I do like cuddles!

Helloooooooo!  So I've been very quiet on here lately, I'm sorry.  I've been really busy but also I've just been taking some thinking time...this week is one year since I started 12WBT and so maybe I am just doing some old fashioned reflecting.

I thought I'd stop by and say hi and tell you about this little thing that happened tonight.  It's not really significant but I want to tell someone...anyone reading this, this is your lucky day ;)

Some of you may remember a month or so ago I had some issues with GP's.  My long standing GP deeply offended me for the last time - and then I had a horrific week of hospitals and tests, amidst multiple GP's, one of which reduced me into hysterics in a waiting room.  Fun times.

Well I've miraculously managed to steer clear of doctors since then.

Then, the other night, I had a massive pain in my chest.  Huge pain.  It literally felt like someone ---- or an elephant --- was sitting on my chest.

Uh, oh.

It lasted for a good 5 minutes.  It was the worst chest pain I have ever experienced.  I was scared and I didn’t know what to do – I deliberated for ages but in the end I took my advice I give everyone after my experience last year to NEVER ignore that kind of pain.  I sought advice, and it resulted in me visiting my old GP tonight for a check up.  I didn't feel like going, after my last visit I haven't been very impressed with him.

He checked me over and said that he was confident that it wasn't a blockage.  He said that I don't really have any risk factors.  My age was one – generally speaking I wasn’t old enough to have had time to develop a blockage.  He told me to come back in 8 years!  He said my cholesterol and blood pressure were brilliant.  And he was super impressed (read: surprised!) that I quit smoking.  I have practically lived in his office since I quit over a year ago, but hey, I'll take any kudos from him while I can.  He then said "You're a bit cuddly, but..."

Cuddly?  Last time it was 'obese'.  I am now cuddly?  Awesome!  I do like cuddles!  I felt like a teddy bear rather than an awkward rhinoceros.  After our last chat I am hyper sensitive to his every word, but I think ‘cuddly’ is good.  I know I’m still 40kg overweight, to be called cuddly instead of obese by Dr Blunt is pretty good, right?

In not so many words, he basically said that my health was too good to be of any concern.  After the medical year of hell, everything he was saying was music to my ears…it was akin to….well, a cuddle!  It was like he was sprinkling fairy dust on me and saying ‘well done’.  It felt kinda awesome.  He did say he believed the pain to be anxiety and stress exacerbated heart burn, so not all is great, but at least that’s something I can manage.  (It’s been a tough week). 

I didn’t start this journey with health as my top priority or goal.  That fell into the mix after I had started.  I began it for more emotional and superficial reasons.  But I realised tonight that to be told that I am not a huge risk, and that a lot of that was my own doing, made me feel happy, relieved, and a bit proud.  We actually have a lot of control over our health.  I saw this picture a year ago when I started this thing and I kept it and it’s always stuck in my mind.  See what we can do?

Don’t underestimate your ability to improve your health…one step at a time.  It all counts xx