Chapter 31 Betty B.

Another nurse I ran into was a beautiful but odd bird.  She was a home grown cutie from Tulsa, but had moved on to fast times in Dallas.  This sweet Berry, got into weight lifting and from all accounts a fast living abusive husband.  She lived in the Dallas fast lane for a while, then I can only surmise that her husband, beat her up in a 'roid rage.  Don't know if other drugs were involved or not, but probably were. She told me how her ex had rearranged her dentistry and he must have really wailed on her knocking out about 4-5 teeth on the left side of her jaw.  She moved back to Tulsa and lived with her parents off Sheridan or Yale.  In the event, I met her at the County Health Clinic.  She was administering AIDS tests, and yes, I had the cajones to ask her out when I went back from the far east and got a clean bill of health.  We went out a few times and ran into each other here and there. 

She had a body that would stop a freight train.  She worked out and walked regularly in the park off Yale, speed walking, and I used to troop along with her and some doctor friends who bird dogged her.  Betty was gorgeous and had a nice customized front end too.  Body shops did and still do wonders.  She worked hard on it no doubt about it.  I know her and her ex were probably narcissistic work out freaks.  She actually tested her urine to determine if she was in ketosis or not on a daily basis.  For those not familiar, ketosis is when your body is utilizing fat instead of the preferred glucose as an energy source.  "Most medical resources regard ketosis as a pathological state associated with chronic starvation. Glucose is regarded as the preferred energy source for all cells in the body with ketosis being regarded as a crisis reaction of the body to a lack of carbohydrates in the diet."  Get the picture?  One really has to be obsessed, and also has to know what they are doing to want to stay in the state of ketosis.  The term comes from Ketone, a by-product of the breakdown of fats in the body.  It is decarboxylated into Acetone and that my friends is excreted in the urine and in the breath.  It is quite noticeable.  Know anyone with anorexia?  Smell their breath, it will have a sweet chemical smell to it.  I went on a diet program called "The 6 week cure to the middle aged middle." and it relies on ketosis to drop your weight rapidly.  It is tough to stay on, but it works.  I went from 267 to 240 in six weeks.

 

I fell out of touch with Betty and was living down on Riverside at Place One in 1988.  I came out of my apartment and saw her cruising around in her car looking lost.  I waved her down and we chatted.  Seems she was doing home checkups for patients AIDS patients and was looking for an address when I happened to see her driving around. 

 

I helped her get oriented and pointed her in the direction of the address. 

I really regret not getting to know her better, but she had a lot going on in her life.  Either she wasn't over her ex, or he had been enough to scare her off relationships, or it could have been the parents.  Her parents seemed the very religious types and had convinced her that her ordeal was divine retribution for her wayward lifestyle.  Anyway, they kept her on a short leash since she was living under their roof.