Step one down!

In September of 2008, I had a tonic clonic seizure (commonly referred to as a grand mal seizure). When I went to the hospital, they found a brain tumor - it wasn't cancerous, but it was big, about the size of an egg. I named her Georgia, because she was on my mind... Right? Hey, it was either laugh or cry, and I'll take laughing any day! She was successfully removed a week later, but I was left with the lovely parting gift of epilepsy. Thankfully, it's well controlled with meds - I've only had two other seizures in the six and a half years since I gave Georgia the boot.

Well, the meds have a not-so-great side effect, which is weight gain. I'm not going to discount my role in the enormous amount of weight I gained since we found Georgia, because I have not eaten well; however, the last med made me gain 40 pounds in six months, putting me in shouting distance of 300 pounds, and that was my wake up call, so I decided to change my eating and exercise habits. I quickly found and joined MFP. I love you guys - this last month has been amazing, and the inspiration and motivation I've found from listening to your stories is a large part of that. I've lost a total of 26.1 pounds since I made that decision.

One thing I've discovered on this site is the importance of setting small goals leading to a larger goal, so I decided that by May 2016, I wanted to run a 5K. My smaller term goals were to train to WALK a few 5K's this summer, and then start Couch to 5K once I lost a total of 75 pounds. I've given myself until January to do that, which leaves me five months to train to run my first 5K.

Today I received a newsletter from my neurologist's office, and what do you think is happening in Seattle on June 20th? The Northwest Run / Walk for Epilepsy. So guess who signed up for her first 5K walk today! I have a couple friends lined up to do it with me (but if there's anyone in the Seattle area who would like to walk - not run - with us, you are MORE than welcome!). The name of our team? Team Georgia. She may have completely disrupted my life, but she gave me many gifts as well. I hope it doesn't happen to you because of something like a brain tumor, but I hope everyone - at least once in their life - gets to feel the amazing, intense feeling of knowing all at once how much everyone you know loves you. It's mind-boggling, and without Georgia, I never would've felt it. So she's my talisman as much as she's my burden, and it's only fitting that what she left me with is what starts me back on the road to full health!