Help Brendan get healthy

Help Brendan get healthy for his birthday

Hey everyone,

As some (hopefully most) of you know, I had a small stroke on Friday (6/27) which has resulted only in a little numbness on my right side.

The neurologist at the hospital believes it was likely the result of high BP, high cholesterol and diabetes that was out of control (as a result of me not knowing I had it and missing some warning signs that I didn’t know were warning signs).

The docs have quadrupled my BP meds (probably sounds bigger than it is) and added medications for cholesterol as well as an anti- platelet medication for a few weeks to prevent a second stroke. But the consensus is that the biggest things I can do are lifestyle changes to improve my overall health.

The good news is that some of these changes are already underway. I started a new job recently that’s significantly reduced my stress and stress eating. I’ve lost 35 lbs in recent months ( 308.6 on 4/1 to 272.0 on 7/1). I’ve been starting/planning more exercise.

The more challenging piece is that there’s more to do, and lifestyle changes can be expensive – I spent a lot of my budget for this pay period on medication copays (and things that aren’t covered by insurance). Healthy foods tend to be more expensive. Exercise equipment can be pricey too – and unfortunately due to the nature of my new fee for service job and slow bookings over the summer, I was already looking at trying to figure out how to cut some of my fencing club expenses.

The copay for my hospital stay was $1,200. I’m still paying off another medical bill of $1,300 (remaining) for the colonoscopy (that did discover cancer) last year.

TL;DR – for my birthday this year I am asking for you to give me money to help me ensure that costs aren’t a barrier to the kinds of lifestyle changes I’m looking to make.

I’ll definitely be sharing the results of my journey as much as possible (‘cause 1) why not and 2) accountability).