I had a little medical excitement this past week, and it's made me a bit reflective on things, so I thought I'd come and post here. I went in for a routine medical exam, and the doctor heard a heart murmur - not a good feeling to have your physician utter anything remotely related to the heart not functioning normally. She sent me for an echocardiogram, and the good news is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with my heart, all is well, I just have a "trace" leakage that causes the murmer.

But during the days between my first exam and waiting to hear the results from the echo, I was doing a lot of thinking about the state of my health. No doubt, I am in much better shape today that I was a year ago - so much so, that I was able to take a lot of solace in the fact that I had just run a marathon, so it was highly unlikely that there was anything significantly wrong with my cardiovascular system. I'm sure the same event last year would have left me convinced that I had significant heart issues, because at that time, I would have been focused on how out of breath I could get so easily.

What this brought into sharp focus for me is how being a healthier person is the really important goal here. I am as guilty (or probably more so) as other folks here at focusing on how the clothing fits, how my appearance has changed etc., and truth told, I have taken great joy in that. But at the end of the day, the most important reason to make this journey is to improve our physical health.

Heart murmur aside, the rest of the physical went well too - my cholesterol, blood pressure, weight (of course!) and other measures are all improved from last year, so it was a nice reinforcement of the benefits of living a healthier lifestyle.

Anyway, thought I'd share this moment with my friends here at 3FC. Here's wishing you all great success on your journey to a healthier you!

Wow -- I just went to your photos and marathon report. What an amazing inspiration you are!

Have you posted any photos of you at your current weight?

Rachel, how very scary. I am so happy this turned out to be nothing. I'm sure you had a few nerve wracking days nevertheless.

You are SO right. I used to spend day after day, night after night thinking that every pain, twitch, ache or what have you was either cancer, my heart, diabetes or something brought about by the fact that I was MORBIDLY obese. I mean they don't call it MORBILDY for nothing. Sure the compliments are mind blowing, the shopping and the clothing is incredulous, but nothing, NOTHING beats the fact that we have done everything within our power to take charge of our health. THAT is THEE most incredible feeling of all and what really, really makes it all so very, very worth it.

And I don't know where I was when this "marathon" news came about, I apparently missed it, but wow - CONGRATULATIONS on that as well. Talk about mind blowing!!!

Thank you sooo much for the reminder.

Windy Chick....... You have done so well!! Congrats on losing so much weight,and I hope the murmer is nothing to serious.
cheryl

You are so right! What finally got me to start getting serious about my weight was a fall down the stairs and serious consideration of my health. I really believe I have helped rescue my life!

Glad everything turned out so well for you. It does make you re-evaluate things a bit when something like this happens.

You know I don't think that people who have always been at a normal weight can possibly understand how much time and worry we have put into disecting each ache or pain that might be something catastrophic. Living without that stress is reason enough to lose the weight for me.

I totally agree. Thanks for sharing. And Congrats on hitting 90 Robin - you've done amazing.

Congratulations on the good report, and on all your hard work! And THANK YOU for reminding us that it truly is about being healthier. Yes, the complements, shopping, and whistles are unbelievably fantastic, but the underlying truth is that we are healthier, and that's the most important thing!

So true! Glad that your health scare turned out to be insignificant. I loved reading your marathon report--congratulations! Hope you enjoyed Portland--it's one of my favorite cities.

I'm so glad everything turned out ok and I'm sorry you had to go through the stress of worrying about it. How wonderful, however, that you could go through that stress knowing that your heart is strong enough to get you through an entire MARATHON!!! It's amazing how much we can change our lives. Congratulations again on the marathon and on how far you've come. And thanks for this much-needed reminder that the most important thing is staying healthy and no matter what size we're wearing we should always remember that our health is what it's all about.

Rachel,

What wonderful news!...that your test results show improvement from last year and your heart is okay. Yes, our health is very much the first priority. In the past, I always focused on the looks aspect of being overweight. When my health started declining....painful knees and insulin resistance...I finally realized that my health was slipping away from me. I believe this was my turning point to making this lifestyle committment.