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Gorilla Beast Mode, Fat and Not Happy, Weight Loss Challenge, David Goggins

Gorilla Challenge: Fat & Happy? Part 5

By Steve Carbonara • February 19, 2025
Ok, so I guess the best motivator isn’t just putting myself behind in the challenge, like many of you, I am struggling with the mindset and the willpower it is going to take to get this done. So, what’s the answer? David Goggins is the answer! ...

Gorilla Challenge: Fat & Happy? Part 3

By Steve Carbonara • February 2, 2025
Weighed in 2-2-25 at 9am at 292.2 The thing about being obese is that it is really easy to lose weight. It’s also very easy to gain weight. Over the past few years I have seen my weight go up or down 10 lbs. over a weekend, once your body is ‘out of control’ you lose all normal when it comes to controlling your weight...

Gorilla Challenge: Fat & Happy? Part 2

By Steve Carbonara • February 1, 2025
So I weighed in last night at 10 pm because I wanted to start tracking the ‘official start’ of my process. I am kicking this 90 day challenge off today with coffee this morning and some soup during the day, and will begin a 5 day water fast tomorrow on the 2nd, so big things should come soon but as always there will be some pain...

Gorilla Challenge: Fat & Happy? Part 1

By Steve Carbonara • February 1, 2025
The Gorilla part of me is mad, it seems like my time being Fat & Happy has come to an end, it was one helluva run, I gotta say. It’s been a bit since my near death experience and my, ‘I need time to catch my breath, period, and the holiday season is over — so it is FINALLY time! Time to lose weight and get back to being what...
Ok, last post of preachy, sermon-like content, I realize how this all comes across. I’ve been told t

Patient Zero Part 6 - Gorilla Insights: Addressing Feedback

By Steve Carbonara • January 6, 2025
Ok, last post of preachy, sermon-like content, I realize how this all comes across. I’ve been told that my presentation is Angry, Utopian, Redundant and Unclear. So let’s address those comments, as I believe I am speaking for the average patient across this nation. For some background, I’ve been working in healthcare IT since 1999. I have worked in 46 states, across all of the major cities and nearly 1,000 smaller cities and towns. For nearly 7 years I drove 1,500 miles per week at minimum and then for another 7 years I flew 3 weeks a month across the nation — point being that I’ve had 5,000 breakfasts and lunches at diners, talking with ‘the average American’ and hearing the stories of this nation. As you may guess, I’m not shy — and nothing is better than talking with the five 80 year olds sitting at the diner every morning at 6 a.m. in some small town. You hear stories going back decades, of what we were and what has changed.
Ultra-processed foods are killing us

Patient Zero Part 5 - Gorilla Insights: The Beginning

By Steve Carbonara • January 3, 2025
So near death experiences aren’t the only failure of healthcare, like I said earlier, there are many stakeholders to blame — or hold to account. Where did it start for you as a patient, or as an employee (insider) working in healthcare, or as a caregiver trying to keep your parents healthy and alive?
Mask mandates forced on patient's that cannot breathe - denied health care

Patient Zero Part 4 - Gorilla Insights: Advocacy for Rebuilding Healthcare

By Steve Carbonara • January 2, 2025
Quick recap: I almost died, and United is poorly run and focused only on earnings and not patients. Done — let’s move forward. So how did I get in that hospital bed? Who was to blame? Well, let’s start with this one fun fact — even though there are many people to blame for many things in your life, the first person who needs to be blamed in every scenario is you. Personal accountability (an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions) is the focus of Patients First. We all need to take responsibility (able to answer for one's conduct and obligations) for ourselves before we can demand it from the other stakeholders in healthcare.
Heallthcare Insurance Costs

Patient Zero Part 3 - Gorilla Insights: Accountability in Healthcare

By Steve Carbonara • December 31, 2024
So where were we? Oh yeah, I got discharged on Saturday, August 3rd, at 2 p.m., and by Monday, August 5th, at 1 p.m. I received a denial of obligation from United. How did it get there that fast? Did they hire someone to drive it to me to make sure I knew they were going to screw me? Having a letter telling me that there was a ‘restrictive clause’ on page 50 of a 70-page contract that I had no right to review and negotiate was hilarious! It was better knowing that they recorded my two calls with their support team that clearly told me that my coverage allowed immediate use — remember, they told me the only ‘restriction’ was that the payment needed to be processed! I cannot wait to get those recordings during discovery — not sure if we will get there, but I know I’m not caving in just because someone threatens me with ‘going to collections!’

Patient Zero Part 2 - Gorilla Insights: Restoring Humanity in Healthcare

By Steve Carbonara • December 27, 2024
Ok, the last post was a bit evangelical, I’m sorry, but I didn’t know where else to start. Should I have just jumped into telling you how bad my healthcare experience was, or should we be evaluating this discussion from a more holistic perspective than just blaming all of the bad actors? I guess we’ll never know, but thanks for coming back!

Patient Zero Part 1 - Gorilla Insights: Resilience in Healthcare Struggles

By Steve Carbonara • December 23, 2024
Why a gorilla you may ask, well, let’s just say I’ve been called that a few times in my life. While I can be polished and executive in my delivery, I am also very blunt and just as aggressive as I am kind in my tone. As I write my personal story, and as I speak as a patient, I believe that full transparency is key, and that means full emotional transparency, as healthcare is not just ‘data and facts,’ it is also our mind, our emotions and our spirit — healthcare is as much love as it is any medical device, doctor or drug.
Patients First Foundation

Introducing Patients First Foundation & Patient Zero

By Steve Carbonara • December 19, 2024
Introducing the Patients First Foundation and "Patient Zero," Steve Carbonara shares his personal healthcare journey to spotlight systemic issues and inspire change. This blog calls for patient stories and professional insights to build a collaborative movement for patient-centered care, accountability, and solutions that prioritize health over profits.

Gorilla Challenge: Fat & Happy? Part 4

Being fat sucks, it really does.  Here I am, starting day 17 of this 90 day challenge and I’m back at 295lbs.  How is that possible?

Part of it is that you get busy and you just cannot control your days, going from one thing to the next. You plan to eat X, but then you pick a bit more than you should or you eat Y, because it’s the only thing around while you run from chore to chore.



The other reality is that as soon as you start to lose weight, your body goes crazy.  The first week of this challenge, I needed to cut coffee and sugar down, A LOT.  So, you go through withdrawal, your body is literally addicted to caffeine and sugar, and you get massive cravings, but it’s more than that, it’s the joint pain, the brain fog, the stiff neck, everything hurts!


Let’s not forget I'm still on 10mg of blood thinner still due to the blood clots in July. How does that affect all of this? Who the hell knows! It’s not like my doctor has an opinion, literally had to fight the guy just to get an echo done on my leg after getting out of the hospital, he didn’t think it mattered to evaluate the leg that almost fell off !? My care has been so bad I am literally starting a primary care clinic with some Patients First Advisors to solve the problems that I just cannot accept in the market anymore!


So, that’s the update, I am in the trials stage of being fat. The next stage is the hard work, and then the final stage is the tribulation! Nothing is better than feeling your body work correctly, feel leaner, bend easier and all of that great body stuff — the tribulation stage is awesome! But there is some hard work coming before there is any celebration.


As always, I put myself behind the 8-ball, needing to lose 60lbs in 75 days instead of 90 days, but hey, maybe I felt bad for Sean when he made the bet, knowing it was too easy! Well, it’s time to get serious, it’s time to win this bet!


Thanks for joining me today, I appreciate your time and hope to hear from you if you have your own personal weight loss story/journey! 


Be well, until next time…

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