A Very Merry Christmas from Rev. Gary Rode

Dr. Myers,

Just wanted to drop you a friendly hello and wish you a Merry Christmas.

I received the letter this fall announcing that your were making some changes in your professional life. Hope that is turning out well for you. I know that I really appreciate the care and skill that you and your staff demonstrated in my surgery and in our doctor/patient relationship.

I wanted to give you an update on how things are going for me. Last May when I came in for my one year check-up for my gastric by pass surgery, lab tests showed that my A1C was 7.3 At that time you recommended that I begin taking Metformin. I went home and thought about it. One of the reasons that I had the surgery was to get off of diabetes medication. So I decided to try an alternative treatment. Something really radical. I started to exercise. Yes, I know that everyone on your staff reminded me over and over again about the importance of exercise. But the weight was rolling off without the exercise, so I just ignored it.

Finally in mid-June I began a program of walking/running for 30 minutes per day. Eventually I arrived at the point where I could run the full 30 minutes. Finally in early September I ran in my first 5K, a fund raiser for a local ministry that provided housing and care for the Mentally Retarded ( I have two adult sons with Downs Syndrome). In mid-October I saw my local family doctor, and by adding "running" to my treatment regime, my A1C dropped from 7.3 down to 6.6. I am thrilled. He seems to think that if I continue this the A1C will drop even further. Since then I have ran in two more 5K races -- one to support Special Olympics, and another to support Hospice of Northwest Ohio (My mother died in March 2011 and received Hospice care.) Even though the temperatures are dropping, I have bought the necessary clothing and I am hitting the streets at about 6:15 am, 4-5 times per week running 3+ miles. I look at it as my diabetes medicine. Before having bariatric surgery, I sometimes thought about running. In fact during part of my pre-surgery goal setting, I had running as a potential future activity. I find that I am really enjoying doing it. My health is great, my weight is staying down, I have lots of energy, and my diabetes is under control.

Thanks again for your help and best wishes with your changes.

Gary Rode
United Methodist Pastor
Perrysburg, OH

Thank you Gary for allowing me to share this with everyone. This should be an encouragement to all of us to work hard at staying active. Great job and congratulations! Merry Christmas to you and yours as well.
God bless.
Dr. Myers