I don’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s not the “resolutions” I disagree with — it’s the “New Year” thing.
I resolve to do things all the time: I decide to try new recipes, I decide to paint a room, and so forth.
But, in this case, the timing and my resolution agree, so I thought I’d tell you about it.
At Thanksgiving, my mother was ill with a sore throat, and she hadn’t eaten or drank much in the 3-4 days prior because it hurt to swallow. The day after Thanksgiving, the doctor admitted her to the hospital to run a few tests and to put her on fluids. Later that same day, she was released and told to go see her primary care physician so that more tests could be run.
She went home the next day and later that night, her throat was so swollen that her husband rushed her to the emergency room near their home. Shortly thereafter she was flown via helicopter to a hospital in Ft. Worth. The swelling was threatening her airway and it was believed she might need immediate surgery and perhaps intubation.
After she arrived at the larger hospital, the doctors decided to put her on IV steroids and antibiotics to see if that solved the problem. Four days later, she was in surgery to drain the abscess.
The diagnosis? It seems that her failure to control her diabetes caused an infection to get out of control very quickly.
Thankfully, she is back home now and doing well, but it scared us all, including her. It was a wake-up call and she promised she would lose weight, take her meds, etc. It was a wake-up call for me because I share her DNA and well, I’ve put on some weight in the past 6 years.
The ordeal made me glad to ask my niece at Thanksgiving to teach me how to run. Running has never been my thing, but I figured if my niece could do it, so could I. You see, my niece never exercised while growing up. Never. But, about 5 years ago, she amazed us all. She started running and loves it.
I am determined to shed ~20 pounds. I have bought running gear, and have been running several times so far, weather permitting. Mark and I are have also been mountain biking — something we both used to do faithfully while living in Austin.
p.s. If you’re interested in pinning the image without the quote, here it is:
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Kim,
I think your blog today was a message from God. I went to my Dr. yesterday. She told me I had to start doing better with my Diabetes. I am not on medication for it, but I have been out of control with my eating. I ate 4 cupcakes the other day while crafting with my nieces and just ate everything I wanted on Thanksgiving and Christmas. I will find out by blood results next week to see where I am at. I know it will be bad news. I have only been diabetic for 2 years, but I do not do anything about it, I just do as I have always done, no changes. I read this today and I have decided I better start caring if I want to avoid things going wrong like what happened to your Mother.
Thank you for sharing this. I was meant to see it.
Blessings
Shelly, God bless you. I hope that, like me, you find the motivation to make a change. I will share with you what another blog subscriber emailed me in response to this post: “Life is all about choices. It is so good to hear that your mother is doing well now, but also good to know that you have made the “choice” to be healthier. Sometimes it’s one day at a time, sometimes just minute to minute, BUT you can do it. Know in your heart that you have control of this and create your own vision of your healthier self in the coming year. Write it down. What do you look like? What kind of clothes do you wear? What are you eating? How do you feel? What can you do, now that you are in better shape? What FUN things are you doing for exercise? This can really cement it in your mind’s eye and help you out in those tough times.
Will be praying for you!”. Hope this helps you as it did me.
Kim, that’s so scary, the not knowing part of what your mother had! My father ultimately died (age 67, way too young) from complications which stemmed from Type II diabetes – hardening of the arteries, stroke, heart failure – all due to poor self-maintenance. I have a BIL, on the other hand, who was able to get his in check, and has gone from taking insulin shots to very little oral meds. I’m glad your mom is on the mend, and I hope your pro-action becomes your habit that you’ll love as much as your niece. Cheers to 2015!
Rita