide behind your sewing machine. And you would move from either from your sewing machine to the ironing board.

And I remember you telling me that’s, as far as I move from the sewing machine to the ironing board

Melinda Adam: or the overlocker.

Felicity Cohen: So if you think back to that stage of life, what does that make you feel now? Thinking back to that?

Melinda Adam: Yeah, like at the time I enjoyed what I was doing, because I loved being creative and I was very good at what I did, but yeah, you are, you’re boxed into that career because, I was capable, physically capable of doing that job and I wasn’t capable of physically capable of doing much else. But as time went on, and you lost weight, yeah, just your mindset changes. And different things, enter your mind of what you’re capable of doing.

And I’m, yeah, I’ve left that career behind many years ago now and have done quite a few different diverse things. From working out in the fly in fly out world of being a camp manager in 59 degree heat in the middle of the Australian desert, from somebody that had to live in air conditioning nine months of the year, because it just couldn’t survive.

And if you go out into the heat of Queensland, for 20 minutes at a time and then come back into air conditioning to totally flipping and being able to work. I’m not saying 59 degree heat, isn’t hot, but being able to survive and cope and work out there, yeah. And just progressively gone from different careers, that have been able to, that have opened to me that I was never able to do because of physical limitations before.

But it just changes your mindset of, as said, I was happy sewing back then, but thinking, okay. I said things just move on and, and you don’t realize the change of your mindset doesn’t happen overnight. It just gradually happens. And you, you realize, okay. Oh yeah, I can do this or I want to do that.

I’ll try this. I’ll give this a go. And, yeah, I’ve always liked adventure things as well. And over the years, I’ve, jumped out of planes a couple of times. One was just two months ago for my, for my birthday. From whitewater rafting earlier this year, I was in New Zealand and rafted down a seven metre waterfall, the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world.

Yeah, just lots of, I liked doing those things and those things were just excluded that you wouldn’t ever allow to certainly not at my weight, but even other times I’ve traveled or been in South America, that, yeah, I was pulled aside. I was probably maybe 150 kilos at the time and pulled aside on the day we were white water rafting and told, “no, you can’t. You can’t be part of this group” and it just, yeah, it makes you, yeah. It’s not nice to be not being able to be included, but yeah. Now you can do whatever you, whatever you want in those active, crazy activities.

Felicity Cohen: You’ve become the ultimate thrill seeker. I think it’s just amazing. And watching, watching you actually go through that journey and take onboard those activities.

Can we just go back to that stage when you were at those, that three digit number? What were some of the other lifestyle limitations? How did you live your life in those days? And what does, what did that look like for you?

Melinda Adam: Oh, well, I lived in an apartment on the first floor and always used the lift because just walking up, even one flight of stairs was, was a challenge. The apartment complex was on the river at Kangaroo Point that has some steep steps all the way down to the pool and to, it was on the river at Kangaroo Point.

And for probably the first 10 years I lived at that complex, oh, I never went down there. You can get down, but just getting back up the stairs was too much of a challenge. So it just never happened. Yeah, just, I said, living in air conditioning, so making sure that your car had air conditioning or, and said venturing out into the Queensland heat in summer for 20 minutes at a time to, before getting back into something, whether it be the car, the back home or, or shopping centre or something.

Yeah. And just, yeah, so you ventured out into the world in little tiny bits, but just, I said totally, totally living in air conditioning. Yeah, you couldn’t buy clothes, so that’s why I made them, but fortunately I had the capability of making them, so yeah, when I had lost weight it to, to say that I, rather now enjoy buying clothes, it was just such a thrill in the beginning to actually walk into a shop.

And over the years you might see something on special that was a size or two lower, and I buy it. And that was your sort of goal too, to be able to wear that one day. So yeah, I always had this revolving brand new wardrobe, which was really lovely because yeah, the oldest size, the biggest sizes they were becoming too big.

So you then you had a whole new wardrobe to move into and, yes. It’s expensive cause you have to always buy new bras and in smaller sizes but that’s immaterial. That’s, that’s the fun part.

