Me, three years later

[Mike Carr]

Some of you remember my health issues I talked about here three years ago. It ended up being Multiple Sclerosis. And I am happy to say that, three years later, I am doing wonderful. My mom is doingwellafter her February 2011 stroke. Dad is doing mostly well with his cancer treatments. The skin cancer is all gone, and he will have a procedure or two done later this fall after work slows down (yeah, it's ben a wonderful three years for my family and I. lol)

On this date (August 12) three years ago, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. And, three years later, I am happy to say that I am probably as healthy, if not more so, than I have been in a LONG time. I met my weight goal of 200 pounds (199.0 a week ago), and am as light as I probably have been in close to twenty years (1998, my Senior year of high school, I weighed 270, and was 232 in late February). My quarterly blood tests I get, to check liver function which can be negatively affected by my weekly Avonex injections, have shown everything is fine (blood sugar, A1C, kidney, liver, thyroid, cholesterol and everything else). My blood sugar readings have been below 100 (below 90 actually) every time I have checked it in the past six months. Even with M.S., I can walk several miles a day with no problems (did over eight the other day, and have done as many as 10-12 miles, several times, over a day as well in two walks). Diet and excercise are a wonderful help, and I can still eat pizza, lasagne and burgers once in a while. I am blessed that 98-99% of the time, I feel great. Only if I overdo/overdid things at the gym, yardwork, etc do I feel sore/tired/bad. Had a few ups and downs, on a personal level, the past year or so, but I am over all that **** and those people. And I do still have a partial permanent vision loss in my left eye (60/20 in June 2013, was 3/200 in May 2010) but I can deal with that. I just have trouble seeing things far away (a dragstrip scoreboard, for example, some of the numbers can be a little hard to read), but if that is the worst thing I have to complain about, I'd rather shut up. I am blessed that despite everything, I can live a normal (well, with me, you have to re-define what's "normal"--LMAO), happy, healthy life. And I can only hope and pray that things continue to go as well as they are.

I do post periodic updates on my Facebook page, so feel free to add me there ( www.facebook.com/buffdaddy1302 )

Here is a good photo for comparison. On the left, me in April 2010 at 265 or so pounds. On the right, me in May 2013 at 203 pounds.