A Call to Action!

Have you ever had a moment that was a wake up call for you? Where something happened or you noticed something that truly opened your eyes and made you realize "Man, I need to change something"? As a nurse I am a little more tuned in to signs and symptoms of diseases. I have seen over and over again how it can escalate into a full blown illness and miserable life. I have seen people in their 20s getting toes amputated from diabetes, people in their 30s and 40s having fatal heart attacks and strokes, or going into liver failure from drinking.

I am a staunch advocate of taking CONTROL of your own health and being responsible for how it affects your body. So many diseases these days are reversible and yet doctors continue to prescribe pills to "fix" the problem. Unfortunately more often than not, the root of the problem is in our mind and we have to overcome it our self to truly be healthy. I'm sure if a doctor wrote a prescription for "diet and exercise" instead of drugs there would be a lot of angry people out there who either sued or ignored the order. But they have pills for this!! Why do I have to completely change my life??

This day came for my husband on December 22. We had lost power during the night and it was very cold in the house. I had to go to work for a couple of hours and had him and my son go with me to get warm. After I was done with my patient, me and another nurse were messing around and taking our blood pressures. Nick came over there and we took his----and were floored. His first BP was 175/112. We took three readings and all over them had a diastolic (bottom number) over 100. He just got the wake up call!

For almost a decade up to this point his diet had been very poor and his lifestyle was very sedentary. Of course as a nurse and wife I nagged him about it but in the end I knew that he would have to WANT to change for himself, not for me. As much as it bothered me, I could not control it so I waited for that day to come.

In the last 8 days he has truly made a huge turn around in his lifestyle. No sugar (even on Christmas!), no caffeine, no fast food, no soda, and exercising at least 30 minutes each day. The progress is already evident! His latest BP reading is around 145/96 and he has lost 3lb!

We will be keeping a log of his progress because I feel that will be the biggest motivator. Everyone likes seeing proof! He went today for blood work to see what his baseline numbers are. We should have the results tomorrow and I don't expect them to be very pretty. After 6 months or so we will get some more done to really see how he has improved not only on the outside, but also at the cellular level.

Baseline bloodwork: CBC, CMP, Hemoglobin A1C, Urine Albumin, and Lipid Panel (in layman's terms--blood count, electrolytes, liver function, kidney function, diabetes check, and cholesterol levels)

Beginning stats:

BP: 175/112

Pulse: 90

Weight: 217lb

BMI: 32 (obese)

1 Week stats:

BP: 145/96

Pulse: 85

Weight: 214lb

BMI: 31.6 (obese)