Felicity Cohen: I mean, we love that you’ve become a bit of a fashionista, you know, every time you walked in here throughout the last number of years, there’s always been colour and patterns and this changing, evolving image as well.

What was your social life like back then? Did you feel that you were a little bit socially, were you socially isolated? What did that look like?

Melinda Adam: What I remember about socialising is, I would be always the person that would organise the restaurant, for example, to go out to, and I would always ring them in advance to see if they have chairs without arms.

Because I couldn’t fit in a chair that had arms. So that was always, it didn’t stop me from going out. But, yeah, it, I said, I always put my hand up to be the organizer so that I could, ensure that, yeah, sometimes they wouldn’t, they might, their chairs would generally have arms, but they’d find one.

I said, I could, could you, do you have one in the office with something? Could you put somewhere on the table? So yeah, most places were quite, accommodating.

Felicity Cohen: What’s changed?. What’s what’s social life like now, you know?

Melinda Adam: Finding a restaurant that only small servings of food. What I do is I take doggy bags, putting the takeaway containers in my handbag, because I can’t physically eat.

Like an entree is just too big. So you order an entree and take home half of it, home because that’d be your meal for another day. The following day or something.

Yeah, and just looking at portion sizes. Oh my God, restaurants just serve such huge, whoppingly massive portion sizes that would feed me for a week.

So yeah. So again, just choosing restaurants and that yeah, have food choices that suit me. But yeah, going to the cinema would always be hard, I’d always find, make sure it was sort of going to cinemas that had arms that could move up, fold up so that you could, yeah extend and traveling on airplanes was impossible.

Felicity Cohen: Did you travel?

Melinda Adam: Not when I was that big. Yeah, as I sort of slowly lost weight, I was able to travel, but yeah, you’d need the seatbelt extender and some embarrassing to, to put your hand up, “Excuse me, you know, the seatbelt extender”, and they bring it to you. You are restricted. You’re the larger people aren’t allowed to sit in certain seats of the airplane that are over the wing that the, emergency rows.

But I could fly. So yeah. You, you tolerated those, minor inconveniences because before I wasn’t able to. Not that I, probably not that I wasn’t able to, but I physically didn’t because I would probably like, even when I vaguely fit in a seat, you’re still conscious that you are encroaching on the people, either side of you. But when I was really, really big, you’d probably have to buy two tickets or so. And it’s just not, yeah. I just never did it.

Felicity Cohen: Wow.

Melinda Adam: Yeah, that’s what I said. It’s just, I, yeah, changed life, 360 degrees from, from everything from work to, I said travel. I love traveling and have I have, yeah, go away many times a year to different places in Australia and overseas.

Felicity Cohen: So I actually, let’s just talk through your thrill seeking kind of approach to doing crazy adventure, sports and things. I actually remember when you first went to New Zealand and went bungee jumping.

Melinda Adam: No, no, no, no, no.  I’d be jumping out of the plane.

Felicity Cohen: Jumping out of a plane!

Melinda Adam: I can jump out of a plane, but I can not bungee jump. I don’t know, it’s not logical, but I can’t do bungee jumping, but yeah. Happy to jump out of the plane.

Felicity Cohen: Yeah. I remember you saying you had to be a certain weight to be able to do that, so that was really important to you.

Melinda Adam: Yeah, exactly. Becuase it had been something that I’d been wanting to do for quite some time. And yeah, I had to get to a certain, weight to be able to be allowed to, to do it obviously for safety reasons, because you know, and you don’t want to hurt, you want to harm yourself and, or the person you are strapped to.

And yeah, the company has certain safety regulations that they have to meet and make sure that everything’s done within the guidelines. So yeah, that I think was in 2011, I think I did that.

Felicity Cohen: Do you think that gives you a certain sense of freedom, that all of a sudden I can actually do these things that I couldn’t before?

What is it liberating? How does that actually feel?

