Hello,
I'm an 85 yr old widowed grandpa with alot to be thankful for
today; my
life & my physical independance, which is why I'm writing this
letter...to make it publicly known, that your prayers will be
answered,
but you have to take ACTION! It helps if you have close family
&/or
friends to coach you through life threatening circumstances,
especially
if your facing life threatening, or crippling diseases such as
my
chronic rumatoid arthritis.
But even if your not really so bad off, yet, but your in need of
some
help to make your health/fitness more balanced, & more of a
priority,
before you get where I was, (remember the old addage; an ounce
of
prevention is worth a pound of cure!) I just wanted to share my
story,
so people will know there is hope, & help, out there at your
finger
tips, where you can conveniently turn for motivation and
direction, even
if you aren't as fortuneate as I am, to have it in your circle
of family
& friends!
I was very fortunate to have my grandson help me through my near
fatal
(at least permanently crippling) ordeal, who happens to be a
professional fitness coach, who is now getting tremendous
results for
his many clients, globally, as he did for me, by pioneering
online
coaching/consulting.
Even when he couldn't be there for me in person, all the time,
he was
here via the tele-phone & online, with his tremendous motivation
&
progressive, goals oriented training, helping me get the results
that
we're NECCESSARY for my survival & independance!
I've always been a man of great spiritual faith, but I was in
fear for
my life many times in the past year, from the bone deforming,
excructiating, crippling, debilitating pain I was in from
massive rumatoid arthritis bone
spurs & deformities disease. I felt like Job of the bible, with one
crippling
infliction after another...I was in & out of surgeries &
recoveries, and
had to wear a neck brace about an entire year, in '99-2000!
After my many, almost daily, foot surgeries, over a 2 week
period, in
which my doctor, daughter, (who was visiting for support, from
the mid
west), & grandson we're focused on saving my foot from a serious
bone
infection, & therefore my independance. After these almost
endless
surgeries, I rehabed well, & was able to walk much better, &
actually
take my annual trek back home to the midwest to see family &
friends, in
a couple months....
I had thought for some time that I wouldn't be able to make the
2000
mile cross country driving journey, alone, any longer, when the
rumatoid arthritis pain &
balance problems forced the surgeries to begin again. You see, I
had the
same problem a year previously, and a surgery putting steel pins
through
my toes & into my foot, only temporarily helped the condition.
My old
decreped toes kept deforming to the side of my foot on me.
My grandson's coaching nature started kicking in, at this point,
so he
put me on a genreal conditioning exercise, & stretching, program
with a
good diet of high protien & complex carbs, and, he wouldn't let
me sleep
all afternoon (which I thought was cruel, at the time, unitl I
saw the
extra energy & strength I recieved) because of my strength from
the
general conditioning from my healthrider, I was able to make my
annual
trek back home, with no problems! My prayers we're being
answered with
the help of my doctors, my grandson's coaching, & thanks to my
strong
willed nature.
Once back in South Florida, the real problems began to pile up
on me,
which later had me losing 30#'s in a couple months time! I
started
noticing alot of rumatoid arthritis symptoms coming on that I later had diagnosed
as spinal
arthritic spurs, that were pinching off my spinal cord! ...I was
losing
my balance, when walking, & my hands began shaking
uncontrollably, to
the point of me not even being able to write my name! I couldn't
hear,
even with hearing aids, & I was losing about 1/3 of the strength
in the
left side of my body from the rumatoid arthritis bone spurs in my cervical spine.
Needless to say, the stress from the pain, and the falling down
instances (I even fell into a window in my bedroom once!), was
overwhelming to an 85 yr old person, & my weight was dropping
fast, and
all this was even affecting what had always been, my strong will
to
live. I was quickly become over emotional & very weak, which is
just not
me at all! Something had to be done fast...the prognosis was
another
surgery, just a few months after the 2 weeks of daily surgeries
on my
foot.
My grandson TOOK ACTION, by putting me on a daily exercise
program, & he
was very firm, pushing me to do more reps & time each day. At
this time,
I remember, I could only do 10 reps, painfully, on my
healthrider, &
then I had to rest the remainder of the day! I was falling down,
& up,
steps... drastic steps had to be taken, immediately!
The ortho surgeon had to cut out 3 vertibrae in my cervical
spine &
replace them with a bone! WHEW! This was quite an ordeal, even
if I were
a young person, to go through so much in such a short time, was
enough
to make me lose my will & almost my mind, at my age!
But, I was fortuneate, I had my grandson's fitness coaching
expertise to
see me through, ( he had me up to doing a few hundred reps on my
healthrider daily in a few weeks!) and the prayers of my church
friends,
helped us both get through the surgery & into the recovery
period with
flying colors, & no complications... that is, ....almost...
A few days into recovery, a nurse at the managed health care
rehab
facility, took it upon herself to go against the doctor's orders
to not
take off the very restricitve, complicated neck brace, & she
rather
insensitively removed it with a bit of a quick jerk, (DUH) to
check for
infection. I was too weak to stop her...but i kept telling her;
"NO, No,
don't take it off, the doctor said not to!"
She didn't know how to put it back on correctly, and when my
doctor saw
me at my check up, it was lose, a few days later, & he hit the
ceiling!
He wanted to know how that brace got lose....I told him how the
nurse
jerked it off of me, and he was furious! He took my x-ray, and
discovered that the surgery didn't take, the bone was out of
place
because of the nurse's mal-practice!
