Greetings, Steemians!

I feel I've some esplainin' to do.

I've recently joined a #fitnesschallenge here on Steemit. If you really want to ... Here's a link to my post, complete with charts and pics and embarrassing stats. 😌

Many may have noticed that I’m not horribly overweight, but my post above explains the changes I’ve been noticing that have accompanied the weight gain.

I would like to give a brief (it’s totally gonna be long😏) explanation of my health history, so y'all can understand where I’m coming from. So, put on your PJs, sit back and relax. It's story time!

Let’s begin in the way back...

I was a sick kid. Shortly after arriving home from the hospital, breathing the freshness of air for the first time, I got pneumonia. That’s no good for infants, especially newborns. I ended up back in intensive care for a bit to ensure my little lungs were doing as they should. I was told I did super fun things, like take ice baths to reduce my fever. Awesome.😀

Fast Forward to 2nd Grade…

Up until this time I was a basically normal kid. Playing outside, running amok and such, though I DID prefer my books to actual activities. Then suddenly! That pesky pneumonia hits again! This time with even MORE vengeance. I ended getting to live in a bubble in the children’s wing of the hospital for almost a month (could have been shorter… I’ve been known to exaggerate😏).

A bubble?!
Yuppers. That’s right. Basically like that old movie, Bubble Boy, though not exactly. I don’t remember it being very horrible. In fact, I got presents and magazines and my whole 2nd grade class made me Get Well cards. So that was cool.

Towards the end of my visit I was even able to get OUT of my tent for 15 minutes at a time to play video games. This was SUPER exciting, as I would see the TV and game console roll by my room to other kids… but never mine.😞

😃Finally! I could play Super Mario Bros! Yay! 😃
After my brief time outside the tent, I went back in, only to find myself getting hotter and hotter. We called a nurse in to check my temperature. 104 degrees Fahrenheit and rising. Doctors rushed in. No one could figure out what was happening. They had finally started to prepare me an ice bath (I’m familiar with those 😏) when a janitor noticed the temperature control to my tent was set very high. Seems another nurse had accidentally changed the temperature when I had gotten out. 😲

Thank goodness for the observant janitor or I would have had another cold bath in my future! Luckily, they were able to just take me out of the bubble for a short time (as I was getting better) while the temperature was regulated.

Fast Forward a little more to 7th grade…

I’ve now been taking classical piano lessons for several years (I started shortly after my 2nd grade hospital time) and noticing, though not mentioning, that I’m in pain… kind of a lot. Pain in my back, my joints, my fingers, just everywhere. I would find that I would have to stop playing piano after a short time from discomfort. I didn’t really understand WHY I hurt, but assumed everyone did. I think I based this on the older folks around me always talking about aching and such. Seemed to make sense. 🤔

Around this time my parents started noticing that I would stop playing pretty quickly and started to inquire. When I explained what I was feeling they instantly began taking me to doctors to try to see what was going on.

During these many doctor visits I learned that I couldn’t drink the well water anymore and I couldn’t have caffeine (or chocolate)😒. I feel like these were just guesses by the doctor, but I digress…

Important factor: I was a pretty big little girl. I probably weighed about 140 at this point, my heaviest being just under 170 in high school. And to be honest, I never really FELT fat… except for that one time- but that’s a whole different story…😏

Around the same time I was having regular doctor visits attempting to diagnose me, a hard spot was found on my back, near my kidney area. Worried that it could be cancer I was quickly sent into surgery to have a 2x2x3 inch chunk of whatever taken out of me. I remember being pretty uncomfortable getting in the back of the vehicle, leaving the hospital. I reached back to itch the bandaid and noticed it was in the wrong spot.

No joke.

The doctor had missed by about 3 inches. Technically he just removed a bit of fat, so no harm, no foul. Except, it turned out that the doctor was often drunk and had several malfeasance cases against him already.😲 Shortly after my surgery, he disappeared… Oh! And I still had a thing on me that could be cancerous…

As soon as I was able, I was in surgery (in a different state…) to get a biopsy of the area, rather than removing the whole thing. It was a VERY stressful time for my parents. I asked them not to share any info about my situation with anyone except our Pastor. I didn’t think (even as a 12-year-old) that it was necessary to get everyone worked up if it WASN’T cancer. So it was kept secret.

I remember coming to in the operating room and the nice old man doctor telling me it wasn’t cancer. Then I fell back to sleep. Turns out it was just a lipoma, or a benign fatty deposit. “They” really don’t know what causes them, but back then I was told it was because of chocolate and caffeine. They did NOT mention the fact that I was quite overweight was also a contributing factor. Diet and exercise were never mentioned, just drugs.😒

Fast Forward to High School…

As you may (or may not) guess I was an overachiever or Type A personality. I was in band (clarinet), Jazz Band (piano), I taught choir and was in the elite group, Flag Squad Captain (cause my clarinet did NOT go outside), Vice President of French Club, Vice President of Thespian Club… the list continues… I also held a job at the same place of business ALL FOUR YEARS of High School. I began as a busboy, cleaning tables, eventually becoming a waitress, making BANK 🤑(for a teen). I worked 20+ hours/ week, plus school, and plays (theatre) and rehearsals/practices.

