This is me, Summer/Fall of 2012. Not a pretty picture.
What started out as a mere cold that annoyingly seemed to last for months ended up with an ER visit. Not long after a short admission then being sent home I was back at the ER and intubated in the ICU, I believe within in 12-24 hours of admission. After being discharged I had another 3 to 4 ER visits. One of them, and I believe this is the picture from that admission, was right after seeing my physician for a follow up. He sent me to the ER because he didn't like the way I sounded. I had my husband drop me off so he could care for our kids, not soon after he left the ER called a code (mine) for respiratory arrest and I was again intubated and sent to the ICU. It took several months and around a total of 40 days in hospital before I was released for the final time.
Once home I was on around 20 medications a day, physicians visits up to three times a week. I have asthma, but the root cause of this attack couldn't be found. One of the best and worst meds I had to be on was predinisone, very high doses. Predinose causes and increase in appetite, weight and water gain, something called a "camel hump" which is a large fatty deposit that develops on the back of your neck/top of the shoulder blades, and a "moon face". I ballooned up to 280 lbs. Make no mistake, I was never skinny to start with, but this weight and how quickly it came on was insane.
It took a year before I was sent to Pulmonary rehab, I just couldn't do it as my asthma was still very bad. My physicians were wonderful, they did everything they could to keep me out of the hospital. Once in rehab I started exercising, but with the pridnisone still sitting at around 80mg a day, the weight was not coming off, but the lungs were getting better.
It took about 18 months until I go to a med level where I could start doing independant exercise and not worrying about being so out of breath that I didn't want to venture too far from home. Just as I started to get into a good habit and had dropped about 15 lbs, I broke my foot and ankle stepping off a curb. Physicians suggested that my bones had been weakend due to the high amounts of prednisone. After seeking treatment my doc advised that my recovery would be longer, again due to the corticosteriod use for my asthma.
Skp forward to the end of 2015 (there was so much more that went on betwee now and them ,including another hospitalization and surgery). I was around 250 lbs and just sick of it. A group of women I know gave me a gift certificate to the local gym/sports center and I used it to sign up for a family membership. Two days after Christmas I joined weight watchers and have, since that day, been to the gym at least 4 times a week just walking on the treadmill. Hopefully soon I'll be able to do more.
When I started my weight was 246+ lbs
Today I am 240.2 lbs
While it's not a lot of weight that I've lost, it's still a start. I don't want to be back in hospital ever. I missed my children, I missed one of thier birthdays, I hated being in there. My lungs are finally improved now I need the rest of me to follow.... DietBet is just another way for me to motivate myself...
As for the future - well, I've signedu up for my first 5k in May at Disneyland, my goal is to use DietBet, Weight Watchers and my FitBit to help me stay motivated so I can go and finish that race.
Here's to motivation...