Wake Up Call

How many times have I looked at the number on a scale and thought HELP! maybe once, maybe never, don’t get me wrong I look at the number and know I need help but ignore it, that was until a little over a year ago when I had an in your face wake up call. In March of 2017, I sat in the local ER getting my heart checked out, I was having chest pains and had been without my regular meds for 8 days because I couldn’t keep anything down and this is what I was focused on, why can’t I keep anything down? they gave me fluids for dehydration, ran an EKG for my heart which was fine and ran a battery of bloodwork, which was not so fine, turns out I had a blood clot in my lung, Dr is telling me we need to do a CT scan with contrast, I am like no I can’t I am allergic to the dye, so off by ambulance I  go to another hospital  3 towns away, meanwhile I am still stuck on why can’t I keep anything down??

This is the question I ask anybody and everybody who will listen, the doctor who ordered me to this hospital comes and after my many questions about why I can’t keep anything down, she says to me I need you to understand  you have a blood clot in your lung, we need to do this VT scan to determine where in your lung it is, then we need to put you out and get rid of it. in the meantime, if it moves before that it is 10 seconds from your lung to your heart and it isn’t a matter if you will die, but when you will die, there is a very good chance you will not see the end of the day if this happens.

I receive this news all by myself, so I call my Dad and tell him what the doctor said and he tells me to have my husband call him, he is booking a flight on the next plane out of Florida to come be with me, meanwhile my husband arrives and I have to tell him what the doctor said and then tell him my wishes because at this point I have nothing in writing.  The doctor needed me to realize the situation was life and death serious, the next thing that happened is my life flashing before my eyes.

Let me tell you God will use and do whatever he needs to in order to wake you up, turns out I am also allergic to the dye in the VT scan no more shellfish for me. So what does this all have to do with a hill of beans? bare with me, that was an eye-opening experience and it was a game changer in so many ways. We only get one life and zero do-overs, but I feel I got a second chance that day, my allergic reaction was a server one and I was admitted and because of being admitted the doctors were able to pinpoint what was making me so sick, I was diagnosed with Diabetic Gastroparesis, most likely brought on from food poisoning , it had laid dormant  for a few months and when I had ate something bad again it went full-blown, a couple months after my diagnosis I joined Weight Watchers only to have to stop by doctors orders, I was losing weight too fast 13 pounds in one week, but I did get on medication and get regulated.

So fast forward to April 3 of this year, having already lost 20 pounds in a good way I rejoined Weight Watchers and as of this week I earned my 10-pound charm, I am now 30.8 pounds lighter! As I write this a couple of friends and accountability partners and myself attended a Weight Watcher meeting of a man named Mike who has inspired each of us and if that wasn’t enough we went to dinner and got to share our stories as he shared his! I thank God for bringing my two friends along on this journey, for their prayers and support, for Mike and his continued inspiration and encouragement, for Georgena our Weight Watcher leader who is why I am back on the program, but most of all I am glad that God spared my life so that maybe I can be that inspiration to others someday along this journey.

My wake up call came in March of 2017, my new life journey began on April 3 of 2018, I invite you to join me through this blog as I journey through to goal and everything in between as I shed this whole other person I am carrying with me. With God, all things are possible, Even This!

Saved To Serve

Simply Peg