The last thing you want to do is bother your neighbors

PSA

My advice for the last thing to say to 911 in a small town gathered from many times of calling them for various near-death experiences in the middle of the night.

"I'm conscious and waiting for you. Please do not turn on the sirens and wake up all my neighbors."

You're welcome.

I was obese and ill most of the time I lived in Coronado California

I rarely left the place and I could be overcome with sickness at anytime - or fall over - or faint - or get in an accident. Coronado EMTs, Ambulance, Firefighters, Police, Doctors, and other associated medical providers all saved me somewhere in town.

This message was on the fountain near the Hospital Chapel and maybe still is.

I used to go to the chapel on my way in and out or between appointments. I come from a place that says a little bit of prayer never hurt anyone.

I have hundreds of photos of this fountain near the Chapel. These two close ups are my favorites. The color, clarity, context, and composition are perfect on both. As a reviewer, I pat myself on the back for these two. The light at the fountain is good but not usually this good.

I think this scene works for a greeting card and market cards on my fitinfun artist website at pixels for that reason. I also send it online to sick or sad friends. I this shot in portrait and landscape and I love them both. The landscape is better quality and the letter is better in composition.

The tote is for a home care worker. Your patients will love to see it come in the door with you.

The windows in the Coronado Hospital Chapel glow on your hard times when you sit in there. The Chapel is a good place to rest and recover between blood tests, appointments, screenings, rehab, and everything else I had to do there. It's usually empty and the seats are very comfortable. It's big enough for services and set up that way.

I was prayed over by many religious leaders in that hospital. Some were there in case last rights were needed and some were just doing round. I take them all in. Go ahead and work magic- please. I have a drive to keep living.

They redid all the hospital floors, and I took construction photos, but that's just because I'm a nut. This is really a photo of the railings you hang on to if you have trouble walking in the hospital halls. I know how to use them efficiently. They work well to help you get along and keep your balance if you are weak and unsteady on your feet.

This outdoor space is in the middle of the building and a good place to cry if needed. Right across from it is a room you wait when your loved one has surgery. If anyone was there I didn't go in this area. But it’s empty mostly.

I took this photo as part of my Behance project on signs. I take pictures of signs as I go through life. This one I worked hard for and I hate it. I have all kinds of bad pictures of this sign. This is the best. Bonus ambulance.

I see this spot and remember coming and going. I’ve driven myself, taken a cab, ridden my bike, walked in from all directions, and many times come in the ambulance. I went in the Main Entrance more often than the Emergency, but I know all the doors. I will do a whole project on the doors of Coronado Hospital one day. I got as many as I could.

One visit to Coronado Hospital - My bike hurt me again

My bike came after I lost weight. The last time I had been on one was when I was 11 years old. Now at 50, I was having a lot of trouble walking and could no longer drive. After weight loss happened - my arthritis got much worse. So I rode a bike for a few years. My bike was freeing and so exciting to have.

On this day, the baskets on the back of my bike had three heavy water bottles in them. As I was rushing (late) to see my cardiologist, the bike fell on the front porch (ok - I dropped it) and one of those wires impaled my foot and not in a good way. I saw stars but little blood.

"Dang! I cannot miss this appointment!"

I realized through agony that there was only a huge dent basically all the way through my foot like cut meat and splitting the bones apart. But still. I could ride my bike with no bleeding. Better than walking which would hurt more.

I just so happened to have a super duper bandage right at the front door from an infected surgery wound that I just got over with. My messiness paid off! So I slapped that baby on my foot – removed all but one of the water bottles and got on the bike to go get my heart test.

I would have canceled the stupid heart appointment, but they were already mad at me for missing the last one and had already called me to tell me the doctor was there - and really – don’t waste the expensive time of the guy who saves your life two appointments in a row when he’s now making people call after you. Because he is there only because you will be there. He’s a Top Doctor in the world for what I have wrong with my heart and this miracle is not to be messed with. One time he casually mentioned his rate for a certain test and it was through the roof. He's a wizard with the ultrasound.

Riding my Bike to the Doctor's Office

So I got on the bike and decided to cry for the whole ride and get it over with. Just let the tears flow. Because my foot hurt so bad. I could not believe the pain! Luckily I was in California where no one looks at you so I was free to just cry and cry. I was riding good and the wind was blowing my tears. The town streets were empty even though it was rush hour going home for the Base traffic.

Finally, it was awesome! Seven long blocks of emotional release and pain relief! I got done crying and was feeling pretty good. I couldn't even ride a bike before I lost my weight, so all my rides were good when I got them.

Until!

I got to the Base traffic cross street. I saw I had an opening and took it.

But I failed.

I wrecked my bike – took a header into Navy traffic – literally - over the handlebars again! “OMG you idiot,” I said to myself as I went flying through the air like my friend Jake. I had just seen his video 50 times now so I knew how to fall.

It is very lucky I had this video since now I was on my second fall off the bike in a month. Here’s my fitinfun WordPress post about that first fall off the bike that kept me from swimming. I had just posted it a couple days before and now here I was on the ground again! Oh well, thanks to Jake I was not injured too much either time.

At 0:50 in this movie- my friend Jake King teaches me how to fall. I didn’t have to negotiate electrical boxes though – just smooth pavement and traffic. I can trip over air and this is one of those times.

("I left most of my baggage up in a hotel") Yeah!

– I was saying, “WTF? Sharon!" as I rolled in the street – again. It was that darn one water bottle that threw me out of balance and now look! I’m in Navy traffic. But I caught the eye of the sailor in the first car right away and he was on it. Soon I’m on the ground with Not Being Able to Move Syndrome! I did not get up quick like Jake until this Navy guy came and dragged me.

