by Ronda Einbinder
Brian Meiers and his teammates are master bicyclists racing with others who are over the age of 35, and many train together at least two hours a day. Brian rides anywhere from 40 to 100 miles a day, depending on his work and family obligations, but he always makes time to ride. What makes Brian stand out from the others is the fact that at age 28, Brian suffered a near-fatal heart attack because of the 225 pounds that were straining his heart and playing havoc with his overall health.
Brian was the youngest child in a family of seven boys and two girls. He was nine years younger than the next youngest, so he felt more like an only child. His siblings grew up with a dad in the Navy and spent their youth on a Navy base, but his dad had retired by the time Brian was born, and the family who had struggled financially for so many years was now living a better life in Union City, California.
With so many growing boys who were active in sports, Brian?s mom always prepared large meals. ?At the age of 11, I began to withdraw due to my parents? marital conflicts and found myself consoling my sorrows in food and rapidly gaining weight,? he explained. His parents would never divorce, but they did separate for three years.
At the end of high school, Brian was in the best shape of his life, weighing 130 pounds at 5?7? tall. He began racing bikes and even tried out for the 1988 Olympic Team. Brian was on top of the world.
After high school, he spent a few years at junior college, but had no real goal to strive for other than the desire to race bikes. In 1991, Brian came to the realization that he would never become a professional bike racer and took a job at a software development company in Berkeley. ?I spent less time racing and more time involved in a local fundamental church before I realized this particular church was not for me,? Brian said. He switched churches, and religion would play a big role in Brian?s decision-making for the next 10 years.
At the age of 24, a friend introduced him to Marilyn. They fell in love and decided to marry that same year; he followed his new bride and her three young daughters to her hometown of Hemet in Southern California. At that time, Brian?s weight had reached 195 pounds.
Brian began working as a massage therapist in a friend?s chiropractic office and shortly thereafter welcomed two more daughters to his growing family: Audry, Aly, Marisa, Brittany and Hannah would become his life.
The family returned to Union City, where Brian worked for a professional cycling team; but the busy work schedule left little time for the family and Brian was forced to quit. He began teaching massage therapy, but when a dispute between his wife and mother stirred up angry feelings among family members, Brian decided to move his family back to Hemet.
Brian?s life took another turn in 1998. Marilyn?s grandmother Katherine needed home healthcare, and it was decided that Brian would be her caretaker. ?My wife?s grandma was very sick and I had no one to take care of her in my place, so when my sister Candy died from cancer at the age of 48, I was unable to attend her funeral,? he said. ?This was really depressing for me.?
Brian worked 24 hours a day caring for Grandma Katherine, driving her to appointments, cleaning her house and assisting her with physical therapy. ?I took on a whole new life,? Brian explained. ?It took time away from the family and started to show on my body. I went up to 220 pounds.?
He did not realize how much it had affected his life until it became serious. ?I woke up in the middle of the night coughing and took cough medicine,? he said. ?The next day I felt really lousy. I was pale and had pain in my chest. I spent the day taking care of Grandma and even went out to lunch with my family in a cold sweat. Later that day, the pain went down my arm. Paramedics were called and I was brought to a hospital in Long Beach, where it was discovered that I had a heart attack.?
At the time of the heart attack, 28-year-old Brian weighed 225 pounds and was told to lose weight. ?I took two weeks off from working for Grandma,? Brian said. ?Life did not really change.?
A few months later, his in-laws noticed a birthmark on his body and suggested he see a dermatologist. Brian was told he needed to have the growth removed. ?It grew into my fat layer and weighed five pounds.? The growth turned out to be a non-cancerous mass.
Brian?s battle with his health continued as his weight climbed from 250 to 270. ?By 2003, my weight maxed out our home scale at 300 pounds,? Brian explained. ?My life was not what I wanted. My wife was ill and my girls were suffering by watching what was happening to her. I was struggling with my codependent feelings of needing to save the world,? he said, referring to his years of taking care of his mentally ill wife.
In 2002, Brian began researching weight loss surgery, and in May 2004, he attended a seminar conducted by Dr. Douglas Krahn, the director of US Bariatrics in San Bernardino. ?I had the open Roux-en-Y in August of that year,? he said.
?When I realized I was going to have surgery, I looked at the relationship with my wife and kids,? Brian explained. ?I could not be the dad that I wanted to be. The doctors said I would not live past the age of 40. I did not enjoy my job and was not happy. By January, I realized I wanted the marriage to end.?
Today, weighing 145 pounds, Brian lives with his girls in the house where he grew up and cares for his mother, who has suffered a stroke. ?I work as a teacher of massage therapy and perform massage therapy,? he said. ?When the kids are in school I teach, but I am trying to do more private practice.? And, of course, he races. ?This is my first season of intense racing,? he said with pride, ?and I train every day.? Brian is fighting his need to save the world and doing what he needed to do years ago?saving himself and racing his bike.
March 2008