General News
13 November, 2024
Corey Fox's health journey assisted by Grampians Community Health program
From 164kg to 113kg: Corey Fox's journey to health and fitness.
Corey Fox's life transformation over the past year has been amazing, but it came from some deep-seated fears.
"I developed a generous and healthy fear of death," he said.
A Stawell resident for the past 23 years, Mr Fox has lived with Type 2 diabetes most of that time, but he hasn't always taken good control of the condition.
"For a long time, I had very poor control of my diabetes, wouldn't take my diabetes medication and had very poor health," he said.
That has changed. Mr Fox weighed as much as 164kgs at one point but most recently weighed in at 113kgs.
"That weight loss has taken a few years of patient effort and my diabetes control is as good as it has ever been," he said.
Mr Fox attributes the turnaround to support from Grampians Community Health's Diabetes Connect program and his personal trainer, along with his fear of death and willingness to buy into the support.
"I wasn't living a good life, with a lot of self-loathing, health challenges and I didn't take diabetes seriously," he said.
"I made a decision a couple of years ago that enough was enough. I decided to get fit, lose some weight and joined the gym, got myself a personal trainer, and connected with Sue Fontana at Diabetes Connect and started taking that seriously."
Diabetes Connect came along at a perfect time in Mr Fox's life.
"I had been training for a while, but this year, I decided to get serious about it and really committed to the Diabetes Connect program," he said.
"It's not just `this is your condition, and this is the treatment' - it's about educating me, and that gives you a bigger buy-in.
"You're learning with the goal of being able to manage it better."
Through the Grampians Community Health Diabetes Connect program, Mr Fox got access to new 24-hour sensor management control options instead of using finger pricks.
"It's a holistic approach and Sue helps me to connect to any service I need," he said.
"She will even come with me to the doctor to explain things and advocate for me."
Mr Fox had time in hospital after being diagnosed and there have been times where he looks back and believes he should have been in hospital as his health suffered.
Today he feels like a new man.
"It's only been this last year where I've really bought in and done all the right things," he said.
"Personal accountability is important. People can only do so much for you; you have to do it yourself."
He still wants to lose more weight and will continue working with Mundsan Ah Chong, his personal trainer, who also helps with his nutrition.
"These supports set me up for the rest of my life, teaching me to manage myself so I become less reliant on services and better equipped to make better decisions."
His weight loss program started about seven years ago but really accelerated this year, with a loss of 25 kg, and he feels better for it.
"I'm able to do things," Mr Fox said.
"Mowing my lawns isn't a major trial anymore and I don't have to put bandages on my knees and ankles because they ache so much."
Mr Fox started a new job as a disability support worker about a year ago, coinciding with the change in attitude towards his health.
"The new job helped with the lifestyle change because it's a very active job," he said.
"You can't be advising residents about their diet and need for exercise while eating chocolate bars with your feet up on the lounge.
"I feel that I'm better able to do the job because I'm healthier."
Family and friends have also noticed the improvement.
"I'm at that point where people who haven't seen me for a while are making nice comments," he said.
"That positive feedback really helps, but you can have people telling you what to do until the cows come home; you've still got to have some personal accountability and buy into it and actually do it."
Mr Fox, 48, is now considering becoming a football umpire in 2025.
Diabetes Connect is a free program supporting people living with type 2 diabetes to manage their health and wellbeing.
The Diabetes Connect program offers care-coordinating assistance to determine what supports and services you may need to manage your health and well-being, reduce avoidable disease progression and avoid hospitalisation.
The program can help you organise and get to appointments, build knowledge and skills to manage your health and well-being, work closely with your General Practitioner and access allied health services such as diabetes education, podiatry, dietetics and physiotherapy. It can also assist with social and community connections, mental health services, disability services, carer services, and housing services.
Diabetes Connect has a care coordinator and case manager to support people through the program and through services and systems.