When Your Life Turns Upside Down, New Thoughts Turn UP

I have been single all of my life. Not from lack of trying, but lots of bad luck. Some of it was not my fault, but much of it was of my own making, and now as I am older, my own choice. It was a normal life, with good times and bad ones, until I moved from a paid for house at the lake to take up island living with my first ever mortgage. I should tell you that I didn't do that until I was 55 years old.

I built a house during  the late summer and early fall of 2005. If you live along the Gulf Coast, you remember that as THE year in which many peoples' lives were upended. I was lucky; no hurricanes hit my beach. But having so many strike so close to home had me thinking that I was in the early stages of dementia or just plain stupid for wanting to live on the Gulf Coast...on an island!

Life continued in its hectic way for the next few years. But in 2009, I experienced a life changing event. I have had lots of nuisance illnesses over the years, but this one was the biggie. Remember the late actor John Ritter? Yep, I got what he had. And, apparently I had for quite a long time without knowing about it. An aneurysm between your heart and lungs, in your aorta, gives you an awful lot to think about. I survived it with more than a little help from my friends, but I realized my heart, no pun intended, just wasn't into working anymore. So, I retired a year earlier than anticipated, and tried to figure out what to do next.

I ended up writing a book, called I'll Be There...  You can find it on my website http://www.cynthiaeckhart.com/. Then dreaming about all the money I was going to make, I realized that I was not ready to be seen in public! I must lose weight, and fast. Since I had been trying on my own for many years with no success, I have decided to get lap-band surgery. And that is what has prompted this blog.

So, as my journey begins, I am going to share it with all. Successes, Failures, Doubts, Joys. And as I change my physical side perhaps my emotional side will also change.

A few years ago, I thought I was having a heart attack. Turns out it was my gall bladder. The nurse looked at me and said, "Oh yeah, it's gall bladder. You're 4-F."  I wanted to cry when she explained it to me:

Fair (okay, I am blond by bottle)
Fat (she could have been a little more diplomatic)
Fifty (not only fat but getting old??)
and
wait for it....
Flatulent (OMG I GOT GAS!!)

No wonder I am still a SWF...