Today is the 28 th of May 2016 and while I usually report in with an official weigh in on the 8th of every month, unfortunately my Mom died May 2 nd 2016 at the age of 83.
At the age of 74 in 2006, my Mom had open heart surgery on her aeorta and when the surgeon came out of the operating room he said, ''I have done something I have never done before and I have no idea if it is going to work.'' In the early morning hours as I hung around Intensive Care, there was a group of young doctors making their rounds and I overheard them talk about my Mom's operation. Apparently, it took 40 minutes of trying to resussitate her back to life.
I expected her to be a vegetable and to my surprise my prayer was answered and she awoke only to be very pissed at me for saving her life for it was I who quickly called for an ambulance when she was over visiting me that day and I knew what the problem was because my brother suffered the same fate a few years earlier in his mid forties, and her own mother died of an embelism to the aeorta and heart problems ran on both sides of my Mom's own nuclear birth family. That was 2006 when she had her big operation. She suffered some short term memory loss and some years in my teens were completely gone, but all in all it was a success.
When I asked how long my Mom could expect to live, her surgeon said 10 years. This past year at 83 was very unnerving for Mom. She missed her 84 th birthday by 3 weeks. Statistically, today women who maintain their weight for years, Mom was some 30-40 pounds overweight the normal and did no extra exercise, except housework and tending a large floral garden, women tend today to live to 84 years and men who are of the same profile have a 72 year life expectancy. Exactly, the case with my dad who had hypertension, diabetes type 2 and suffered from blood clots and a very very rare muscle dystrophy with onset at the age of 16.
So here I am 53 years and have suffered a blood clot in my left ankle, now with reduced mobility as a result, and n 2005 weigning in at 450 pounds down officially as of Friday, May 27-2016 at 251 pounds... I am scared shitless.
On my Mom's side of her birth family, all her relatives died relatively young from heart problems and my own dad died of heart and diabetes problems. My brother has had two open heart surgeries and he is 8 years older only and me, I still am making a mess at this thing called life plus I earlier told you I suffer from severe mental health issues such as schizoaffective disorder (look it up on the internet to get an understanding of the wacky world I cope with)..
So, life is cruel. Yet, it is liberating for me because I have all these warnings to get my act together. Liberating because I am the master of my destiny. I can change things around.
In memory of my Mom, I am going to do it. Watch me, I am back on my journey.
Sincerely,
Elaine
