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Hi, vet, can I write ya a wall of text on this subject?

During the spring of my 38th year, I had an episode of vomiting that lasted for 8 hours. The effort of it was so great that the sheer stress of it almost took me out. After no food for some 9 hours, the ambulance attendant tested my blood sugar at 440. It was offical, I’m a diabetic.

Ok, I’ve seen what happens to diabetics. I don’t want to be cut away one piece at a time. I couldn’t continue to live as I had been. I am originally from New Orleans, and I loves me some good food. So, I started to work on my diet, eating much less. From that episode of intractable nausea, the awful hospital food, and my desire not to die, I began to eat much less.

Basically, I was eating a can of soup for breakfast, PB&J for lunch, and a balanced, healthy dinner. Now being on diabetic drugs, I found my inquenchable thirst was much less, so I quit drinking 2 liters of soda per day, and I quit drinking one gallon of milk per day (I was that thirsty, all day, everyday). Also started blood pressure meds at this time.

Was doing well, things seemed fine until 3 days after my 39th birthday, at which time I suffered a heart attack on a trip to New Orleans. Luckily, I got to Oschner Hospital, where I spent 5 days. My right coronary artery was 100% blocked, discovered during a catheter angiogram. It was drilled and stented at this time. Sprung a leak in my femoral artery a day after that, fun stuff, but still here.

The efforts I had made to turn around my diabetes was too little, too late for my heart. Poor choices and eating whatever I like ganged up on me very fast. So here I was, not even 40, almost dead. I was so weak, I could not walk even one block with my dog. I began to suffer panic attacks at this time, because, quite frankly, I thought I was gonna have a massive 2nd heart attack and die, which is how my dad died at 62. Had to take some vallium at this time because the panic was sheer terror.

How do I turn this situation around, I asked myself. Can’t take vallium too long, or I’ll have yet another health problem I don’t want. The answer, walking.

I continued to walk my dog outside my house as far as I could each day. Then I got braver, thought I’d head down this near hill, because if one goes down a hill, one also has to come back up to get home. This was great exercise. So I kept at it, walked further every time I could, till I found an even steeper hill. I said to myself, one day, I’ll walk up this hill too. And so I did.

Then one of those days, I realized that somehow, I can run instead of walk. So me and my buddy, Grainger the dog, would walk down the hills, and then we would double time the flat parts. My panic began to fade, because if I could do this so soon after having a heart attack, then perhaps I’m not going to die like my dad did. Then one day, I found the will to run up the hills back home, not walk ‘em, but run ‘em. How could this even be possible, a fat bastard like me who never ran a day in his life now running up hills?

No more vallium needed, confidence was high.

Today, Im still doing all of those things, about 2 months from my 40th birthday now. This past 10 months is the time the Lord gave me extra, the time to improve myself, one more chance, and so I did. Aside from my running up hills, I’m lifting weights now for upper body. Not needed for lower, because my legs would now put the governator to shame :D I’m also looking to buy a kayak so I can exercise and enjoy the beauty of nature around here. I feel strong, damn strong, like I did when I was 21 and studying martial arts.

So I am continuing with a low calorie, 3 meal a day diet with heavy calorie spending each day in the form of exercise. I had wondered how the hell am I gonna keep running up hills in the middle of summer in florida...well, I eat that heat, gimmie 100% humidity, can’t stop me, if a heart attack didn’t, neither will the climate!

What I learned from knocking on death’s door at such a young age, is that I have to have to have to take this bull by the horns and lead it where I want it. No one else can do it but me. I do not want to die, I do not want my chest cut open, I do not want bypass surgery, I don’t want my fingers cut off, or my feet, and I don’t want to be blind. I want to live like a man, healthy and strong.

I will never let myself become soft again, so help me God.

We must do this as men, vet, even when we dont’t want to, even if we are feeling lazy on a day. We must push ourselves to the limits and then beyond.

If I die running up a hill in the sweltering heat of Florida, then I died trying to live better than I was before, and I can be proud of that.

Start walking, vet, go go go! You will be astounded where your body can take you, I know I was.

Good luck and good health to you, Sir.