My Story

In my last post, I wrote about how excited I was to, not only run my 5k race on Saturday, but to witness my friends run the New York City Marathon on Sunday. As you already know, both my race and the marathon were canceled. Yes, I was sad, but I am sadder for all of those that were impacted by Sandy much more than I was. My heart goes out to all those who have lost much more than the ability to run a race.

I have not run since before Sandy hit. There are several reasons for this: weather and illness are just a few. However, I choose not to torture myself and break down the reasons why I haven’t run. A few weeks ago, I was thinking of why, 4 ½ years ago, I decided to join Weight Watchers and when I decided to start running. I am a firm believer that I need to look back sometimes to remember where I’ve been, to realize how far I’ve come, and to remember why I decided to do this in the first place.

My story of why I decided to join Weight Watchers is very much intertwined with another person’s story: My Dad’s. My Dad was diagnosed with kidney disease five years ago in November 2007. Neither my parents or I knew really anything about kidney disease, but we quickly learned that can be a result of high blood pressure (which can also be caused by kidney disease), diabetes, gout, medication, smoking, and just an overall unhealthy lifestyle. Well, my Dad didn’t smoke or have diabetes, but he did have high blood pressure which caused him to be on medication most of his life, gout and he was overweight.

My Dad immediately changed his lifestyle and changed his eating habits, eating foods that would cause the kidneys to work harder and cause more damage. He had to eliminate some of his favorite and actually very healthy foods like tomatoes and bananas. He started exercising regularly and started losing weight.

In the interim, I was continuing to eat and gain weight. I was sick of how I looked and how I was feeling, but more importantly I was scared. While I didn’t have gout or high blood pressure, I was overweight and at the time smoked. And the fact alone that my Dad had kidney disease gave me a much higher risk of getting it myself in the future.

It took me six months from the time my Dad was diagnosed to step into the Weight Watchers Park Avenue South center. If you’ve never been there, it is in this dank, smelly basement in this completely ordinary building. The bathrooms don’t work properly and it is either freezing in that room or about 85 degrees when they pump up the heat in the winter. If that room didn’t scare me, nothing will. I decided before I joined that I wasn’t going to quit this time and that I was going to make goal. But I knew I would have a long road ahead.

In the meantime, my Dad continued to lose weight. His kidney production slowly decreased and he started the process of getting placed on the kidney donor list in Miami. He was accepted, but he still needed to lose more weight. He had about 30 pounds to go. Fortunately, the changes he made to his diet and his lifestyle kept his kidneys as healthy as possible. He was able to stay off dialysis for two years.

About three years ago, I decided to find out my blood type to find out if I could be a potential match. At first I thought I wasn’t, but it turned out I could but I would to go for extensive testing. I went for the testing, where I had to collect my urine for 24 hours and took lots and lots of blood. Twenty-four vials to be exact. I didn’t go through the complete round of tests because they said I needed to lose 25-30 pounds before I would even be considered.

Although I had already been on Weight Watchers for about two years and had lost some weight, this was something completely different. I was no longer losing weight just for my health, but for my Dad’s as well. One of the blood tests showed that my Thyroid levels were high and that I would need that taken care of. Although I had known for years I had Hashimoto’s, an autoimmune disease that causes the white blood cells to attack the thyroid, I had not needed any medication. It certainly explained why I was having such a hard time losing weight over that last few months. (By the way, it is a very treatable disease, but can cause a whole host of problems if left untreated.)

The doctors at the hospital suggested I go to a nutritionist, but I told them I was already on Weight Watchers. Besides, I reasoned that if I was going to have only one kidney, then I would need to live healthfully for the rest of my life. I told few about this, but I did tell a few of my WW peeps and my leader extraordinaire Mel. I knew I would need their help and that they wouldn’t put pressure on me that I just didn’t need or want. Weight loss is such a mental thing and I didn’t want or need anyone judging me or questioning me if I had lost the weight yet.

In the meantime, my Dad had to start dialysis two years ago, November 2010. It was life-changing for both of parents. For four hours three times a week, he was hooked up to a machine that filters the blood because his kidneys were unable to do so. He was on lots of pills and was then put on an even stricter diet. (It was the opposite of Weight Watchers. Lots of protein, no dairy, and very few fruits and vegetables.) There were also the mood swings and the moments of fatigue that could literally hit him at any moment.

And I kept on slowly losing the weight. I decided that when I hit 50 pounds down that I would schedule the appointment to get the full testing. I had lost 46 pounds when my Dad received the call that there was a kidney and to come to the hospital. After extensive testing, I received the call the next morning from my Mom at 2 a.m to pack my bags because he was getting the transplant.

My Dad received late Saturday, June 9, 2012, eight days before Father’s Day. It wasn’t my kidney, but he said it was the best Father’s Day gift ever (especially since he told me that he really didn’t want me to donate it after all).

I know this may sound selfish, but I am relieved. Of course I am thrilled that my Dad has a second chance at life, but I’m also relieved to not have to make the decision. If I decision to not donate, would my Dad get a transplant? If I decided to donate, I would voluntarily give myself a pre-existing condition and could potentially have health issues in the future. I just don’t know what I would have decided and I guess I don’t need to.

It has been 5 months since my Dad received his transplant. He is doing well and one of the technicians, who performed one of his many sonograms, said it looks as though the donated kidney was made for him.

And I continue on my journey. For me it’s not just a weight loss journey; it is a health journey. I look forward to what’s still to come and I am thankful for all that I have.

(Just a quick note: While I don’t know who the donor was, I thank her and her family for saving at least two people that day, as I also met the recipient of the other donor’s kidney. And I am paying it forward: I registered a few months ago in New York State to be a donor. I hope I can one day save at least one life the way my Dad’s was.)