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Joe’s Journal: Day 51 – Another Bloody Me!

My good feeling turned out to be a pretty accurate foretelling on how this conversation was about to go.

Now this conversation was done with great care as the guy turned out to be pretty enormous. Once he stood in front of me I instantly recognized the techniques of a fat man trying to disguise himself. He was wearing a huge black t-shirt that hung off him like a tent; to shield his chubby round face, he wore a cap that was pulled down low. He looked really unwell, and it was obvious that he was struggling with his health. He introduced himself as Phil Staples and proudly announced that he was from Iowa.

I explained to Phil what we were doing and why, and then showed him a couple of before and after pictures on my Iphone to drive the point home. Phil was impressed by the radical change I’d undergone. I told him a little bit more about my mission, my particular illness and the steroids I was on. But then he casually mentioned that he too had a chronic autoimmune condition that necessitated taking steroids. When I propped Phil further on this, I discovered that not only did he suffer from urticaria, but that we were both on Prednisone! That knocked my socks off. The type of urticaria I have is extremely rare and frankly the last place I’d expected to meet my Urticaria Twin was at a truck stop in Arizona on a cold, rainy day. It was a big moment for me. I’d never before met another person who had my disease. This Phil Staples from Iowa was another bloody me!

Have you been following my past journal entries? Make sure you catch up here.  I’m sharing these thoughts with you as part of the 2nd Anniversary celebration of Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead so I hope you are either able to relate or be inspired by my journal entries.