Axetapper's blog: "Tapper's Riffs"

Hey Friends n Family..Bry here with a health update. In February of this year, I was designated by the Province of BC as a person with disabilities. In short, forced retirement. 

Why you ask? Well, bear in mind I"m over 63 with kidneys running at about 45-50% efficiency, lumbar stenosis(narrowing of the spine) which is degenerative brought on by arthritis, an enlarged heart; specifically a thickened Aorta, ongoing nerve damage because of the arthritis which causes periodic attacks of sciatica preventing me from walking with pace and a constant dull aching pain in my left arm that feels much like what a tootache would feel like if located in your arm. You get the picture.

At the time of this decision by the BC Govt. the Dr of Internal Medicine I see quarterly since 2009 after stents were put in my heart, told me that my Aorta has become thickened and I will likely require surgery to fix it meaning I would be facing a 13th lifetime surgery to fix this issue IF I consented to the surgery resulting in getting my chest cut open good etc etc . I asked him how do I make it thin again? He said you don't. He said as it stands, unless something changes, my life expectancy is not that good. It's not defined as in weeks or months but the concern is the amount of years left to live but its a red flag of caution nonetheless. This chat was back in April of 2017

So at age 63 despite being on 2 blood pressure pills and a Crestor for cholestral, my BP was 160+/110 and I felt like shit.

So on July 07/2017, I weighed myself and discovered that my weight was 283 pounds on a 63 yo, 5'9" frame man with an enlarged heart and ugly blood pressure to go with it. Not good at all.

So, by accident, I was required as ordered by this same Dr to do my quarterly 10 hour fast just allowing for water during that time frame. They draw blood and urine and that be that. So I got home and had my first coffee of the day just after 9:00am and for whatever reason, did not eat until after 12:00 noon that day and closed the kitchen at 8:00pm with only water inbetween meals.

The result? Next morning I had lost 2 pounds. I was happy and wondered if what I did the day before was the reason so I repeated the process and sure enough the next day, another pound fell off.It gets better.

I kept repeating this process and began the task of going thru my cupboards and fridge and created a desktop file on how many calories were in what I had on hand here including my idea of what a portion of food was and discovered some very eyepopping numbers that suggested to me that I gotta fix this or else!

So, I saw him on July 12 in the elevator on the way to his office for my appt. and he kept looking at me like he knew I was different but not quite sure what. He discoverd that I had lost 10 pounds in one week and dropped my Blood pressure to 130/90.That's a 30 pt BP drop.

He was happy.I was happy..Now.......................to the good stuff.

So I left his office at 273 pounds. It is now Sept 17/2017 and as of this morning, I weighed in at 231 pounds. That's 42 pounds less of me. I feel great. I eat right. I don't drink anymore as I discovered that booze of any kind bothers my spine as booze dehydrates you and for whatever reason, on me now, if I drink at all, those few hours of feeling good turn into 5 days of back aches and misery as the spine tries to recover the spinal fluid it once had or the water that goes with it; you get the idea

So, here I am 42 pounds lighter with a long term goal of "x" but only setting 5 pound weight loss goals at a time.The mountain is coming down for me, my appearance is improving and my overall fitness level is improving enough allowing me to combing exercise with walking with pace again without immediate sciatic pain. I have a lot of work left to do but..........

I'm here to tell you that I'm here to keep on Fu...ing. until I'm 75 anyways as that's when my Govt Pension called CPP runs out and I'm determined to get all that I'm owed.

Rock on Fu and thanks for reading !