St. Louis

Member Since October 2007

My Story
I am 26 years old and have been a member of Curves for approximately a year and a half. In August of 2007 I was at work when I received a phone call from my mother telling me that my sister, who is now 28, was going to the emergency room. In the weeks leading up to this point in time, she had been having some trouble with her eye sight. She went to the eye doctor, who then referred her to a specialist. The specialist found that she had swelling of the optic nerve and advised that she be taken to the ER immediately for a full neurological work up. We were told at this point that the cause of the swelling of the nerve was either severely high blood pressure or some other type of pressure on the brain. When we arrived at the ER it was found that my sister's blood pressure was 221/147, which is dangerously high. She was immediately admitted and put on IV blood pressure medication in an attempt to stabilize this. In doing blood work and running various tests, it was found that her kidneys were not functioning properly, and that is what was causing the blood pressure to spike. After several days in the ICU, a biopsy showed that her kidneys were at least 85% destroyed, and soon after she began dialysis. After her first dialysis blood work came back, it was found that she had only 3% kidney function.

At that time we were informed that the only options would be for her to permanently stay on dialysis or receive a kidney transplant. At this point, I made the decision to get healthy, as I can not even be considered as a donor for my sister unless my BMI is under 30. When I joined Curves, my BMI was 48.6, and I weighed a shocking 341 pounds. This was devastating to me, as I was only 24 at the time, and had no idea I had let myself get that out of control. I have a family history of obesity, but I was completely blind to how bad I had gotten. I had lost weight in the past with Curves, but had stopped before I was finished and, unfortunately, gained back more than I had lost in the year and a half that followed.

When I decided I was going to get healthy, I also made a promise to myself that I was going to do it the right way, and that I wasn't going to give up until I had reached my goal. My only goal at that point was to reach a BMI below 30, so I could potentially give my kidney to my sister. I am proud to say that at last check, my BMI is 29.1, and I am still going strong! To date I have lost approximately 140 pounds, and am still just as excited about continuing on my journey to a healthy life as I was the day I started! I joined Curves to help my sister, and I am still with Curves for me!

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