My Health History

HEALTH HISTORY
1959---In 1959 I got married and weighed 210 pounds.  I had good health with no serious problems.
1972---I had been gaining about 10 pounds a year and weighed 330 pounds.  I was living in Las Vegas NV and read a newspaper ad for a local doctor who had a weight loss program called a protein sparing fast.  I tried the program which consisted of drinking 2 ounces of liquid protein every day and nothing else except water.  After 40 days on this program I had lost about 30 pounds.  However, I suddenly had a terrible pain in my foot so I went to the emergency room at the hospital.  They told me I had gout from the program I was on and the doctor was a quack.  They put me on allopurinol which cured the problem.  I'm still taking this medicine after 42 years.
1977---Needed glasses.  When I turned 40, I went to renew my drivers license but couldn't pass the eye test.
1981---Stomach staple surgery.  I was 44 years old and my weight had ballooned to 430 pounds.  I had been on the yo-yo diet (up and down and up more for 22 years).  Nothing had worked so in desperation I had stomach staple surgery.  I lost weight for a few months then gained it all back.  Another failed attempt to lose weight.
1986---Diabetes.  I had frequent urination and was always thirsty.  Another "blessing" of the Standard American Diet (SAD).  I went to my family physician and he said I had diabetes.  So he put me on some diabetic pills, a diabetic diet and had me frequently check my blood sugar.
1987---Sleep Apnia.  I had been very tired for two years, falling asleep during the day and snoring at night.  The doctors finally diagnosed sleep apnia.  They put me on a Controlled Positive Air Pressure (CPAP) machine plus oxygen at night.  It was wonderful. I finally had a full nights rest after 2 years and much of my energy returned.
1988---Arthritis.  I started getting a lot of pain in my hands and back.  I had arthritis and they put me on Tylenol to help relieve the pain.  Nothing else.
1993---Carpal Tunnel Surgery.  I lost feeling in my right hand with numbness and pain.  It was corrected with carpal tunnel surgery.
1994---Diabetes/Insulin.  My blood sugars started going over 200 so I was put on insulin to help control my diabetes.
1995---Fell Down the Stairs.  In the spring of 1995 I caught a cold.  One night I couldn't sleep and I was coughing terribly.  So I got up and took some cough medicine.  I didn't want to wake my wife so I started into the living room, without turning on the light, to sit down and rest until my cough subsided.  However I made a wrong turn in the dark and fell down 13 steps in the stairwell to the basement.  It was 3 in the morning.  My wife drove me to the emergency room at the hospital.  I had a busted leg, a busted arm several busted bones in my hand and wrist, a dislocated shoulder and a torn rotator cuff.  I was under bed care and medication for 6 weeks. 
1995---Rotator cuff surgery.  About 3 months after I fell down the stairs I had rotator cuff surgery to repair it.  The doctor, after cutting me open, said it was the most mangled rotator cuff he had ever seen and he couldn't repair it.  Also, my right shoulder I dislocated was bone on bone.  So now I have a gimpy right arm.
2000---Total knee replacement, left knee.
2002---Congestive Heart Failure.  I weighed 600 pounds because of water retention from my congestive heart failure.  I was in the hospital for 9 days.  I eventually got rid of all the water and went down to 430 pounds.
2005---Total knee replacement, right knee.  I was going to have both knees replaced in 2000.  But the recovery on the left knee was so long and painful I decided not to have the right knee replaced.  After 5 years the pain was so bad I had to get a wheel chair.  I decided it was time to have the right knee replaced so I did.
2007---I came down with a chronic cough this year.  I have continual phlegm in my throat which makes me cough all the time.  I still have the problem.  I have been to about 5 different doctors to find out what was causing it, but no luck.  They checked for sinus problems, asthma, acid reflux and my sleep apnia problem.  I am still looking for a help and hope this diet will eventually cure the problem.
2009---Cataract eye surgery on my left eye.

CURRENT HEALTH
I still have all of the health problems listed above.  My legs have become very weak and I can only stand or walk for about 5 minutes, then I have to sit down.  I use a cane to get around and if I go to a store I use an electric cart.