[edna-l-williams]

1. @mark-koziol Thanks for all the encouragement it means that much more when its coming form people that know exactly what your going through. Im going to make sure to keep your tips in mind, especially the strength training a lot of which I can do sitting &standing. The support and positive feedback is greatly appreciated.

[edna-l-williams]

Wow, thank you so much for this. I often see people with this disease struggle to gain weight, any very rarely do you hear from someone that struggles from the other end. From the very beginning even before being diagnosed with NISP I was told that my breathing issues were due to my weight. That was news that I didn’t agree with because I was so active, and felt healthy, I was never a thin person but I felt healthy. I worked all day long in a very busy dialysis clinic that kept me moving all day, went for walks on my breaks with co workers, did squats every morning, and continued this until I couldn’t. It seems like once I was diagnosed and started treatment of Cellcept, Prednisone, and oxygen. Things progressed pretty fast just after one year. I can no longer do squats, when I walk it is so slow to keep my heart rate down, and any exertion at all my stats drop low so fast that it scares me to do too much activity while I’m alone. Not to mention the weight gain from the prednisone. I’ve gained about 40 pounds in a years time. A couple of months ago I experienced a flare up, that resulted in my oxygen to be raised to 6 litters and my medication dosage went up as well. During my follow up appointment at the Mayo clinic I learned that my lung function had  declined. When going over everything with the pulmonologist he let me know that transplant was not an option because my bmi is at 35 and I need to be 30 or below. He said that it was a very serious surgery and when your overweight you just don’t do well after surgery. That was such a wake-up call for me. Since then I’ve put myself in a twelve hundred calorie low carb diet. The only weight loss I’ve had is five pounds, but I’m struggling with my activity level. I have stairs to get into my house, and they wear me out now and it’s not just out of breath, I get the chest tightness and my head feels like it’s under water. I get this same feeling when ever I do anything over a slow stroll, I even have a hard time getting up from the toilet. My health is very important to me and I’m willing do do whatever I have to for life I’m only thirty six and I have a husband and two children I want to be around for. Thank you for showing me that this too can be achieved with a plan and determination.