Rick version 2.0 - A Public Service Announcement

As you can tell, I haven't been making any blog entries in about a week.
Why you might ask?....and thank you for asking.
Because I have been working very hard and diligently on a reclamation project.
The reclamation project I am speaking of is.....ME.
For years I have not been feeling like used to. I haven't had any "pep in my step" for many moons.
As I have written before, my body was not responding like a fine tuned machine like it used to way back in my youth. Yes....many many moons ago.
I have been lethargic, attention span of a dizzy cockroach, weight fluctuations...usually heading northward on the scale or maybe that would be eastbound on one of those medical slide scales that you move the weights, or possibly being a "cruiser" my weight was heading to the starboard side of that same type of sliding scale. I think you catch my point.
I did not have the same drive or energy I used to have. "Things" just weren't quite working as they used to back in my prime....now I know that I don't have to draw you a picture and even if I did, I wouldn't because this is a family oriented blog.
YEAH RIGHT....GOTCHA!!!!
After discussing all of my short comings (no pun intended) with my doctor, she decided that a battery of blood tests were in order.
This was a couple of months ago and at that time I walked into her office at about 204 pounds.
I am only 5' 11" tall in my stilettos and this was the heaviest that I had ever been in my life.
Of course the problems with my foot did not help the situation out and made it difficult for me to do a lot of exercises both before and after my foot surgery.
I was in a vicious cycle. My foot slowed me down from really good walking routine in and with my upward spiralling weight issue, it was causing more problems with my foot.
Because of my weight issue, my blood sugar levels were elevated(diabetes runs in the family) and my blood pressure all of a sudden had gone up.
So the doctor put me on blood pressure medicine(which I have been able to reduce and now I only take 1/2 of a pill), pills to control my blood sugar levels(which gave me really bad diarrhea issues...I have stopped taking this completely...thank God!!!) and last but not least...something to deal with my low to missing hormone....this is the time when you hear the drum roll ...testosterone. For the remainder of this blog entry, I will be calling testosterone by the letter T...why...because it is really a pain in the ass for me to keep typing the word testosterone. The word testosterone is not one that flows smoothly when trying to say it much less trying to type it.
Once my doctor told me that I had low to non existent levels of T in my system, the light bulb in my head went off and all of the symptoms that I had been having for years...well they all made sense.
What I found really strange was that I have had mostly male doctors for the last several decades and it took a female doctor to figure out that I was lacking an important hormone...not to be confused with an impotent hormone. Oh c'mon folks...it's life and I can laugh at myself as easily as others can and have laughed at me.
But I digress..............the doctor gave me a prescription for something called Androgel.
Androgel is a clear liquid that comes in a pump bottle and depending on the amount you need, that dictates the number of pumps.
I was prescribed the lowest amount, so I get to apply 4 total pumps worth of this magic gel.
I apply the gel daily to the upper portions of my arms and to my abdomen.
Now it is very important that I wash my hands after applying this gel and I need to apply the gel after I shower so that my skin is clean and dry.
One of the most important things is that I must make sure that Veronica does not come into contact with the gel or the area that I applied it to...can be rather harmful to her.
The gel dries quickly and my shirts completely cover the area where the gel was applied.
For the first several weeks I notice no changes at all. The doctor told me that it might take a little time for the gel to raise my T levels in my body.
I kept up doing my walks and as I had previously blogged about...I had lost 16 pounds as of my last doctors visit.
Since that visit, I can feel the surge of energy coming back into my body and life. I feel a lot sharper and more focused.
Currently I am walking 5 miles in the morning...I was doing 9 over the course of a day but it was putting too much of a strain of my feet, so I had to back off.
But I also incorporated bicycling into my workout regiment.
I purchased a recumbent bicycle and started doing 4 miles after taking a brief break from my 5 mile morning walk and then doing another 4 miles in the afternoon.
Today was my most productive workout day since starting taking my T supplement.
I did my 5 mile walk this morning and then did 16 miles on my bike this afternoon.
I just turned on my Ipod and listened to some tunes and became a peddling fool.
I haven't felt this good for probably 20 years or so.
The only thing that I plan on adding to my workout is the purchase of a few free weights so that I can tone up a little bit.
As of right this minute...I feel like a new person....Rick version 2.0
So for those males that might be reading this entry...probably not many because they all seem to be gravitating towards my blog entry titled "Is KKK The New C Cup- I Sure Hope Not" or the one about the longest dead snake..... or for the females who have a male partner or even males who have a male partner.....if you are reading this and if any of the described symptoms seem to match up....just ask your doctor to check out your T levels.
If your T levels are low, ask about Androgel and if prescribed...you will be on your way to a new you. Just ask Rick version 2.0...he will tell you.
This has been a public service announcement.