Dancing with the Lady in Black

143 pounds lost...so far

Four years ago, once he was pressured for honesty, a doctor told me I had between five and ten years left. That was a few months after my kidney, heart, and lung failure; the blood clots; anemia; and the stroke.

“You insisted I be honest. I could be wrong, but with what you’ve been through, I’m surprised you are here at all. I think you know I am not the only one. You did not just have one life-threatening illness. You had the perfect storm.”

He hadn’t wanted to answer my question, but I pestered him until he did. I believe he felt a burden lift when he responded. It’s not too often a patients wants the hard truth.

The picture on the left was two years ago, two years after the conversation. I was twenty pounds heavier than when the doctor gave me his prediction. I would gain another twenty-five pounds.

That doctor’s honesty and matter of fact comments did not motivate me. Obviously. If anything, I believed my demise was ordained.

So I comforted myself with food, the very addiction that b…