Change

Deep down I knew that my health problems stemmed from the things I chose to fuel my body with. When the doctor threw the word "hereditary" out, I immediately forgot her advise about food choices and clung to that word. Of course it wasn't my fault. It was my dad's. He's the one who had kidney stones, so I must have got it from him. There is something about that kind of thought process that is really jacked up. I'm embarrassed that I used the "I have crappy genes" line on my own self. But I knew. I knew that my health problems were mostly because I was making terrible food choices.

The diagnosis from my symptoms of chronic side pain was a few monstrous kidney stones. One, the size of my pointer finger fingernail had no chance of making it's way out of my body without a little medical intervention. The other, half that size, stuck in my ureter causing my kidney to swell and lose function. Being told that I was going to have to have both these stones surgically removed was the beginning of my entrance to reality. I will spare you the gruesome details of that surgery and recovery as they weren't pleasant, but I will tell you this... I was M.I.S.E.R.A.B.L.E!

The reality of my situation really manifested during my recovery. I had a stent placed in my ureter (tube that leads from the kidney to the bladder) to allow healing. If I could have ripped that thing out myself, I swear I would have. Every single minute of every single day for two weeks straight, I was reminded that I had made very poor food choices and that there was no way in hell I would ever…EVER want to go through that again, and so, I decided that it was time to take another path and change (real change, not like Obama's change).

Seven months later, I have seen and felt the benefits of my changes. I went to a follow up appointment where the doctor told me that I am stone free and that all my labs look really really good. She thanked me for not having to do what she claimed was 90% of her job, which was ranting to the patient over and over and over again about making the necessary changes to prevent things like monstrous kidney stones from forming. She told me that I have been doing everything right and to keep it up. For once, I felt really good leaving the doctor's office.

The suggestions and advice that I used to think were nonsense and didn't apply to me have awoken some part of my brain to the truth. The truth that eating less and moving more is the only real way to lose weight and be healthy. Other factors like getting enough sleep, drinking a lot of water, meditating, and having healthy relationships all play a role in a more healthy life as well. I now know that all these things really do work. There is no quick fix and the fixes are basic and simple. I am grateful for this knowledge. I am grateful that for once, I don't feel out of control but rather in control of so many aspects of my life. This knowledge is true freedom. This knowledge is empowering. This knowledge will change me.