Mortimer Murphy – Letter of Appreciation

Letter of Appreciation – Laura O’Reilly – Nutritionist

Hi there

My name is Mortimer Murphy and I am freelance journalist and broadcaster. I am typing this note to say thanks to a very special person and express my gratitude for being there for me when I needed help the most. I just want to let you Laura O’Reilly Nutritionist and thorough professional know the positive influence you had on my life.

Let me explain my case history briefly (by the way I don’t do brevity), so as you will understand, why I consider myself a lucky man to have met Laura O’Reilly. I was overweight and feeling under the weather with the lockdown not helping. So I went to my GP and had my bloods done on June 5^th and on June 9^th I was called to his surgery to get my results. The news was not good as I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes.  My HbA1c reading was 102 which was off the charts as my GP put it. HbA1c also is known as glycosylated, or glycated hemoglobin. HbA1c levels are reflective of blood glucose levels over the past six to eight weeks and do not reflect daily ups and downs of blood glucose. High HbA1c levels indicate poorer control of diabetes than levels in the normal range. A normal person without diabetes would show a reading in or around 36! So I was about three time’s above normal, so really I was in a bad way.

So my GP immediately put me on 3x 500mgs of Metformin Hydrochloride and asked me to lose weight as I weighed 18st 3 lbs on that day June 9^th. I needed help and I had heard about a Nutritionist out in Gortalea called Laura O’Reilly so I gave her a call. So my initial consultation was on Wednesday June 17^th and from the moment I sat down I knew I had found the right place.

Laura was pleasant and easy to talk to and I knew I was in the presence of someone who was a real professional and the fact that she had worked in a diabetes clinic was music to my ears. So she broke some bad news and good news, the worst being my five spuds were history and due to her generosity of spirit, she would allow me has one (medium) potato!! Thoughts of the famine were tumbling from my mind like coins from a Spendthrifts purse.

Anyway, she said she would devise a number of meals plans for me covering breakfast- lunch and dinner plus some snack ideas. She wanted me to exercise 3×45 minutes per week and drink lots of water. But no biscuits, cakes, tarts, McDonalds, Pizzas etc allowed. She was firm but fair and I thought she must know something – in fact it turned out she knew a lot. I left her clinic that day really determined to shed weight and get that 102 figure down to at least 70 in three months before my next blood test.

Laura sent me meal plans the following week and I changed from sugar to avocadoes and from sausages to berries and of course the one medium (measly) spud.

So I visited Laura every two weeks and she rang me for a 30min plus call on alternate Fridays and she guided me and cajoled me through all my little problems. I was checking blood sugar levels morning and night and I could see the improvement. The weight was dropping as well and I was feeling well and energized. Laura did everything I asked of her down to sending me pics of the brands and food I should buy which I found very helpful. She refused point blank to do my shopping!

Laura you inspired me during a difficult time when I needed words of encouragement. You don’t even know how much your help meant to me during those rough days. My sugar reading dropped in July and Aug down to between 5 and 7 which is ideal. On the August Bank Holiday weekend I ran low on my diabetic tabs so I took 2×500 instead of three and when I consulted by GP he allowed me stay on two provide my sugar readings were still between 5 and 7. They remained that way and that gave me confidence that I could go close to reversing my diabetes.

I was still being guided by Laura and she was just amazing and she knew how to lift me when I was struggling. But I am pretty driven so I just kept doing what she told me and veered neither left nor right. I just followed the plan. So I was weighed and measured every two weeks and I was making good progress. 

So fast forward to Sept and I went to do my bloods on the 7^th I think and got my results on Sept 11^th. It read “Your blood results have returned and confirm a vast improvement in your Diabetic Control (HbA1C). Your level is now down to 49 from a whopping 102 initially. Well done!!

I was flabbergasted and over the moon. I was in remission and over the month I was allowed drop to just one Metformin tab a day. So on Monday Oct 13^th I got the flu jab and my GP weighed me. I had dropped from 18st 3lbs on June 9^th to 15st 1lb which was remarkable and because I had been taking Blood Pressure tabs (10mgs) for a decade – my GP now allowed me stop taking them as my BP was consistently normal.

So now I am over 3 stone lighter, gone from a 43inch waist to a 34, my diabetes is in remission and I am off BP tabs!! Why? Because I sought the help of one of the best Nutritionists in the country I would suggest because I was a bad case when I walked through her door. OK I have willpower but I needed professional help. I am not one for false praise but Laura O’Reilly has a rare gift. She is a once off, she is inspiring and while I realize everyone is different, I could not have achieved what I achieved without your help and guidance. Laura has so many good qualities that I will only embarrass her if I list them all. But what I can say is she is knowledgeable, kind, bubbly, conscientious, generous with her time and I think if more knew about her gift of making people well  who want to get well, then we would have far  less obesity, diabetes and other  weight related health issues.

So in conclusion I want to say thanks Laura for your help and support along my journey to better health and I know we are not over the finishing line yet. But we are in front and I will always remember your advice, kindness and support. I owe you a lot and I hope this note (epistle) will in some way help others to seek you out and get the help they need – well then you are free to give them my contact number and I will double down on what I have written here.

You have been my saviour Laura – you helped an overweight old man to change his ways and that is why I would be tempted to call you Laura the Magician!

Thanks again

Kind regards
Mortimer Murphy.