Thursday, November 5, 2009

The Good, the Bad, & the Scary

Now, if you've met me, you know I'm a plus-size gal. I've been like this for a long time. I try to eat healthy when I can and I try to exercise when I can. But honestly, I never really cared too much about my weight. I was always under the assumption that I was somehow immune to the risks that come along with being overweight. It was never going to happen to me because I was the exception to the rule.

Boy, I'm pretty stupid, huh?

My weight problems have caught up to me. For the past month, my left knee has just been hurting. I'm pretty sure that it's from the years of weight that my poor legs had to bear. Although I'm pretty active for someone my size, I'm not active enough.

Last week, two different doctors told me I have high blood pressure. In my entire life, I've never been told that. My blood pressure has been normal. The first doctor told me that my blood pressure was high and yet again, I ignored her. I thought it was nothing and it was because I was stressed out from school. I still thought I was immune to anything. The next day with a different doctor, she once again said my blood pressure was high. Two days in a row of high blood pressure is not good.

It was then that I began to worry, I began to actually care about my poor body and the damage I have done to it. Within a few days of the high blood pressure readings, my right arm started to hurt. It's just painful, almost like a numbing feeling. That worried me more than anything. I may not be a nurse yet, but I know that high blood pressure and arm pain are not good! This could be an indication of a heart attack or stroke. This of course caused me to stress and worry even more. I seriously became scared for my life. You may think I'm too young to have a heart attack or stroke. But age has nothing to do with anything.

I made an appointment to see my primary care doctor yesterday. She said once again my blood pressure was high, although it had gone down a little since the readings previously. She was concerned because of my weight and the readings of my blood pressure. I explained to her about my arm and she said that she didn't think my arm had to do with my high blood pressure. She said it was good that I came in to have everything looked at.

The good news is my arm pain is NOT due to my blood pressure. The doctor said it's Medial Epicondylitis. Haha, when she said what was wrong with my arm, I immediately knew what it was and what is wrong. :) FYI, generally arm pain for a heart attack or stroke would be in the left arm, duh!

The bad news is that I have been put on blood pressure medication until further notice. I have a follow up in a month. But, that's okay.

She stated even losing weight (even as little as 5lbs) could bring down my blood pressure.
Operation Brandy NEEDS to lose weight is on. I have to commit to this, I have to. I don't want health problems. I want my knee to stop hurting. I don't want to take medication to control my blood pressure. I'm not going to become a maniac and diet excessively. I need to take it slow, putting too much pressure on my body right away, could still give me health problems.

I wonder why I'm more committed to walking in the dead of the summer than I am in the winter? I need to change that, even walking will help me. I need to make healthier choices in my eating habits. I am taking a nutrition class right now, I'm really learning a lot!

Okay, peeps, hold me accountable. I need all the accountability I can get!

1 comment:

Sheri said...

I'm with ya sister... I need to get back on track. My health scare had me on the right track - but then poor time management, a little laziness, summer heat and bad choices have thrown me off.

So I'm with you in the journey... I love Weight Watchers and am going back to my old notes and meal journals for some inspiration. I took off nearly 80 pounds, put a few back on - but am determined to hit a reasonable goal and achieve some exercise goals.

You're not alone!