Well, that was the proverbial straw, that should have broken the
camel's
back...or neck...To make a long story shorter, we are sueing the
rehab
facility for mal-practice & I had to go through yet ANOTHER
surgery! I
really didn't know if I could make it through another one...I
was losing
the will go on at this point, but my faith in prayer, and my
grandson's
strong coaching motivation, and being there for me, pulled me
through
again! He called my daughter to fly back down for support again.
This surgery, which I was fearing the most, was shorter than the
last,
and I recovered quickly, getting out of rehab within a week,
because of
my physical strength from the exercise program I was on. I had a
minor
adverse drug allegery, which a nurse finally recognized as such,
about
the time my grandson did, so I stopped taking that pain
medication & the
rash went away. But I was back on my grandson's program
immediately,
gaining about 100 reps/month on my healthrider,(HR) and working
up the
reps on my squats, lunges & other strength exercises, as well!
I now knew the exercise was really working & was what really
saved my
independance, & my probably my life, through all the surgeries.
I
continued to increase my strength, even at my age, up to doing
550 HR
reps at once, and 100 squats & lunges in 3 sets! How many 60-70
year
odls can do close to that?
I felt stronger & healthier than I had in over a decade! My
hearing even
improved from sharper mental acqueity....I guess the improved
physical
strength affects the mental strength too...I was able to focus
on
listening better, & therefore I could hear better. I was about
1/2 deaf
even with hearing aides, but now it's only a fraction of that,
maybe
1/5.
Despite some recent lower back pain from rumatoid arthritis spurs & a deformed
vertibrae
there, I'm making the annual trek back home again this month!
I'm taking
pain management medication, at the recommendation of my
grandson, not
the doctor's (he just wants to do more surgeries) and have other
surgeries for the rumatoid arthritis, to be done on my hands & shoulder,
that I'm
putting off for awile.
After vacation, I'll get back on the regular exercise program,
and
consult with my grandson, when he's here, and on the phone &
online via
e-mail, otherwise...isn't technolgy great to be able to bring
expert
help into your home like this?!
I'm going to be alright for many more years, thanks to coaching
& to
TAKING ACTION! You now have the chance to get on a balanced
fitness
program, whereever you are, whatever condition your in, if I
could do it
with all the rumatoid arthritis trauma I was facing, at my age, anyone can do it!
The sooner you TAKE ACTION & get on a progressive, balanced,
fitness
coaching program of journaling (writing down your daily goals &
accomplishments in a log notebook), like I am, the better your
chances
will be, & the less the fear, later on, when you face your
trauma, which
we all do sooner or later!
I hope in sharing my story of "survival of the fittest", I am
able to
help someone decide to "GET FIT" and live the fitness balance
lifestyle
that I'm now living at age 85! Even if this article just helps
one
person have a better quality life, I'll be happy:}, that I could
help
with my gratitude, to my grandson, in this way. I would also
like to
repay my grandson's valiant coaching efforts by publishing this
in many
places & by giving you some contact information for him,
Coach"T",
Scott Thomas Cook.
Scotty led his college football team to 2 NCAA defensive titles,
with
the school's best ever undefeated season, won Mr Indiana AAU
bodybuilding championship, & was the #1 personal trainer,
leading the #3
staff, in the world for Bally's, so I am, and you can be also,
in good
hands with his highly SUCCESSFUL, championship style of
coaching! He can
help you, as he has helped me SO very much in my, recently dim,
but now
BRIGHT, & glowing, golden years.
I think this online coaching/consulting he is pioneering is
fantastic!
He is able to reach almost anyone in the world, (especially
those off
the "beaten path") conveniently, and affordably, with his top
notch
expert coaching via e-mail & the telephone, and as he has with
me, he
gets tremendous RESULTS, guaranteed with everyone!
You can e-mail Scotty at:
coachcook@consultant.com or call
800-510-1WAY
(929) pin #03, & visit his online coaching, TRI-SUCCESS website
at
www.personaltraining.org to take the fitness survey & get a
free
tele-consultation (he even offers a complimentary week trial)
with the
best in the business...I'm very proud of him, I guess it does
all come
back to you someday, ...you see I adopted Scotty & raised him to
be
strong, helpful, & honest, from 3 years old! 8D
So, I'm also a father to him...I am still watching Scotty grow,
(hehe) &
It does my old heart enormous good, to see how many people he
helps, in
so many ways, with his powerful wealth of SUCCESS & fitness
knowledge!
Please gIve him a shout & tell him grandpa sent you...he coaches
SUCCESS &
fitness very effectively, through goals, motivation, &
progressive
journaling, via e-mail reports & consultations, in ANY area you
need
help/SUCCESS in! It really works...I'm living proof, and so is
my great
grandson, Scotty's 13 year old son; Austin Blake Cook, who is a
Jr.
fireman, a math & science wiz (won the state with his science
fair
project) & a wrestler on his school's undefeated team! Scotty
coached
him as an ast. in all sports, and has him computer literate at
his young
age!
Thank you for reading my survival story!
Take ACTION & JUST DO IT!
It's never too late to "GET FIT"!
William Lloyd Cook, 85
Okeechobee, Fla.
863-467-4660
PS I would be glad to tell my true story in person, on radio, or TV,
if you
want to give me or Scotty a call, or e-mail. The more people we
can
touch/reach the better for us all! :}
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