Mike Simons' weight means he has had other surgery under local, rather than general anaesthetic, and heard bones crunch as the surgery was done.
At 183kg, he says it is hard to move around, do everyday tasks like shower, and play with his three children.
''It can get so hard sometimes. I can end up breaking down because I'm so over it, and sick of waiting.''
Mr Simons blames limited government funding for bariatric surgery in the South, but the Ministry of Health says it has put millions of dollars of extra funding into the area.
The South Island, however, gets fewer than 10% of the surgeries paid for by the Government.
Mr Simons (28) said his problems began with drugs used to control his epilepsy as a child, which he said caused weight gain.
He said he grew up being teased about being overweight, and while still at school tried to deal with the problem.
His attempts have included Weight Watchers and going to the gym.
Following his schooling, he worked on a dairy farm, which helped him lose more weight.
The weight loss was, however, only about 10kg at the most.
''When you're 183kg, it's not that much.''
Mr Simons said his GP referred him for gastric bypass surgery in April 2013, as did a gastric specialist and another consultant.
He attended a seminar in August 2013 and was told there would be an appointment in March last year.
But by April, he had not heard anything.
In May last year, he received a letter from Invercargill-based consultant surgeon Mark Smith, which said there was ''no doubt that Michael's health would benefit substantially from bariatric surgery''.
But the letter said there were only 42 funded operations a year in the South Island, and only about 19 for the Southern District Health Board area.
The Ministry of Health ''scoring tool'' used showed Mr Simons at 46 points, while 75-80 were required for surgery.
Mr Simons said he required surgery at the end of last year to remove a piece of bone from his nose, the result of a childhood injury that left him with breathing difficulties.
He was told because of his weight, he could not have the work done under general anaesthetic. Instead, it had to be done under local anaesthetic.
''It wasn't pleasant,'' he said, as he was awake to hear his nose bone ''crunch''.
The surgeon told him the next day he would write to the Southern District Health Board to say ''this guy needs a gastric bypass''.
''I haven't heard anything back.''
Mr Simons said he was a solo father with three children under the age of 2.
He walked for two hours a day five days a week just to keep his weight where it was.
He had been sent for a cardiac exercise test, and been told to expect cardiac problems later in life.
Ministry of Health electives and national services manager Clare Perry said health boards received funding for elective surgery, and were required to provide it for patients in accordance with clinical priority and ability to benefit.
Last year, a further $10 million was allocated for at least 480 bariatric surgery operations over the next four years, in addition to bariatric procedures already funded.
Late last year, Counties-Manukau DHB delivered a greater amount of bariatric surgery, as a proportion of elective surgery, for its population, based on the clinical prioritisation of those patients accessing services, she said.
''This has, and continues, to underpin, the higher number of bariatric surgery procedures in the North Island.''
South Island Bariatric Surgery Service interim chairwoman Margaret Bunker said the service would provide surgery for up to 48 patients each year for the next four years.
District health boards had been able to increase the number of patients treated with the support of the additional money from the Ministry of Health.
Funding was pooled across five DHBs, and focused on patients ''with the most severe co-morbidities who will most benefit from weight loss surgery''.
