bradyb.org

This is more of an inner rant, than a blog entry, but I thought I’d share. In the past, I’ve made a conscious effort to stop smoking. Successful in that effort, I have been smoke free for well over 5 years now; I have also gained a considerable amount of weight since then. I am not sure if quitting smoking was the reason for my weight gain, or if lifestyle, job, and genetics also played their role. Although I am relatively sure, each have led me down this path of weight gain.

Thinking back through my 34 years of life, I can only think of about 4 years where I was thin, and those were during my time in the Army. I liked the feeling of being able to fit most anything I bought, and not have to search the rack for XXX Large size shirts, and big boy pants. Not so recently, but recent enough, my first daughter has started to struggle with her weight, and with her clothes not fitting, I’m sure it’s getting to her emotionally as well. It pains me to see her struggling with it same as I do, and I worry about her self esteem and emotional state due to it.

This all gets me to thinking, what if I continue to be fat? Will I be able to enjoy my new house for many years to come? Will I widow my wife at an early age, due to some complication of being overweight. What will my daughter do if she stays on a path of weight struggle and strife? Will she have to write a blog in the future to detail her trials and tribulations of her overweight life?

Let it be known, that I, Brady Bowen, am done with being overweight. I will make the same conscious effort that I did with smoking, to stop. I am doing this not only for myself, but also for my children and my wife. I hope to set the example for my daughter, so that her weight will begin to taper off and she will get back on track. I also love my wife and family and I want to be around for as long as I can. I’m sure it won’t be easy, but I feel once, I acknowledge the fact that I am overweight, that I DON’T like being overweight, and that I am DONE with being fat, I am well on my way to being thin, by THINKING THIN!

I went to bed one night, about a year ago, and woke up with what seemed like a stroke. The right half of my face was completely and utterly unmovable. On the right half of my tongue the taste/feeling was effected. The hearing in my right ear seemed to reverberate everything.

I was totally freaking out, but still tried to go to work, but once there, my boss took a look at me and said you need to go to the hospital, also thinking I must have had some sort of stroke. I took his advice and went home, got a bit more sleep, and went to the emergency room the next morning, I was working overnights btw.

The nurse in the emergency room, seemed to know exactly what was going on with my face, and set me at ease, as to how common it was. Although, in my 32 years of life, I have never met anyone, or heard of the term Bell’s Palsy. I was sent to a neurologist and she prescribed some anti-viral medicine along with some steriod pill. The pain was actually quite bad for awhile after I started the medication. It was as if my face muscles were “cramping” or something. Almost unbearable at times. The pain is now long behind me with this problem. Although my face muscles or nerve, I don’t think have fully recovered. I still can’t smile fully on the right side.

I had almost forgot about the Bell’s Palsy that effected me last year, but as of late my hearing in my right ear has had a sort of loud, high pitched buzz in it, and it is effecting my sleep. I am thinking the two are related now, and will seek again medical attention in regards to it. I went to the doctor about the hearing and being congested, and he felt that it was just severe congestion on that side, but after 3 weeks of decongestants taken regularly the symptom of hearing is still almost EXACTLY the same.

Just thought I’d share this, in case anyone has had Bell’s Palsy, and later had hearing loss, that they should probably get back with their doctor and or neurologist.