Melinda Adam: Well it’s sort of now became become norm because it’s now been many years that I’ve been. It  took me about seven years to lose, I’ve lost about 130, 135 kilos. So it took me seven years to do that, not being this weight for seven or eight years.

Felicity Cohen: Do you actually realise the magnitude of that number?

That is actually phenomenal, you say it so casually, but it is an, very incredible achievement. I don’t know that you, potentially underestimate what that actually looks like. That is just incredible.

Melinda Adam: I still have clothes. I should have brought some down. I still have, some of the clothes that on the day that you would have first met me or the first few appointments.

Yeah, they are slightly deteriorating. They have holes cause they’re so old, but, yeah, I, yeah, I look back on them and yeah, it could fit probably three people in them.

Felicity Cohen: Incredible. It really is incredible. And I think that big thing in terms of testimonial to you is, and we touched on this when we were just chatting earlier, is your mindset, you know, how mindset has impacted your whole pathway, post weight loss, and your direction  in life.

Talk to me a little bit about mindset and how that’s really helped you, I guess, drive change for you personally. What’s important about that?

Melinda Adam: Oh it’s, in the beginning, it’s not something you realize is going to happen or you, is part of the whole big picture goal or anything.

It just, it just happens along the way as a byproduct. So yeah, you just, you realize that you’re more capable, you’re capable of doing other things. And as said, for me, I fell out of passion for sewing. Still I said to this day, I could still do the quality of work of, as you know, I’ve worked in London for the Queen’s couturier and for Princess Diana’s, couturier, but yeah, I said, I’ve I lost passion.

And I don’t know why, that happened. It just did. And then, okay, well what else can I do? Cause I then had goals of other more financial goals of buying properties. “Okay, I need to increase my income”, what do I, what can I do?

Felicity Cohen: So can we just kind of dive into that for a minute? Cause I said to you earlier, your, the first person in my entire career, who taught me that, as a result of drastic weight loss, that patients were changing their financial health and wellbeing.

And it’s a subject that I’ve explored. And you were surprised because you said to me, well, but isn’t that normal for so many people. But until it was, 10 years into my career that you actually said to me, I’ve changed my, you know, as far as changing career, I’ve changed careers.

I’ve changed my attitude towards my financial health and wellbeing. I’m investing in property. That to me was a massive moment in time for me, that marked me. And I’ve actually now watched so many patients who talk to me about, “I’ve changed my career. I’ve gone for that job promotion. I’ve got the self esteem to go for more.”

Talk to me a little bit about that. What does that look like?

Melinda Adam: Well, sort of their previous job in sewing paid, not a particularly great figure. And yeah, I had a goal to, to buy further property. So it was like, okay, I’m not going to do that. Where I am at the moment. And whether that  brought on them, the losing of passion of sewing, I don’t know.

But, I said it just then fueled, “what else can I do?” And I sort of looked around, I thought, okay, what can I do? And I. got myself a HR truck license. I worked at, got a job out in the mining industry, in camp management, but then that’s, then I’ve now used my truck license for other, other jobs in terms of driving heavy vehicles and large vehicles.

And with each job and, has sort of has led to the neck. They’ve still, even though three or four careers after sewing have all been reasonably diverse, they’ve sort of built on each other and you, the skills that you developed in one, you can tap into that for the next one and tap into that for the, for the, for the next one and just, yeah.

Being able to yeah. I’ve built an investment house and I’m looking at buying something next year again. Just because you say you’ve been able to increase your financial security by doing different jobs that you were just not physically capable of doing before. But yeah, and I like to think I’m a positive person, that if something.

Felicity Cohen: Stop right there, you are an incredibly positive person.

Honestly, you say those things so casually, but I’m sitting here thinking this is incredible. You know, those life changes are absolutely for me quite overwhelming. You know, you’ve, you’ve evolved your career. It’s been a complete evolution for you and change in direction of your whole life journey. That trajectory has just changed like a million percent to me.

