Abbotsford

Member Since September 2003

My Story
I was not really big on exercising or even being very regular with taking walks. It was hard for me to take the time, although when I did take a walk I really enjoyed it. It seemed like once I got myself out there it was fine, but I had trouble taking that first step.

When Curves came to our area, I decided that this may just be the answer to getting some exercise. I enrolled and really enjoyed the workout. I seemed to have more energy and, even though I stopped at Curves on my way home from work, I was energized enough to make it through the evening without falling asleep on the couch before bedtime. I really enjoyed it and it wasnt difficult for me. After nearly a year, I had to stop and take off a few months because of surgery, and didnt get back into it until after I retired.

Thats when I really needed Curves. I spent more time at home and found out that my inactivity wasnt doing me any good. I was putting on extra weight and my muscles just seemed to atrophy. I was losing muscle tone and I just didnt have the energy that I used to have when I was working. I really needed to get back to Curves!!

I enrolled again and really started enjoying my workout and was going anywhere from 4 - 5 times per week and it really made my feel great. Curves has given me time to unwind and improve my physical and mental well-being all at once. My muscle tone and strength have improved dramatically. Every day of my life we have to work at being fit. I found out that when I stopped I lost muscle, and bone, and my health in general
fluctuated.

Then in Spring of 2008 I was diagnosed with Lymphoma, a form of cancer that is found in your lymph nodes. I had swelling in my neck, behind my ears and then tumors started developing behind my eyes. That was a real shocker, because I took my a while to realize that this was the cancer. I was only going to the Cancer Clinic every 3 months at that time, so at my regular check up the doctor saw the swelling in my eyes and then everything began to work very rapidly to get me into Chemotherapy. Two days after my first treatment, the tumors in my eyes were gone! I couldnt believe it and would go to the mirror a number of times a day to check and see if they were really gone. My eyes were normal again!

One thing that kept me going was my workout at Curves. All during my 6 months of Chemotherapy I never missed my time at Curves. It felt so good to be able to go and do my exercises every week. I lost my hair so I was wearing a hat and I thought that some of the other clients would ask me about the hat, but no one did; just one lady remarked that wearing a hat at my workout looked kind of cool! I had straight hair before the Chemo and now my hair are curly, which is really fun!

I have completed my regular treatments and am on a maintenance program where I get one drug every 3 months in order to keep the slow growing lymphoma at bay, but I am in remission and thank God for using the miracle of medicine to heal me.

I continue to enjoy my workout at Curves and feel much better and more energized.

In the last few months, I have a developed some osteoarthritis in my body and have found that continuing to workout has also helped to manage it. I have had less pain and I am still able to get around, do my gardening and housework when I make sure that I have been at Curves each week. The machines are easy to manage and operate. They give you the workout you need.

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