Gaby's Story

September 8th 2006 my cell phone rings. I was surprised by the voice on the other end of the line. It was my cousin Mackey. He was best friends with my dad and he has never called me before. I thought he might be calling because it was my 21st birthday. I had just got done getting all dressed up to go out for dinner that night when he delivered the most devastating news of my life. He called to inform me that my father was in the hospital in North Carolina on life support and that my family there was about to "pull the plug".  I had no idea that he was in the hospital in the first place let alone seconds from leaving this earth. I had never been close to my father and to know that he died without me being able to make my peace with him will always haunt me. My father had gone to the hospital the day before for chest pains and other symptoms. The next day he had a massive stroke, two days later he was gone at the age of 56. At that time I was 160 lbs. Three months later I looked back at the pictures from the time when I my father died and noticed a significant weight gain. I thought to myself  "If I don't change my lifestyle I will end up like my dad". He suffered from high blood pressure from eating a S.A.D diet (Standard American Diet). I gained more weight after that point until I really got hold of the combination of eating nutritiously coupled with proper exercise. Now I have the education and the inspiration to live healthy and fit. I have learned from the experience of my father. I believe that he felt that itcouldn't happen to him but it did and can happen to anyone. I have devoted my life to helping others in their quest to as healthy and fit as they can be. This isn't a diabetes story but it was my wake up call. Hopefully reading this will be someone's wake up call rather than living it.