What, just listening to you and, you know, going after jobs, creating goals for yourself, having a vision. To you, it’s just normal now, it’s par for the course, but for most people, that’s a tough, tough call that you’ve kind of taken on so much that you are, I don’t know. You’ve got a vision for your own future you’re goal driven.

You’re, you’ve got ambition. You have built financial wealth and freedom. That’s just amazing, Melinda.

Melinda Adam: Okay, thank you, I appreciate that. It’s just. Yeah, it’s just life. I don’t, if I can inspire, if it inspires other people, that would be great. That would, yeah, be good to know that I’ve been able to do help people, but it just, it just happened.

It wasn’t, wasn’t the goal in the, in the outs, in the beginning for any of that, anything of that to happen, but it just did. But I think I said I’ll, if something bad or negative happens, don’t choose to look at it in a negative way. There always has to, there’s always a silver lining somewhere.

And if something bad happens, you don’t lose, you just learn. So yeah, find the learning aspect of it and move on and, and use it to your advantage next time. Yeah, I try not to surround myself with negative people. They just get you down. Yeah. And so, yeah, and, and there have been people in my life that I no longer am in contact because of that choice of, yeah, you’re, you’re criticizing, you’re limiting, whatever reasons I don’t need that in my life.

So I choose to not have you in my life. That has been tough, for those people and that involved, but it’s yeah, my choice. You got all this, and just be positive and, and, yeah, for life.

And I like to project, like, I suppose I said goal setting, like I there’s a few things at the moment thinking things that I’m wanting to happen within my, careers. Okay. Just put them out there into the world and, yeah, and they’ll come back, hopefully the way they, you want them to, and yeah, they, they do, they, yeah, just be positive.

Felicity Cohen: I love your positive attitude. I think it’s absolutely fantastic. And I guess, you know, let’s think about, if you hadn’t have had the surgery, do you ever stop to think about what would’ve my life have looked like if I hadn’t gone down this pathway?

Melinda Adam: I actually haven’t, but yeah, I suppose I would be still living in my tiny little studio apartment and trapped.

Yeah and possibly not, not even here. I don’t know if, if, how far away, health issues, significant health issues were. I was probably 34 or something, maybe, I can’t, yeah, when I had the surgery, and I’ve just turned 52.

Felicity Cohen: Amazing. It’s incredible. I am going to touch on the fact that you actually had a gastric band.  In 2004, that was actually the only procedure that we could offer patients. We didn’t have anything else then, but you know, for, for me, you’re a great testamonial to the fact that the band has been the greatest device you could possibly have had for you. And I think part of that is also, your mindset, obviously your positive mindset, treating your band well, working with your device and really sticking to goals all the way through the journey.

There are, you know, there are a lot of patients who still have done so, so well with the band, and I think it’s important just to highlight the fact that that’s still the device that you have in place now.

Melinda Adam: Oh, God yeah, back in 2004, there was no other option. Yeah. So, and if somebody came to me today, I would sing the praises of having a lap band 100%.

But it’s only because that’s my only experience and it’s been successful for me, but I also, I said, I work with it. I have my little, little indications along the way that, because I’d probably have my lap band adjusted two or three times a year. I keep it tight and it is tight, because I know what if it’s loose and I can put food in my stomach, I do.

So yeah, I don’t, I’m never hungry so you eat because you know, you have to, it’s not because, yeah.

Felicity Cohen: You’re fueling your body. You are treating yourself well, you’re focusing on good nutrition, but also treating you. Yeah. But also working with the, with your device. And to be honest, that is the same approach for any very bariatric intervention that patients need to choose to work with whatever they’ve got.

And I just think it’s a great testimonial, you know, to talk to you so many years later down the track, you know, you’re still living with your band and doing well with your band. And I think it’s an important message to get out there because it’s still a great device for the right person. We don’t offer it to many people anymore, but I just think it’s great to see that. You know, you’ve just done so well with this particular device and made it work for you.

