2016 – That Year I Almost Worked Myself to Death

I didn’t talk or write about it much when it happened, but 2016 was the year I almost worked myself to death.

Toward the end of March this past year, I woke up one morning in severe pain and constant vomiting. I decided to muscle through it and sat down at my desk to work like I did every morning.

After a couple of hours, the pain hadn’t subsided and neither had the vomiting. I was still determined to muscle through, however, my wife was convinced that I was having a heart attack and I begrudgingly agreed to go to the hospital.

After a few tests, I learned that I had pancreatitis, cholesterol and triglyceride levels over 4,000 and a blood sugar level of 565 mg/dL.

I was experiencing severe consequences of diabetes. I didn’t know I was diabetic.

If I had continued my stubbornness, I would have likely died at my desk that day as my numbers continued to spiral out of control.

Lesson Learned

It’s not worth it.

The work that is. Work should always be considered a way to enhance and build the life you want for yourself and your family. I was allowing it to consume mine. It was robbing me of my life and the life my family deserved.

I used work as an excuse to develop terrible sleeping patterns, a completely sedentary lifestyle and I combined those with my already poor eating habits.

I was unable to focus and I became extremely unproductive. Consequently, I felt like I had to dedicate more time to work so I could make up that unproductive time. It just didn’t… work.

The Outcome

I’d love to say I’ve found the perfect balance and everything is great now.

It’s not.

But! It is much better than it was.

I’ve lost a considerable amount of weight and am dedicated to losing more in the next year. My diet isn’t perfect and neither is the consistency in my exercise, but they are both miles ahead of where I was then.

I’ve found a greater balance with work and my productivity has increased dramatically. Since April, I have learned more, produced more, and have been much happier with the work than I have ever been.

Since that time, we’ve done some awesome work and laid great foundations at LimeCuda. I’m excited to see how that builds into 2017.

To My Family

I’m sorry I let everything get so out of control for a while there. I’ll always continue to do my best to be a better husband and father. This includes not letting the work consume me, my health, or the health of our family again.