About Me

My journey to the Obese III category began in 2001. I was in a car accident, t-boned from the right side, by a red light runner. The impact snapped my neck and severed the phrenic nerve paralyzing my right diaphragm. This rendered my right lung basically useless. I wasn’t diagnosed until days later when I started to complain of being out of breath doing any physical activity. An x-ray “sniff test” revealed the paralysis. 

As a farm kid physical activity was related to doing chores. It was hard work. While my friends in town got to play I was feeding cattle, mucking out stalls, baling hay, picking rock out of the fields. I didn’t need exercise, I needed a break. I wanted to play. Our free weights were hay bales and shovels. This attitude toward strenuous physical activity would later play a role in my journey toward Obese III.

I added a few pounds every year. No one said a thing. I slowly went up in pant and shirt sizes. Every couple of years I had a new wardrobe until I maxed out at a 44″ waist and XXXXL shirts. I was a big guy. When I walked my shoes squeaked. In fact, I struggled to tie my shoes and even made the switch to slip-ons. It all happened so slowly.