Melinda Adam: Yeah. I, I like it because it’s adjustable, its removable if need be. So yeah, if it had to come out, it could, I would probably put all the weight back on, so it’s not coming out. Yeah. so yeah, you just learn to, yeah, it is my best friend because it’s, it’s what I needed to be sitting here today. Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve what I have.

Felicity Cohen: The weight loss to be honest has protected you from so many things. It’s given you. First of all longevity, second of all, you know, good health and prevented you from being that person that would have been at risk of so, so many medical complications.

So you’ve actually sought, set yourself up for that healthy future.

What do you see for the future? Let’s talk about where Melinda’s going to be, you’re 52 now, 62? 72? Let’s talk about that and beyond. What does that look like for you?

Melinda Adam: Oh, okay. Immediately, I have another property purchase goal in mind, but it won’t happen until next year for a variety of different reasons, but it’s been long, it’s a long-term goal.

But yeah it’s goals are, you might have the big goal, but you have to break it down into the little steps along the way. And there’s been a few that have needed to be put in place, which are finally in place. And now there’s a couple more, so yeah, I’m positive. I will get there next year. Yeah. Oh, I haven’t really thought as in 62 or 72. 62, probably still working, especially if I buy probably next year, that will need to be paid off.

But yeah, possibly.

Felicity Cohen: It’s a  good way to stay young.

Melinda Adam: Yeah. Oh God. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And just, yeah, and different careers that I’ve gone into, have required a lot of learning. So yeah, that’s really good for keeping and developing, and keeping brain activity, keeping mental cognition.

Felicity Cohen: What about travel plans? Any future travel plans and more adventurous thrill-seeking activities planned?

Melinda Adam: Whenever they come across, yep absolutely I do. For my 50th, I went to Bali and met, made friends with an American lady who was also turning 50 at the time. And we both had, had signed up to do whitewater rafting.

Whitewater rafting in Bali is really tame. It’s like grade three, it’s just like bubbly, bubbly water, but it’s still fun. And she’d made comment that she would like to raft the Colorado river and our birthdays are one day apart. So yeah, there’s always been chatter that maybe at one point in the future, I’ll go over there and we’ll raft the Colorado together, to celebrate our birthdays.

So that’s, yeah, nothing’s set in concrete about that one, but I did touch base semi recently with her and, and said that yeah, maybe next year. Beause I have, yeah, could maybe go over there for a joint birthday celebration. Yeah, but nothing extensive in terms of travel plans at the moment. But I like travel, so it, it won’t stop, put it that way.

I said, I can jump out of a plane, but I can’t bungee jump. I cannot fathom why that, but, yeah.

Felicity Cohen: What do you do to keep fit?

Melinda Adam: Not much, sadly, I, yeah, one goal is to increase exercise, which I, yeah, I have lots lost lots of weight, but it’s not through exercise, so I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m particularly fit.

So, yeah, that is something that I need to work on.

Felicity Cohen: Okay, great.

So the theme of this podcast is all about Wellness Warriors, and that gives me a chance to reach out to lots of different people to talk about what wellness means to them. Tell me a little bit about what does that word mean to you?

Wellness and the overall health and wellness, what does that look like for Melinda Adams?

Melinda Adam: Well, yeah, as I was saying about losing weight through exercise, I also had lost weight, not necessarily making the best, nutritional choices of food, just eating less. But a few things have happened to me in the last little while that yeah, I am now focusing on putting better nutrition into my body.

And that’s become quite important from yeah, from genetics of conditions that my parents have developed that may be passed on to me, so okay, start taking this serious. So, yeah, it is something I’ve been working on all year to improve and I’m happy with it. There’s still areas to improve.

From being, going, from just over eating and over eating in more sort of like probably carbohydrate based sweets as in bakery items from coffee rolls and things in scrolls,  custard scrolls, which, yeah, I can’t eat anymore. Which was great because, but yeah, I still consider myself a sugar addict and that’s something I am, been trying to address.

Certainly improved, but there’s still further areas to improve on that one. So yeah. Yeah, it’s hard.

