It Was My Honor

I was very surprised when the people at St. David's Cardiac Rehab told my in July that they wanted to honor me and two others at their Rehab Banquet in November. That banquet was this week and it was a great experience. I haven't been completely successful in losing the amount of weight I would like, but my progress has continued and my blood work has been outstanding since I have changed what I eat and added a lot of exercise to my life. I wanted to share my speech with you. Hopefully my story will help with any health struggles you are trying to deal with. Whatever it is you can overcome it with enough work. Just find a reason and get to it and you will feel so much better. I am still amazed at how good I feel. So here is the text of the speech. I didn't deliver it exactly like this but you will get the idea:

There have been many health changes in my life. Up until November 15th of last year the biggest had been a diabetes diagnosis. That all changed however when I found myself slumped over a trashcan at Bobcat Stadium right before the Texas State/Nichols State game a little over a year ago. My chest was hurting, I could hardly breathe but after about five minutes or so I was feeling better. Of course once I was feeling better I did what all people who have had a minor heart attack do…stayed for the game.

I mentioned it to my doctor the next week and he said I should get a stress test which I did. Finally everything came down to January 23rd of this year…laying on a table at Heart Hospital being told that the catherization I was there for wouldn’t do any good and I needed quadruple bypass surgery RIGHT NOW.

Well that was a shock of course…even more shocking the extent of my blockages and the fact that I wasn’t already dead. Students would kill for the kind of numbers I had…four blockages…all over 90 percent…one 98 and one 100 percent.

The next shock of course was the length it would take to come back from this surgery, it’s one that a lot of people in this room I am sure have gone though.

So I laid around for a few weeks, walking a little here and there and then I come into rehab, a whole new world. Yes I had exercised here and there, I have lost weight…at one point going from 430 to 229 over a 10 year period, but this was very very different. This was exercising and losing weight with a real purpose that I really hadn’t considered before. That purpose of course is living…pretty good purpose huh.

So everything has changed. I actually try to eat right, learned to read labels, really watch my salt and not tell myself that…oh I can eat bad today and make up for it tomorrow. There is no making up for it. Yes occasionally I can fall off the wagon but I can’t get too far down the road I used to be on because I know that’s a short road and I know where it ends.

Another thing had changed too. I actually like to exercise. My problem is finding time but it’s something that I really work at doing now…finding time to exercise. I broke my foot during rehab and I found myself driving by the hike and bike trail a few weeks into my recovery from that fun experience and actually found myself missing the place. That is something I would have never said before this all happened.

So the theme is the missing “peace.” When you have a 14 year old daughter who is a freshman in high school believe me I can tell you about missing “peace”

We were asked to pick a couple of things from a list and tell you why. Well here are mine. First I thinking sitting in silence for 10 minutes would be a nice change. The only real silence is right before bed for me, but I live and work in a world full of sound…I’m a radio reporter so sound is pretty much my life. A little silence might do me some good.

The other is pretty easy for me because I’m already doing it, thus why I picked it..and that is eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants. That is one thing that I have started to do is eat more salads and more veggies. For example a sandwich with whole wheat bread, lean turkey and instead of chips I have carrot chips occasionally. I little change but one that fits within the goal.

Some would say that I have had a pretty terrible year, going through all of this. I however would say that I have had a life changing and life saving year and I’m pretty happy to have gone through it…minus the chest pain next time though.