Who We Are
Back Story
My name if Frank Auenson, CEO/owner of Stand Alone Fitness, llc and while I am just an average guy, going through life with the ups and downs like billions of other, a chain of events, made my life so much more. That led to me wanting to inspire and improve, not only my life but the lives of as many people as I could. My hope is that you will be inspired…….
Our story began a couple years ago when I was 40 pounds overweight and went through triple bypass surgery and a ruptured appendix at the same time. To hear this story, you would be amazed by the adventures I went through. Yes, I said adventures.
Months prior to these adventures, my doctors were concerned about my high blood pressure and felt I needed to have a stress test even though I knew with carrying an extra 40 pounds, it wouldn’t be pretty but I gave in and said yes.
As you can imagine, it went as I expected. I almost got to level 4 before I had had enough. Call it boredom or perhaps just done running on a treadmill but I didn’t want to go on. Of course, the tape showed something but not enough to warrant having a cardiologist come in or having to go to the emergency room.
Yet, as soon as I got home, there were phone calls from the doctor, putting me on meds and scheduling an appointment with a cardiologist. Fun times were on the horizon as I sat down with the doctor. He began telling me how reliable the stress test was and that we could try a few more tests to see exactly what was going on.
You know the deal, one test just a little more reliable than the next and so on. Knowing the kind of guy I am, I am not one to dilly dally, lets get to the ultimate procedure that will tell us exactly what we need to know. As much of an inconvenience it was, I went in for a heart catherization, where they run a line with a camera up through the arteries of the heart.
The real discovery was at hand. I had two partial blockages where stents could have been placed but the stent doctor doing the procedure was uncomfortable doing so because the partial blockages were where one of my arteries forks. He was concerned that a stent would cause other issues, so he backed out to give me the wonderful news.
You got it, heart surgery. Loved the meeting with my heart surgeon. Yes, at first it was a bit of stereotyping as he was a renowned heart surgeon from Japan and while at first, it was difficult to understand him, we had common ground, my heart.
He proceeded to show the film of my heart catherization and point out the area of most concern. Of course, we decided that bypass surgery was the course of action needed but wait a minute, we have another area of concern as well.
Yes, there was an artery that had a partial blockage of 60%, had it been 50%, they wouldn’t worry about it but since it’s 60% they have to mention it. I have no idea what the difference between 50% and 60% other than 10% but I guess it was the point where they determine it wouldn’t hinder my life or it could potentially be a problem down the road.
And you guessed it, my heart surgeon wasn’t a stent doctor so I would have to go through another heart catherization to have a stent place in that area of concern and believe me, it wasn’t any kind of picnic the first time around so I was like, “what do you suggest doctor?”
His response and my response is where magic happened. He mentioned it would only takes about 15-20 minutes to do another bypass and right away I am like, well you have me there, I am wide open and certainly not going anywhere, might as well take care of it.
So that was the plan, date set and something to look forward to, right?
But wait, what could possibly hinder heart surgery? Elevated white count with no explanation of why. Okay Frank, you need to go see your doctor. It might surprise you that while during this appointment, I wasn’t so forthcoming to get to the quick answer. Nope, they wanted to send me to the ER and I was having none of that.
They scheduled a CT scan for the next morning which was more to my liking. CT scan comes and goes and as soon as I get home, I get a phone call from my doctor’s nurse, “you need to get to the ER as soon as possible, you have a ruptured appendix”.
I knew I hadn’t felt good the previous couple weeks but thought it was simply a flu bug I was getting over. Had no idea I was walking around with a huge abscess of yuck. Yes, I could have and should have died from this. Crazy to say the least. So, I get my son to take me to the ER where everyone is happy to see me, right?
Nope, not after reading my medical records and seeing I was scheduled for heart surgery. Here is what usually happens to someone with a ruptured appendix, they remove your appendix and clean out your abdominal cavity of all the infectious pus that collects in the abdomen. Nice picture huh? Again, yuck!
What happened with me? Everything stopped! A patient who is scheduled for heart surgery must have a weak heart so we can’t operate on him. Yes, that was the reaction. Yet, they had to get antibiotics in me to cure the infection and take care of the black hole in my gut. I am just telling you what the x-rays showed. Or was it a cloud?
As it turns out, I spent six days in the hospital as they had inserted a drain into my side to drain the infectious gunk and this was the course of action for the next 4 weeks with regular check-ups.
During my hospital visit, my heart surgeon came to visit me and he assured me, I was in no imminent danger regarding my heart. He knew it, I knew it but all those other doctors didn’t know it. Thank goodness it went down the way it did because from the general surgeon’s reaction, I could have been strapped with a colostomy bag and this annoying drain was bad enough.
Heart surgery occurred a month later and went like clock-work. Within 36 hours, I was strolling laps around the nurse’s station. I mean literally. 3 ½ days after heart surgery, I was released and restricted to sleeping on my back for 3 months. Oh joy!
Life Today
Since my bypass surgery and the removal of the drain, I have also done a lot of research, hundreds of hours easily. I was researching how with age, our bodies change (yes, I am 58 years old) and the imbalances we experience.
I realized that going to the gym did nothing for me and/or my weight loss struggles.
There was nothing at the gym that I couldn’t do on my own, with my own resources and in my own environment. Yet, there was more to it. Yes, remember the imbalances I mentioned.
So, let’s fast forward the next 3 months to the end of April and 30 pounds lighter, I made the discovery of my transformation. I found my natural remedies to correcting my imbalances and in doing so, the results are shown below.
I still have a ways to go to reach the goals I desire but just the same, I was so impressed with my discoveries and the solutions to my imbalances, that I bought Stand Alone Fitness, llc, the company that changed my life forever!
What is this new company you might be asking yourself and what were the discoveries that I found that has the abilities to make life changing transformations?
I began to figure out what hormones my body was starting to produce less of and what vitamins and minerals I was deficient with. It was this discovery that brought me to Stand Alone Fitness, a vitamins and supplements company. Yet, there is so much more.
I knew I wanted to help others who were feeling sluggish and also struggling with their weight and/or other areas of their lives.
Did you know, according to the most recent US Dietary Guidelines, a record number of Americans aren’t getting sufficient amounts of dietary fiber, potassium, choline, magnesium, calcium, iron, and vitamins, A, D, E, and C. So, what do we do when we have one or more nutritional deficiencies? We either tweak our food choices or take supplements to fill the gaps.
In fact, 86% of Americans take some sort of vitamins or supplements to enhance their lifestyle. 68% of those Americans that take a vitamin or supplement are over 60 years old. Right around the corner for me.
As I mentioned earlier, I don’t like going to gyms, nothing against them as they serve a purpose for others in one way or another but just not for me. I am a lone-wolf sort of person so a company like Stand Alone Fitness resonated with me.
Besides the vitamins and supplements, Stand Alone Fitness is also about exercising in your own environment and using the resources you have available to you. These resources could be store bought equipment or made in nature. As simple as a park bench to do step ups, knee lifts, and elevated pushups. Being creative and using your own body weight as resistance is a wonderful way to exercise.
Stand Alone Fitness is about becoming the healthiest you can be whether it involves your mind, body or soul.
Within our company, we have experts who are certified weight loss coaches, certified conscious behaviors coaches, and have been where you and I have been with our struggles. We are all here to help in so many ways.
For me personally, it is truly a new identity and an amazing opportunity to share with others.
The future is what we make it and we should begin to shout it to the world from this day forward! We all have the ability to inspire others.
Come along and discover for yourself, the ways you can become the healthiest You in today’s world. Sign up here and receive 10% off your order.