Felicity Cohen: It’s a journey and it’s a lifelong journey. And I think that’s the interesting thing about you is, you know, the fact that you’ve embraced this as for the rest of your life from day one, and those changes that you’ve already made, it just, I can’t even believe them.

They’re phenomenal, and I think if you don’t, if I think about, you know, what does wellness look like, you know, you’ve embraced so many different pillars within that kind of whole field, you know, your financial health and wellbeing, your personal health and wellbeing, setting yourself up to be, healthy fit and well, and living in your own home.

Obviously your functional fitness is just so, so far removed from where you first started. You know, if in your thirties, you couldn’t even walk up a flight of stairs yet in your fifties, you’re doing whitewater rafting, you know, that’s a massive polarisation between those two points in time.

Melinda Adam: Yeah. And when I was out in, in, camp management was a very physically demanding job. So yeah, there was no way in the world I could have done that. Couldn’t have coped with the heat, let alone that. And I liked that job because, you had to be physically active for your, for your work.

So you got, you got fitter because you just had to do it. As opposed to, driving heavy vehicles where you are essentially stationary. And sedentary, for most of the day. So yeah, you’ve got to be conscious of, of that and, yeah, just incorporate moving. Like I’m never been one to love exercise, but as long yeah.

The goal is just to move more.

Felicity Cohen: Absolutely love that. That’s such a great lesson. So if there’s one thing that you would actually like to share with people who are thinking about their own health and wellness, where weight is their limiting factor. What’s the one thing that you would say to them?

Melinda Adam: Give it a go.

Yeah. As, I can’t think of any negative things that could possibly happen. Also, like we haven’t delved on, unfortunately in my first year I did have some infection with my band, but I got over it. It wasn’t fun to live through but I did get over it and I would, I’ve always said I’d go through it all again, to be where I have got to.

There are risks with surgery, but it’s small, like the statistics are one in whatever. I just happened to be that one, but yeah.

Felicity Cohen: Other than your infection

Melinda Adam: Yeah, absolutely.I got through it. It wasn’t fun, but.

Felicity Cohen: Perseverance and, you know, that’s probably one of the reasons why bands, you know, are no longer the procedure of choice in certain patient populations. And we do them in different BMI ranges these days. So very different. And I guess that’s part of the limitation around what we could offer patients back then. But, you know, it’s obviously for you, giving you the most amazing opportunity to live a full, active, and incredible life.

Melinda Adam: Mm yeah. What else to say is that, yeah, as we’ve indicated, like, yeah, the goal is weight loss, but you have no idea what other things that are going to come your way because of that, of this, the knock on effect. So yeah, what’s stopping  you, like just give it a go.

But also just be, I like the three P’s that I described myself as Positive, Persistent and Perseverance. And so yeah, just do it and stay positive. Know what your goals are, reach them, break them down. They’re so hard. Like you may have a goal to lose 70 kilos, 30 kilos, like yeah, whatever it is.

It’s huge. So just break it down into the little milestones along the way. And then be excited. What else comes your way that I said you may not realise, I certainly didn’t, have any, like at the time, I think I owned one property. The one that I was living in at the time, just was paying that off.

To then be able to have the opportunity to buy other properties just said came my way.

Felicity Cohen: Don’t ever underestimate all that you’ve achieved, Melinda. It’s been an amazing journey. And, you know, I just want to say how much your story has impacted me personally, in this whole career journey. For me, I’m watching all that you’ve achieved is just, incredible. And it’s just been such a pleasure to be able to share your story today and to be a part of your journey. I’m very grateful for having that opportunity to connect with you again and to see all that you’ve achieved. I think it’s just remarkable. So yeah, you should just be so proud of all that you’ve achieved.

I think it’s amazing. And thank you so much for coming on the podcast today.

Melinda Adam: No worries. Thank you for inviting me. It was, it was a pleasure.

Felicity Cohen: Thanks Melinda.

Melinda Adam: No worries.

Felicity Cohen: Thank you.