Take Control of Your Life

This post is raw and to the point. Take control of your life. Do not wait. I cannot beg and plead with you enough. I wish I would have listened through the years. I didn't. Now, I am paying for it. 

If you've read my blog since the beginning, you know my weight topped out around 459 pounds. And, I was miserable. I put on a good show for people, but I truly was miserable. And, unknown to me, I was causing lots of health problems for myself. Ones that would creep up years later and plague me when I least expected it. 

In 2011, I developed cellulitis in my left leg. Sometime prior to that I developed lymphedema in both legs. There is no cure for lymphedema. It may reduce as I get smaller, but it is something I will struggle with for the rest of my life. I don't even remember when I developed the lymphedema, that's how long I've had it. Lymphedema causes my legs to swell up and become very right and painful. If I push my finger on my leg, an infection will appear and stay there for awhile. 

Anyway, I digress. So 2011 rolls around. The cellulitis required surgery on the front and back of my leg. I was hospitalized for two weeks. Then home bound for another four weeks. Not four weeks after I came home, I developed it again in my right arm. Also required surgery and a week's hospitalization. Then, homebound for another week. After that, I went about 9 months with no problems. Last October, it came out of nowhere, and I was hospitalized for about a week or so. No surgery. Now, this time. 

My point in all this is TAKE CONTROL. I had no idea all the damage I was doing to my body. I thought health wise, except for being uncomfortable, that I was fine. I did not struggle with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, etc. No symptoms presented themselves until it was too late. The damage was done. And now I will have to live with this chronic problem for the rest of my life. 

Please, I beg of you. Do not wait. Take control. Don't let unforeseen health problems kick you to the curb because you didn't take care of your body. Take it from someone who has been there. It's not a fun place to be. I realize there are things that are worse, but the bottom line is that all of this could've been avoided. 

Please. Do something.