Oxford, OH

Member Since August 2004

My Story
Vibrant and healthy looking, one would think that sixty-seven year old, Oxford Curves member, Diane B., had been active and committed to fitness all her life. Little would one suspect that eight and a half years ago Diane was fighting for her life.

Diane has arteriovenous malformation (AVM), a very rare congenital abnormality of the circulatory system where the arteries and veins interconnect. For 88% of those with AVM it goes undetected and causes no problem but for Diane, one week before Christmas of 2001, the AVM turned life threatening. Vomiting blood clots and struggling to breathe, Diane was rushed to the hospital. After an initial surgery to stabilize her, a pulmonary specialist was brought in. Diane learned that an AVM of the lungs is so rare that the specialist had only seen it in one other patient. A second surgery resulted in the loss of two thirds of her right lung and Diane spent six weeks in a medically induced coma. When she could finally go home she was extremely weak, needed help just to get around the house and was unable to breathe outside. For two and a half years her quality of life was greatly impaired. She felt more like she was existing rather than living.

In 2004 Diane saw an ad for Curves and thought, maybe, just maybe, I could do that. What Diane found was a welcoming environment where she could go at her own pace. The staff was concerned but supportive. She started out extremely slowly, unable to talk at all while working out. She noticed that adding a forth day to her workout routine really seemed to help her gain more stamina. Each month she saw a little more improvement.

When the Curves staff asked in January of 2005 what her goal for the year would be, Diane knew right away. She wanted to be able to read a book to her grandson who was a toddler. The book just needed to be a preschool book with lots of pictures and a few words. It took nine months of working out to gain the strength and conditioning to read a book to her grandson. He is five years old now and Diane is reading bigger books and her grandson is beginning to read to her.

Diane continues to workout four days a week despite a recent setback with pneumonia. After years of trying to convince her doctor that Curves made the difference in her recovery, he finally concurs. Diane says, It took Curves to do it. I couldnt have done it by myself. While Diane likes to give Curves the credit, she has shown incredible fortitude and we think she is pretty amazing!

Submitted by the Staff of Oxford Curves with Diane's editorial approval.

My Photos