Save us fat people!

I was going to write this as a reply in a friend's journal, and then I decided it was worth writing in my own journal instead.

( And, as usual, it ended up being pretty long, so I'm going to put most of it behind this cut. )

But think of it:  If we could participate in a MMORPG from the privacy of our homes where we got a vigorous, individualized workout from the computer instead of just sitting on our butts while we did it, how many of us overweight geeks would be able to maintain that all-too-familiar geek physique?  And between the people willing to pay good money for a good game experience and the people willing to pay good money for a good exercise program, I think there's boatloads of money to be made in the bargain.

Lori update: She's home!

My baby is home now.  She's had the first shot in her planned course of chemotherapy, and we'll be monitoring her condition.  She is walking on her own, a little slowly, but she's able to stand up without assistance.  She's occasionally showing signs of pain and I'm worried that she doesn't have very far to slide back before living won't be worth it any more for her, but for right now I think she's relieved and happy to be home.

Her treatment has run to about $1700 so far and if it follows the full course it will be around another $1000.  That hurts, but I couldn't live with myself if I didn't try, once she was diagnosed with a condition where there was a reasonable chance -- no certainty, there never is, but a reasonable chance -- that she could be helped, with treatment that wasn't going to make her so miserable it wasn't worth it.

(EDIT 9:22 CST) Thanks to all who offered support. We still need your good thoughts; she's still a sick girl and we aren't going to have very much longer even in the best of circumstances.