2006 before I got sick from Diabetes (approx 215lbs)
July 2008 went up to over 400lbs April 2009 lost 130lbs down to 270lbs
*back went out with sciatica, serious bleeding ulcers, daily insulin usage300-400 units. Due to non-mobility from July 2006, weight
increased exponentially because of greater need for insulin & lack of mobility which in turn caused more weight gain. Contradictory
diet to accommodate both the ulcers and diabetes cause constant influx in sugar levels, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. Death
imminent if this course is maintained. Due to excessive weight gain breathing difficulties and bronchitis attacks became regular.
On the Road Back:
It can happen so fast. Before you know it, one simple illness can compound to another, then another. One day
you are just laying there unable to move, unable to breath and you wonder to yourself, how could things get so
bad so fast. You are overwhelmed at the immensity of your health problems now and how much closer giving up
is to getting up. Not old enough to get government assisted Medicare and other financial support, can't work if
you can't go anywhere, so where is the insurance? healthcare? doctor or hospital? SSI could take years, if it
ever comes at all and do you really believe that medical professionals treat just anyone who is in need based on
the code of conduct in the Hippocratic Oath, if you have no insurance or large sums of money to display up front?
If you do, I got some land on the Big Island of Hawaii that is growing everyday and can let it go for pennies on
the dollar. This opportunity is so huge, you might even call it Volcanic. haha... (that is a joke, by the way...)
That was a joke, but this is not. There are nearly 50 million uninsured people in the nation who have health issues
which are going without care. Many of them because of the turn in the current economy are unemployed as well.
So what do you do, when this is you? Well, this is me constructing what I will now call my "Fat Page" and sharing
what I got, how I got there, and what am I doing about it now. I am just in the interim of where I was to where I
need to be and I hope that you can draw some hope and information along the way to help you with your journey.
I already told you what ailed me on top and through keeping active I was able to keep things at bay, but it was
never really under control. One trip and all came tumbling down and in a matter of a period of just over a year I
gained nearly 200 pounds (double my weight and this from already being heavy) and all my health issues multiplied
in folds. So at what point did I realize that I had a serious problem? When I was fighting to draw my next breath
and felt myself slipping into unconsciousness knowing that I had no one to call, not even 911 (I won't get into that
now, you have to wait for the sequel called; "Healthcare Hazards, a Journey Survived?" ) . The next morning I woke
up much to my surprise and dismay because I thought I was done with it, but I knew it would repeat again tonight.
For the next few days I starved myself, partially from not being able to bear the pain from the sciatica and also not
having much energy to move. Bleeding out from my ulcers, lack of food ingested made the next 3-4 days go by as
a blur not remembering fully what date or time it was and how much time had actually gone by. I finally picked
myself up feeling somewhat lighter (I am sure I lost at least 20lbs or so), cleaned myself up and thought that I
needed to get this excessive weight off of me. It wasn't going to be easy when I can't move much due to my bad
sciatica, but none the less it had to go. It was just killing me!
Earlier that year a friend of mines had introduced me and signed me up with a company called Nikken. It was a MLM
company much like Amway, but the products were holistic health products which originated from the Orient. Lot of the
products were old school to me and been around for a hundred years, but I finally took the time to sit down and really
look at it. I also got on my trusty computer, overused Google and started my research into what was diabetes, ulcers,
and all the other things that were wearing down my middle aged body. Here I am in my 40s, looking in my 30s (I am
Asian, its a blessing), but feeling in my 90s, this was just not adding all up. One by one, I started adding things to
my daily regiment which helped me address each of my health issues. I adjusted my diet and with the addition of
helpful supplements from Nikken, I was able to find a balance between diabetic diet and bleeding ulcer diet which was
unobtainable for me before. Once I got into a more healthy daily routine of diet and supplements I started to slowly
lose more weight, gain more energy, and in my latest discovery of a new osteoporosis supplement, even my back is
feeling better. Now this may just sound like a Nikken advertisement, but I am just sharing what path I am taking and
how it has been helping me. I believe that there are many similar products out there that can help you, but all I can
do is tell you what worked for me and know this, supplements alone will NOT make you healthy. It will still take a lot
of discipline and desire on your part to exercise or keep active along with watching what you eat and when you eat it.
Now at 270lbs, I still have a way to go to turn this "Fat Page" into my skinny success story, but at 130lbs lighter, I
don't have to live daily on the respirator I got on craigslist or even use the nebulizer my friend loaned me like when
I first started this journey. Don't get me wrong, I am not totally there yet and do have flair ups occasionally. I am on
a near vegetarian diet now to address some water retention problems in my legs (another diabetic gift) and to help get
my weight down even more because I still can't really exercise yet. If you are blessed with the gift of mobility, consider
this; How much harder do you think it would be to metabolize weight (burn off what you eat) if you could not move and
then count your blessings that you still have that ability. Being lazy to active is just a switch on in your head, but just
imagine if that switch turned on made nothing move. Losing weight just became 4 times harder and requires 10 times
more discipline to accomplish, then turn to God and thank Him that you still have that choice and get off your butt and
do something about it.
In the past 10 years I have been on a deep journey of rediscovery and during my absence, I have lost many friends to
health concerns. I am not saying they got sick, I am saying they got DEAD!! my friend Hiro who was a co-worker and
fellow photographer thought he had an ulcer, went to the doctor and got diagnosed stage 4 terminal stomach cancer,
died a few months later in his early 50s. My MC at my wedding and manager at work Steve died of cancer at 52 and left
wife and a beautiful young daughter behind. My partner of 3 years who was just over 60 was diagnosed and died soon
thereafter of pancreatic cancer and my mother though never diagnosed had a stroke at age 47 (less than 2 years older
than I am right now) left me at age 14, two sister, and our father. We are not made to live forever, nor will we never
get sick. but healthy living can usually be a choice we make, so that the years we do have on this earth can be lived
actively, coherently, and even happily doing the things we enjoy and being with the people we love for just that much
longer. Isn't that worth just a little bit of effort?
The sequel, "Healthcare Hazards, a Journey Survived?" coming to a bookstore near you, will include such subjects like
how I was able to turn no insurance and no money into getting the supplemental products I needed to get healthier.
Also how I was able to build it into an empire of freedom income which not only allowed me to live healthier, but
wealthier as well. Living your life doing what you want to do, rather than what you have to do (job, paying bills, etc).
Having security of future income in an uncertain world economy or just working that low paying but rewarding job you
enjoy without having to be a actual starving artist. It was never about the business for me, it was about my health
and simply passing on what helped me and how I did it. For medication and doctors you have insurance with co-pay,
but what options do you have to get holistic products? preventative cures to be healthy so you don't live by the pill
per pain plan. add side effects to that and just like how I originally got sick and it snowballed, in a few short months
you could be getting absolute value by bulk purchases from your medical drug plan as well. Now if that sounds good
to you, then go on doing what you have always done and you will keep on getting what you have always got. A slow
and certain circumstance of chance in fate or you can choose better. It's all up to you...
Credits: some information provided compliments of the following websites.
to contact author of this page for more details or sneak peeks into his new
and upcoming book, "Healthcare Hazards, a Journey Survived?" send emails
to: ken@kgteam.net subject: Healthcare Hazards. Thank you and be Well.
