Health – Tiffany Brown

Left picture taken 12/4/13, right picture taken 12/4/20

Wow! What a difference 7 years makes.

The woman on the left was 20 pounds overweight, full of insecurities, suffering from anxiety, depression, and digestive issues. The woman on the right still has days where she deals with anxiety and depression, but the main difference is that the woman on the left struggled with finding her worth and value in what the scales said and what others thought about her.

The woman on the right has since learned that as a child of God, her worth and value are in what He says about her. I have been a Christian since I was 15 and I am now 46 years old. It has taken me 31 years, and many difficulties in my Christian walk, to fully trust God’s word and what He says about me. Once I finally got to the point where I was leaning on God and seeing myself the way that He sees me, then I started taking better care of myself by eating better, taking supplements, and even seeing a Christian counselor. And, over time, I noticed the weight started coming off without much effort.

I’m not where I want to be weight wise since I still have a few more inches that I would like to lose. However, I am finally at a place in my life where I am not letting what the size of my clothes or the numbers on the scale say about my self-worth. I’ve also noticed that the more time I spend building my relationship with God, the more confidence and peace I have.

After 14 years & this past week, I made an important decision to “kick the habit” and quit smoking for good. I started smoking when I was 21 & quit once back in 2004 for 30 days. But stress do to work & other personal problems caused me to start back up again.

I came to this decision after my best friend’s mom was recently hopitalized with breathing problems, which turned out to be COPD, as well as, a viral pnuemonia. She’s in her late 50’s & has been a smoker since her teens – I believe. I went to visit my friend last Saturday & we went over to the hospital to check up on her mom. She had been in there for about a week & she was on a ventilator. They tried taking her off of it for a couple of hours, but had to put her back on because she was struggling really hard to breath. They told my friend that they would probably do a tracheotomy on Monday or Tuesday.

My friend was very stressed out & concerned over her mom. She’s usually a very strong person, but cried several times, praying that God wouldn’t take her away & that she would give her a lung if it came down to it.

My friend is a smoker as well & the week before her mom went into the hospital, she was sick with the flu for 5 days. She used to smoke between 1 – 2 packs a day, but during that time, she didn’t smoke, or even have a desire to smoke. Then, once she started feeling better, she practically quit cold turkey. Unfortunately, after her mom was hospitalized, she started smoking again, but it was only 4-5 a day, mostly when she was really stressed.

I hadn’t talked to my friend all week and then she finally called me yesterday before she left work to tell me her mom was doing a lot better. The doctor’s did a trach on Monday & she started off on a big tube, now she’s on a smaller one. She’s able to speak a soft whisper now, which made my friend happy that she could finally understand her when she talked. Plus, her eyes started looking better. Before, they were really bloodshot & now, they are almost completely white again.

She said their plans are to do a barium throat test to see if she can swallow & if so, they’ll be able to take her off the trach and put her on oxygen. Then, once she gets her strength back, she’ll be able to come home in a couple weeks. I was soo happy to hear the great news.

She also told me since last Saturday, she’s only had maybe 1 or 2 cigarettes a day & would be finished with her pack in the next day or so. Once she’s completely done, she won’t buy any more. She’s already cleaned up her house & taken out all the ashtrays. She also goes outside when she wants a cigarette. She won’t be able to smoke in the house once her mom comes home, so she’s eliminating all traces.

So, basically in a nutshell, this is the main reason. I figure that if my best friend can do it, so can I. Plus, seeing her mom last Saturday in the hospital really put things in perspective for me. I know that it won’t be easy, but Philipians 4:13 reminds me that, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” So, my plan is to take it one day at a time, and reminding myself that in my weakness, the Lord is strong. I’ve also bought a box of Commit Lozenges for back-up, especially for in the mornings and those other times when I want a cigarette out of bordem or after eating.

Wish me luck & keep me in your prayers. I plan to update my blog on my progress on a daily or weekly basis, as time allows, to keep me accountable.