For over the past 5 years, I knew I was a candidate for diabetes; because my dad was diagnosed as a diabetic at around age 45. I have worked out over the past several years, sporadic at best, to hopefully avoid one day being told I was a diabetic. My lifelong family doctor had passed away, leaving me without a primary care doctor. My oldest daughter encouraged me to see Dr. Neil. I originally went to Dr. Neil for a nerve issue which was addressed and I was very well cared for.
My second visit to Dr. Neil was a 10 day checkup regarding the lower back nerve issue. When Dr. Neil came in, she asked me how I was doing, I told her and she said, “God is good”. It was at this point, it was confirmed to me I was in the right place. I asked Dr. Neil to be my primary care doctor and she agreed. She then ordered labs so she would have a baseline to start with. When I heard her ask for labs, the first thing that popped in my head was…here we go, time to find out my fate. At that point, I was overweight and out of any kind of shape but round. My weight was 250 pounds.
I returned to Dr. Neil on May 22, to learn of my lab results. Dr. Neil said my labs were not great and “I needed to be replaced”. Obviously that wasn’t going to happen so she further said I needed to make a complete lifestyle change. I then thought to myself, “Ok, here we go, now I’m going to be told I’m a diabetic; just as I knew would happen to me someday”. This scared me, because during my 24 years in law enforcement I responded to countless medical calls regarding a person in a diabetic coma; while other calls were to help people with amputees back in bed or wheelchairs. I watched these people go from walking, to having feet, leg, or even legs amputated. Yes, I was scared, even more so knowing my dad started with taking a pill, then went to insulin shots. My dad has had several heart attacks, strokes and is currently in a wheelchair with only one arm that works properly.
May 22, 2014 is the day my journey to better health began, called Project 2014.
On June 2, 2014 I had a return check up with Dr. Neil and was going to meet Mark Sherwood, the guy that would help me get started to a better and healthier lifestyle. Dr. Neil and I first addressed the diabetic issues and some of the other issues she found wrong with my lab report. I let Dr. Neil know I started walking, sometimes on the downtown streets of Pawhuska and other times on the treadmill at home. I told her I had also changed several of my bad eating habits. As Dr. Neil was leaving the room she said “we will save your life and you will be a beacon of health in your area”. I again thought to myself, “I’m in the right place”.
See, what Dr. Neil didn’t know is I attend the Lighthouse Family Worship Center. The Lighthouse has been praying for and has been prophesied over, that we would be a beacon on a hill. We also know that God is up to something big and we know that in order to carry out God’s plan we must be in great mental, physical and spiritual shape. There are currently several people in the church changing and making better lifestyle choices. You see, those words from Dr. Neil were very profound to me.
I then met Mark Sherwood, the man with the plan. Mark and I hit it off, not only because we are a couple of great guys, but we are both retired from law enforcement. I discussed my typical day of eating with Mark before and then after I got the initial news from Dr. Neil. Mark and I had a great talk. (hunting/fishing). Mark set me up on a 2100 calorie diet. This was broke down to 190 grams of protein, 150 grams of carbs and 83 grams of fat. I was to have no carbs after 7pm, stay away from trans-fat and have 100 ounces of h2o per day. I also stood on the InBody 520, this gives Mark lots of information that’s helpful.
Mark told me he would also call in a couple of weeks to check on me and to have some accountability. Proverbs 27:17 came to my mind: “Iron sharpens iron, as one man sharpens another”. I definitely knew I was in the right place!