With all this going on I was still overweight and in pain a LOT. I’d been regularly going to a specialist about an hour and half from my house, twice/month. A Rheumatoid arthritis specialist. Finally, they gave it a name…

👉 Fibromyalgia👈

This was about the year 1999. Fibromyalgia wasn’t such a popular catch all dis-ease, but it was still a catch all. It was pretty new. For the most part, only women over 50 were diagnosed. I used that word lightly as the only way to test for it was/is basically testing for EVERYTHING else and not finding a match, and then doing a pressure/pain test on 18 points in the body. If I had at least 11 of them, that was it! And I had… 14 or so… For real, I felt like no matter where you touched me, it hurt. 😞

At least now we had a name, though not very helpful. I began doing research on my own and found that diet is pretty important ALL THE TIME. Lol! 😆 For real though, it’s like it was kept a secret so I would get worse, or at least stay the same, in need of drugs.

Fast Forward to College….

I decide to go to a school where I knew noone. This worked out swimmingly. I love meeting new people!😍 A couple of years into school and working full time to pay for stuff and (possibly partying and not sleeping😏), I started to get sicker… and sicker…. And before I knew it, I was bedridden. I could barely get up to use the restroom. I ended up not being able to go to work and being fired.

My body was just giving up. I had found a friend my age who was also diagnosed with Fibro. It was so exciting! I had felt so alone for so long. However, this person seemed to really like being sick and weak. She really liked having people worry about her and take care of her. I, on the other hand, did not. I was ready to do for myself.

After quite a long time in her company, I had to part ways as I kept seeing her taking steps back instead of forward. I knew I wanted to be better again. She just wanted to be an artist and write books. She said she could do that from a wheelchair. I asked, “Why, if you don’t have to?” She had no answer, just more excuses.

Sh*t got worse before it got better…

Yup. Such is life. I got really sick. I lost all that extra weight I’d been carrying around since childhood. But I lost a little too much. At my lowest I was something around 118 lbs. I’m pretty tall. It wasn’t cute.

I finally started to figure things out for myself and started listening to my body. I decided to completely stop taking ANY kind of pill or drug. I made quite the dramatic show of flushing all my 12 prescriptions down the toilet. I wouldn’t recommend doing that.

And again, I got worse before I got better. As I was detoxing from the plethora of pain pills on top of side-effect pills on top of preventative pills, I gave into my friends and hit a bong of cannabis. I had swore off ALL drugs and I felt that counted. Luckily, after one hit a wonderful wave of cleansing nausea swept over me. Keep in mind, I was basically in a constant state of almost barfing, but never quite able (probably from lack of stuff in my belly). Suddenly, I felt like I could puke! I was helped to the bathroom (as I was not the best at holding myself up at this point) and let loose! Moments later I felt hungry. I hadn’t felt that in SO long. I was ecstatic! I ate crackers and soup and it was amazing!😍

That was the beginning of my Cannabis research and adventures. It saved my life. It allowed me to be able to feel normal, not high. Just not sick, less weak, I could focus.

Side note: I run @transientflowers on here as I do believe that cannabis is a wonderful plant that saves lives on the daily. The more we remove the age-old propagandist stigma, the more people we can help.

I slowly began to focus on my diet and exercise.

This was a struggle at first, as the exercise literally consisted of raising my arms up and down a few times a day. But little by little I got better.

I was able to walk with a cane pretty quickly and a friend’s father made me a perfect one.
I had a lot of issues with people treating me unfairly, giving me looks and whispers, as I was being pushed around the store in a wheelchair or using my cane. I was very young. Many assumed I was just begging for attention, when the exact opposite was true: I hated being looked at in that way. It was quite the lesson.

Final Fast Forward to Today…

It’s been about 7 years since we moved to the mountains of Colorado. A small part of why we chose where we did is the dry, desert climate and clean mountain air. In Kansas, when it was cold, it was also VERY humid. This made my joints just ache, making it much harder for me to take better care of myself. We had visited Colorado for holidays several times and after being there for just a couple of days my whole body felt better. It was a little crazy, but we went with it.

We’ve gone through many different diets to clean out, including intermittent fasting or juice fasting (much easier).

The outcome: I am SUPER aware of my body and all its changes, good or bad. I feel healthy. I can literally climb mountains. I can keep up with little ones. I’ve maintained (easily) a body weight of around 130 lbs … until a couple of years ago- thus, this whole thang.
There is another long story of WHY I gained the weight, but for now, let’s just say stress. 😏

That’s it.

That’s why I NEED to be healthier. I was just about the sickest kid (I only gave you the highlights) and fear if I let go anymore I will be like a ball rolling down a steep hill. I can already tell that my body is not pleased with how the last two years have gone. I can’t keep torturing myself… and I’m not yet to the point (like many) who just ignore all the signs and pretend it’s okay until it’s too late.

Lucky for me, it’s not too late. 😎