I had a savior. I fell right in front of his car and thankfully he was a man of action. Some young sailor who was horrified that this Grandma lady just flew into the path of his speeding car. He was accelerating up the hill, first off the light, and I had no business being there on the ground.

As I rolled into the street, he stopped his car, got out, picked up me and the bike and dragged us across the street. Then he ran off back to his commute. Everyone else just watched from their cars in the other lanes of traffic he stopped.

Then I was back on the bike and going downhill fast on a slope like Ash on a bike in Pokemon! Still on my mission to the doctor’s appointment - still – traffic now far behind. Only a 30 second delay! Two accidents in 20 minutes and I was not even late for my appointment!

My Feet and the Cardiac Bed

Now I made it. Whew! I'm waiting for him to be done with the patient before! I'm resting and waiting to get hooked up to a bunch of electronics on that bed to see if my heart is still beating fine which it was. Nothing was even out of range from my adventure!

You can see the heavy duty foot bandage. I'm lucky I had 3 more of those bad boys, because my foot took a long time to heal and left a bad scar I still have. This injury was highly severe on the Sharon Scale of Bad Injuries. The bandage tells the story of this day.

This is me and my feet on another day, in a whole other part of the hospital for a whole other problem. My worker here was trying to figure out why my readings were odd. Good luck with that, I always think.

This is a mystery place outside the hospital.

In 20+ years I never got in.

Here’s the door to this thrift store

And look! Right around the corner from the door are my poppies!

Outstanding blown up on a pillow!

Sharon's Fat Stomach

This photo is called "Sharon’s Fat Stomach" in the filename on my computer.

I’m in the rehab gym upstairs before they renovated. I spent years of my life in that rehab center and used all the departments multiple times PT, OT, various therapies, gym routines, walking hooked up to machines attached to electronics and things that make your body part hot or cold. I took classes.

I'd come in after some disaster - barely able to move - and they would help me for a few weeks or months and then things would be much better. Rehab is usually 2-3 times a week for as long as it goes. So you have to drag yourself over to The Rehab Center repeatedly. I tried to look at it as my free gym paid by insurance. I definitely hit my deductible early each year.

I took this photo after a hard workout (for me) thinking I looked good for a minute. I shocked myself. Such disappointment when I got it opened on the computer! "There is my stomach again," I thought.

For a few years after I lost my weight, I obsessed about never being able to look good no matter what. I’m glad to say I have peacefully reverted back to not caring about my appearance. Much better this way!

Here’s a Coronado Hospital Door Photo. I thought was my fate – no exit from the hospital. I have it on one of my fitinfun Before and After Weight Loss Essays at Behance I posted during that year.

The caption for this photo on Behance reads:

"I still spend time at the hospital and I will forever."

That's exactly what I was thinking right then

Health After Obesity is Gone

The year after I lost “half my size” I was hospitalized 4 times – 2 for “normal” bad reasons and 2 for unexpected, near-death events. One of them called for months of rehab – again. I thought I was doomed. I had lost weight too late and now I would always be sick, never be strong, never really be healthy. It was sort of discouraging and depressing.

But I was glad and relieved and scared to be thin and one thing I knew was that I was never going back to the misery of obesity no matter what. This fat four year old was not going through it again. I have a lot of writing during that year since I wanted it for other people who lose weight too. Carnie Wilson was my role model for the year after weight loss and she kept me from gaining as I remembered her pain and failure. Uh Uh Not Me.

But during that first year after weight loss - If I was going to be sick - at least I was thin. I just told myself every day, every hour, and sometimes every minute - no matter what was happening with my health or my life - don't gain weight. The first year after weight loss is the most dangerous for gaining it back. I was not going to go there. Now after 6 years - the danger is less but still present. Currently I am still a winner in the weight loss battle.

The good news is that if you have the skills in place and enjoy your food and your new thin life, there is really no reason to go back. Some people lust after the old junk food. I just enjoy the better replacement.

And I had a burning passion to help people see that they could lose weight too. That's still the passion that drives me.

Not Dying at Coronado Hospital

And it turns out, I now live as far away from this hospital as I can get. I’m not going to die there. When you die in that hospital, you get your name on a quilt they hang in the chapel and I’m not going to be on it. I could never take a photo of that quilt because I would wonder where my leaf would be sewn in. The quilt is like a tree or something - soothing and green with names sewn into leaves that get added.

I couldn't really look at that quilt very well. Sometimes my possible death leaf made me cry. Sometimes it made me mad. sometimes I would think it would be okay to die there - as good as any other place. But I couldn't take a picture and I only remember the quilt out of focus now.

My Obesity Victim is the Person I Love the Most

My son has PTSD from my obesity and poor health when he was little and growing up. When the ambulance comes to take your mommy away, and you have to go stay with your teacher or a neighbor or at a friend's house, it's hard on a little kid. When the ambulance comes a lot; the kid needs to do something to survive.

When your huge obese mom falls over and gets severely injured and is screaming and bleeding in front of you and there is nothing you can do because you are too little, it must be agony. I can remember him throwing himself onto me in bad times. Just hugging me. My little son, trying to stop the pain.

My son's PTSD is the result of that repeated trauma.

I try to help other parents lose weight for their kids. This video is about a different kid traumatized by his mother's obesity. I fight for this kid and others because I hurt my own so much.

Here's my baby in two long-haired versions

Oahu US Navy Travel 2005

San Diego International Airport

Mom leaving for Thailand in a minute - March 2016

I have four jackets and two shirts on in this photo.

Be sure to fitinfun no matter what