Hi Mary: So nice to be chatting with you. First of all, go to your local drug store and pick up a little jar of either Blue Stuff (or Blue emu), or an even smaller jar of TIGER BALM. Rub it on your neck, (you only have to use a little). It is GREAT for pain!!!

No, unfortunately we don't have any nieces or nephews. The only person he would let walk on him is my girlfriend who has anorexia and she is battling cancer so she's not walking on anybody's back any time soon. I make her laugh all the time. We can't talk about food because she's anorexic and believe me in her case, that's more deadly than the cancer but she still has a sense of humor. I keep telling her. "you have to beat this so we can go out and get our omelettes, and you can walk on Alan's back". You see, we used to go out to dinner and the only thing she'll eat is an swiss cheese egg omelette. That's her one meal of the day. We can't do that any more because she's so tired from the chemo, she won't eat anything and god forbid her weight goes over 100 lbs. Forget it. Her mother who is 83 can't take it anymore. Her children don't have anything to do with her either. She put them through too much. She was in and out of eating disorder clinics her whole life. It really does devastate a family. It's all depression.

Oh, I have a very funny story to tell you about lifting weights. I've mentioned it before but since you're new here you probably never read this before. It really is funny.

Some time ago (like 9 years), I decided to lose weight and go to the gym. My doctor was after me to shape up and I was finally ready to do it. When he weighed me I was 202 and he went crazy. Now I never looked like I weighed that, because my bones are very dense or something. I look 40 lbs less. So I said to myself, "I'll go to the gym, do the routines, and I'll watch everything that goes in my mouth and I'll lose weight". So that's what I did. I am diabetic so I cut out all carbs, ate only protein, and I went to the gym every day. AND I MEAN EVERY DAY. I did the weights. I went on the machines, I did the repetitions. I LOOKED GREAT. I had some BODY!!!

So a few months later, it was time for my medical checkup. I never weighed myself because I wanted to shock him and shock ME!!! So I went there wearing a pair of spandex shorts and a tank top. I never looked better in my life, believe me. I must have been 50 or 51. I looked good!!!

So I walked into his office, and he takes one look at me and goes "Oh my, look at you, you certainly have been working out and watching, hop on the scale lets' see what you weigh!!!!! I figured I lost 25 lbs and I'd see something like 175. Now if I weigh 175, I look like I weigh 135 because I"m very tall and big boned. Well, I hop on the scale and he goes nuts. He looks at me and says 'my god, what have you been eating??? The scale said 223. I will never forget that number if I live to be 100 years old. Ever see a woman cause a scene in a doctor's office??? Well, that was me, all those years ago. I said "the scale is broke, he says the scale is new". I said to him "Victor, how much do you weigh?? He's about 6 feet 2 inches, a very tall nicely built man. He said "I weigh 195". He gets on the scale. It reads 195. I made the nurses go on the scale, I made everybody in the waiting room go on the scale. I went out of my mind. All my dieting and going to the gym and I gained 22 lbs. I could not believe it.

I immediately went to my gym, went up to the biggest body builder I could find and I exclaimed "Can you please help me?' and this big hunk says to me "why sure little lady (LITTLE LADY!!!!!!), what can I do for you".

I said to him "you can tell me why I weigh 223 lbs?" He just stared at me and said "you weigh what???" are you serious"???. I said: "follow me.... and I got on the scale. He could not believe it. He calls all his body building buddies over and he calls all the trainers over and they are walking around me in a circle looking at my body. I was almost in tears. Finally, one of the trainers said to me "Melody, tell us exactly what you have been doing in this gym for 3 months?" I said "okay, and I showed him how I had been lifting weights every day for 3 months". BIG WEIGHTS. At least for a woman. 40 lb weights. AND I HAVE SCOLIOSIS by the way. And this was during the summer when it was hot outside and my arthritis didn't bother me during the summer". I LOVE IT WHEN IT'S 95 DEGREES OUTSIDE, I have no pain at all.

Well, when I told them what I was doing with the weights, I had 10 men laughing their heads off and I said "what the hell is so funny?" and they calmed down and said "you replaced your fat with muscle". You have been bodybuilding for 3 months. You have muscle mass". I responded "My doctor couldn't care less about muscle mass, he just wants me to lose weight".

They told me "don't worry, it's not fat, it's muscle". Now who on earth, as a woman wants to weigh 223 lbs. Well not me!!! So I immediately stopped the gym thing, and put the weight back on. I never picked up a weight again as long as I lived. Only 3 or so years ago, I began a way of eating (diabetic lifestyle, etc.) and walking and doing some cardio vascular stuff. I have never and I mean never picked up a weight again.

Now when I changed doctors in January, I would not go on the scale. I look perfectly fine but I told Dr. Fred the whole story about the weights. He laughed his head off and thank god he understood because he is also a body builder who is built like Arnold Schwartznegger. He also works out and meets up with my husband at the same gym they both go to. He told me "Melody don't worry, you can go on the scale, close your eyes, tell the nurse you don't want to know what you weigh and I won't tell you.

I haven't had to go to him medically yet. I always accompany Alan on his appointments so I got to know Dr. Fred through my husband. But when I have to go for anything, I know I won't have to look at the scale.

Only the people at Cornell (where I am in their diabetic protocol), they know what I weigh. I don't know and I don't want to know. I get weighed backwards and every time I go I lost maybe 2 or 3 lbs and they get all excited and they go "oh my god, you lost 2 lbs" and I think "you people have lost your mind, what the hell is 2 lbs".?

You see, it's not the two lbs. It's that I consistently lose 2 lbs every month. So it adds up.

I will never pick up another weight. It was explained to me that woman should do small weights with a lot of reps. I had done BIG weighs with a small amount of reps.

DUH!!!!!Maybe someday if I ever get down to 150, THEN I'LL DO SMALL WEIGHTS WITH A LOT OF REPS. I'm still scared to pick up a dumbell!!!

lol Melody